Feb 2 Update

Four days ago it got to 72F degrees here, two days ago the high was 26F and the low was 9F and we got about an inch of snow so things are a bit confused. Some of the grass is greening, the forsythia has buds on it and the Daffodils are peeking their light green shoots out of the snow. Tomorrow starts another warming trend and it will get up into the 50s and low 60s all through next week and I know that sounds great to our Alaskan friends but its almost torture because you get a feeling of spring and then "BAM" another blast of cold will descend out of the Canadian plains.

This is also the time of year when everything is muddy and we are anxious to start living outside like we usually do. On top of that, my shoulder surgery has been delayed and now it will be delayed further because of some medical courses I am scheduled to enroll in which pushes the possible surgery date into late spring early summer which wont work, and then we have fall when we need to be prepping for winter so......AHHHHHHH.

But we have been busy.

Our hired hand Travis and I finished up pounding the T-Posts for the new pasture, to be exact, because of my back he pounded and I held the post, but we got it done and took advantage of the soft ground from all the rain and snow we have had lately.

This is one side of the gate posts we set earlier last fall and we finished bracing them to take the gate and to allow us to stretch five courses of Gaucho barbed wire. Everyone has a favorite way to brace corner and gate posts and I prefer to set them in concrete that I have mixed (some like a dry set) and then use an H brace about chest level and a diagonal wire bracing under tension.

This is an acre long and narrow pasture with trees for the cattle to take shelter at one end, and a good bit of nicely established mixed grass. The 8 foot gate opening by the truck will be used in case any of the animals get out and to allow movement of steers we will be running on the neighbors pasture to the right of the truck. This is a further movement towards our eventual rotational grazing scheme.

Our cattle in the mid pasture have been fascinated with what we are doing and follow us down the fence line as we work.

Looking in the other direction, we still need to run wire from down the hill but that's the easy part. If your wondering, we are using 6.5 foot T-Posts for the perimeter fence with five strands of barbed wire and the 6.5 foot T-Posts are now almost 5 dollars each. We have a stash of used posts for some cross fencing but we feel more comfortable with putting in new and taller posts for our perimeter fencing.

The drought left our winter pasture a bit thin so we have been feeding about a bale and a half of  hay every day and we are getting to the point where we will have to buy more hay soon at current prices of $7.50 a square bale. We just didn't get the hay harvest this last year we have had in previous years because of the drought and normally we haven't had to purchase hay. I am posting costs because we have had some people ask and they seem shocked by what it costs to even run a small operation like ours. The romantic notion of having a few cows, some chickens, and a small family farm like ours is appealing and can lead some people astray and its easy to get into trouble if your not careful. Since we bought this farm and moved here numerous others have done the same in our area and most of them are no longer here, either losing their farm to foreclosure or taking a big financial loss when they sell. I am not trying to be negative but you have to go into a life like this with a realistic view of what it really costs to live the "Simple Life" in the manner we do. Not to say it cant be done a lot cheaper than we are doing but we have zero desire to feel like we are barely scraping by at our age.

Speaking of drought, our main pond has been really low since last summers drought but with the recent heavy rain and some snow its coming back up. Holly is standing where the water level usually is so we still have a couple of feet to go but its improving and we are thankful for that.

This is looking at the new pasture we just enclosed from the other end and you can see the new gate posts in the far distance on the left.

We run the fence lines daily in the 4 wheeler and if it looks cold here it was. Our mid and back pasture is on top of a hill and really gets the wind.

Can you say pregnant? Louise is really showing.

Thelma isn't showing as much but we think she is pregnant too.

You can really see how big Louise is getting compared to the others in this picture. If all goes okay, we should be calving in July.

Chores don't stop when the weather gets cold or nasty and besides the cold and mud, we have to break up the ice in the water troughs, feed the hay, feed the chickens and change their water, mend the fences etc.

I included this picture of Rose the Farm Dog because you can see just how much the grass is greening. Its Feb 2, we just hope we don't get a bitter March but according to Puxatawny Phil we are supposed to get an early spring and ...we are ready.

And finally, last week we made more progress on the Blue Dodge D-150 project. New upper and lower ball joints..

New brake rotors and pads (the calipers were fine)..

and a new exhaust system from the catalytic converter on back.

A local shop fabricated the exhaust system for us and I am really happy with their work. Its stock as I didn't want a noisy shop truck but it has a good sound and sure beats the pfft pfft of the old leaky exhaust.

 

 

And last but not least we replaced the O2 sensor which solved the rich idle when cold. The truck would start easy but it would idle kind of rough when it was cold and it was really putting out the soot from the tail pipe when it was first started. Turns out just as I suspected the catalytic converter was shot and clogged which sooted up the O2 sensor which in turn told the ECM the truck needed to be run rich. All that is now history, the truck runs even better than before, no soot, and it has a lot more power. Next up, new tires and an alignment. On the alignment, some people say you don't need an alignment after doing ball joints but the ball joints on this truck were so worn that to me it just makes sense.

 

Ready for Spring

The holidays are over and its time for spring as far as I am concerned. We have been getting teased a bit by mother nature around here because its been a fairly mild winter so far and yesterday it was 65...today its cold and rainy and blech!!

Like many, January is also our "short" month financially because our property taxes are due (not much but still...), our personal property taxes are due (in Missouri you have to pay a certain amount for each vehicle, trailer, 4 wheeler, piece of livestock etc), and it seems like all of our periodic bills come due in January like our quarterly garbage bill, semi annual car insurance etc. We go on a cash basis thankfully and we don't like dipping into savings for routine bills so we just tighten our belts and make due.

But in light of all the craziness and misfortune we see on the news its hard to complain much. The flu season has hit our area and we had the first rescue call on an elderly lady the other night that was burning up with fever and was so sick she just wanted to die. We made the choice years ago to all get the flu shot early each year and I look at it as part of being prepared but most folks around here don't get the vaccine and it spreads quickly. The flu shots are far from a sure thing and we take all the precautions about washing hands frequently etc but with so many sick people around you just want to avoid going out in public...glad I don't have to work in an office building or something!

If we had the cash this month we would be turning our attention to working on the inside of the house again and next month we plan on putting up bead board on one wall of the living room, the entire spare bedroom and then our master bedroom. For the living room we have picked a taupe with bright white trim, the spare bedroom will be a light green and we are still debating about the master bedroom. We don't have (or want) a TV in the master bedroom since we both like to relax and read in bed at night so we are looking for something soothing and I suspect we will go with something in the green spectrum. Future plans include wood flooring in the master, refinishing the oak floor in the spare bedroom, replacing the last two interior doors with raised panel wood doors, and a grand bathroom redo that will take us back to the look of 1930s farm house.

Anyway, this month we are just finishing some previously neglected projects and enjoying making those stews and soups that are so enjoyable on a wintry day.

We did have an unexpected opportunity the other day. The State Trooper who covers this area called us on Wednesday morning and said a deer had been hit on the highway and that MoDot was on scene and couldn't leave because it was still alive and a traffic danger. He asked if I could go out and take care of it. Sooo, off we went. I chose to use the Model 94 Winchester 30-30 since it was near the highway and it turns out the deer had its two rear legs broken clean in two at the hocks but otherwise it was undamaged. The poor thing was beyond help so a quick round to the head was a humane thing to do and not only put it out of its misery it kept it from causing an accident. It had already dragged itself across the highway from one side to another and it was foggy outside so it was clearly a danger to motorists. 

This doe was huge and had a 1.5 inch fat cap on it unlike the deer we got during the hunting season.

This is only some of the meat we harvested. Big thick tenderloins and backstraps, roasts, and a bunch of stew meat.

One of the other rainy day projects I decided to tackle was the replacement of the shocks on the 90 Dodge D-150, (the $1200 special that started life as a parts truck for the 86 Dodge and has ended up my daily driver). I have checked the truck out and thought I knew what needed to be done but when I took off the front wheels to change the shocks I noticed the drivers side wheel was a little loose so I popped off the bearing dust cap and found that the bearings were new but the axle nut was loose. As you can see the cotter pin was way too short (didn't even stick out of the bottom of the nut) and the head of the cotter pin was way under sized. On the other side I found a piece of what looked like a coat hanger instead of a cotter pin though the castle nut hadn't worked loose. Things like this drive me crazy, a new cotter pin of the proper size should always be used and they are $.14 a piece so its not a money thing and it doesn't take long and your wheel can come off. Luckily I adjusted the bearings, put new cotter pins on and no harm was done.

The rear shocks were completely shot and had no compression at all and I had been driving on just the rear leaf springs..surprisingly it actually didn't ride too bad even though there were no rear shocks.

 

These were the front shocks I replaced and though they look newer, one was shot and they were about half the diameter of the shocks I replaced them with; I almost think they were not the correct shocks.

Since I am on the subject of the 90 Dodge pickup, I originally bought this as a parts truck as I said and then since it was in such good shape I decided to just use it as a daily runner and do the minimal to it but the darned thing runs like its new, everything works on it including the AC, and I have now decided to fix it up a bit. It came from the factory with these upgraded aluminum wheels and all of them are in great shape but I am missing one center cap and it bugs me. A new one is about $150 (its just a flat plate that covers the studs) and I cant find one in any junk yard so I will probably have to bite the bullet and pay such a ridiculous price.

The old guy (not an insult, I'm an old guy too) that owned it was the original owner who never used it for farm work or anything but he had a run in with a post that took off the lower side molding on the passenger door - another $150 or so to replace it and I will pull the dent and Bondo it myself.

This is the only dent in the body and I am torn between just buying a replacement body panel or pulling the dent and doing a Bondo job. Replacement body panels don't have the tabs for the lower body molding and that would be a problem so I will probably just do some body work here.

The only body rot is a small amount above both rear wheel wells and the only way to get it fixed right is to weld in some new patch panels...so another $150 for a couple of patch panels. The chrome wheel opening trim is all in great shape and not rusty or dented which saves a few bucks.

The front bumper has to go and it will be replaced with the un-marred front bumper from the 86 Dodge hot rod. I was going to put a new bumper on the 86 because the chrome isn't perfect (just a few pits, no rust) and they are the same bumper so that saves some money. The bumper brackets under this bumper are not damaged so it will be a simple swap and I need to take the bumpers off anyway when I paint this truck. 

These are the tabs I was referring to for the lower body trim that would not be on the replacement body panel. They are welded on and the trim has plastic clips that attach to them so it would be more bother than it was worth to try and match everything up on a new panel.

The interior is fairly pristine with no issues (even the seat and carpet are in great shape) but the headliner as you can see is shot like so many from that era. They just used a type of fiber board with cloth glued to is as the headliner which was then just screwed to various attachment points under the interior plastic molding trim. The base models didn't even have a headliner (the 86 Dodge doesn't) and it looks pretty good in just bare metal but I may get creative. First generation Dodge trucks have always had sloppy steering due to a badly designed rag joint on the steering shaft but a company by the name of Borgeson makes a replacement shaft that is very high quality and solves the issue. This truck actually has pretty tight steering for a 23 year old truck but it will get a Borgeson at about $180. Then I need to put new tires on it and I found Goodyear Wranglers of the correct size at Walmart (I know but its just a daily driver) for $82 each, it needs new front rotors and I will probably put in some higher end calipers and pads at about $400 for the set, and I will prep the body and paint it midnight blue. And oh yea, it needs a new oxygen sensor ($53.00) and I will install a new stock exhaust (I like it quiet) from the catalytic converter back.

 

As part of our daily routine we give the cattle a little grain and a bale of hay and this time of year its usually cold and rainy and the mud is sticky. But it has to be done regardless.

We think that Louise is pregnant (not in this picture) but Thelma (the black heifer) we aren't sure of. Old Caesar has been doing his thing but we wont know how many heifers are with calf for another month or so.

We make several piles of hay so they each get their own which cuts down on problems but they still think the other cows got the good stuff and its funny watching them move from pile to pile as if they are missing out of some special morsel.

We also got our last load of wood for the year unloaded and after we split this I think we will be good. I have surgery on my shoulder coming up in a couple weeks and it feels like everything I do is in slow motion right now. I like getting things done and working hard until a project is finished but its been slow going of late and its frustrating.

We have found that the chickens laying proficiency is directly related to the amount of light they get and with shorter days their production went way down. So we installed a heat lamp to help keep them warm and as a result we now get the same egg production we get during the summer.

And at the end of this day, when all of the animals have been taken care of, and our projects have been taken as far as they can for the day...we get to relax and enjoy the satisfaction of our labors.

 

 

 

Progress

The front fence project is complete, the sewer line installation is well underway, and we got a new vehicle project. We have had people mention that we seem to be always so busy and having fun and though that is generally true, its not by accident and its never too early to plan for what you want to do. I truly don't know how people could be bored in life.

One of the projects from the last post was the fencing across the road frontage of our property to connect up to the chain link fence in front of the house we installed earlier this year and its now completed. Its about 330 feet of Red Top field fencing on T-posts with a strand of Gaucho barbed wire on top. Our part time hired hand is a very hard working young guy and he drove all the posts and helped us run the wire and he sure got a work out.

 

We put in a people gate between the two fence styles for access because its such a long stretch of fence and we are pretty happy with it.

 

 

And now looking in the other direction on the other side of the house we have the sewer line dug and laid well underway towards the eventual linkup about a mile away.

 

In the previous picture if you look close you will see a backhoe in the far distance and this is now a picture from the backhoe looking in the same direction. Our nearest neighbor is in the trees in the far distance and the sewer line will go across his property to eventually link up to the terminus of the existing line. We have great neighbors who didn't hesitate to sign the utility easement.

This view in the other direction from the backhoe shows our house in the far distance so you can see this is no small project but we are very happy to get connected to the sewer system.

 

This view is a little closer but still looking towards our house and the backhoe is behind in this photo. If you look to the left in the tree you can see the remains of the fence they cut (about 8 feet) so it was lucky we aren't running cattle here right now. The contract requires them to replace any fencing and this fencing was real old anyway but we may just replace the fencing ourselves.....yes we are that particular.

 



All that effort to lay a small schedule 40 pipe 4 feet under the ground.

This is looking towards our right middle pasture and beyond those trees in the background is our main pond. The leaning structure in the back right is an old hog barn that I would love to rehab but alas its probably too far gone. I just hate that these old structures disappear.

 

We all like the activity that surrounds projects like this and I admit I never out grew Tonka trucks. I have to watch the machinery, I enjoy hearing them work and usually they let me have a turn operating them...now if I can only convince Holly we need our own dump truck.....

 

This little cream puff was only driven to church by a little old lady...Actually, I have a friend who owns an auto repair shop in a nearby town and I had asked him to keep an eye open for a parts truck for the hot rod. He called me a week or so ago and said a dealer took a 1990 Dodge in on trade and that I might be interested in it.

This truck was a one owner local trade in and only has 119,000 miles on it and is in great shape but cosmetically it needed enough repair (some body work and paint) that the dealer didn't want to fool with it because he didn't want to spend the money to fix a 22 year old truck that would then not bring him much of a profit. My friend told him he may have a cash buyer and he said he would let it go for what he had into it to get it off his lot so we got it for $1200.

 

When Holly first saw it she was aghast because of the bad paint but when we test drove it she was shocked. The engine is a throttle body electronic fuel injected 318 and starts right up, its quiet, and the truck is tight as can be and drives as smooth as our GMC.

 

It had a canopy on it so the bed is unmarred, it really was owned by an old man, and its never seen farm use or hauled anything. It just sat outside all those years and the late 80s and early 90s vehicles all have paint issues thanks to the EPA mandating a reformulation of auto paint that wasn't up to snuff. Those older cars and trucks you see with the peeling paint are mostly from that era.

Absolutely everything on this truck works as it should including the AC, heat, stereo, cruise control, tilt wheel etc. and as you can see the interior is nice without even a tear in the original upholstery.

 

I have been through this thing top to bottom and mechanically its a gem. No leaks of any type, no rust, and other than a brake job it needs nothing.

 

It even had the AC system retrofitted to R-134a freon back in 2001.

All four tires are good..

 

 and other than the bent front bumper and dent in the right front there isn't much body work needed; just some rust over the rear wheel wells..the cab corners are fine. So, I have already had two offers on this truck for more than we paid for it as its hard to find older trucks in this good of shape. Plans are to do the brake job, deal with some minor body repair then grind off all the surface rust and prep it for paint. But this time instead of spraying it the plan is to use Rustoleum enamel rolled on with a closed cell foam roller. Young guys don't get this technique usually and think only the new PPG type paints will work but this is old school enamel we are talking about and its hard as nails and it will look great. You dilute the paint with mineral spirits at about 1 cup of paint to 3/4 cup of mineral spirits and roll it on in thin coats (5 or 6) then you wet sand and buff it out. It sounds crazy to the uninitiated and I sure wouldn't do it on an expensive hot rod but for a work truck it will look nice and its a good option. The purpose here is to fix it up and sell it at a profit but you know you can never have too many trucks and this one may be too nice to sell!!

 

We will be sure to post the progress of the Rustoleum paint process (we are thinking blue, grey or silver)...I can already hear the skeptics groaning.

 

Life is good.