Getting Close

We are within days of having the sewer hookup and couldn't be happier. If you have never lived with a failing septic system you probably cant imagine the stress but we live in constant fear of an imminent backup and total failure. I admit it publicly...I hate dealing with bodily fluids unless I am on the scene of an accident as a First Responder and then I go into my zone..otherwise...NO!

We bought the place knowing it needed a new septic but after we were here for a few months we found out we were the last house in this direction not scheduled to be hooked up to the new community sewer project. So I went before the water board and asked if there was any money left over that we be connected (it was a rural development Federal grant) and they said they would look into it. And they did...turns out they had a few Shekels left over and the Feds said it could only be used to hook up new households so we ended up first on the list. Now there are about 15 households that declined when this first came out that now want to be hooked up but we got priority and we are very grateful we were so fortunate.

They have gotten to the point of placing the tank/lift station. We are a couple of miles away and over a ridge so the effluent goes into this tank from the farm house and Judy's mobile home where a macerater grinds everything up and then a float valve triggers a lift pump to get it all down range.

The top of the tank will be a couple inches above grade with a stainless steel hatch to gain access to the pump and its workings...and no I have no intent of ever checking it out once in use and you cant pay me enough money to change my mind. Since this does require electricity to operate the pump and since we are prone to long power outages they are also installing a transfer switch so we can operate the thing with a generator several times a week if the power is out. Like the Boy Scouts say..be prepared.

 

As I have said previously, I like machinery and there is a certain buzz in the air when big projects are happening. Bulldozers, backhoes, end loaders, etc have been operating for a week or so and we find it fascinating.

I am not an engineer but I suspect the amount of concrete they placed was to keep the tank from popping out of the ground when the water table rises and the tank is full. Think of a fishing lure bobber..gotta keep that baby buried.

 

Our hired hand Travis and I have also been busy fencing and we completed this pasture fence last week. The T-Posts in the fore ground only have 4 strands so we still need another strand which will be done when the sewer project is completed.

The actual isolation pasture fence we just completed has 5 strands and that is our standard. Lots of 4 strand pasture fencing around here but we feel the 5 strands give better security and its relatively cheap insurance against a cow from escaping. We plan to use this pasture to isolate sick cattle or to isolate new cows prior to introduction to the herd (sale barns have bargains but you need to be careful about introducing illness etc) and we also plan on experimenting with new pasture mixes in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the University of Missouri. Our interest is in finding a forage mix that is indigenous to this area and that provides the nutrient mix we seek for our cattle.

 

The yellow sighting rope you see in this picture looking down on the newly fenced pasture is the border of the next phase of fencing and we already have much of the T-Posts driven for this next fencing project though they aren't shown in this picture (thanks to Travis). We use cheap polypropylene rope strung along the property boundaries to guide us in installing the fences. Some old timers can do it by sight but we cant and I doubt I will ever be able to do that. We also used cattle panels to fence off the end of this pasture because we hit ledge rock limestone and couldn't sink the corner posts as deep as we wanted and we didn't want to stress them by stringing 5 strands of barbed wire.

The plants in this picture that look like feathery trees or bushes is Asparagus and we found a patch while fencing. Sometime in the past this must have been a garden spot as I don't think Asparagus spread from bird guano like many plants but....does anyone know?

 

And to answer a couple of questions we have gotten on the chicken coop, we have 6 nest boxes in the coop  and drop down doors where we can access them from outside. We collect eggs in the morning and evening and find eggs at one time or another in all of the boxes but they often lay in just 2 or 3 of the boxes and as you can see; both the Barred Rocks and the Brown Leghorns lay in the same boxes at times.

 

We have also been working on setting up the pole barn shop, re-pairing the outside wood boiler (next post), splitting wood for winter, prepping the gardens for winter, and we just got the signed permit to widen the drive. But most important of all to us, we are preparing for #1 daughter Jenny and her fiance Steve and # 3 son Matt to visit us for the Thanksgiving Holiday. And did I mention its opening day of deer season Saturday and that #4 son Al is in his last semester at UNC-Charlotte and now wants to pursue his Masters? .....we love this time of year!

 

 

 

 

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.