Filling the Freezer and Keeping Warm

The weather did a 180 degree turn yesterday compared to the previous week. We had rain and high winds and it got down to the mid 20s last night and today's high was about 48...Saturday, the opening day of deer season, it was 72. Speaking of deer season, where we are in rural Missouri deer season is a big deal and school is out for the week, the restaurants open early for the pre-hunt breakfasts, hunting sneaks into the Sunday sermons, and the first thing out of every ones mouths is "did you get a deer yet?". That my friends is pressure but its a fun time and about every vehicle has someone wearing blaze orange going by and we love it.

But knowing the weather was going to get cold we decided to do some maintenance and repair on the Outside Wood Boiler that we use to heat our house. Last year we developed a bit of a knock in the heater hoses that circulate water to the water jacket that keeps the door of the boiler cool so we decided to drain the boiler, clean out the scale, clean the fittings and replace the heater hoses.

These are the heater hoses I referred to above. The 90 degree fittings into the boiler were almost completely occluded with limestone scale so they needed to be cleaned out and the hoses themselves were ready to be replaced so we did. You can replace the hoses without draining the boiler but you can clean out the fittings so we drained it completely and then did the repairs.

The white PEX that goes from the upper left to the lower right is just a piece I cobbled together to fill the boiler and bleed the air out of the circulation lines. To fill it you close the feed line ball valve on the lower right and open the return line ball valve in the upper left and then fill it with filtered water from a hose attached to the white PEX.

 

You can see the lower right feed ball valve in this picture and the circulation pump (the red thing as Holly would say). The feed line is how the hot water heated in the boiler gets pumped to the heat exchanger in the furnace in our basement that then gets blown through the regular heating ducts and registers. Its all controlled by a thermostat inside and we enjoy the dry warm heat of wood without the mess, insects and fire risk of having a wood fire inside the house. 

The water needs to be filtered before it goes into the boiler so you don't get as much scale buildup and to reduce corrosion of the boiler. This in line filter has replaceable canisters and functions much like a household water purifier and its only used when we fill the boiler about once every two years; if water levels drop slightly in the interim we use gallon jugs of distilled water. We also add an anti-corrosion chemical to get the PH just right and since circulation pumps don't push air very well you need to bleed the system. To do that you open the feed line ball valve, remove the water filter from the PEX and then open the return line ball valve and let about 5 gallons of water drain from the PEX until it doesn't bubble anymore and it runs in a steady stream. Simple eh?

 

We also did a thorough cleaning of the fire box which included shoveling out ash and clinkers from the fire box through the fire box door and using the ash auger as I am doing here to remove the ash that falls through the grate. This is a monthly maintenance requirement or you get reduced air flow from the blowers and a lower efficiency burn.

Boo Boo was with us as we did this but he seemed totally uninterested and just slept on his back in the sun...probably had mice running right by him as he has gotten lazy in his old age.

 

So there you have it. It is hard to explain and it sounds complicated based on what I wrote but its not. Outside Wood Boilers are great if you live in the sticks and don't have neighbors that will be bugged by smoke or the wood burning smell (we don't luckily) and they are definitely a little more hands on that a regular furnace but we sure like it. If you live in an HOA neighborhood, don't have the ability or desire to cut wood, and would rather pay someone the $250.00 it would take to do what we just did in this blog entry then they probably aren't for you. Meanwhile, we have a 74 your old house that stays toasty warm all winter for a fraction of the cost of propane, electric or natural gas.

As to the previously mentioned pressure to fill your deer tags, we went out on Saturday which was opening day and had no luck morning or evening, Sunday was blowing 40 mph and rainy so we took a day off and then tonight we went out and I bagged this nice doe. It was cold but sunny and Holly and I were in a double tree stand about 20 feet up over looking a small stream backed by a small pasture and then a ridge of oak trees. Three hours in the stand and all we saw was an owl (awesome), 27 turkeys that came right under us and never saw us, and then right before dusk two does came into the next pasture over to our left. This doe was taken at about 180 yards (I zeroed the rifle to 100 yards) using a Savage 30-06 shooting Remington Core Lockt 180 grain rounds and the shot was down hill and through oak tree branches. I was aiming for mid shoulder and hit her in the spine just in back of her shoulders. I always feel kind of melancholy when I hunt because I very much enjoy seeing these creatures in the wild but they are over populated and need to be culled and we are meat hunters.

 

Its gutted and hanging in the rock garage for butchering tomorrow (lows of 24 tonight).

Not much to update on the sewer project as the contractors took a few days off for the holiday and deer season but this is inside the holding tank....I wanted a picture before it gets connected and used because once that happens I don't care if they find Elvis alive down there I'm not taking a picture.

 

And this stainless hatch and air vent will be all that is above grade. Holly still needs to fill her tag and we have a couple landowner tags we can fill but the pressure is off a bit and it was very cool to hunt with my best friend like that and we will try and get her a deer later this week.

 

 

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!

 

 

 

 

Sewer Project Update

Just a quick update on our connection to the community sewer system. The line is now connected all the way to the previous terminus and they are installing the sewer lines on our property now. Big news for us as we should be fully connected in a week or so which means....long showers, and Holly gets her long wished for dish washer.

They are digging a 4 foot trench to bury a small high pressure line that connects up to the sewer main about a mile away and it will eventually connect up to a grinder pump/lift station buried by our dairy barn. 4" schedule 40 lines will then come from the farm house and Judy's mobile home to the grinder pump and when it gets full it will grind everything and pump it to the main sewer line and points south (literally). In the event of an extended power outage, they are putting a transfer switch on the grinder pump so I can connect one of our generators to it to pump it so we will never be without sewer capability. That's using your noggin in my book.

We had to have a couple grape vines dug up (to be planted elsewhere) and we will lose two cedars but we wanted them gone anyway so its working out real well. We shouldn't lose any of the deciduous trees we enjoy so much.

 

They will trench all the way to the back of the Dodge Dakota you see behind the backhoe then make a hard left and trench to the grinder pump location. Any of the excess dirt they have I have asked them to just put into a pile instead of carting it off so I can use it for some projects we have planned.

All that trenching for such a small diameter pipe.

 

We moved the trucks to get them out of the way of the contractor and I had never seen them together before so I took a couple of pictures just because.

I had someone make a statement the other day that he didn't see why we had three full sized pickups in addition to the other vehicles and asked if I felt guilty. The answer to the first question is because we want them and the answer to the second is no guilt. First of all its not like they are brand new fancy rigs (they are all projects of one form or another) but most of all we have worked hard and saved to have the things we enjoy and fixing up and selling things is how we make a side income. Its all about priorities, we have three old pickups we have fun with but our TV is an old unit that we picked up for $25.00...we just don't care about TV that much.

 

So if you want three old but well maintained pickups learn how to do your own repairs and go get them..lots of good stuff out there that can be had from people who don't have a clue on how to fix them when they break down. Just stay away from around here as we are always looking for good deals!

And a final update on the new chicken run, they love it and its working out great.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!

Its Halloween and also our 14th anniversary....yes we married on Halloween, had a great wedding with all of our friends (mostly in costume), and to us this is the start of the holidays and a very  special day. From now through 2 Jan we are in holiday mode and once 2 Jan hits I will mope until spring.

First of all, we have numerous major projects going on right now, fencing, the sewer going in, we are in the process of widening our driveway, we are getting the shop situated, hunting season is approaching, and we have daughter Jen and Fiance' Steve and #3 son Matt coming for a couple weeks over Thanksgiving. So a couple of days ago we had to go to Springfield to get a 10' stick of 15" culvert and a band to tie into the existing culvert and widen the driveway. One of the things we have been looking for to outfit the shop is an old military steel desk (if you have ever served you know what I mean, it has the rubberized top, weighs a tonne etc) and on the way back Holly saw a sign that said "Free Desk". My first thought was it will be a cheap particle board number but we turned around and voila', the exact desk we have been looking for but haven't found on Craig's List or in the classifieds.

It literally weighs about 100 lbs and had rust etc but virtually no dents, all the drawers worked, and it was perfect.

 

So, a wash, some sanding, masking, primer, paint and....

 

We ended up with a great shop desk that was free outside of some labor and materials...and yes I re-painted it in olive drab...makes me feel at home. I still need to refurbish the top but we are pretty happy with it and it is a much needed addition to the shop. We get way more enjoyment out of projects like this where we refurbish something old and give it new life. I have fond memories of desks like this both sitting at one working when I was in the Marine Corps and later the Army and sometimes standing in front of one one getting my butt chewed for some transgression or another. It fits me like an old comfortable pair of shoes.

And the best part is it was made in the USA

 

But back to Halloween. All the kids are long since grown and on their own but we still like to have fun on the holidays...and decorating is just part of that fun.

The three of us all carved pumpkins (mine is the mean looking one) and then we roast the seeds for a  snack.

 

And one of my personal favorites we have been doing for about 10 years is that we make a nice pot roast with roasted vegetables so that the whole house smells good when the kids come to the door. I made this with a red wine and red vinegar base along with lots of garlic, onions, fresh Rosemary and Thyme. Halloween kind of marks the point where we transition to hearty winter fare with lots of soups, stews, and roasts.

 

Mean while Holly roasted a sugar pumpkin along with carrots, potatoes, turnips, onions, and apples and to give continuity to the meal she also used fresh Thyme and Rosemary. This is one of my favorite meals and I look forward to it every year. Maybe its aging but I have come to really appreciate the family traditions we have established over the years and I never tire of them. I think when your younger, at least in my case, you are so busy trying to make your mark in the world that you dont slow down enough to just live in the moment (if that makes any sense) and I am glad I have learned to just enjoy life and all that it offers. 

For our anniversary, Judy made us some redneck wine glasses, two jelly jars that she glued bases to and they are really cool.

 

We had way more Trick or Treaters this year which we enjoyed. We live kind of far out but we know so many people now that we had a steady stream of kids. One of the things we do is to have a bowl full of canned vegetables and a bowl of candy and offer the veggies to the kids first and we always get a laugh out of it and some of the kids remembered that from last year. Also this year, Holly added a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese to each bag of candy we gave out and the kids loved it, we even had kids come to the door having heard about the Mac and Cheese from other kids that had been here previously. We had a lot of fun with it and really enjoy the kids. Lots of folks talk about how bad kids are now days but we just dont see it that way, the kids were all polite, its was nice to see young parents out with their kids and we would hate to live in a place where Halloween is restricted to kids going to a mall or some other single point like that...I mean, how else are you going to teach kids to interact with people appropriately if you dont let them learn by doing?

So it was a pleasant day with mild weather and lots of friendly people. I hope everyone who reads this had as happy a Halloween as we did here on the farm.

  

 

No Bull; Yes Bull

It has been a busy week as usual, my Army buddy Duane came down to check on his place and stayed with us for a night and then we went to check out his new place and had lunch at a Mennonite bakery and butcher shop. We then had to go to the VA hospital in Columbia to get evaluated for another couple surgeries I am pending (sigh) and met up with Duane again on his way to St Louis and had dinner, Judy had company from Alaska, we had a county wide FEMA MASSCAL/HAZMAT exercise hosted by the VFD we are members of and on top of that we had a bull delivered today as the first step in expanding our herd. We are a bit behind our business plan due to my back surgery and the massive drought but we are getting back on track. Future plans also include raising steers next year on the 8 acres of pasture that we share crop with a neighbor and selling them at butcher time next fall.

As for the VA, I have had some criticisms of them, mostly that they are slow and the education program is completely broken so I didn't expect much from my visit to the VA hospital. Thankfully I can report that it was a very nice facility, they were efficient and professional, and we couldn't have been treated better. We were really pleased and at least in Missouri, the VA Hospital and staff are top notch.

Meet Caesar. Caesar is a Limousin/Hereford cross bull that belongs to a neighbor and he will be staying with us for three months or so in the hopes he impregnates our three heifers. He was a little feisty when he was dropped off but he seems to have settled in quite well and our heifers follow him around like he is truly the conqueror.

Once our heifers realised they had a visitor they made a beeline for him and the poor guy got chased for about 30 minutes.

 

Cattle are very social animals and after some get to know you licks and sniffing they pretty much settled down without problem and we have already noticed some preliminary mounting going on.

 

Interestingly, right around the time we normally give the heifers a little grain Caesar followed them down and we were able to walk right up to the trough and give them some grain and Caesar acted like he had done this for months.

Caesar couldn't get any relief even when he was eating and the heifers seem to be competing for his attention.

 

 He is a well built and good looking bull about 2.5 years old and he has already sired a string of calves so we are hopeful he can be successful with our cows.

So after a couple hours getting used to each other, they seem to be all getting along and we have been watching them graze and socialize. Pretty satisfying.

Holly and Judy also did the first harvest of sweet potatoes today. Much less yield this year due to the drought and they are a lot smaller but we have already eaten some and they are very tasty...I actually prefer the smaller ones.

 

Finally, this is a shot looking north that again shows the beautiful fall colors we have gotten this year. There is a 300 acre land trust across the road from us that is almost entirely forested in red and white Oaks and there is nothing over there except coyotes, deer, wild turkeys, a reported black bear or two (we haven't seen them yet) and tonnes of birds....no people, no buildings, and we like that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Color and a New Chicken Run

After such a long hot summer we have had a fantastic fall and after a couple nights of frost we have had the most colorful display of foliage since we moved here. Days have been mostly warm and sunny with crisp cool nights and we have really enjoyed the mild weather.

It also continues to be busy at the Rock House Farm, the sewer project is making steady headway, we are in the process of replacing the culvert to our driveway and widening it, we continue fencing, and we lucked into a deal on expanding the chicken run.

Speaking of fencing, last night we were working on the chicken run and Holly looked up into the pasture and saw one, two, three, four...five...cattle then a couple more when we only have three right now. Turns out the neighbor has a bull, we have a couple of heifers in heat, bull decides to visit our heifers and a bunch of calves and one of his heifers follows. So we called them up and we all soon got them sorted out and back where they belonged but we could only temporarily patch the fence because it was getting dark. So this morning we cut out a section of fence and strung some field fencing and a couple strands of barbed wire and the problem is solved. During all of this we also made plans to formally expose our heifers to his bull this week end so we will see what happens.

This picture is across the fence behind our pole barn shop and that heifer is one of the escapees that came for a visit last night.

Our wood lot is also displaying a vivid color scheme.

 

A wider view to the north across our pasture fence; we are surrounded by color.

Our back pasture has some huge Oaks and they have had a bumper acorn crop and are giving good color as well.

 

This picture is across our back pasture fence looking East; a sea of autumn color and the pasture here is full of deer and wild turkeys in the morning and early evening.

This is in front of the farmhouse looking south just about sunset. Its hard to get the brilliance of the colors to come across in these pictures but its warm in this picture (about 75 degrees), there was a slight breeze blowing, leaves were gently falling in the breeze and it is very peaceful.

 

Even the Oak grove behind the big barn is colorful.

One of the things we like around here is that we have a succession of flowering plants and this is the second blooming of Mums this year.

 

One of our neighbors is a bachelor and after the raccoons got most of his chickens he gave up the ghost and got rid of the rest of them so he had a 10' x 10' dog run he had used as a chicken run for sale for $100. We had planned on expanding the chicken run anyway but were holding off because the heavier duty runs like this one cost over $300 so we took advantage of the opportunity.

We already have a small chicken door to the outside from our existing run so this was easy to set up. We assembled the run, laid some chicken wire over the top, and cut a hole for the door from the existing run to open into the new run. We will let the chickens have access to their new run during the day and then lock them up at night. The chicken wire over the top is just to keep the hawks at bay and keep the chickens from flying out as we don't clip their wings.

 

Just some fall scenes from the Rock House Farm.