Oh Mama

Oh Mama, what have I gotten myself into with this ranch?
This week started with Mom's 93rd birthday, which she missed by three weeks.  Oh Mama, I am so sorry to see you leave this Earth, but know you are in a better place now, watching down on us from above.

Saturday 9/25 - Mama's Birth date.
This is last year's photo on her 92nd birthday.

And this is from 2018 on her 90th birthday.  

Joe, Maggie, and I got to the ranch early to concrete the grounding rod into (actually under) this wooden box.











We had to connect two long hoses to get water to our work site.  And then we started mixing concrete (five 80lb bags total).   

We had two shovels for scooping the concrete mix into the box, and took turns mixing it up in the wheelbarrow. 


Ta-da, Oh Mama we got it done.


 









These photos were taken later, after the cement had set up.

This is the big, bright light the electrician put up over the work space in the machine shed.  So nice to be able to see in there now. 

Our future boarders came by to take one last look at the property, ask questions, and give us input.  We also wanted to give them keys.  Yvonne with three yr. old Maslo (a Westfalen) and Polly with 7 year old Rio (a quarter horse) will be starting the first of October.  Susan and Bonnie who co-own 15 year old Cowboy (a quarter horse, Tennessee Walker, Percheron mix) will be starting November 1st.

I got the brush pile burning again, wanting to continue burning all the big stuff that won't make good fire wood for up at the house.  Maggie keeps a close eye on all we do, and follows us around everywhere.
 







Patty helped me hang this cross she had spray painted to prevent rust and make it more silvery in color. 
I absolutely love it.

Karen had come and was painting the medicine cabinet and a little later Carol dropped in. 

Patty and Carol collecting the hose so I could take it back up to the house.  Many hands make light work... and it is also more fun when you have others to talk to and goof around with.  But Oh Mama, do you ever end up with more than one idea of what to do and how to do it, or of what not to do. 






I had done some weed whacking along the drive, and took three loads of dirt up to fill in a low spot near the fence.  I put sod on the top level spot after filling in with the dirt.  It will be easier and safer to ride or walk along there now.

Joe had to come to my rescue after I got the tractor stuck in the muddy ditch.  I forgot I had four wheel drive.  That's all it took to back out the tractor. 

 
My Ava fix.  Courtney had Dan and Val for dinner.  Her cat was not sure what to think of Ava.  LOL

Patty had made a pot of chili and Shirley, Karen, and Carol joined us for dinner.  We ate at the big table inside but then went out for S'mores around the fire pit.

Sunday 9/26 - I was planning a slow relaxing morning at home, needing plenty of time to get my blog done and posted.  But Joe only had until noon to work and Patty was planning to go out to the ranch in the morning also, so I soon followed suit and joined them.

Amiga watches Patty drilling bucket hangers into the inside of their loafing shed.  We had taken the hay feeder down off the outside of the shed and I then used it as a 'culvert cover' for this hole along the driveway. 

I had been stressing about getting the electric fence completed, some much-needed mowing of pastures done, and mostly putting a little dry-lot by Amiga and Zorro's shed to get them off all of the grass.  It has been too much rich green grass, and part of the reason why Amiga has not been eating her meal each day or even her hay.  I also needed to get them transition to 24/7 pasture time for when we would be gone, flying to Iowa for four days.  They were up to 18 hours a day, with closing them in the shed during the heat of the day and no longer walking them down to a stall for overnight. 

Joe got very frustrated with trying to get grounding rods in for the electric fence.  He ended up giving up, with the intention of calling the company to see if there was an alternative method.  He then took off on the riding mower and mowed till he just about ran out of gas and then he headed home to start his colonoscopy prep.  I was a bit frustrated that we didn’t have any gas left so I could mow part of Amiga and Zorro's pasture. 

I added one more load of dirt to the hillside and then I planted grass seed and spread old straw on top.  Patty had left to watch football and then Karen showed up just as I was about to leave.  I was switching the recliners and she helped with that.  (This photo taken the next morning with Joe's former office recliner in the ranch sun room.)

I helped Karen move the medicine cabinet into the machine shed and then ended up kind of hanging out with her for a little bit as she gave the cabinet one more coat of paint.  Maggie is always glad to hang out with and supervise anyone. 

 





Once home, I helped Joe move this big, electric recliner (which he had hauled here from the ranch a few days ago and put in the garage) into his Mancave.  Then while he happily watched football, I did household chores including two loads of laundry.

Monday 9/27 - Joe and I were out the door at 6am.  I dropped him off for his colonoscopy and left because I had a doctor's appointment I needed to get to before he would be done.  Patty would be picking him up.

I went to the ranch on my way back to Fairfield Glad to put the horses in their loafing shed since they had been on grass all night. 

I was able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise.

I went down to the machine shed to test out our new motion sensitive light that only comes on if it is fairly dark outside.  It worked great.

And this photo shows where I put the other large dark brown recliner.  It goes well with the wicker furniture and makes for a cozy spot in front of the fire place.  

I got to my 8:30 appointment (Medicare wellness check) early and then had to wait to be seen, finally getting out of there at 10:30.  UGH!

Joe was already home, feeling great, and itching to get to the ranch to work, so that's what we did.  He had gotten alternative instructions for burying the grounding rod so we set to work to get that done.

Basically, the three, eight foot rods could be buried a foot deep, ten feet apart and then connected.  So I helped with the digging.  Joe did the big holes with the tractor.


I took off with the tractor once Joe was done with it.  I wanted to do a few things before attaching the bush hog and making it less maneuverable. 

I fed the horses before releasing both from the loafing shed.  Zorro has been knocking his feed bucket over and cleaning up what spilled on the ground.  So I tried hanging a bucket on the gate.  That didn't work too well either.







Using the tractor, I moved ash from the big burn pile, dumping it on the back side of the dam.  And then I worked at grading the dirt pushed back into the trench which Joe had dug for the electrician. 

 

I went back up to check on Joe and help out a little more.  Amiga and Zorro were not concerned with his noise making. 

Oh, here are the two outlets we had the electrician put in.  A large living quarter trailer can be plugged into one, and a smaller RV/trailer can be plugged into the other.  We are now ready for traveling visitors. 

 

A dog from the neighborhood has been coming around and I noticed her trying to play with Amiga, but my horse was not having it. 

Our time and energy were soon spent, and we headed home for the evening. 

Tuesday 9/28 - Joe and I were back at the ranch by 8am, hitting the to do list.  I had put Amiga and Zorro back in their shed while Joe was stringing Electro-braid.

 






I finished up jobs with the tractor.  I got the area between the barn and big loafing shed smoothed out and then removed the hump of dirt at the lower end of the barn alleyway. 

We moved the medicine cabinet into the tack room and then had our 10:30 meeting with Patty and the soon to come boarders (Polly and Yvonne).  We went over and signed some paperwork and collected board fees.

Joe then hooked up the bush hog and mowed the paddock and smaller pasture where the boarders would be putting their horses.

I seeded the areas I had graded and put old hay on them. 

I had gotten very tired (and sleepy) so took an hour rest on the hammock while Joe mowed.

Then, finding out the electric fence Joe had strung in Amiga and Zorro's pasture would not be working yet, I unstrung the wire. 

 








These two are like vacuum cleaners, sucking up all the grass as fast as they can.  In this photo you can see where Joe mowed what will be their smaller 'dry lot' area and notice the t-posts, which is where the wire had been (and will again be) strung.

While getting the old hay in the machine shed, I noticed how dirty the floor was, so went back to clean it up, before calling it quits for the day. 

I checked on Amiga and Zorro before leaving for the day, and they came up to where I was and had a lick of the salt block.  




Zorro follows Amiga around a lot, and likes to do what she is doing.  He has even gone swimming in the pond. 


Too tired to cook once home, and Joe had already eaten, I opted for beer (but we had none) and popcorn while watching Survivor. 

Wednesday 9/29 - I got to the ranch after Patty and Joe, because I had run some errands first.  When I arrived, Maggie was in the pond 'fishing' for the catfish that had come to the surface when Patty fed them. 

 





Patty and I worked at moving hooks in the tack room, hanging up rules and emergency numbers, removing the medicine cabinet (to make room for Polly's tack box), and hanging this equine liability sign.



These other two old signs could use a fresh coat of paint.  We have lots of jobs like this for another day, maybe next year.

Joe was again struggling with the electric fence.  This time, to discover that the solar charger needed a battery.  Oh Mama.  So he ran to town to buy one.

Patty mowed and I worked at trimming brush around the pond and removing the rest of the briar plant on the hill by the machine shed.  I got the brush pile going and put branches on it, to burn. 




There is an old cattle feeding 'station' behind the big run-in shed by the barn.  We are using it for our 'wash rack' because the hose is right there and it has a concrete pad.  So Patty and I moved the cabinet (which can hold shampoos, brushes, sweat scraper, etc.) there and later Joe helped install it by cutting out a board and screwing the cabinet to the back wall.  







After a late lunch break, Patty and I went to inspect Joe's work and test the fence because he couldn't get the tester working.  (Turns out, it also needed a battery.) 



This is the convoluted installation of the solar panel, battery, control box, and additional electric fence wire to keep the horses from messing with all of it.  Oh Mama, I had no idea (neither did Joe) that our solar panel was going to be this big and complex.  I pictured something more like Billy's.  

 

We fed and then let the horses out of the shed, where they had been since 8:30 when Joe put them in to give them a rest from the grass.  

While Patty and I were messing around with the fence tester, Zorro came over to get a good look at what we were doing.  What a goofball.

Joe had left for his poker night and Patty and I were meeting with Shirley about cat care so she left also.

I finished up down in the barn yard, sorting and re-stacking four foot logs, and putting the too big, odd, or somewhat rotten ones on the burn pile, which was smoldering. 

At home, I had time for a shower before Shirley arrived, and then while going over cat care with her, I realized how unorganized and not ready I am to travel to Iowa for four days.

I couldn't even stay awake until 8pm.

Thursday 9/30 - Joe and I both arrived at the ranch before 9am.  The brush pile had burnt down quite well, and was easy to start up again because there were lots of coals still smoldering.  This photo was taken at the end of the day.  Joe and I had moved the picnic table so I could mow where it had been.  And all the logs that were stacked up by it were burnt or moved to another spot.  In the foreground is the hay covered grass seed that I watered. 

I moved hay and a bag of feed up to Amiga and Zorro's run-in shed.  They had eaten much of their hay, so I gave them some more.  I had a lot of mucking to do to clean it out.  They really like hanging out together in there.

Later in the day when I fed them, they also ate their feed all up, a first for Amiga since I have moved her to the ranch.  Hopefully, now that they only have a small part of the pasture, they will not gorge themselves on grass.

 

Joe was working on getting the electro-braid fence gates installed, and had to redo part of it, twice.  Things were not going as planned.  But he did, eventually, get it all done.  I went out in the field to check on his work a few times, and give friendly suggestions.


After lunch I cleaned up in the house since we were going to be gone for four days.  I did end up piling several items in the laundry room that we weren't done with yet.

Meanwhile, Joe was out swimming. 
Another job I did was clearing all the dead growth and weeds out of this garden.
We got word from Patty, who was in Cookeville, that Karen's hip replacement surgery had gone well.  Yay!

I left two varieties of peppers and two kinds of parsley in the garden and gave them a good watering.  After helping Joe cover the pool for the winter, I took the full wagon of foliage down to the manure/compost pile. 

We brought a bag of recyclables and a bag of trash home.  Had home grown corn (from Joe's poker buddy) for dinner and started packing for Iowa.  It was late before we hit the hay.  I was hoping this break from ranch work would do us both good.  But Oh Mama, I wish I didn't stress about traveling.