There has not been a lot of time for writing in the blog lately, or for farming on the farm, to be honest! I have been trying to earn a few pennies DoorDashing the last few months to keep some food in our bellies and some bills paid.
But…
I have done a couple of things. I scythe daily now, to put food in for the goats and two of the llamas. If those llamas were not escape artists, they would be across the street, but I have no idea how they got out for sure, and nobody else does, so they stay in the pen over here with the goats. Scything some grass and putting it into the feeder in the pen using the tractor to move and lift it is a daily chore.
I have been working on the glue up and planing of the top for the kitchen island. That is not the highest priority, so it gets done as and when. I was well proud a few weeks ago that I had got the boards glued up and started on their planing, but it has sat by for a bit now, and I need to get out there and do some more. There are a couple of low spots that I need to plane the entire top down to, so that is a little discouraging, but after a break, I will get at it with the scallop, or scrub plane. I love that plane. It can make a cut that is smooth enough to not require sanding, and if I could get all the cuts to go with the grain and not blow any of the wood out, I think I could do a finished scalloped surface. I will try it one day when I get a cooperative board, then use it on a trunk or something. But for now, it is just a good way of quickly blowing through surface material and getting down in thickness. I am building a top that is the size of a house door. So, it is a bit of work. I’ll get at it soon.
In addition to this, I have done most of the construction on a little shack to sell firewood from out front. I have to build it a roof, put on an honor box, and add a sign, and I am ready to go. I need to get some logs up to the house and get them cut into rounds for splitting. That is also kind of a big thing. Once that is done, I will start selling wood ready to burn. I need some help from my business partner on this, but he is limited on what he can do, and when. I am going to have to get to work somehow without him, I think. So that is a thing. Right now his life is consumed in the oilfields of North Dakota. He is trying to find a trailer he can haul wood with, and I need to get two tires replace on my trailer, apparently! It was quite disappointing to find that both of the ones on the right side have huge gashes in them on the inside sidewalls. Did someone come back and slash them? I doubt it. But it is weird that they both have the same kind of gash, so maybe? I don’t know. Weird entertainment if they did.
I was informed by my oldest daughter the other day that there was a leak under the kitchen sink. I got back to it in two days. I decided the best thing for me to do was to wash the dishes and see what she was experiencing. Seems she was right. I looked under, and absolutely everything was leaking. The sprayer, the taps, the drains, the drain baskets. Well, one of the drain baskets, anyway. It was the newer one I put on when we removed the garbage disposal. Anyhow, my day off work was cancelled and replaced with a trip down to do some shopping, and to earn some money to cover the costs of it as best I could. I earned about half of it, but the days since have been low earning days, so that is a problem. Anyway, I bought some new seals for under the sink, and two new baskets. The old basket was a bear to get off and required me putting apart the nut with some wire cutters, which was time under the sink. I remember my stepdad doing the same thing when I was a kid. He included a lot more swearing. I thought it was going fairly well, so I did not feel so inclined. But there are times.
I got a whole new tap and sprayer. It was my chance to do as I promised myself I would the last time I replaced in the same spot. I got a taller one that we can stand the coffee reservoirs under, so nobody has to stand there and hold it at an angle while it fills anymore. Little things that improve productivity. Now the reservoirs get filled all the way, too. Meanwhile I can do other things, like grad my cup down from the cupboard. Little things that make the difference. It’s amazing how fresh the whole sink looks now.
So, that’s the kinds of things going on here lately. It is not as productive on the farm side as I would like it to be. But I am getting at more things now with the pain subsided from the joint inflammation I have suffered from for so many years. It has made such a difference. Now I have to fight the old habits of not being active because of the pain that is no longer there. But doing things like laying under the sink in a way that I know would have killed me a year ago, and not suffering for it is sure helping to lift my spirits.