I woke up this morning around 2:45 and noticed the ghostly sound of children screaming. Turned out it was just the wind. I was out doing chores last night and noticed the tarp had blown off the hay pile. Well, that will never do. That is one of those fixes that has got to be handled immediately when the forecast suggests rain. I put the tarp back on and fastened it down as best I could with all the bungee cords I could find. The big tarp is not in great shape, and the grommets are not all in place. So, fastening it down was not straightforward. After waking up this morning, I found myself lay in bed listening to the wind and theorizing on the best way to fasten a tarp so that the wind does not catch it and flap it to pieces. The conclusion I came to was ropes pulled taught, not tight, and one on every grommet to prevent any flapping. No metal to prevent any tearing of the tarp too. But it’s too late for the tarp we have at the moment.
I finally got up and dressed, then went out to give it a look when I realized I had nothing else to do but worry about the hay. Our whole winter’s supply is in one stack, and if it gets wet, rots, then generates heat and catches on fire, then we lose everything all at one. That is not acceptable at all. I need to do something about that.
When I went out, I took the tractor along, and it provided lots of light and the loader provided a step to help me up onto the pile of hay to try to get a handle on the bit that I found flapping lose. That is very destructive to a tarp! It also left the two new big bales exposed. The grommets were gone along that edge, so I did what I could do, which was to grab the trailer for the lawn mower and put it on top of the tarp on the hay pile. Naturally, the lovely loader on the tractor did all the lifting! I should go out and buy a new tarp in the morning and put it on before the weather takes a turn for the worse. Saying that, it was nearly 60F out when I was out messing about with the tarp!
In other news on the farm, the electrician came to do the job of installing panels in our two outbuildings yesterday. I am at ease with the work that needs to be done from the panel to each light and outlet. But putting in a proper installation from the service to the panes was not something I was comfortable with. We put in an underground cable, and it required a splice to come to the two buildings, and that was also something I worried about. But having seen it now, I think I could do the same work to some sort of smaller scale if needed in the future. But I foresee only a single breaker from the cottage out to the chicken coop in my future. They could use light and some heat for their water. I also would love to see some lights on the exterior of the barn to help illuminate against the wild animals that come visiting.
In addition to electrifying the cottage, I also will be able to give the shop a proper installation of electrical outlets and lighting. I have been working off of an extension cord thus far, which is ridiculous and unsafe. It also meant leaving a gap in a window on the front porch for the cord to lead out of. I’ll be able to close that up and see how warm we can actually get it out there in the near future. Furthermore, I will be able to install things like my welder in the shop and run enough power to install dust collection and proper power tools and such. I would also like to arrange easy access for a fridge to sell eggs from the front of the shop, near the road. I would also like very much to get a bandsaw in the shop that will allow me to make some flat stock, do some resawing, and make some blanks for the lathe. This is all very exciting stuff! Let’s hope Home Depot has got the breakers I need in stock when I go later in the day!
Progress is always a wonderful thing!