Sunday, December 13, 2015

Sunday Reading - A Nasty Rainy Bad Day - Updated





I dislike rainy days. Oh sure when we go through a drought or an extreme dry period I am the first to start proclaiming I will never complain about rain again and all that but the truth is rain simply sucks when it is happening no matter what.

So I got up this morning at about 6AM and it was raining. The real purpose of my getting up a bit early was to get the critters all taken care of and then hit the friend's woodlot I been clearing out. Well no point of that as hard as it was pouring down so I went back to bed.

I forgot to reset my alarm.

When I woke up at 8:30 Mrs. PP started telling me the bad news. It seems whenever my mother has to do something like feed by herself it always has to be accompanied by a freight train of drama and bad news. I couldn't tell you why but there does seem to be a real pattern here.

First off I am told the donkey got out. No one knows where or how but she is in the barn now. I suspect if it's not someone having left a gate open she slipped out under the electric fence. That fence was suppose to last a month or so and it's now been in use for over a year because of the fence project set backs. Of course this news was followed with how my mother (who owns the damned donkey anyway) had to chase her all the way to the neighbor's house in the dark...yadda yadda. Well that donkey moves at about 2 yards a minute on a good day so she must have had one hell of a head start to make it half a mile.

No one bothered to close the main door on the barn and of course guess which way the rain is coming from? Ya that one. So the front part of the barn is now soaked along with two bags of sweet feed for the horses.

And they were happy to report, while chuckling, that the wheel barrow lost a wheel. I find it rather odd how things always seem to break when I am not around but someone else has to do something at an unpleasant time around here for one thing. For another it never ceases to amaze me how entertaining my mother finds things being broke that requires someone else, almost always me, to now fix.

The broken wheel barrow brings up another question though in why anyone had their hands on it to begin with. It's pouring down rain which means there is no outside feeding going on. Hence no reason the wheel barrow should have been moved. The sheep aren't going out in this and so the hay would be thrown into the stalls not wheeled out to the mangers. To top it off there is a spacer missing now off the axle and of course said spacer is no where to be found so the wheel had to fall off somewhere other than where the thing sits.

That spacer was only plastic anyway so I imagine I can fix it if I have some PVC pipe the right diameter but the entire affair is rather suspect to me.

Of course all the animals are unhappy as well and constantly getting in my face wanting me to open the door so they can check to see if it is still raining and now I need to go walk around and try and figure out where that damned donkey got out. I know she hates walking through that muddy area at the gate so she was probably trying to find an alternate way to travel between pastures.

I guess I will wait for a slack period and run out there and grain the sheep while I can then try and figure out where the fence issue is.

It just seems funny that all this stuff happens on rainy days though.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!


Well the wheel barrow is fixed. I found a proper sized PVC pipe in the shop. Well almost proper sized it was a bit too tight so I reamed it out with a wood bit a little then it fit perfectly. A squirt or two of grease and it should work for years. The sheep are all fed and tucked in for the night. A bit early no doubt but not by that much and I gave em extra rations and another bail of hay to keep em occupied.

I didn't get the fence looked at but since the horses aren't running all over the countryside I am pretty sure she slipped out under the electric fence. She is going to get to stay in her deluxe large stall for at least another night I guess and maybe tomorrow before it stops raining and I can go look at the fence.

Rocky is using this rainy day to get better acquainted with the new hens. About four of them have now started actually venturing outside with the older hens now. By the looks of things going on in the barn while I was down there fixing the wheel barrow I would say this rain day went a long ways in getting the two groups more comfortable with each other and I noticed a lot more mixing this afternoon.

Of course they ate more of the actual chicken feed today than they have consumed in a month.

Only thing left to do now is bed the chickens down in a few hours.


18 comments:

  1. My theory is that it is usually better in the long run to just do everything myself.

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    1. Sf - Ya I hear ya. I have usually went with the same philosophy. I didn't mean to go back to bed for so long, guess I needed it but I sure did pay for it.

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  2. This should cheer you (& the goats) up:

    http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/caroling_goats/

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  3. sounds like when it rains it pours at your house Tee hee snicker pardon the pun. Thats a lot of got out, broke, fix it going on there :O)...

    It has been raining, pouring all weekend here, Flooding all over. muddy mushy mess here let me tell ya...

    But the silver lining is I got beehives!! Ok not bees but the hive boxes, the frames, the smoker, well what I have to have to get bees in the spring! Two sets ups!!!! I have to get it all painted before spring but they are assembled already so all I have to do is paint them! I am sooooooooooo excited! I will get my bees ordered this week so I make sure to get them come spring!

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    1. Texan - That's excellent!!! I would capture swarms if I was you but you may not want to wait or take the chance. It is about time to put in Spring orders right now too!!!

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  4. Ah, blame that ol' guy name Murphy and his lousy 'law'. He's such a troublemaker.

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    1. hobo - Yes he is!!!

      and he appears to have some sort of relationship with the Women-folk around here too :)

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  5. I finished the bunny outbuilding and will make the cages this coming week. I have bunnies comming end of february and it's going to be a father / daughter project raising them.

    Exile1981

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    1. Exile - Nice!! I have never been into rabbit very much. Around here they get worms so very bad it kinda turned me off of them. My grandfather LOVED them however.

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    2. Mine are certified worm free and i'm cage raising so no access to anything that can give them worms.

      Exile1981

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    3. Exile - Oh I am sure yours are and you will raise em right and worm free. The one's around here just kinda scared me for life is all I meant :)

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  6. Lots of rain here too, creating lots of mud, the Alpacas have been moved to give them a rest from the mud, I dont mind the rain and I dont mind the wind but hate it when they come together :-)

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    1. Dawn - The sheep don't create much mud here, even in their high traffic areas. In fact they tend to make it dry faster.

      The horses on the other hand.....

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  7. I am so sorry, but you did make me smile. Thank you. A smile is such a precious thing to give to someone.......

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    1. Vera - Heh if ya can't laugh at yourself and all. I was pretty exasperated at the time but it all got fixed pretty quick. Except I did leave the donkey in the barn as a kind of punishment :)

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  8. Well at least you caught up on some sleep? Our horses get out once in a while when a tree falls on the electric fence and takes it out or a heavy rain trips it. It's always worrisome while we try to round them up and figure out where the fence is down before they stray too far. It isn't a big deal when they get out on one side, as it's still on our land. But there is another side in the largest pasture that when they get out it is a nightmare. We put in a bunch of more solid posts this fall in hopes that if it goes out at some point this winter, they won't wander over it on the back side.

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    Replies
    1. Lisa - I have pretty much found that the electric fence is only good for the horses. Everything else kinda looks at it like a mere suggestion. I really should do more line maintenance on the fence but I kept hoping it was just going to go away.

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