I did Nothing Today

Yep about all I did today was get out of bed. Well OK I did start a fire in the wood furnace, cleaned the kitchen and made dinner but other than that it was a lay around reading all day...day.

I was kept company by my vibrating neck pillow otherwise known as the supervisor cat most of the day as well.

We alternated between reading the nook, chasing blog and news articles and napping. I had a list of things that could be done even considering the rain, wind and cold. I really thought about doing one or more of them.

Then I went back to sleep.

I think it was the evil cat's influence that did it.

I actually came across a couple of articles that almost motivated me to posting. One about a retired general pushing a popular (peaceful) uprising and another about old racist White Guys from over at Salon. In the end I just couldn't get motivated enough to care today.

Earlier this morning the powerline crew showed up out of the blue with another load of wood chips. I haven't even spread out all they left me this Summer yet and they are bringing me more. I thought they were gone for another six years but they told me there is a new line they are putting in nearby and really hoped I could take some more loads from em.

I'm like sure dump away.

Let me tell you guys those wood chips have been a savior taking care of several problem spots I had with mud and ruts. It used to be the back of the barn was impossible to use during and after heavy rains (or even light rains truth be told) and the area around the gates were a mess as well. Not anymore. No one is even bothering with mud boots this year now.

I have wasted hundreds of dollars on gravel going into those areas and it just sinks and disappears but putting down a thick layer of these chips has totally changed the entire climate. Eventually I know the chips will decay but I am hoping if I let them set a year or so then they will make a perfect base to place the gravel over and stop the constant erosion and mud pit problems. It also is buying me some time to figure out a drainage system for the barn. Most of the problems really stem from the drainage off the barn roof.

My next project is going to be a rain catchment system off the barn and a way to harness it into filling the stock tanks. I have a plan I am working on but the main obstacles at the moment are having no area I can really put any pipe underground without going really deep due to heavy equipment running over it. Unlike the house system I don't really have the option of using all gravity feed easily. The barn roof also collects up literally thousands of gallons of water where the house system only gets a few hundred gallons so we are looking at much larger cost and storage considerations and it has to be two separate systems, there is no way to run them together with the doors and utility roads coming in.

Really before doing that I need to lay out the permanent fences and gates but it may be more efficient to have the rain water system laid out first.

Time to put the ethnic engineering skills to work once again I guess.

My farm pond repair project is now on hold for a few months. It hold just enough water as is to be unworkable until it dries. I reckin that won't be until maybe July now.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!