March Madness

Friday:

Rebuilding, part of a daily work out.
The gates in the foreground were for bringing animals in and out of the pasture. I removed the pen, posts, and wire. The foreground in this shot will be returned to a grassy area now that I have only three mules.
 

I just have the one heavy gate and the white posts to remove now and wait for Frank to come with his dozer and level everything out. I still need the 'catch' pen to remove one mule at a time for trimming or riding. If I halter one animal, the rest want to join in.

So I moved the panels and made a new and nicer pen than the old one. The gals all fit comfortably in it. If I open the pasture side gate, they all just walk in. It is a nice place to groom them and put them back out in their pasture.

I'm hoping for some nice weather without the high winds to take out Siera and Sunshine and saddle them up for a spin in the field next to them. The farrier will be out in a week or so to do their trims and I'll be doing their spring haircuts.

Saturday:

On to the old Buick LeSabre Saga. Among other things.

The Junker Dudes showed up early. I had to get after them as they'd used my yard with the leach field in it to turn around. This after I'd cautioned them not to a few days ago.

I guess I'll put up posts with Crime Scene Tape to remind them.

In the meantime, the guys that purchased the old Buick showed up. I couldn't have asked for more polite young men. They jacked the car up, replaced the tires and opened up the trunk.

The trunk contained....drum roll....Romance Novels, crutches, umbrella, and nothing of any worth. The guys said they'd take the old tires and dispose of them along with the junk in the trunk.

They just about got the old car on the trailer when....

something broke and the car went freewheeling down the hill into the forest. There was a lot of shouting and one of them jumped in the vehicle and stopped it before it went into the trees.

These guys are also friends with Frank who plows, so I suggested that they call Frank and ask permission to use the Skid Steer. Frank agreed.

The LeSabre was loaded safely with a slightly damaged bumper and I earned some cash. They promised to send me photos of the modifications they did to the car.

The guys then thought they'd take a gander at the old Toyota Truck in the shed. The guy in the dark sweatshirt above saw it and whistled. "It's one of those barn finds! This is a diamond!" The boys checked out the engine and clean interior. 

Junker Don came in and said he'd offer me $100 for it. He knew a guy.

The boys looked at him like he was from another planet.

Junker Don went back to loading his trailer. The boys told me that this Classic Car was worth from $2K to $5K. I told them to get back to me with a buyer and we shook.

When I walked out, Junker Don said, "I thought that truck would go with the rest of the scrap." 

I said, "Sure it could. If anyone wants to bid over $5 thousand for it."

Junker Don then looked like he was going to argue. He must have seen my face because he started asking if I'd give him the Skill Saw, the Drill Press...

I saw where this was going and replied. "You are here for the scrap. The power tools and all tools stay, that is what we agreed on."

He did a big sigh and a shrug as if I'd hurt his feelings.

Guess what. I finally was able to get the big shed door closed and locked. I guess I have to be here now to keep an eye on the scrappers.

Closed and locked. First time I've been able to do that in 10 years. 

The money is in the vehicle and the power tools and I'm going to keep an eye on that and insist on being here when the scrappers come again.

All of that before 10:30 in the morning. 

Life on the farm can get hectic.

I spent the afternoon with a girlfriend and her family. We went hiking and enjoyed each others company. The temps were cold but in the valley it was pleasant.

That is the end of my Wild Saturday! I think I earned a beer!

The next project

I should take photos of what I am doing. A before... and some in between shots of progress.

I got tired of the 'waiting' for things to happen. Rich kept saying that he was going to get out to the shed and organize things.
In truth, since his stroke, he hasn't had any interest in going out there except when he was to use the skid steer to plow.

Last year the Pulmonary Emboli set him back again. And now? He hasn't ventured to the big old shed at all. I don't think it is a good place for him now anyway with his lung damage. It is dirty, dusty, bird poop, mouse poop, and ... well you get the point. Dirt and dust have a way of accumulating.

In the shed---- once upon a time--- Rich started to work on an Allis Chalmers tractor. He pulled part of the engine out. And then decided to find a larger one at an auction. He did find one and used it for a long time. Until he decided he wanted a skid steer. So he got a tiny one from another fellow that lasted for about 8 hrs before it broke down. He started to take that apart until he decided it was too hard to fix.

Now we have a pretty nice skid steer. It can do the jobs of either old tractor and the tiny skid steer. One tractor and one skid steer have become fixtures in the shed. Along with a Toyota pickup he purchased for hunting. It needed a master cylinder. It still needs that but hasn't run since he parked it there.

Indeed. We can't move that! The bed of that truck is where fencing supplies got stacked.
There are broken down boxes of all sorts of huge bolts pails of nails, light fixtures, metal chunks of 'stuff' plastic pvc pipes and a bit of this ... and that scattered everywhere.

I want to put a stall back in the shed for the elder mules this winter. I was pretty amazed how organizing 'stuff' can open up space. I decided to go on a hunt and gather long pieces of metal...I've been moving all of it to one part of the shed. Aluminum in one section and other metals in another.
Eventually I just stacked and decided not to separate things. I just wanted to move the stuff.

I collected all the shovels and put them in a huge plastic barrel. I have more shovels than I can ever use!

Before this year, the 'stuff' in the shed was off limits to me. It was Rich's personal man space. Now I have told him what I was doing and he just looks at me.

The guy I used to know would have had a cow if I organized HIS stuff. This guy seems vaguely aware that I am doing something. He has asked me not to throw things out.

Well, the scraps of metal will get loaded and taken away.
As will the old tires.
But my neighbor and I had a discussion about the 'stuff'. He said he'd been at auctions where ... he waves at the stack of metal is leaning, the wood that is leaning against another wall, and the buckets of bolts....along with rolls of barbed wire....
"People go nuts for this stuff! Sell it at auction!"


He has a point. I've seen used T posts sell for more than what a person can buy them new.

I am wearing a dust mask. When I peel back an old tarp to reveal a prize underneath it...I am amazed and the air is turned into a cloud of nasty un-breathable dust.
I knew my husband collected things he purchased at auctions and I always cringed when he came home and unloaded his precious cargo into the shed.
It has been an ongoing fight since he started to fill the shed after filling the small shed and the garage. I called it crap, he called it useful stuff. And once in a while he'd prove it to me too.
Something would need fixing and he'd disappear into one of the buildings and come out with the parts that would were needed. Or he'd grab some metal and cut and weld it, fabricating a custom hay fork for the skid steer, or modifying a plow.

The garage was crushed by falling trees 6 years ago. That is a project that will have to be hired out. It too is on my list.

The shed was supposed to be an indoor riding arena for me. That really never happened.

Maybe one day yet? Well. After an auction, that is. Lots of treasures are in that shed!

I am very happy though that the other end of the shed has plenty of open space for our winter hay.

I guess I need to take some photos of the place. Be prepared, it is ugly!

I figured this would be a good October-November project. I'm sort of wondering if I bit off more than I could chew. However, I'd like to create enough space to park the lawn mower, the 4 wheeler and the working skid steer in the shed and have enough room to lead mules in and out and of course pull out my sled of hay and sweet feed each day.

I'm even looking forward to the day when I can park my Subaru and Truck in there. At once time we could park everything inside.

I will be happy with just getting the stall set up before the weather turns really bad.

Dust mask, gloves, and coveralls! Yipee!