Progression and work.

 First a shot of the pile of 'scrap' as it progresses with the old scrap Dude Don and his brother.

14th of March, my son, Jeremie,  is working on cleaning up in front of the crushed garage.

The 24th of March. Not a huge difference, but the two riding mowers that were buried in the weeds were moved out next to where I park. I asked Don what did he intended to do with them. I was afraid the mowers would be left there in my way.

He'll be back Saturday with his trailer and winch. The mowers will finally find their way to Mower Heaven. 

In June of 2013 we had a huge rainfall with extreme winds that dropped trees on our garage. Our

vehicles were not damaged. 
But the garage was.
The cars were not parked in the garage

at that time.

Rich got sick the next year, so
we never got around to fixing things.

This is the part of the winter 'pasture' and a small pen we used for the special needs equine we raised that needed special daily care and that was close enough to the house that we could walk out and take care of them. Eventually that part of the yard became part of the pasture.

I've decided to return it to yard this year so I started pulling all the t-posts and collecting the hot wire. 

I finally did get that one fence post in the photo pulled after some more heaving and pushing.

I pulled and moved 25 t-posts. 

The view out the window in the future will show a mowed yard where the yellow is and further out will be a field. I plan on riding in the field. 

The equipment that is to the left of this photo will be sold at auction. Two manure spreaders, two trailers, a tractor and other 'good' stuff that had become part of our landscape.

I'll fence the meadow back in after the bulldozer has done its work and I've seeded it down. Over the summer, it will be brush hogged to keep the weeds down. I don't want to use it as pasture for a long time. With only 3 mules, I don't need as much pasture.

The big shed looks like a disaster area at the moment, but sort of an organized disaster. Don and his brother are quickly sorting, the good, the bad, the ugly. I keep the ugly. Like old tarps, nasty old cardboard boxes, broken plastic pails, and other such wonderful things. 

All of the tools stay along with all of the wood working tables, welders, and other things that will go well at an auction. 

I am simply amazed at how well these guys work. I will spend Sunday tagging things around the other shed that I don't wish them to take. There is a nice chain link kennel that I will save along with a few other things. 

Once they go in the busted old garage, I can have Frank come an demolish it.

Below is a photo of part of the north end of the summer meadow. Pat--the guy who will do Forest Mulching will clear this section for both the mules and I. 

When the mules are rotated out of this area, the pups and I will be practicing camp outs. Years ago hubby had a deer stand in that mess. 

I've climbed into it and love the view. Pat will clear out all the briars and brush around it so I can sit above the forest and watch the day break.

I've yearned to do all of this work for many years. Rich always felt he could get back at it. 

His scrap stuff was his baby. He used to do scrap work and earn money. He also used the scrap to create things that we needed around the farm. His talent in welding was known far and wide.

This 'stuff' was his, he couldn't part with it even when he was sick and dying. I honored him by not nagging [too much] about getting rid of the 'stuff'. I almost feel guilty about sending his 'stuff' off with Don and his brother.

The pen in front of the house will be returned to yard with a flower garden to attract bees, birds, and butterflies.

On Wednesday afternoon, I did take some time out for myself. Charlie is always under the weather for a few days after his Distemper shot. Hannah had a booster, so the two of us took a late afternoon hike at the Reserve. We visited the ponds and listened to thousands of Peepers!

We saw some turtles and watched some Canada Geese.

Hannah and I met some bird watchers. We talked about puppies, turtles, geese, swans, and beavers. Then we continued on our little walk.

Hannah had her first solo hike without Charlie and led the way.

I let Hannah trace our steps back and she did an excellent job at it. She retraced our trail almost step by step until we got to the Visitor's Center.

I cannot believe how much work I've been able to get done this month. I had figured it would take me years to accomplish anything noticeable.

But

I know a guy

is working.

The Tour and Vet Visit

So my girlfriend asked me if I'd ever been to the Amish Walmart and I said no. So after CrossFit I jumped in her car and we took off.

We took one back road after another after another on to narrow twisted roads and eventually ended up at this huge ridgetop building. 

In the areas around the building was yards of farm things. Hay feeders, fencing, gates, chains, tubs, planting pots, and more things than I could even identify.

Inside the store were rows of all sorts of tools mixed up with leather works, reins, bridles, walking sticks, and cookware. Kitchen stuff filled one isle. Nothing fancy and colorful but all useful items for any country kitchen.

Out back there were old fashioned blocks and tackle, used bricks, glass bricks, chicken feeders, and more mindboggling things that I couldn't identify.

I did find a few things I wanted. Homemade chocolate bars with mint inside. Yum. Amish Candy is really tasty. I also purchased a pack Gingerbread Cookies.

My friend then took me to the Amish bulk food store on another back road. Bulk flour, all sorts of it. Gluten flour, bulk seasonings, noodles, and anything you might want to cook with. I don't do bulk or cook from scratch, but I did find some homemade sesame chips. I think in the summer time, this store has fresh veggies from different farms so that is worth noting.

And we were not done yet. Our last stop was at the Bent and Dent Amish Store. I picked up some breakfast cereal for .85 cents, some mayo for $1, and a few other things. The store probably doesn't have the same stuff all of the time. I saw some bruised boxes but mostly things were not bent and dented. Surprisingly, this store was quite busy with mostly older people. I could see why. 

None of these places are advertised at all. It is another one of those rural things. Word of mouth and directions on how to get there.

When I got home I'd seen that the scrapper guys had been by again. I will have to ask them not to leave things in the middle of the shed when they are done for the day as I use that area bring out hay. 

They'd pulled two dead mowers out into the yard so I'll have to ask what is up with that. Are they taking them or planning on leaving them in my way.

I had to get the dogs ready to see the vet. Charlie had his annual visit and Distemper shot. Hannah need to start her boosters.

Thankfully, my vet is not owned by a corporation. Her prices are actually reasonable. 

Charlie knew what was coming. He shook and vibrated. The vet was so sweet in getting him to relax while she examined him. He did take treats from her after it was all over.

Dr. Grimm [she is not grim, she is super sweet!] examined Hannah and feels that she has a Dachshund in her background somewhere. She said Rat Terrier's didn't have such long toplines. Someone suggested doing a doggie DNA. I'm happy knowing she is Terrier and something else. Good enough for me.

I don't think I need to spend $$$ on finding out that my dog is a mutt.

Photo below is of the two of them both occupying my lap while waiting for the vet in the exam room.  

Ahhh! The funniest part was when they took Charlie for a nail trim. I do try to do them at home and do somewhat of a good job, but they do much better.

Charlie is a howler when getting his nails trimmed. He screams and howls as if being murdered. Apparently he lays on the table, wags his tail and screams bloody murder. 

I heard the receptionist on the phone explain to a client that all the racket was just a due to a dog that was a bit dramatic and vocal about getting his nails trimmed.

We were all exhausted when we got home. 

What a day.

Hannah goes back for another booster in 3 weeks and will get scheduled to be spayed in June. Dr. Grimm waits for that age for full development of the parts that need to be surgically removed. 

What a busy week. And it was only Tuesday!

3 weeks with Hannah....and flowers

I found this brave crocus pushing up through the grass just before the blizzard hit. I figured it would be crushed by the ice and snow. We had 6 to 10 inches depending on where the winds blew.

Three days after the blizzard I found one crocus blossoming and more pushing up through the yard.

By Saturday we had a record breaking 83 degrees and the crocuses decided to celebrate the warm day.

But having a pup and an older dog do require nearly 24 hour supervision.

I've been taking the 'kids' for walks and looking for interesting small things before spring bursts forth with all the amazing wildflowers.

I've been searching out Lichen and Mosses as they are so colorful right now.

The mosses are sending out new sporophytes right now. I think of it as flowering.

I took my charges with me for a morning hike to look for pretty things. It was also a good opportunity to start showing Hannah what to do when I stop and take pictures.

She did pretty well. Of course the hazards of having dogs along while doing macro photography can have its consequences. 

Just as I snapped this, Charlie went through behind the Lego Rabbit and Hannah followed. 

Patience pays off and I finally got the shot I wanted.

When we got back I got a nice surprise.

Things went from this....

to this with no hassle. Warm sunshine is such an equalizer!

By evening after a lot of yard work and a few walks to find more cool mosses....

the unthinkable happened. 

Hannah crept up next to Charlie and slowly eased next to him [on HIS sacred couch!]. 

Curiously both dogs had to be touching me in some way too. 

Hannah can still be a sharp toothed Terror but she has figured out who is boss and how far she can push him before he gives her a warning.

This was just too sweet. What a great way to end my day.

Happy International Puppy Day

Seriously? I couldn't believe it, but there it is!

The first three are Hannah and the last photo is of Charlie 8 years ago in March when I first got him.

 

and Charlie now....still adorable.

I know a Guy

The internet isn't all it is cracked up to be. The old "I know a guy" word of mouth is so much faster and interesting.

I don't know how to explain it.

Frank, the plow guy said, "I know some guys." 

This was when I was exploring a way to get rid of my MIL's old Buick LeSabre [2005] that had been parked in my yard since 2018. We took it from her when she was told that she could no longer drive. She had dementia and other health issues. So we parked it in our yard so she wouldn't kill someone on the road. We paid a heavy price of anger for that, but she soon forgot she had a car.

My husband wouldn't let go of the vehicle so it sat there in the weeds being a home to mice and other varmints since March of 2018. It became a fixture like you find in  many rural farms. 

Hubby often said he wanted to make sure that nothing of value was left in the car. He never went out to check. 

There might be some Romance Novels and many mouse nests, but nothing of real value. We argued about it often. But I relented as it was something he couldn't let go of even after her death in 2020.

Some young guys showed up today and said that Frank [the plow guy] had alerted them to a car they might be interested in. They wanted to buy it for a Demo Derby car.  

I told them that this would be a fantastic legacy for my MIL who was a speed demon and daredevil driver even in her 80's. She had a lead foot and a penchant for reckless driving. The gents explained how they would modify the vehicle for a Demolition Derby. They didn't even need a title or keys. 

I sold it for a paltry $100. It will be out of our 'junk' yard in the next two weeks.

Frank had asked me earlier in the winter about Rich's truck. It had been sitting in another part of the yard since 2018 also. I said I'd trade it for some plowing. 

In our area a barter deal is a good deal. Frank is dependable and honest.

Frank is going to use parts of this truck to rejuvenate one of his trucks which apparently is the same model and make.

I think I've gotten my money's worth this winter out of that truck. We've had a lot of storms and Frank has cleaned our place up.

Pat came out just before the blizzard and gave me an estimate for some work I was looking to have done. 

I hired Pat a few years ago to fix some electrical issues we were having. He has done work for us a few times. He is dependable, reasonable, and does not talk down to females. 

Pat expanded his business to include Excavating, Brush Hogging, and Forest Mulching. 

When we walked back from the summer pasture, he looked around and  asked if I was looking to clean up and get rid of the scrap from my sheds and busted garage. 

"I know a guy," he told me. Of course. Everyone knows a guy....it seems.

That guy -- Don, called me the following week. He and his brother came out to our place and had a 'looksee' around.

Scrappers. They collect metal and take it to the scrap yard for $$. 

Don and his brother took the free farm tour with me. 

They are two elderly guys who do this as a supplement to their retirement. They often go in after an auction and clean up the 'junk' left behind. The auction companies hire them for clean up.

My husband collected 'stuff'. He had piles of stuff to take for scrap. He had piles of stuff for fabricating items for tractors and skid steers. He was a welder who could fix most anything. 

He was a creative welder. I never knew him when he had a welding shop, but apparently he was legendary. 

Outside the machine shed is one of his piles of 'stuff' and leftovers from projects.

He knew every piece of metal and its location. IF I moved anything, he could tell.

I couldn't ever approach him with the idea of having someone come in to clean things up. Pictured below is the crushed garage [full of stuff] and the scrap pile around it. 

He used old hay racks to make attachments for his skid steer. Other long pieces of metal were used to cut and create other things. He was the guy who could take an Oliver loader arm and bucket and modify it to fit an Allis Chalmer tractor. 

Below is the entrance to our huge shed. We built it for an indoor arena and round pen for my mule training. He was able to fill it with a lot of 'stuff'. I'm sort of embarrassed to show this photo. 

However Don the scrap dude was impressed. He was amazed at the amount of 'stuff' that was in the shed, the garage, and in the little red shed.

The next shot is also just outside our large machine shed. He complimented me on the amount of stuff Rich had collected. Don was also happy that it was somewhat organized [to his eyes????] and not in one big pile.

In the shed there is a 1980's vintage Toyota 4X4 pick up. The scrap guys said ... You guessed it: I know a guy.

The guy would take the old truck and give me some $$ for it. I wonder ... if he knows a guy.

Honestly. There is no way in heck that I am going through all of the buildings and scrapping stuff out on my own. It is dirty, and it would take me years to haul and sort the stuff. I would even have to purchase a running truck and a trailer. --> that is not going to happen!

It will be more efficient for me to have the scrappers pay me a fee and for them to do the work. I could hire a company to come in and clean things up. That would cost me over $2,500. 

Don and his brother will pay me a fee I set which should pay for my next winter's LP for heat [unless of course the war -- not war leaves our country without heating fuel].

I like the "I know a guy" network. It surely is better than going on FB marketplace and getting all sorts of crazy yahoos coming to our remote farm. 

Word of mouth is still valuable even in this age of the internet. 

I love the

Good ol' Boy Network

Porch Puppies

Another doggone post.

Picture below: we were working on recall and Hannah comes to me when I bend down and whistle or clap my hands.

She knows that 2 out of 3 times there is a kibble in my hand for her when she gets to me. She has to sit for it [I don't do that on command, we start with positioning the kibble above her nose. She sits and she gets it. I am starting to add the vocal 'sit' but she won't get it for a while yet.]

 

Recall is one of the most important things to teach a dog. It literally saved the life of Missy who was a Lab X Samoyed dog I had when my kids were very young. We'd just moved to a farm with a busy highway. Missy saw kids in the yard across the highway and went to greet them just as a Kemps Semi was barreling down the road.

I called out her name and yelled the only thing that came to mind. "Down!" Missy dropped to her chest mid stride and lay in the ditch as the semi blew its horn as it passed.

"Free!" and "Come" were my next commands and she ran as hard as she could to me and sat on my left side. 

She was an incredible dog. I had taken a 10 week course in Obedience with her in the 1980's. Training methods were much different then.

When I got my first Terrier [Fiest], I had no clue as to how to train something that was only 10 inches tall and full of crazy and attitude.

Xena had her own mind and was aggressive and nuts. She hunted on her own once in a while and would return to our place when she felt like it. She was beautiful and loyal to me. She definitely had a mind of her own though.

She was the longest lived of her litter mates who were all extremely aggressive. Her temperament with me was fine. She didn't tolerate other humans even though I tried socializing her. 

She lived until she was 4. We surmise that she got into a barn and ate rats that had been poisoned.

Xena, the warrior princess. 

Morris was the next Terrier I got in 2005. Crazy us, we decided to try again....

He came from very quiet and well behaved Jack Russell parents. 

He was so easy to be with, it was insane.

He went to work with me often and was the official patient greeter.

He literally would do anything for anyone. His biggest love was riding with Badger and I on adventures.

He followed the grandkids around like a little protector. We were so lucky to have him for nearly 15 years.

When he died, I couldn't bare to try another Jack Russell. I came home with Charlie [Daschsund X Pekinese]. He is totally different in temperament and demeanor. He is reserved, stoic, gentle, and is a Velcro dog. 

He's never met a person he didn't love through and through.

So .. I strayed quite a bit. Hannah Belle. 

So far she is a quick study. She is afraid of noises, a me too dog, and energetic.

I hope I can maintain her recall and continue to work on her manners along with all the other things she needs to learn. 

Yesterday, she and Charlie were porch puppies. She was content to be tied up to stay on the porch while I cleaned mule tails and groomed them.

When I put her up on the bench with Charlie later on, this happened:

Being a 3 month old [on the 24th] is hard work. So much to learn and absorb!

I went back to a Terrier mix [Terror Mix] because they are so high energy. Now the challenge is to see if I can work with her and we can become a dynamic trio.

So far. So good.