The Fixer

So. 
Basically the doc said I should be okay unless something more happens. In simple terms my older eye had stuff that is pulling on the retina. It caused the flashes of light and the weird things. 
Take it easy, don't be lifting a lot of weight. I'm not sure he understood that 15 to 50 lbs is not much weight to me, but for now I'm going with it. I will behave myself and put myself on 'light duty' for now.
I was told it is okay to hike but be reasonable. Pfft.

The Fixer. Well, that's me. 

Hubby couldn't get the skid steer started after he charged up the battery.

The man is a whiz with a skid steer and we've had a few of them over the years. This last one is his pride and joy. He came in the house frustrated and out of breath. He dropped on the couch and proclaimed that he was good for nothing.

I made a couple of phone calls. One to the guy who was fixing the mower. It will be delivered tonight or tomorrow night.
I called St. Joseph Equipment Company and they had a guy in the area.

I swear, if IT has an engine, I cannot fix it. Give me a dog, a horse, a mule, or even a donkey and I can get them to do most anything for me. Anything that uses gas? They are mysteries.

The electronics wouldn't work because the battery had died and the switches all shut off and needed resetting and a relay went bad. It took the tech guy about an hour to figure it all out and he was super nice [I'm sure the bill will be nice also].

I gave Rich the news and he beamed, he can't wait to get out and grade the driveway. I worked out a plan with Stan the Tech to get Rich out at least every two weeks to keep the 'steer' running. Stan also laughed and offered to take our machine to his house and bring it back when we needed it. He could keep it busy!

These machines like to work. 

And before Rich got ill, our skid steer was always busy. 
Like clearing brush and going into places to get stuck.....

Or digging out an Oak stump that we were told couldn't be dug out. Um, yeah, he stuck it good and we used a truck and a tractor to get it out of the hole, but by golly he did move the stump out!

Back in the day, Rich would often get a supervisor to ride along for easy work. Morris loved riding in the skid steer with Rich.

One year we used it to transport a Dexter Cow into the shed when she was injured.

And this is the machine that has always done the chores around the place, the heavy lifting and moving of large bales of hay, plowing snow, digging a grave for a beloved equine, or pushing downed trees out of the way so they could be cut up.

This machine is where Rich feels joy. 

He is chomping at the bit to get out tomorrow and do some 'skid steerin'. 

The Fixer put a smile back on his face.

It was a good day.

And yes, I am following the doctor's advice and have a follow up in 3 weeks.

This turned out to be a good day. The other half is still smiling.

The Skid Steer is...

BACK!

Well, it was here all the time but it is now back together and operable.



Ohhh what a good feeling. Justin helped, well...Justin did the work and I was the tool go-fer. Poor Justin, he asked for a particular type of tool and I brought back the 'thingies' I thought he wanted. I actually got it right most of the time and what a pleasant surprise. He didn't get frustrated.

I guess that is the difference between husband and wife teams.... and the old lady neighbor and the kind young neighbor man. 
Lauren and I laughed about that phenomenon and decided that if we the wives...broke something, we should ask the other spouse to help fix it.

Justin was having a hard time getting the metal tracks back on, we kept falling short by less than an inch. Justin suggested letting some air out of the tires.
How brilliant. We had it put back together in no time and parked safely in the shed. All of the tires had been low and was probably the cause of the issue in the first place.
Live and learn.

Of course Rich still insists that I was the culprit and remains quite touchy about the subject. Even when Justin explained that the other tires only had 30 psi of air in them when they should have 60, he would not relent.

Very low tire pressure will pop the bead off with side pressure from the metal tracks. However that pure and simple explanation wouldn't work and Rich just got more agitated.

I know this is frustration on Rich's part of not having the desire or the ability right now to get out and climb in 'his' favorite piece of equipment.

He even got angry and started yelling at me after supper when I asked if I should add diesel fuel additive. He slammed his hands on the table making his supper dishes rattle and grabbed his cane and oxygen, exiting the kitchen and sat down in front of the screen to watch his current binging program.
Some days it is like living with a bi polar person gone off the rails.

An hour later, he seemed to have forgotten all about it.

All work and no Play?

This should be a day for me to rest up for the coming week...

But...
There is always a but...

I think I am done with the 4 wheeler for a while now. The fence is connected and tested. I will release the mules into the forest later today...this afternoon so I can walk down with them and see how they react. They should be just fine.

I have learned quite a bit about fencing and electric fences from this project. I won't bore you with the details however it can be a challenge to get it to shock properly. As of right now a very minimal pulsing current is enough to keep my mules in. They don't even touch it.
The cattle respect it also.

I did find out that if we enter a very dry spell that the grounds get weak and the fence drops in its effectiveness. We are in that very dry spell, so I did some research and used a sprinkler to dampen the earth by the ground spikes.

Okay, that was pretty boring. But testing this morning shows my fence power is back to normal!

Last note.

When Charlie begins to disappear in the grass, it is time to mow.
I mowed yesterday and finished all but the weed whacking in 2.5 hrs.

I tried some motivation for Rich to get up and get off the farm today to go with me to see some kids and their fair pigs. I have a memory stick of photographs from last weekend's softball game to drop off to our 'hay' man and his family.

No such luck. Rich will generally jump at any opportunity to go and visit with Ed and his family.

There's always some reason

To feel not good enough

And, its hard at the end of the day

~~Sarah McLachlan

In the Arms of an Angel

Have a good Sunday. Charlie and I just got back from watching the sun come up on the ridge. The fog is pouring into our hollow now bathed in golden light.

I think I'll go start our chores.

Brawn and Brains

The picnic table will get the chainsaw treatment...safely by my neighbor. This was project #2. The ancient glider that was rusted through.

Hubby bought this in 1998 and it was aged then. I painted it a few times and finally just gave up on it. For several years it has just been moved from spot to spot to mow around. No adults really sat in it ever. The kids love it and after the last time kids nearly tipped it over, I figured it needed to be dismantled.

I got out the handy dandy 7/16 inch wrench and 3 got bolts off. None of the other nut thingys would budge. With quiet determination and lots of rolling sweat, I began to saw and rip the old wood away from the bolts.
Charlie supervised.
Again.
No cuss words.

Now to bend the metal at it's stress points and make it smaller so I can toss it away.

Next on my agenda was fencing in the forest. I need/want to stay busy and productive.

The 4 wheeler loaded with fencing supplies and a partial bucket full of pasture grass seed. I'm seeding the 'ridge road' that was re-dozed by my farmer friend.

I want to get the mules into the forest to browse on the undergrowth. I used to have donkeys, mules, and horses in the forest but after 2007, the repairs were just too overwhelming for my husband.

My idea is to do a bit at a time. I'm using electric braid fencing which is easy to manipulate and string. The hard part is pounding the t-posts and carrying the post pounder along with all the posts into the woods.
Hah! I now know how the 4 wheeler operates so I can use the trailer to transport the items I need instead of hiking back and forth, I can use my time more wisely.

Bless the person who invented these little pound in posts. That means a lot less pounding of the T-posts and less pain to those arthritic hand joints. I must laugh though. Yes it hurts sometimes a lot. But my OT person said "Use it ... or Lose it."
I'm using those hands.

I had a round about discussion with my neighbor regarding fencing and straight lines. I argued that yes...he could saw down a tree if it was in his way. However, I'll use that tree with a temporary nail in insulator and make my fence according to ease of use and the lay of the land.

My idea was to use my brains to make things easier for me. He wanted [as my husband used to do...] perfect straight lines. I argued straight lines are for line fences and not 'sections'.

He promised to help.
Yep.
I got this too.

I'll take a photo of this area after the mules have been in for a week or two and see if you can spot the difference.
Tomorrow, if it isn't pouring cats and dogs, I will string the soft wire.

I must be getting much stronger. A year ago, I couldn't squeeze the hand break on the 4 wheeler, I'd given up all thought of ever operating it. My Occupational Therapist told me to work my hands. I did. Out of necessity I've worked my hands, elbow, and shoulders. I'm stronger now than I've been in a few years.

Yesterday I unloaded 50 bales of hay and stacked it in the shed. I felt fine after that. However I did take breaks often.

Tonight was another story. I couldn't for the life of me, sit inside the house after supper and let daylight fade away.
I went out to the garden and picked.

I tossed weeds over the fence to the mules. They liked it.

I picked an ice cream pail of green beans and set them on the porch.

I asked Rich to come out and see the beans. He hesitated, I told him the temperature was fantastic on the porch. He and Charlie came out.
I started to snap the ends off. I have time tomorrow afternoon to blanch the green beans and freeze them.

Rich surprised me by sitting on the bench that my Kenosha Gang made for us...he asked if he could help with the green beans.

We spent an hour in silence. Listening to the birds, the cattle, and the mules all make their evening noises as we silently snapped beans together.

And it was good.

This is a plus in my book. He is taking interest, he is participating. He doesn't see it as a big deal, but I do.

Charlie observed.

So I count this day as a good one.

It started with a gorgeous sunrise....


And ended with a warm and loving sunset...

No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted.
~~Aesop

The Monsters vs. Siera

I went to get Siera and take a nice little ride before my husband and I tackled moving our bedroom from upstairs to downstairs.

Mica was near the gate and Fred was down in the apple trees. I didn't see Siera anywhere.
So I called out.
From behind some brush some long ears appeared. She seemed to tilt her head and think about it for a moment.

Next thing I knew, she was loping towards me. Odd. Siera is pretty lazy and she is gaited so she rarely lopes unless there is a reason.

She stopped at the gate and turned her head to me.

You came! You came!

I showed her the halter and the lead rope. She stood still while I put it on her.  Fred came walking up and tried to push his way in. Siera dropped her ears and bobbed her head.

Fred backed off.

Mine, mine. My person. Go away.

Silly mule. I was happy to see that she hadn't gotten full of burdocks again and in no time at all we were saddled and headed up the driveway.

Heavy shots rang out not far away from our mailbox. Siera tilted her ears towards the noise and kept walking.
I heard a combines to the west and I thought I heard them to the east too on Peterson's. 
Well, that would stink as I wanted to ride down the camp road to the creek.

I dismounted Siera in the hay field on the ridge and decided to check out her saddle cinch and think about things for a moment.

You may notice that Siera is wearing what may appear to be a 'necklace'. It serves more than one purpose. When we are riding solo, it is nice to have a little bell to keep deer from leaping out of the corn in front of us. I used to have that occur on Opal. The result was an airborn 180 degree leap. Opal, Badger, Sunshine, and Fred rarely startled but when they did it was a real quick reaction.
The bell also provides a rather pleasant noise. I used bells on my old mare Cheyanne and found that they distracted her from traffic noise when I rode her on the roadsides in Kenosha.

Siera on the other hand generally freezes when she is startled.

Siera took the opportunity of the equipment check to see if the field contained any good food. 

Yummy! Good! Let's just stay here!

I remounted and we headed up the field and out towards 'PeeWee's' ridge so I could see if they were indeed combining the cropland.

And they were. And now that we were on the driveway it seemed the combine, tractor, and a truck were headed our way. 

The shots behind us kept ringing out. I knew it bothered me more than it bothered Siera.

Monster. Monster. Monster Alert. 

I moved Siera into a field and close enough to the road to get a good look at the equipment, but not too close as to cause her to freak out. One thing she dislikes is machinery. 

Her ears perked forward and she stiffened up hard as a rock as the huge truck and hoppers came by. The jake brake rattled and rumbled. When the driver saw us in the field he eased up. 

I want to bite it. Let me bite it. 

One of Siera's reactions to scary machinery is to want to chase it. However I had her stand still. I could see that one of the combines was headed our way.

Siera stiffened again locking her hooves into the dirt below her. I don't think a logging truck could have moved her.

After all the machinery passed, we settled into a nice pace. Siera's long paso llano strides ate up the ground and we were soon on the trail into the woods.

Siera kept her ears perked for any disturbances in the woods. She did come to a halt and stared intently at the brush. A doe walked out, saw us and bounded back into the woods.

We headed down to the creek. The crossing was ruined in the last flood so Siera and I found another way around it.

Siera has moved into another phase. She trusted me enough to go through the mud sucking creek.

This creek will eat me. The mud will eat me.

"No Siera it is fine. It won't eat you. Honest. It will be fine. Trust me."

We messed around for a bit then headed back towards home.
I stopped in the combined section of the corn field. Siera found some goodies.
And it was all good.

We had a great ride. 
I let Siera go at the gate and she stood next to me.

Are you coming after the sun makes another round? Are you coming back? We can chase machinery monsters if you like.

I rubbed her ears. "Soon."