Filed under: August 2022 | Tags: brown eggs, building, friends, Home Construction, new home construction
August 30, 2022
We have been having a busy month. Everyone has been doing a little extra. Even our laying hens are pushing hard!
I keep pretty busy most of the time, but I have volunteered to help build my sister a house. I am the general contractor ( to give myself an official name). Mostly, I am the guy who keeps the ball rolling, fetches and gets, coordinates and follows up. Oh yes, and I have sweated a lot!
We got our permits on July first after several months of preparation. The hole was dug. The blocks and foundation were laid. The subfloor was put on and the first backfilling was completed. Then the lumber arrived.
The walls started to go up.
The decks went on and the trusses followed.
Thanks to a crane service, this job was made much easier.
Seven days from the lumber arriving, we have a house. Plenty of work remains, but the progress has been great. Many thanks to my friends who have all lent a hand. I could not do this without each of you. Thank you!
Progress is steady. Things are falling into place with this project. I am even mostly keeping up at home! It all works out by just doing a little extra.
Filed under: August 2022 | Tags: family, garden, garden produce, gardening, home canning, Love, Small Farming, Suffolk Punch horses
August 8, 2022
What a great reward for a little bit of work! Our gardens are in full swing, giving us produce almost as fast as we can pick it. I know that it is the same every year, but it never fails to make me humble. A little work, some seeds, topsoil and rain and a heaping scoop of God’s blessing and wow, what a harvest.
We are canning and freezing and keeping up. Hat’s off to my wonderful, hard working wife for her efforts. I do some of the dirty work, fetch and get, pick, husk and peel, but she makes the magic happen. She puts a little love in every single quart. I think that love is the secret ingredient that gets passed from generation to generation and crosses family lines. I say this because the food put up by my mom, my grandmothers and most anyone who takes the time do it correctly, tastes wonderful. It tastes like “home”. It fills your belly and warms your heart at the same time.
The work caused by growing one’s food, is a satisfying job. The sweaty brow, the dirty , sticky hands are just part of the experience. We involve our children and grandchildren, trying our best to pass on the love for land, wholesome food and a lifestyle that is a blessing. There is no work in a job when your heart is happy.
We still take time for fun! Maggee, at four months old, growing fast. She is shedding her baby hair. She will soon be weaned from mom. She gets lots of attention, as do all of our horses, but babies are so much fun! We mix work with fun, that balance makes everything better!
Filed under: August 2022 | Tags: building projects, dog days, frolic, sawmill, small farm construction, Small Farming
August 7, 2022
I was finally able to gather friends and have a short frolic here to build an end wall in the hoop building. This wall will keep out the driving north winter winds. It seemed almost ironic to be building a wall to keep out the cold, on a very hot, muggy day. I am grateful for the friends who helped and for the farm forest as well. The lumber was all milled here from trees off the farm.
We got an early start and were done by lunchtime. We laughed, we worked and we broke bread. We stayed on task and beat much of the heat. The afternoon was spent fishing in our farm ponds. It made for a great day.
We framed in a door, just in case the future of the building would need one. The batten strips will go on in the coming days. I am pleased that the bulk of the work has been completed. I had expected to have had this done months ago, but things don’t always go as planned. No matter, we will be all closed in before winter hits. The south east end will be left open for easy entry and use. That protected end makes for a nice place on a cold sunny day for animals or equipment.
August and the dog days of summer, make for a warm challenge to any job. It is almost hard to believe that summer is closing so fast. Our county fair starts this week. The start to the school year is only two weeks away. Time marches on, as they say. I say it sure does! A few more must do projects await me, but being busy keeps me from being lazy…I need that sometimes.
Filed under: August 2022 | Tags: firewood, freezing and canning, gardening, Small Farming, speltz, Suffolk Punch horses
August 2, 2022
The garden has started to reward us for our work of tending it. The harvest season begins slow, but soon we will almost be overwhelmed with fresh produce. My wife works steady canning and freezing so that we can enjoy the taste of summer all year. I do help, but once in awhile I am told to go do something else… I think I might cross the “bossy” line now and then. I am a great production guy. My wife is great in her kitchen. I found out that she doesn’t need me pointing out the obvious. We work well together. We laugh together and we love together. I think the yearly discussion over how the kitchen will be used allows us the reset needed in every relationship. It works for us! It has been working for 30 years this month and I wouldn’t change a thing!
Our young Suffolk filly is now 4 months old. She will get weaned by the end of the month. She is growing well. Her lessons come easy to her. She is shedding her foal hair out and becoming a big girl. She will be separated from mom and left to run with her sister and cousin in a big pasture. She is an independent lass, so I don’t see any real distress in her future. She is eating very well on her own and mostly nurses for comfort these days.
Once the main garden harvest commences, the last of this year’s hay will be cut. So the haying tools can be put away one by one. Then plowing and soil preparation for the fall planted spelt crop will begin. In the meantime, pasture mowing and wood cutting for the maple syrup woodshed fill our time. Training the young horses continues but that is more fun than work. It is hard to believe that the last month of summer has arrived, but the heat and humidity keeps it real! Enjoy the warm days…winter is coming.
RicelandMeadows 