3rd side of the Fence is up

After two weekends of rain, I was able to get some more work done... but at a cost. To start with, the last two weekends have seen rain totals of 5½" and 4½" respectively.  Needless to say, but I better write something or this is going to be a real short blog post, I was not able to get any work done while it was raining. Hauling electric powered tools out during a downpour is not a bright move. During the first weekend, the dogs would not even stay in their pen, it was flooded! Because of this, I let them find any "high ground" they were able to get reach. Hence, I am now constantly chasing them off the front porch even though the rain is gone.
The second weekend, I was able to get out during a break in the weather and clear the goat yard of many of the young trees. Now, I would have liked to left them, and allowed the goats to munch away, but I couldn't move in the goat yard! I did leave some for their use, but many had to go. Additionally, I took the hatchet to a couple of cedar trees' limbs. I have an unwritten rule around my yard (or that part I use) that if I cannot walk under the branch, it comes down. I took out about a dozen branches. For anyone reading this who has never seen a cedar tree, the branches of this evergreen grow very close together and start very near the ground. They are beautiful trees, but very difficult to get near the trunk. So, I took a hatchet to them. It worked pretty well, with one problem. I'm not as young as I once was and pulled some muscles in my lower back.
I have been in various amounts of pain for the last week. About day four it started to subside. A combination of acetaminophen, Icy/Hot patches, and common sense resting has helped the healing process.
This Saturday, I was able to get out and try again on completing the fence. I thought that a few hours of good work, Nathaniel, my 11 yr old, and I could get the other two sides of the fence up and secure. The first two sides went up pretty easily, once we got a rhythm going.

 

 

The second two sides were not as cooperative. First, we needed to get around a corner tree. My original plan was to use the trees as corner posts. It worked well a couple of weeks ago. We nailed the pallet to the first tree, made the fence, worked the pallets around the second tree and pressed on. The third tree was not going to be so cooperative. The ground around the base of the tree was mounded, angled upward, not allowing the pallet to get a good fit on the tree. We had to create an inward 90º corner, like a capital "L". After that, it was a fight to get things to fit properly. You can see, in the picture above, how well and even the pallets line up. Looking at the picture, below, of the third fenceline, you'll notice how uneven the top line looks. I had pallets of different sizes and never knew it. They looked about the same when I had them stacked up in a pile. The next project will be completed a bit slower, giving me time to measure the pallets individually, which should give a better fit during the construction process.

The goats are ready to come home, but the seller has graciously offered to hold them another three weeks, until they are 12 weeks old. She said it would be better for the young ones to stay on mom's milk for that period of time. She has another buyer who requested this, so is extending the same service to me. I thought that was very nice of her. Considering the second picture is of the current goat yard, and I still don't have a gate, I think I'll take her up on the offer. Hopefully, my back will allow me to do more work as the week progresses. I'd like to get the fencing complete by next Sunday, and start on a shelter.
I've seen some very simple shelters pictured online that I'm going to base my first shelter from. I've also thought of some "toys" that can be put in the yard. I've got a bunch of cinder blocks sitting near the back of the house that I'm going to haul to the goat yard... that'll make my back feel better (sarcasm). I've told Garret, our 9 yr old, he can use them as giant Legos and create something for the goats to climb on. He thought that was a great idea! I may have created a monster with that one. LoL

Kitt - April 14

Kitt - May 10

 

Vivian - April 14

Vivian - May 10

 



Securing the fence line

A rainy Saturday is a great day to catch up on the blog post. Mainly because it’s too rainy outside to do any fence building. I started securing the fence, last week, with the help of our eldest, Nathaniel. We had set the pallets upright and tied half of them with braided wire. This did not work as well as I’d hoped and the fence line fell within a day or two. Improvements were required.

I needed to keep the fence from falling over. The problem was the space between the pallets. I had to stop one pallet from moving while the other just kind of sat there. My solution was to put a block of wood along the horizontal slats and nail that to each pallet piece. I thought I’d need two per pallet. I had some shorter 4x4 pieces of wood in the shed, so started with those. They are short and sturdy, so they’ll probably (hopefully) stay put.

This picture has a 4x4 across the bottom slats and a ¼ across the middle slats

After inserting the blocks, I shook the fence pieces. They were satisfactorily stable. Success! However, I had a limited supply of the 4x4 pieces and I’m trying to do this “on the cheap.” The 1x4 on top worked well, and I had a bunch of pallets, so had an ample supply. I was going to have to cut some cross sections. My son and I also decided, while I did want this to be a flexible fence, the cross pieces were going to need to be secured. Normally I would use wood screws. My supply of nails, however, outnumbered my supply of wood screws. I quickly decided on nails. So, we got out the power tools and started cutting cross pieces.

I have a sabre saw with a simple 10 TPI blade. That’s 10 Teeth Per Inch. It cuts fast and sloppy. The blade is not designed for smooth, splinter-free cuts, hard and fast. I lined the blade up with the 2x4 and just cut along the edge as well as I could. It provided short pieces that were about the same length.

We found that driving nails into the pallet wood was rather difficult with the galvanized nails we were using. Why galvanized? Because that’s what I had on hand, that simple. Though I wasn’t using screws, I decided to use a common practice of that method… pilot holes. We got out the drill, found a bit that was almost as large in diameter as the nail and went at it. We slid two cross pieces onto the horizontal bars of the pallet, positioned the next pallet in line, and slid the cross piece back to a position we could hammer a nail into it. We then picked up the drill, dropped a hole toward each end of the cross piece, and inserted a nail. My son got pretty good at whacking the nail into the wood. After a few pallets, I let him handle the drill and hammer, while I held the pallet steady and took care of any nails that didn’t go into the wood properly.

It was going along pretty well until we encountered some cross pieces that would not fit flat. The 1x4 cross pieces were more like 1x4½. I tried a couple of whacks with the hammer in an attempt to persuade the wood to lay flat, but it was having none of it. Luckily, I had not put the sabre saw too far away. I just had to shave off about a quarter to half inch of the long edge.

We found, also, that we needed a good way to transport the cross pieces, hammer, nails, drill, bits, saw and blades around the surpisingly wooded goat yard. Yes, I’ve lived here for years and know what the land looks like. It surprised everyone in the family, though, how quickly the barren area, made up of leafless twig-like trees, turned into a lush, leafy woodland of new life.

 

So, we used the kids little red wagon, named “The Larson Express” by my father when he presented the wagon as a gift. All the tools and, with a bit of adjustment, we had our “crash-cart” ready for any emergency.

Nathaniel and I went along well until the fence fell. I don’t know if a slight wind came through or if gravity just paid us a visit, but the fence started to fall. I dropped what I was doing and ran to get under it. I did not relish the thought of trying to lift a half dozen pallets. We were able to save them and get them upright again. I was thrilled that none of the nailed cross sections were coming out! Success… again. But we did need something to keep it upright. So, taking from my online research, I positioned a pallet at a 90º angle to the fence. While this might provide a perch for a mischievous goat, I’d deal with that later. If I tried to figure out every which-way that a goat could escape, I’d never get this goat yard complete.

I placed the pallet so the section cut from the pallet to allow access to the forks of a forklift were situated next to the upright portion previously placed in the fence line then placed the cross piece to pass over this(see pictures).

 

In this way, we worked through two sides of the fence. I’m not happy with the corners, so I won’t detail those at this time. But we were able to work with the slight undulations of the land without too much difficulty. I already plan to put in another long piece over one section. Somehow, I ended up with a stretch of shorter pallets in one area. I’m going to have to nail in a couple of uprights and fence-top-extending 1x4 or 1x6.

Found some goats

I keep wondering if I am trying to rush it a bit. I find myself continually looking at Craigslist to see the price of goats, and what is available. Part of me knows that I need a good kick in the pants to get this done. I want goats. I have for a long time. So, I look on Craigslist. I have found that prices are not coming down as I would like and I am not seeing many dairy goats. I do not know if they are not desirable here, or if the owners just do not want to sell them.

I kept looking. I found a couple of possibilities, some I was able to talk to the owners, some I received no reply. Surprisingly, many of the goats I was going to look at, sold before I could get in touch with the person. Finally, I was able to go look at a two young Pygmies. One male, one female. They were cute, well mannered, easy to handle and cute. After talking with one of the owners for about a half hour, I met her fiancé as I was leaving. I rode there after work, on my Yamaha Majesty, so could not take them with me. I also wanted to have Faith and the kids look. I arranged to call the woman the next day to arrange another visit. However, before I got home, there was a missed call on my cell phone. Her fiancé sold the goats to someone within twenty minutes of my visit. We had not struck any deal. I had not put down a deposit. It was a bit disappointed, but could not be mad. I kept looking and found someone within ten miles of our house.

It was a 21^st Century meeting set up, arranged by text message. We were to go meet on Sunday afternoon. We almost got lost finding the house down an unpaved dirt road. Pulling up to the gate, by chance my wife was driving. I got out, opened the gate to allow the van in and closed it afterward. As expected, I heard the sound of a dog; it is a farm. What I did not expect was the low to the ground Rin-Tin-Tin looking German Shepherd coming at me from under the house as I took my first step toward the van, the backend of which was a good 20 feet away. There have been very few of the canine race that I have not found approachable. I dropped to one knee and with no hesitation called out to it, “Hi, Sweety! How are you? Come here.” I put out my hand. The dog almost stopped where it was and tilted its head sideways. My wife and I agreed the expression said, “What? Why isn't he afraid??” It turns out she was a sweetheart. After the goat owner introduced us to the dog, the shepherd would not let us near the goats because she wanted all the attention!

We did finally get to the goats. The two full-blooded Boer were separate from the main herd, as they still had the kids. These goats had taken over one side of the dog’s house, which the dog did not seem to object to. The woman pointed out which kids were for sale. The first one we picked up had a white muzzle that extended back in a sort of upside down “V” to the middle of its forehead. From her cheeks to the back of her head was brown and her ears folded forward and upward. I knew in an instant, I had found our first choice.

I let my wife and daughter look at the other ones. If they found one they liked, so be it. We needed a pair. I started a discussion with the owner, asking her about the other goats she had advertised. Specifically, I asked about a Spanish/Boer mix. She said they were out in the shelter, pointing across the field to a green, metal, 3-sided, open front building. I told Faith I wanted to go over and look at another goat. We left our daughter to get acquainted with the goats and set off across the Guinea hen patrolled field. The goats were all gathered in the building. This was not for the convenience of the visitors (us), but it just seemed that is where they wanted to be at the moment. These were not friendly goats, nor were they aggressive. They wanted to be left alone, not pet and inspected for possible relocation.

The Spanish/Boer mix was a yearling doe, rust in color with nice horns sloping back and outward. Her tail had a black end. I would not call it a “tip” as it was a very feathered tail. It took about twenty minutes to catch the fool thing, but when we did, it did not fight us too much. I did not feel any bumps, the tail and rectum were clean. It obviously had energy and did well with the other goats in the field. I had found a second goat. I immediately knew there might be difficulty between this goat and a newborn. I was also told this Spanish/Boer mix might be pregnant, as the buck (who also has the folded ears) traveled freely among the herd. Well, if she were, it would be a bonus.

 

She did not want to hold still for pictures



A few more minutes in the barn and then back to the dog house to look at the newborns… Well, I say newborn, but they were about three weeks old, not ready for relocation. Faith and I talked about it, agreed that one yearling and a baby would probably not be the best idea, so we decided on another newbie. We ended up choosing the sister of the goat with the folded ears. She is mostly white. The left ear and half of that side of the face is brown, as is half of the right-side and about a quarter of the ear. Her ears are not folded. Both the babes are friendly, but by the time we got back there, the one with the folded ears had had enough and hid under the tractor.

 

 

We put a deposit down on all three and headed home. The little ones would not be ready for a new home for another four to six weeks… and I have a goat yard to finish.

 

I now intentionally stay off of Craigslist. I don't want to know if I can now buy one cheaper. I don't want to know if there are a couple of dairy goats available... at least until I have these girls home. :)

Standing the fence up

Wow, has it been month since I have updated thisblog? I have been busy! It is now late April in Tennessee, and while peopleexpected it to be short-sleeve weather, we woke to sub-freezing temperatures,yesterday.

I guess I will break this up into three blog posts.On April 6, I finally got a break in the weather and was able to continue workon the fence! Hoo-Zah! We woke up to a temp of 32ºF… OK… I woke up to thattemperature. Everyone else was still asleep. However, the day promised to bewarm, and I took it at its word.

After a good breakfast, I set out to get something going on this fence. I held nohopes of finishing the thing. I knew I did not have enough pallets, but I wantedto know how close I was. Now, I feel I must say, if I have not before, thatthis is a temporary fence line. I will expand it. Getting pallets proved to bea bit slower than I anticipated. If I wait until I get my full goal of 100pallets, it may well be next fall before I start on the fence! Let’s not evendiscuss how my darling wife would feel about 100 pallets stacked up in theyard, country life or not.

 

 

Between the time I started to place pallets and thisday, I found out that I was placing the pallets incorrectly. I had placed themwith the slats horizontally. When I checked this with the people on The Goat Spot,I found that the better idea was to place the slats vertically, so the goatscould not use them as a makeshift ladder. It would also be harder for them toget their heads and horns stuck. So, I changed the direction of the pallets.

I found this to be good and (possibly) bad. The goodpart was my pallets were now longer per unit, so I would need less pallets tocomplete the goat yard. The bad was the fence was shorter when I turned thepallets. My 48” fence suddenly became a 40” fence. Hmmm… On well, wait and see.I can always add more to the top.

I had the area laid out and a few pallets set, itwas time to start the work. I took the experience from putting the dog pentogether and used it on the fence. I had my braided wire. Starting at the nearestpallet, I stood up the next one from its two-week resting place and tied themtogether. I wrapped the wire around the pallets and used it like a garbage bagtie. I was wobbly, but it stayed. I was able to get the help of my eldest son,but it did not last. After a short while, he wandered off to see what his brotherand sister were doing. I was annoyed, but really could not blame him. It wasthe first nice, if cool, weekend in some time. I did not call him back unless Ireally needed his help.

After I tied the existing line together, one by one,I walked the next pallets down the path, setting them in line along the string,tying them as I went. Most times, I used one length of wire, at the top of thepallets, sometimes, two. I was, again, pleasantly surprised when they did not immediatelyfall. I was able to get three sides and three pallets on the fourth side. Ifelt pretty good. They moved, they swayed, it was nowhere near perfect, but itwas a start and that was my goal for the day. It looks like I need about sixmore to make the circuit. I am still unsure how I am going to secure them, nowthat I have them standing upright, but I am working on that.

 

Rainy weekend

Not much work got done this weekend. I've been trying to contain our LGDs. I really didn't expect to get them small enough to slip through pallet slats!
With the use of a jigsaw and a pneumatic brad gun, I've been attempting to "plug the holes" until the dogs get too big to escape between the slats.
As you can see… that might take a while…

New LGDs?

These are our new puppies. In the back, named for the holiday is Patrick. Not St. Patrick, just Patrick. In the front, on the left is Baby; the brown one is Amidala (Ami for short). Let your 9-yr old name it and that's what you get… Star Wars character. Coulda been worse. If it was a boy, it's name would have been Chewbacca. They almost six weeks old, American mutts.
These are OUTSIDE dogs. I've built an enclosure for them. We're hoping they work well as goat protectors, or LGDs (Livestock Guard Dogs).

I've started laying out the fence pieces. I'm still going to need another 15 or so, just to get this closed in. It's not as large as I plan it to be upon completion, but it's enough to keep two goats. The area will start our about 160 square feet. It'll measure about 40' per side. Hoping for a couple of goats in April.

 

 

I was going for April/May but I want the new dogs to get used to there being goats near them.

Enjoy the Day!
Erik

Adding to the pallet stack

I thought I was sunk, today. It was a good day, overall. My Sunday morning pancakes didn’t turn out as fluffy as I would like them, but they were good. The bacon was left in the oven too long and almost burnt, which set one of my kids off crying, no joke. Nevertheless, the taste was good and they weren’t burnt, just “almost.”  It’s the first morning after setting the clocks one hour forward, when I constantly feel the rush of the day. It seemed as soon as breakfast was over, it was pushing noon! We were planning on taking in a movie, “Oz, the Great andPowerful”. It was going to be the family’s first feature length 3D movie. We gathered ourselves together and headed out.

The plan was to go to the movies, about a half hour south, then turn around and travel an hour north to get some additional pallets. Everyone enjoyed the movie. We drove to the factory from last week only to find the gates were closed. We could not get any pallets. We still had a bit to do in town, so started heading for the other end of town to go to Lowes. While I drove, my wife was looking at her iPhone. She mentioned someone had free pallets, text if interested. I said, “Great,” and handed her my own iPhone. She sent the text and we went on our merry way. We went to Lowe’s, a sporting goods store and dinner. We did not receive a reply text.

We were home almost a twenty minutes when my phone indicated I had a text message. The phone number with the pallets replied he (she?) had 10 available. I immediately expressed interest and the back and forth of texting commenced. I was not going to go back to town, tonight. Tuesday seemed like the likely day we could pick up the pallets. My wife was to be in town, and might be able to get most of them. After a few minutes more, we found out the person on the other end of the conversation was only a few miles from our house! We made some quick arrangements and we left posthaste to get some more fencing material.

After a quick ten-minute drive, we ended up with eleven pallets stuffed in the van. It was getting dark, so we decided to forego piling any on the rooftop luggage rack. Two of the pallets are double sized. Another has been tagged, by my wife, Faith, as “looking like a gate.” Because we were so close to home, we stacked them to the roof level, left the minivan’s rear hatch open and drove home to unload. We also took with us the promise of more pallets from the same place. They own their own business, have pallets they need removed and get pallets in on a regular basis. Hooray! Another repeat source for pallets. I had a sense of satisfaction driving home while enjoying the clouds against the darkening sky. I had been worried we would not add to our stack. After unloading in the dark, I looked to the stars and I said a word of thanks as I finished sweeping out the back of the van.

We have 33 pallets. If they are all approximately 40”x48”, I have close to 120 feet of fencing that will be 4 foot tall. Our next step will be to begin preparing the pallets. My kids have seen online pictures of fences of pallets that are painted bright colors. Two of the three want to paint our fence. Why not, right? We live out in the county. The next house up the road used to be salmon pink. There’s another further on painted yellow. I guess people like to stand out from the green and brown of the trees.

Progress!!

Finally, we feel like we're making some headway. After weeks of bad weather or just no time, we have been able to add to our pallet-pile. We have one business giving us 2-4 each month. Considering I'm aiming for 100, I needed another pick up point. I could not wait two to four years to complete my fence.
Looking around the suggested places and continually checking craigslist proved not just fruitless, but frustrating. I was beginning to think that all the pallets around here were already spoken for.
Finally, I had my wife post to some of her local online communities and Facebook, asking if anyone had free pallets. She received two replied within 24 hours! In less than a day we've gone from 4 pallets to 18 good pallets and a couple for scrap pieces. I have another half dozen lined up.

Understanding we have just the family van, not a truck, we left the kids with my mother-in-law as support and headed out. We were told there were pallets behind a local factory and to "pull up and get them." Of course, it wasn't quite that easy.
The factory has one gate to the rear of the facility. There was no one outside. It was barely above freezing… I didn't expect anyone to be outside! Slowly driving around, my wife spied three pallets sitting by a forklift. "There they are," she said. I wasn't so sure. This was a large facility and when I heard they said to "pull up and get them" did not sound like three pallets. I kept driving. We saw two more by a door. I kept driving. We rounded the back corner and saw what I was expecting. Multiple stacks of discarded, various sized pallets.
I backed the van in and we started going through the trove. Being grateful of the gesture, we loaded as many as we could. Some were small. Faith wanted those for our shed. We loaded pieces, to fill in gaps and repair the pallets that needed it, or will need it. Faith saw a couple bigger pieces she wanted. They weren't full pallets, not even half pallets, but she wanted the parts.
So we went home planning to come back. We were able to load the pallets without affecting the seating in the middle section, meaning we could take the kids next time. We went home. We had the kids come out and help with the unloading.
Later, we loaded the kids and returned to the pallets. The pieces Faith had her eye in we're heavy. They were each at least seven feet long, made from three 4x4 poles with 1x6 crossbeams. We were able to load both of them on the roof. While Faith took charge of tying down the big ones, Nathaniel and Aleah shuttled pallets to me, one on each side, calling out "Left-Right-Left-Right" as they collaborated. I stacked them in the van with Garret "helping" from inside. After loading about another half dozen, we came home.
We worked the unloading similarly to loading. The kids took out was small scraps we had, them cooperated to get alleys from the van to the bottom of the yard and stacked.
After we had the van emptied, Garret went inside, while Nathaniel and Aleah played on the stacks. It felt right. It felt good to have made progress.

The visit that wasn't

We were to have visited Tara and her family, today, to talk goat. It was all set up. Early in the week, the weatherman was predicting 50°'s as the high. Yesterday, it was forecasted to be snow and sleet and might hit the mid-30's.
we woke up to a massive wintery weather front moving across Tennessee. I watched it for an hour before contacting Tara. The roads around here are very steep and curvy. They're not long, jagged edged mountain roads. They're short, no guardrail between you and the pastureland 20 feet down the hill, irregular blacktop kind of road that'll slip out from under you before you know your car hit black ice. The road crews don't get out our way much.
So, the trip was cancelled. While writing this, I wonder if it was the right decision. Erring in the side of caution, it was. Parts of the interstate the family van would have crossed over were shut down… some 15 miles of it, due to (at one point) the report of about a dozen accidents of varying severity.
If I needed further proof we were to stay home, it came when my wife and I took a walk to her parents' place. Less than an inch was on the ground. The road toward her patents, next house up the road, was clear and almost dry. However, our driveway was ice, snow and slush. The roadway at the bottom of our driveway was a sight. Twenty feet to one side was covered in snow and slush. This bit o' winter extended about 100 feet in the other direction. Other than that "T" of winter. (our driveway and that bit of road) the street was clean.
We have learned, a long time ago we learned, when the Universe gives you a sign… pay attention.

Still in Limbo

I'm still aggravated about not being able to advance toward goat ownership. My chain saw's still busted and my bank account is still reeling from the well pump going out. But I am determined to make some sort of progress.
The county offices failed to call me back all week. I'll call them next week.
I have taken the monumental step of contacting another goat owner in my area. Tara is a member of Goat Spot and we are getting together next Saturday to talk goat. I look forward to seeing how another person has their goat yard set up.

I'll admit, I'm starting to feel desperate. I think my most favorable months to purchase a pair will be May or June. How I'm going to get an area for them, I'm not sure, starting over from scratch. I'm seriously considering a dog tie out system.

Should I "farm?"

I read an article, last week, indicating that the USDA is going to provide “microloans” to help small farmers, “…up to $35,000 are designed to help bolster family-run farms as well as minority growers and military veterans seeking to start a farm who might otherwise have trouble qualifying for small loans from banks or other USDA loan programs.” The article went on to say those interested should contact their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office.

I looked up the contact information for my local FSA office and gave them a call. I was dismayed at the information that I received. First off, my button pushing did not direct me to the office I was seeking. I was did not want to apply for the loan, but wanted information about the new program. I got the loan dept., anyway. The nice lady, Betty I think her name was, explained that the other people “on the county side” were out of the office. When the phone rings a couple of times, if no one picks it up, she does.

I explained about the article. She said the first step was for me to register my farm, and stated there were not many goat farms in McMinn County, TN. The undertone made it sound like there were no goat farms in McMinn County, but I don’t know. I know there are people who have farms with goats, but they might not be registered as such. When I said I had about 1.4 acres of land, I could almost hear the corners of her mouth turn upward. The journey of her lips to condescending smirk completed when I said that I had never farmed before. According the Betty, they loans were for people who were farming for at least three years. Further research, linked above, seems to contradict her thinking. I’m guessing the new loan process may have been rolled out without much information leaking down to the local levels, yet, or Betty sees people trying to become farmers as an inconvenience and inadvertently tries to discourage such things. Welcome to the bureaucracy, Mr. Larson.

I hung up the phone without much more information than I had when I started the conversation, except that to apply for any government assistance, I would need to register my small plot of land as an official “farm.” This, however, is in contradiction to what I was told earlier, if I’m just producing milk for my family and plan to sell the excess goats for meat, I don’t need to register as a farm. I do not recall who told me that, but it was another phone call to another agency.

I am very much leaning toward registering my land as a “farm.” My accounting degree kicks in here, knowing there are tax advantagesto having a farm, as well as advantages in loans and that sort. I do not see any disadvantage in registering my land as a farm. I plan to speak with “the county side” to determine what is needed and learn more of the advantages of it. The disadvantage is that my farm my not make a profit and “fail.” I have tried to start other businesses that did not work out, so it is not a new experience. I would write it off and press on… ever onward.

More troubles... who needs water, anyway?

What a depressing and expensive week this has been.  I thought the “damn chainsaw” derailed things. Now the train has completely jumped the track and is hangin’ over the cliff with Pauline dangling from the cattle catcher!

Tonight, it’s raining again. Possible tornadoes not too far from here. I’ve not been able to take any pictures of what I’ve done. Once the weather stops dripping on us, I’m going to evaluate, further, my choice for the goat yard. I’ll have to check how soggy the ground gets, how the water drains. If there’s too much standing water from this soaking. There might be a better place.

But let’s back up and review the week that was.

Monday of last week started off normally. I went to work and later that day Faith and the kids were to go to town for shopping.  Sometime in the early afternoon, I get a phone call from my darling wife. There is no water at the house. Exactly what happened was, at the time, a mystery. I had water early in the morning, getting ready for work. Faith mentioned she started the dishwasher and had put a load of laundry in. Both seemed to be running fine when she left. Point of fact. We had no water.

Now, if you’re reading this, you probably live out in the country and you know about well water. It’s nice to know we don’t have to pay a city or county for water. At the same time, it’s a pain, because when things go wrong, you are responsible for fixing it or hiring someone to fix it.

So now, the process of elimination begins. Are all the faucets turned off? Yes. Is there any sign of water coming from under the house to indicate a pipe has blown? No <whew>. Is the breaker blown? No <possible problem>. After searching and searching, we can’t find the cause. Meanwhile, I had shut off the breaker to the well pump. If the pump had run dry, I don’t want the thing running 300’ below ground trying to suck air and burn up the motor.

Faith contacts a well company; Tuesday morning he comes out to inspect it. Unfortunately, he can’t get his truck to the well. The direct path from the driveway to the well has out back porch and a shed in the way. The other way has some “yard waste” of branches, and toys, etc., and it’s been raining, so he’s not wanting to go that way. He says he’s pretty sure the pump is blown, but can’t say for sure until he looks at it. He can’t say how much it’ll cost until he looks at it. ARGH! Meanwhile, I contact one of the local YMCA’s to see if we can get some sort of hardship access to their showers. The first phone number got me talking to a very supportive woman. However, she was in another city. The phone number I attached to the local YMCA went to a different one, not so local. The woman was able to give me the correct phone number, however. So, I called that number and after telling my tale of woe, yet again, I was put to someone’s voicemail because she was out for the day. Great.

So, we’re without water for a second day. Luckily, my workplace has a fitness room with shower facilities, so I can clean up there. Faith and the kids received multiple invitations from friends allowing her and the kids use of their water. Drinking water is coming from the local big-box store, and we were able to use the toilets by hauling up water from the creek… not fun, but necessary.

Wednesday and Faith had a friend agree to come out and help her with clearing a path to the well. After discovering the back porch is (thankfully) very securely installed in the ground, the clean up as much of the “yard waste” as they can before calling the well guy, again. Luck was with us that day, it had stopped raining around mid-morning. The guy came back out and was able to replace the well pump… to the tune of $$$$. OH MY!  I talked to a co-worker, who pays for water, to ascertain her average water bill.  It’ll take over two years before this pump pays for itself using her monthly bill as an average, not counting the electricity it takes to run the pump every month, the water purchased while it was out, etc. ARGH, again!

Any savings I had for goats, fencing, chainsaw repair, just went back into the general fund. Goat fund = $0. Is this something I am going to be able to accomplish?  I want goats. But the doubts creep up again. Can I really afford the care? Am I going to be able to look after them? Is it worth all this trouble and aggravation or do I end the blog now and go back to status quo?

That night at dinner, after all this frustration, no water for three days, massive expense and eating on Styrofoam plates for the better part of a week, my daughter asks at dinner, “So, how long until we get the goats?” It wasn’t unhappily asked; it wasn’t with a forlorn look or lack of conviction. She was simply looking for an update as part of normal dinner conversation. <sigh> Yep, we’re getting goats. This year, I told her, and we talked about it for a good five minutes or more.

I tried the chainsaw again Saturday after having it inside, instead of the shed. Nothing. Wouldn’t even begin to start. I pulled that cord and adjusted the choke. I checked the oil and gas and still nothing happened. I think it’s dead.

The YMCA has yet to call me back.

Set back - damn chainsaw

OH MY GODS! I don't believe this crap! I said this was going to be a blog of the good and the bad, but I didn't think the bad would come this quickly. I bought a 20" Poulan Pro chainsaw from Lowes last December. Yes, it's the just-over-a-year-and-there's-trouble story. Now the thing won't keep running.

My plan is to cut down a bunch of the trees on our land. This will clear an area for the goats and provide raw timber to be used for a homemade split rail fence. Nice plan, huh? The chainsaw, which I'd used throughout the year on-and-off, worked great for one day... well, about an hour or so of cutting. I had chopped about a dozen trees, mainly pine, and cut the branches from four or five. I shut off the saw to clean up some of the limbs and try to move some of the timber to a central location for future use. I had a few trees about 30 feet in length and realized it would be better to cut them up for easier moving. Pretty smart for an old guy. Continuing to feel pretty intelligent, I decided that nine foot sections would do well for my purposes. The would allow me to bury three feet and leave six to build a nice fence with room to spare. I cranked up the saw and moved to the first tree only to have the motor stop before the chain touched the wood. Pulled the rope again and it started up only to have it die again...and again... and again. This was Saturday. I put the saw back on the table and walked away. I must have flooded it. I just had the thing in the shop for the same problem. They adjusted the carburetor and put on a new chain, but really couldn't find anything wrong with it.

I went back out an hour later and started it from cold. I pumped the bulb, pulled the cord a few times before adjusting the choke to the halfway position and pulling again. The saw started and I let it run uninhibited for about 30 second before pushing the choke the rest of the way in. I walked out to the downed trees, made one or two cuts through the downed trees and the saw died again. The largest tree I cut down about 15" at the base, so I wasn't taxing the engine or burying the blade. After a few more tries, I gave up and put the saw back in the shed. Tomorrow is another day.

It's tomorrow and things have not improved. I took my son out to help me measure the 9-ft sections. I was going to have nine good sections, and could probably split some of those, once things were cut up. That little adventure is still a few months away; I've never tried to split anything larger than firewood. (later!) So we had the trees measured and marked. I put my son to work splitting some of the aforementioned firewood to kindling with a hatchet and a rubber mallet. Good work for an 11-yr old. Secure that the probability of him cutting is leg off was minimal, I started the saw from cold again, same procedure. I barely got the first 9-ft section separated from the rest of the tree trunk when the damn chainsaw died. Ten minutes of fussing and cussing later, I said the heck with it. Time to try something different.
I went in and got my 24" metal bow saw. If I can't get done mechanically, I'd do it manually. I gave my axe a glance, but decided that was probably overkill on these thin trees. The axe would probably bounce off the trunks and I would not be happy with the results. So, I took the saw out with its standard big raker-style blade “for fast cutting and self-cleaning.” I took it to the first cut, a small bit of pine about 4” in diameter at the first marking. The saw hung before the blade fully sank below the level of the bark.
I lost it! Not just a little, but I flippin’ lost it! Falling into a fit of rage, I beat the offending bow saw onto the spot that was to be cut. Again and again, the blade snapping off on the third swing, flying somewhere behind me as I continued to beat on this dead tree. My tirade continued for what seemed like five minutes, alternating between screaming at the woods and whacking the shit out of any nearby tree, alive or dead, until the bow saw was well and bent and my rage  & frustration had run its course. The $10 saw was destroyed. Good!! My project is at a standstill. Bad.
 
Options, what are my options? For at least two decades, one of my mantas has been “always have a backup plan.” So, what’re my options? It was time to analyze. The first thing to pop to my mind was I could take the chainsaw back to the shop and have them look at it again. Analysis: They couldn’t find anything decisively wrong the first time and probably wouldn’t this time. It cost me over $70 to have it worked on. The saw costs $199 new. When is it more feasible to buy a new one instead of trying to fix the old? Option #2 – forget the split rail fence, don’t waste money on the saw and go with goat fencing and T-posts. Analysis: estimated cost $500, about the price of a good new chainsaw. I live in the woods, I need a chainsaw. I don’t have any goats at this time, so there’s no rush to get the fence up, other than my own timetable. Options #3 – Contact Poulan and see if the manufacturer can fix the stupid thing. They made it! Analysis: Well, the jury’s still out on this one. I thought of this option about 30 minutes after my tirade. Might not be a bad idea. The worse they’ll say is no, or the cost will be prohibitive. I looked them up online and came up with only phone numbers. This is good and bad. It means I’ll need to talk to someone (good) but they might not have the immediate answer (bad). Options #4 – a.k.a left field ... The idea that is just wacky enough to work– Bring the chainsaw in the house for a week. What? Why?  Analysis: When I took the saw in to get worked on, the guys were out sick with the flu. The saw sat in the shop for a week or more before they worked on it. It did not sit in cold temperatures, outside in the shed. The workers found no problem with the saw, it started properly and promptly and ran fine. Suppose there’s something wonky about the saw and it works better when it is stored at room temperature? Can a chainsaw have a personality like a car?
 
Therefore, I am going to bring the saw inside for the next week, let it “rest” at room temperature and plan to try again next weekend. I am also going to call Poulan and check out that option, though I fear the shipping costs will kill that idea.
 
Here I sit: no working chainsaw, a dozen trees down (half without limbs, half needing to be trimmed, about a third cut to my desired length of 9 feet), no goats, not much open land and minus one $10 bow saw. But I have a bucket full of poplar kindling... after I stopped my kid from setting the firewood pieces on small chunck of cinderblock to split it! I’m hoping he only hit the cinderblock the one time I saw and stopped him.
 
Pictures of the damage I’ve done … semi-cleared land to follow in a day or two.

Finished "Get Your Goat"

About ten days after receiving "Get Your Goat" by Brent Zimmerman as a gift from my wife, I've finished it for the first time. I anticipate this will be one of the books that I come back to, just for the overview and stories provided by the author. I think it's good to re-read reference books. My mind tends to wander, and while I'll read all the words, I might not allow them to sink in to my brain for future reference. Either that or my children will interrupt me and I will forget what it is that I read, four times, in three minutes... and then just press on because, "darn it. i'm going to get past this paragraph if it kills me."
"Get Your Goat" was a nice overview, but a bit short on detail. It does have a very nice section explaining the different types of goats, meat, dairy and fiber. It is hardly and exhausted list, but it gives you a good idea. Wikipedia's entry on goats indicates there are over 300 breeds. Another wiki page lists the use of almost 70, still less than a third of the breeds that walk this great planet of ours.
Again, the book was very good and I (who knows very little about goats at this point) would recommend it to someone in the same mind frame, that of I Want To Know More! While my wife paid retail for it, as it was published in 2012, perhaps someone else might find it in a used bookstore somewhere for just a couple of dollars.
The rain, which has kept me in the house, has moved on for the time being, though current radar is not promising, the forecast does not call for rain. I hope to test the newly repaired/tuned-up chainsaw this weekend.