Money makes the Farm go 'round....

I'm having one of those days where I feel like no matter what I try, I'm hitting a wall. It just keeps coming back to money.

I want to work on my fireplace and out door oven. I have most of the supplies but what I don't have is the money to get the firebrick and the mortar and some portland.

I especially need to be working on fencing. I continue to work on cutting my own posts out of hedge. It is slow going as I am using a small pruning type saw. While I am making progress, the thing that cuts even slower then hedge is wet hedge, and it has been raining everyday recently. We found a small chain saw that Mac feels confident I won't kill myself with. Unfortunately, it costs money too. Even when I get the posts in, there is the debate on whether I should use woven wire, twisted wire or panels.... all of which cost money.

I really want to work on the hobbit house. I have everything I need there except, some fireplace trim, the door and once again, portland.

I was looking at some of the Olde English Babydoll Southdown Sheep and found a farm where I would like to reserve. Ewes are running at $500.-$525. So, need I say more.

I need to order my hazelnuts, my grape vine slips, my mushroom spawn........

I need to hire someone to come out and chip some dead elm.

I'm very close with projects that need finishing up in the house. If I could get several sheets of plywood and some wood flooring. *If* being the key word here.

So much just waiting for the hay to be cut and baled and sold. But it just keeps raining. Not only raining but the temperatures last night got down to 51o F. Too cold for the plants in the garden to set blossom I need to catch a break. Just four days of sun and no rain and we could really start to make the farm happen. A break.... just a small break.

Louie

Man! Did it rain!

We have been getting rain almost daily. Usually enough to keep us from making hay. Last night though, it wasn't a small rain. The skies opened. The lightening was impressive. It was flashing so close together that the sky had times when it just stayed bright white.

I'll go out in a bit and check my garden and see if anything got broken up from the wind and the heavy rain. Spend some calm time weeding.... maybe take my coffee cup with me. Unwind and breathe deeply.

Todays big garden chore is to plant sweet corn and pickling cukes. Such a cool, late spring that everyone's gardens are likewise going in late. At least I got the long season stuff in earlier, just the short season stuff that is left. The green house came so close to being finished last fall. So efforts in that direction will be renewed. It's permanent site will be prepped. Then the eight 2x4s that will make the roof and then the plastic. We will have greens this next winter!

I need to cut grass by hand for the horses today. They have about grazed their pasture dry. They weren't suppose to still be there. The hay was suppose to be cut and the cleared ground was suppose to have gotten new fence and the grazing was suppose to be rotational by now. Oh well, best laid plans....

Right now the wind has picked up. It'll help dry things out. It will also bring in the next storm front, because today, it is once again, going to rain. Maybe later this week I can resume my plans. I need to get back to it. I need to see a task completed.

Louie

More Rain

This morning I woke up and looked out my bedroom window and saw blue skies! Laid there for a moment and thought I heard that pitter-pitter sound of a shower.. I went to the window and sure enough, I could see the rain hitting the ground. So got on a jacket and off I went to investigate. There was sunshine all around us but directly over us was a menacing black cloud and it was raining. I went ahead and fed the horses and I continued to watch the cloud. Despite the fact that the wind was coming directly out of the east, the cloud slunk off to the north and settled over another house and barn. We apparently have a neighbor as evil and in need of punishment as we are. Rain!! God's version of Chinese water torture.

In the meantime... I have pumped out the garage trenches for the sixth time this spring. SIX!!! I tried shoveling some dirt back in but with all the rain even the clay up on the banks is incredibly wet and heavy to handle. It's exhausting work and I don't last long at it. I was wishing that I could call Bob up and have him back fill the trench, but I just don't have the money. Of course, having heavy equipment on the property is heady business and the temptation is great and the next thing you know... "Bob, I have a rock sticking out of the yard that I can't get with my shovel..." and "Bob, could you move this dirt pile?".... and "Bob, could you take this bump out of the driveway?" I tell you, it feels almost magical having equipment on the property and you see things get done! Well, If the rain continues, I will need that kind of intercession. I don't know how I'll get it, but I'll need it!

FYI, pto powered post hole diggers are magic too.

But for now, the birds are heading back out to the front yard. The weatherman says the real storms won't start until tonight, so we will go and try to appreciate every moment.

louie

We Have Today...

I am absolutely exhausted today! Didn't sleep last night. The weather report has again frozen me with some fear. We have had rain for the last several days. When it wasn't raining, we have had stifling humidity. I haven't been able to accomplish anything outside because it has been too wet or because the air is so thick that you have to cut it into bite size chunks before trying to inhale.

There is thirty to fifty percent chance rain on Thursday and Friday. Lately even a ten percent chance of rain has actually been a one hundred percent chance. So, we have today. Unfortunately even getting the trenches pumped back out today does not allow time for drying up. There are tasks that I need a second set of hands with.... but there won't be a second set of hands. Whatever I start today, I need to finish today, because I will lose it in the rain tomorrow if I don't.

I have today... I have me.... I have a fair amount of rage building.

On top of the weather issues, the need to make money becomes more urgent on a daily basis. I need to find ways to make money with the farm. Working on the little farm comes as naturally to me as breathing. Sharing the farm is joy. And when I try to work on business I feel like I have been pummeled until bloody. It isn't a matter of doing. It's a matter of roadblocks. It's almost like a mystical, unseen force stops my efforts and leaves only one way for me to move. If I try to fight it, it surely knocks me right back on my ass. The only way forward is through the farm. I have to believe that somehow the farm will save me. It is the only road that is open to me. The only way I know to travel. I don't know what the next step should be for me.

I have today ... I have me .... and I'm alone.

louie

Rain!

Right now, at this moment, I hate rain. I am at the turning point on so many projects that require at least a week of dry weather. Of course the weather man has to give me rain!! Bastard!

I've had too many years of leaking roofs and leaking basements and more recently flooding trenches. When I hear rain it just heightens my senses and pretty soon I am fighting back panic. I know it isn't a matter of "if" something will go wrong but "when". I can't even stand the sound of an aquarium in the house. A fish pond outside is fine but water noises in the house will send my skin crawling.

So I made it through yesterday. One day of rain down. Now I have to make it through the rest of the week. I don't know that I can. It's Chinese water torture on an apocalyptic scale.

I need two weeks of no rain to accomplish most of my outdoor tasks. That is all. You wouldn't think that would be such a big thing. But we haven't gone two weeks without rain since starting this project. I have planned everything here with mega-drainage, but I just need two weeks to get the last of it in place. I need some dry time to pump out trenches.....again!!!! I need some dry time to get a tractor out in the pasture with a post hole digger for more fencing. I need some dry time to get dirt and clay moved. I need some dry time to set posts for the outdoor kitchen. I need some dry time for peace of mind.

I hate rain.

louie

let the disappointment begin!!!

Well, it's raining!!! Sucky, stinking lousy rain!! I had a to-do list. Recently, I've been very good about the to-do list and today's list was going to be the, "It's finally dry enough, let's see what I can get done outdoors!" day. I had the remnant of an old , big round hay bale that needed to be burned, so brilliant me, I thought I would rake up the old dry manure and burn that too. Then that lot would be ready to let horses back into, and it would be higher and dryer for them. Well, crap!! It's not dry anymore!! So the clean up is on hold.

Another item on the to-do list today was to get the kale and the beet seeds into the garden. They would just wash away today so that is another project on hold.

Another important task was the laying of the three inch drain tile down the side of the drive. I had done prep work yesterday. I had gotten the trench evened back out. Dug where I needed to dig. All I needed to do today was to connect and do a little fine tuning. Looks like the drain will remain unconnected until another day.

I'm also pumping water out of the foundation trench for the garage. Keeping water out of foundation trenches has been an ongoing battle for three years now. Who knew that Iowa would become known for it's monsoon season?! Though it is raining, I continue pumping. I don't want to lose ground.

Although I am irritated by my break in momentum there have been some good things. I will try to dwell on those today. For instance, when we purchased the land, it was listed as a thirty-six acre parcel. According to the USDA crp report form, it is actually 38.5. Woohoo!! It has grown under my care! Last night , I sketched out five ideas for product for my home business to sell. I will be selling on Etsy. When I get it done I will link over so you can have a look. And there was the day about a week ago when we were standing at the front window and watching a pair of bald eagles and their mid-air cavorting. Then there is the cabinet that I need to get stained today. (we'll see how that goes).

And then there is planning. Little calms my mind and makes me feel peaceful like planning does. So I will take some time and plan today. I will plan some run in sheds for the horses. And I'd like a round pen.... and a bridge in the woods ... a small barn... Oh well, I wasn't going to get anything done when it started raining anyway.

louie