Month: May 2018

Oh. That’s how that happened

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While out with my mother yesterday, I ended up finding out something I had been wondering about.

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Why this is here.

This little patch of bushes seemed so random.  The size of it, the location – even the odd angle of it – just didn’t make sense to me.

Then my mother mentioned some lilies in the yard and asked me if they were coming up yet.  Where did she mean?  It turned out to be in this area, along with the bushes.  Which reminded me to ask her, how did she end up planting things here?

The answer?

Because of a van.

You see, for many years, the younger of my brothers had a van parked there.  I even remember it being there, as do my daughters.  It was there for a very long time.

I do believe I’ve spotted it in the old hay yard by the barn, among the many other vehicles sitting there.

After the van was moved out of the yard, there was a patch under it, where the grass had died.

So my mom planted things in it.  She tells me there’s a lilac bush, as well as a white rose, there, along with the lilies.

Well… I guess that’s one way to fix a damaged piece of lawn. It certainly explains the size, shape and location!

The Re-Farmer

 

That was quick. Also, deer!

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Early this morning, I saw a pair of deer coming into the feeding area.  Unfortunately, because we haven’t had them coming by in the last while, I hadn’t put any feed out the night before, so there wasn’t much there for them.  Still, I got a few pictures, even through the reflections in the window. :-)

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They are both looking pretty rough around the edges!  I do think they’ve been here before.

Notice the little antler buds on the deer in the foreground? :-)

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The female has some nicks out of an ear, and it looks like some scarring on her snout, too.

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Aside from the missing patches of fur on the male that can be seen in the first photo, he’s looking pretty thin, too!

Just before I went to put more feed out tonight, I spotted a single deer through our bedroom window, making its way through the maple grove to the feeding area.  The noise of me going outside would have scared it off, though.  I hope it comes back later.  :-)

This morning, my husband’s hospital bed was supposed to be delivered between 10 and 11 pm.  So this morning, we dismantled our king size bed, which has been resting on a pair of queen box springs until we could get a proper bed frame again.  The mattress just got leaned on the wall at first, and the box springs went into the dining room at first.  Then I went out to feed the cats.

Beep Beep stood up to say hello! :-D

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Then, with the help of one of the girls, the box springs got moved outside, just to lean on a tree until they could be taken to the shed.

The outside cats were very curious about this!

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Well, hello, again, Beep Beep!

I had to head out at 11:30.  My mother registered her vehicle, effective this morning, so I drove her car out to meet my brother at her place, as a surprise.  I was going to accompany them for a medical appointment in the city, which was also a surprise.

It turns out my mother doesn’t like surprises.

Ah, well.

It was a long and draining day for all, but we got the information we needed, then took the time to explain it again to my mother on the way back.  My brother, sweetheart that he is, drove me home before driving the 1 1/2 hours back to his place.  It was a VERY long day for him!

While I was gone, much to my surprise, someone from the electric company came out to check the power lines!  I was told they’d have someone out within 2 weeks.  I wasn’t expecting someone the very next day! :-D  I will have to phone them again to find out what their assessment was, since not a lot of information was shared while the guy was here and my daughters were buy hauling box springs to the shed and cleaning up the yard.

As for the hospital bed, it did finally get delivered and set up, several hours later than expected. Once that was done, my daughters got the king size mattress out – I have no idea where we’re going to store that thing! – then set up the spare twin bed up for me.  I had had other plans for it – plans that can’t be done with the king size bed – but… oh, well.  Thankfully, the master bedroom is quite big, and there’s more than enough room.  I hope it works out better for my husband.  At least he won’t be losing his balance trying to get in and out of bed anymore, since he can adjust the height to exactly where he needs it.

All in all, I’m really happy about how quick things got followed through on, both for the bed, and with the electric company.

The Re-Farmer

What is this? The Answer is…

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Here is the answer to yesterday’s guessing game.

The mystery equipment sitting in our maple grove is…

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… A garden row marker.

In the above picture, you see the handle.  One would step inside it, and hold the bar in front while dragging the rest behind.

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Do you see the points?  There are three of them that would drag on the ground, creating three lines in the soil.  When the next pass was made, one of the outer markers would be dragged along in one of the previously marked lines, so that the other two new rows marked would be evenly spaced.

Seeds would be planted in the resulting lines in the soil.

When I was a kid, I remember one of these my dad had made out of wood.  I don’t know who made this metal version, though I would guess it was my late brother, using bits and pieces from other equipment and whatever else was handy.

How close was your guess?

The Re-Farmer

Power

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Today I had a talk with the electric company.

Within the next two weeks, they’re going to send someone out to check out our power lines and the trees, to assess what equipment they will need to safely cut the trees away from the power lines.  That is such a relief!  And, it will be done at no cost to us.

With that in mind, I did a once-around the yard, before my daughters went out to start working on the wood pile in the garden, and do some yard clean up.

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This is what the pile looked like, before they started on it today.  Much, much smaller than it was.

Right now, it’s down to mostly leaves and dirt, which makes cleaning it up harder.  They took a break from it to start raking some leaves up from a pile in the yard that got snowed on before it was cleared away, plus starting on some of the flower gardens.  The leaves and, later in the year, grass clippings, will be methodically added to the garden area to begin the process of building up the soil.

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The main thing I wanted to check out was this power pole in the garden area.

The main power pole is on the opposite side of the house, outside the yard.  That is the one that has the power line to the house itself.

This pole?

I didn’t know anything about it.  I just found out more.

The power lines attached to it run across the road to a power pole on the neighbour’s side of the ditch.  In the other direction, the lines run to our own main power pole.  These are the lines that supply power to the main pole, which then has lines running to the house, pump shack, the garage (up until the movers ran into it), and in the past, the barn as well, which will be set up again when we replace the broken power pole at the garage and get the electricity hooked back up, there.

We’re talking more than 4000 volts running to that post.

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Then through the maple grove.

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Straight through some of the branches.

Can you see the lines?

Trust me.  They are there.  Barely visible.

I had been concerned about the more visible line running to the house.  These ones, however, are at far more risk!

I suspect there is going to be quite a lot of tree trimming, once the assessment is made.

We’ll have some of our own clean up to do through there, too.  It seems someone did already start to, at some point.

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A few dead trees had been cut, then the pieces cut up a bit.

Then just left there.

I don’t know when this was done, but it can’t have been more than a couple of years, if that.  I used to be able to mow the lawn in between these trees.  It used to be very park-like, clear and open.

I hope to return it to that state.

It will make a big difference, to have the electric company coming in to take care of the trees that are endangering the power lines.  Also on the list of things to happen soon, the septic service company will be out at the end of the week to empty the tank.  I think we’ll all be feeling much better once that’s done; there has been this sort of dread in the back of my mind for some time, despite assurances by the septic service company, that the tank is too full and might back up into our basement.  That would be quite the disaster.  My oldest brother has already had to deal with that happening, when it broke down and he had to hire an excavator to dig around the tank so it could be fixed on this inside, as well as the mechanisms in the basement.

My brother had come out on Friday to put the battery back in my mother’s car for her and, while out and about with other things, noticed a single on the Old Kitchen had lifted up.  At first, it looked like a single had been lost, but on closer examination, it seems to have basically folded itself up.  A trip into town today included picking up some roof tar, which can be applied with a caulking gun, so we can gently fold them back and stick them in place.  The problem will be getting to it.  It’s right under the peak of the roof, and about as far to the outer edge of the roof as can be.  Getting to it is not going to be easy, nor very safe.

I also picked up a tube caulking that can be painted, to seal the screw holes from the satellite dishes that had been attached to the side of the house before we upgraded to the ones now mounted on the sun room roof.  I want to see if those need to be sealed with roofing tar, too.

I really don’t want any more leaks happening!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.  I will be going to to help my brother take my mother to a medical appointment in the city, so I can start getting informed and, in time, take over from him in taking my mother to these appointments.  Meanwhile, just before I have to leave, my husband’s hospital bed is going to be delivered.  I will have to leave it to the girls to set up a second bed for me, once the hospital bed is installed.

Little by little, it’s getting done.

I’m going to be so happy when all of these are finished!

The Re-Farmer

Black Olive and Chickpea Salad

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This is one of my favourites; a hearty salad that I will sometimes have as a meal.

Today, it was made extra special, thanks to a care package a dear friend sent me – who knows me oh, so well!  It has been AGES since I’ve had truffle salt or truffle oil!  Not that I couldn’t find them; they’re just normally incredibly expensive.

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Every now and then, though, they show up at Winners at affordable prices and, apparently, they had quite a variety of truffle products available!

And yes.  It’s always time for tea.

I have the best friends!

A few dashes of truffle oil and a sprinkle of truffle salt to my salad brought it to a whole new level!  It’s still delicious with just olive oil and regular salt, though. :-)

Black Olive and Chickpea Salad with FetaBlack Olive and Chickpea salad

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
1 can black olives, whole or sliced
about 1/2 cup feta, cubed or crumbled
about 1/4 tsp dried dillweed or 1/2 tsp fresh
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

 

  1. After draining and rinsing the chickpeas, shake off as much water as possible, or let them sit to drain more moisture out for a while.
  2. Combine chickpeas, black olives and feta into bowl medium bowl.
  3. Add dillweed, salt and pepper to taste, and enough olive oil to moisten.
  4. Stir or toss to combine thoroughly and serve.

Optional: use different types of salt (smoked salt is great!) or flavoured oil.

This can be made ahead and chilled in the refrigerator before serving.  I have no idea how long it’ll last in the fridge, because it disappears so quickly!

What is this? A guessing game

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Here’s a question for you, dear readers.

Can you guess what this piece of equipment is?

Here is a view of most of it…

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And this is what’s buried in the dried leaves.

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Do you know what it is?  Leave your guesses in the comments. :-)

The Re-Farmer

A Social Call

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Yesterday evening, I was able to take a walk up the road; just to the half mile mark and back, so a short walk.  It was the perfect temperature for a walk, and the skies were just beautiful.

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Alas, those were not rain clouds.  We really need rain right now.  With so little snow over the winter, and no rains all spring, everything is tinder dry.  Farmers will be planting soon, and the conditions are not good for that right now.

Today, we were able to make a trip into the city for a pure social call – a visit to my father in law.  This was the first outing for my husband that wasn’t for a medical appointment, since before Christmas!  Just three of us, though, as my older daughter volunteered to stay home and hold the fort.  It was a fantastic visit, and my FIL very generously gifted us with a box of “almost perfect” chocolates.

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What you’re looking at is a box with 2 kg of chocolate.  That’s about 4.4 pounds.

I need to find out where he got these.  I don’t particularly care if chocolate is ugly.  :-D  The last time we found a place that sold imperfects was in Richmond, BC. almost 20 years ago.  We found a chocolate factory that had a store open to the public.  I don’t know how much was paid for these, but in a store, the unblemished chocolates would have cost about a dollar a piece.  There are at least 3 layers of chocolates in this box!

While it was a wonderful visit, it was very hard on my husband and his pain levels.  Still, we’re hoping to be able to make the trip in to visit at least once a month, now that the snow is gone.

For all the unexpected hassles we’ve been having since moving out here, his being able to see is father again makes up for that a lot!

The Re-Farmer

Domesticity

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It’s been a lovely day today!  Enough that we’ve actually opened most of the windows in the house.  We even got the inside front door open again.  I’d tried to open it while my brother was here, to show him how the outside screen door was stuck, as if it were painted shut (it isn’t).  I had managed to get the top unstuck, but not the bottom.  I wasn’t able to show him this, though, as the inside door wouldn’t budge.  He tried it as well, but we both stopped because we didn’t want to break the door knob.  When I tried it again this morning, I discovered it wasn’t the door itself that was stuck; it was the knob!  For some reason, it turned only part way; far enough that we didn’t notice, but not enough to get the tongue out of the groove.

Looks like we’re going to have to add “door knobs” to the list of things to replace.

Then, I set up our little step ladder in front of the screen door.

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Yeah, I’m a suck when it comes to the cats, but in this case, without it there, the cats keep trying to get onto the dining room window, which involves jumping up onto shelves that hold a bunch of plants, coffee pot, kettle, etc.  All stuff that can be knocked over by our less then elegant (amazingly clumsy) cats, too easily! :-D  So, the lady gets her own perch, to look out the window at the birds.

I had hoped to get more work done on the wood pile in the garden, but today ended up being more of a day of domesticity.  Things like cleaning the bathroom took priority.

It’s remarkable how different something as basic as cleaning a bathroom changes when you are on well water that is so rich in iron and minerals.  Regular household cleaners don’t cut it – literally – while the specialty cleaners need greater care, like making sure windows are wide open!  At least they’re septic friendly.

That’s another thing that’s reaching the top of our to-do list.  The tank hasn’t been emptied in 2 years and, while the house was empty, it was still used now and then.  No way of knowing how full that tank was, but with 4 people now living here, it’s bound to be overdue for emptying.  The ground should be thawed enough for it too be done.  After this, we’ll go back to the usual emptying of the tank in the late fall.

I did make a point of going out and starting my mom’s car again, to make sure all is well, after yesterday’s troubles when the battery was put back.  All was well.

Except for the bird, trapped in the garage.

Though the main door stays open right now, until we can replace the handle, the bird stayed in the rafters and wouldn’t fly lower, though the wide open door.  When I later found it bashing itself into the window in the lean to my mother’s car is parked in, I went around and opened the back door from the outside.  That seemed to do that trick.  I heard it flying out before I got much more than 10 feet away.

My brother was sure the new door handle we got would work, even if the cable doesn’t go through the squared post like the old one did, so I took another look at it.  I think he’s right.  One end of the cable was woven through a hole in the plate, the squared post, and then a second hole in the plate, before being tied to the cable from the other side.  I managed to get the knot undone.  The end of the wire cable that threaded through the holes is fraying, however, so it took some doing to get it undone.

I’m only bleeding a little bit.

I’m going to have to put tape or something on the end, to be able to thread it back through the second hole in the plate.

As for the handle itself, it was intended for a wooden door.  The screws it came with are wood screws, and short.  I’m going to have to look around for some nuts and bolts in the appropriate size.  There are jars and tins of screws, nails and who knows what else, all over the place, so I should be able to find something, somewhere.

That squared post is still a bit of a problem, though.  It’s a couple of inches longer than the old one.  Which means the plate won’t be as close to the back of the door as it was, before.  I’m hoping that won’t actually make a difference, since the whole thing freely turns to pull the cables.  It should still be up against the door, though.  Ah, well.  We’ll see how it works once I find some fasteners for the handle.

The cables, themselves, could probably use replacing, too.

So does the entire door, really.  It’s definitely the worse for wear!

More things to add to the list!

The Re-Farmer

Shaggy friends, a new bird ID and… a mystery!

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Early this morning, I spotted some movement at the edge of our spruce grove.  It turned out to be a bird, enthusiastically digging and pecking at the ground.  A surprisingly large bird; not as big as a grouse, but certainly bigger than a blue jay or crow.  Not something I recall seeing before.  Unfortunately, it was too far to identify by eye, so I got some pictures zoomed in as far as our lens can go.  They’re not good pictures, but enough to identify it.

From what I can find, it appears to be a Northern Flicker, though there are different kinds that can look quite different.

The most distinctive thing about it was the splash of red at the back of the neck.  The other distinguishing feature is the black bib.

A number of the photos of Northern Flickers I saw also had a splash of red on the cheek, but this one did not have that.

As it later flew away, I was able to see the underside of its wings, which appeared to be a bright yellow.

The Norther Flicker is a member of the woodpecker family, so it’s interesting that this one was pecking, not at wood, but at the ground.

Later on, my younger daughter and I got some progress done on the sorted wood piles in the garden.  We’ve now removed all the wood we’d already sorted, except for the pile I set aside to keep for potential projects.  More will be added to it as we finish going through the original pile.  When we got to the larger pieces, we had to saw most of them in half so they would fit in the wheel barrows.  We could really tell when we were cutting apple wood!  The wood is so much harder, and the patterns in the rings are so distinctive and lovely.  Even the ones I didn’t choose to keep, I set them to one side in the piles we’re making near the fire pit, for use when we’re cooking or, if all goes well, able to do some smoking.

My poor daughter.  By the time we were done for the day, she was just wasted.  She was really too sick to be doing this sort of work, but she did it anyways, and I really appreciate it!

After that, I went to the post office and, along the way, I found our shaggy neighbours were closer to the road, so I pulled over to get some photos.

Zooming in with a cell phone doesn’t get very good pictures, unfortunately, but still.  Bison!

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We got some unexpected people visitors today.  First, my brother and his Lady Fair, who live nearby, came over to pick up the last of some stuff he’s got in our root cellar.  I was all excited because his beautiful dog finally allows me to pet him!  Then my older brother came by, just as they we leaving.  My mother’s car has been stored here for the winter, and she wants to register it again soon, so he came to put the battery back in.  It turned out to need charging, so he started doing some stuff at the barn.  When I went out to join him, I stopped to take a look at a pile of wood that is sitting in the barn yard.

Only to discover, it’s not a pile of wood.  It’s a pile of something else, covered in wood.

What on earth was I seeing under there?

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Whatever the wood is covering has moss growing on it, and there’s a layer of plastic.  Something is showing through holes that I at first thought was ashes?

So I asked my brother.

It’s insulation.  My youngest brother had put it there.

My youngest brother died in 2010.

Why is it there?  My brother didn’t know.

The wood on top showed up more recently.

What on earth are we going to do with a plastic covered, moss covered, wood covered, pile of insulation, sitting in the barn yard?

The Re-Farmer

The Return of the Deer

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It’s been a while since I got deer pictures!

Some days, we’ve seen none at all.  A couple of times, I’ve seen a lone deer in the evening, slow to come over, quick to run away.  My husband sometimes sees them around dawn, but none have been coming over during the day, and none of the regulars.

Tonight, however, we had visitors!

I spotted them as I went into the living room, coming in from the opposite direction we usually see them.  Two smaller deer in front, and a larger one somewhat behind.  Unfortunately, my coming into the living room startled them, and they ran off – the two smaller deer one way, the larger one the other.

The smaller ones didn’t go far, though.  I managed to position myself and the camera as they slowly came in.  Eventually, I could see the third one, going into the spruces from the other side of the pallet pile, then making it’s way through the trees to the garden area, before finally coming around from the other side.

The first of the little ones was looking very rough!

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Aside from the burrs, there appear to be missing patches of fur, and it looks like his ribs are sticking out!

Notice the antler nubs?

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The second deer made its way over, and in this picture, is watching the third deer going through the trees.

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The male doesn’t look as beat up on this side!

The third deer came around and they fed for a while, but they were very nervous and kept looking out way, as well as at what I figure were cats around behind the house.  Unfortunately, with our light on, there was nothing to hid our own movements.  My husband moved an arm to pick up his water bottle, and off they ran!

Once again, though, they did not go far.  I could see them grazing on the far side of the wood pile and…

Was that a fourth deer?

Sure enough, it was.

After a while, all four of them came over to feed.  By this time, it was too dark for photos, but I could still see them fairly well.  There was something familiar about the battered face of the fourth one.

It wasn’t until I uploaded the pictures that I was able to confirm that yes, these are deer we’ve had before!

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There’s the little one with the scars on either side of its snout.  The fourth one, with the battered face, is the one I’d identified as her mother, the last time they were here.

I’m happy that they came back, though they do look the worse for wear!

Though I’d put plenty of feed out in the morning, the birds had been at it all day, so there wasn’t a lot left by evening.  Since the deer are coming very early in the morning, and in the evening (if they come at all), we’ve decided we will start leaving more feed out in the evening, instead of the morning.  That way, the evening visitors will get feed, but there should still be plenty in the morning, since the birds won’t be eating it during the night.

So after the deer left, but before it got too dark, I went to put out a bucket of feed.  As I was coming around the house, I was startled by the weird, loud, breathy cough, and the sound of hooves.  All for of them had been in the garden area!

As they ran off in opposite directions again, and this is clearly a family group, I expect they’ll make their way back to join each other.  Maybe even back to the fresh feed I just left out! :-)

The Re-Farmer