A Day of Progress

May 11, 2018May 11, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 3 Comments

A few more steps forward, today – and the girls are still outside, working on cleaning up around the yard, so the progress continues even now.

The most exciting thing for me is, the septic guy came! Yay!

Oh, the things that excite me in my old age… LOL

Seriously, though… it’s one less worry, and I already talked to him about coming back in the fall, as part of his regular route in the area, as we go back to doing the regular routine cleaning in the fall.

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I can’t help but admire someone who can back up a vehicle like this, through our gate into the yard, between the spruce grove and the flower garden along the East side of the house, and turn into the North side of the house – without hitting the downspout (which was screwed in place, unlike the others) or hitting the low hanging branches.

Dude’s got mad reversing skills.

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While chatting with him, I learned he is not a fan of this type of septic tank.

Typically, a septic tank is a large reservoir with only one chamber. The solids naturally sink to the bottom and, once it reaches a certain level, the grey water drains out to the septic field. It’s all gravity based.

This system is much smaller and has two reservoirs. The one for the solids is smaller and has a smaller opening into it. The grey water eventually fills the second, larger, reservoir until an ejector pump sends it out to the septic field.

He needed to get that hose into the solids reservoir, which not only has a smaller opening, but the hoses from the pump (which is inside the basement) run over it.

He knew the place had been empty for the last couple of years, since he’s been servicing our tank for quite a long time, and had assured me it wouldn’t be a concern. Still, he was surprised by how much was in it. I did explain that, though empty, there were still people using the house. Add in 4 people and 6 months… I’m really glad we got it done.

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All done!

The straw on the left is what covered the lid for the winter. I was going to pile it elsewhere, but I couldn’t find a pitch fork anywhere.

I checked the garage, the pump shack, the barn, the garden shed – even the basements. No pitch fork to be found.

What farm doesn’t have a pitch fork?

Like most of the lawn on the North side of the house, the grass here is pretty much all gone. Not even just dead, like in other parts of the lawn. It’s basically just dirt and weeds.

After the tank was done, I went back to working on the wood pile in the garden, but not before getting a picture of something that was a mystery to the girls. A mystery I actually knew the answer to, for a change!

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It’s one thing to find extension cords all over the house, what with the lack of outlets, but an extension cord up a tree? The tree itself is probably 60 ft high, or close to it, and the cord runs almost all the way up.

I remember when it was run up there. My late brother, who was an agile climber, put it there. He also carried up a star shaped frame with Christmas lights in it, and installed it near the very top of the tree. The cord is to plug in the star.

I can’t see if the star is still up there, but I can’t imagine anyone climbing up there to take it down. Nor can I imagine it ever being replaced since it was first put up there, which means that is a very old extension cord.

We have no plans of ever using it again!

Meanwhile, back to the wood pile in the garden!

This is a pile of deadwood and prunings that had been put there before we moved out, and my family had wanted to burn in the winter. I didn’t want it burned, so we now have the job of cleaning it out of the garden area. Most of it will be used as fuel for the fire pit, but some I’m keeping for future crafting purposes. My mother is still adamant that she wants the garden plowed, as soon as the pile is cleared.

I’m glad we put our collective foot down about not burning this. Earlier, I’d already pulled out a bunch of fibre glass insulation that was buried in it. There are more bits and pieces we are still finding.

I also found this.

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Apparently, no one had a problem with burning this, then plowing the remaining metal and glass bits, into the garden.

Nor with this…

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I’d already pulled out a margarine container. Today, I found the two lids and some mystery plastic, along with the bits of insulation.

Lovely.

As I was writing this, my daughters called me out to see a discovery they made while cleaning around the yard.

That one is getting its own post. After I make supper.

Oh, the strange things we are finding!

The Re-Farmer

The Mystery Blogger Award

May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

Wow! Okay!

I was just nominated by rugby843 of The Bag Lady for a Mystery Blogger Award. Thank you!

I have to admit, I didn’t understand how I got nominated, since I don’t write a mystery blog, but it turns out that’s not the kind of mystery it is about. :-D

Here is what the award, created by Okoto Enigma, is about.

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Hmm… The first 4 rules are easy. The rest, not so much!

Three things about myself?

Of course, I’m drawing a blank, now. LOL

Let’s see.

1. I’m reaching the half century mark, and quite content about the whole aging thing.

2. I used to be a shy wallflower who never spoke out of turn, but after life threw some major challenges our way, I now speak up and speak out whenever I encounter bullying and BS. Lots of people don’t like that. Especially when they discover they can’t intimidate me with threats and bluster.

3. I accept people as they are, warts and all. After all, I have plenty of my own. It is our flaws and imperfections that make us grow into the people we are. The one thing will drive me away from someone, however, is dishonesty and deception. How can you ever trust someone who stabs you in the back?

Next on the list: nominate 5 people. It is hard to choose, but here are my nominees.

Random Thoughts

Dad Photographer

What’s for Dinner Moms?

Dining with Donald

Renegade Expressions

Before I ask my own 5 questions, here are the ones from The Bag Lady’s nomination post.

1. What made you start a blog in the first place and has it morphed into something else?

When the move back to my family farm was confirmed – and the timeline shorted by several months – I thought our experiences my be useful and helpful to others. The blog is only 6 months old, so it’s still what is started out as.

2. What is your favorite thing to read–book, magazine, dictionary, society column, newspaper obituaries, the Enquirer, bathroom wall? ( This is the funny question)🙄

I like to do research. When I was a kid, I started out with human pre-history, with a focus on things like what people ate, the sorts of things they did for leisure, and what what skills were needed. This tangentially led to studying herbs and food history, which lead to geography, geology, climate history and trade, and the roles they played in forming regional cultures, and how those cultures spread around the world. When I started having kids, my research went into child psychology, neurology and brain development, and as we home schooled, it expanded into etymology, genetics, etc.

Does that actually answer the question? I’m not sure. :-D

3. Who was your mentor growing up?

My dad and my late brother.

4. What do you enjoy writing most, fact based, prose, poetry, flash fiction?

I used to write only fiction, and sometimes still do, but these days, I mostly write either how-to posts on my crafting blog, or editorial style articles for various sites. And this blog, of course.

5. If you could have only one photograph ever, who or what would it picture?

Honestly, I don’t think I’d choose anything. If I could only have one photograph, I’d probably prefer none at all.

Okay, so here are my five questions:

1. Scenerio: you have 1 year and unlimited resources (time, money, access to locations, etc). What is the one thing you would do before the end of that year?

2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

3. Who is your favorite fictional character and why?

4. What is most dangerous thing that ever happened to you?

5. What is the object nearest to your left foot, right now?

The Re-Farmer

Deer Visitors

May 10, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

It was almost too dark to get photos, but I was able to get some of a trio of deer visitors!

When I saw three of them, I thought it might be Mama and the Twins, but once the antler nubs started to show, we could see that her twins were 1 male and 1 female.

Today’s visitors included two young males.

You can see the antler nubs on the two deer feeding in the photo above.

I had put out 8 little piles of seeds this evening, and they moved around a lot, from pile to pile, making it hard to get photos in the failing light. I got a lot of motion shots! :-D

I don’t think I recognize them at all.

While we’re not seeing deer as often anymore, now that the snow is gone (though from the disappearing feed, I’d say they’re coming over throughout the night), the ones we do see are looking rather rough, with all sorts of patches missing in their fur, and looking quite thin, as well. It may be they’re losing their winter coats, but the patches in their fur don’t look like they are from shedding.

They didn’t stay long, nibbling at the piles of seeds while constantly on the alert. After a while, they headed out into the garden area and started grazing by the remains of the wood pile.

With spring finally showing some greenery, any feed we put out is basically a treat. They should be finding plenty of food in the bush, now.

The Re-Farmer

Shaggy, shaggy friends!

May 10, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

On the way to the dump today, we passed by our neighborhood bison farm. They were close to the fence by the road, so we stopped to take pictures. :-D

I’m going to have to look into getting a camera I can take with me in the vehicle when we drive around. Zooming in on the phone makes for some awful pictures. But it’s still better than no pictures at all! :-)

I love my shaggy, shaggy friends! Extra shaggy, this time of year, as they shed their winter fur.

As we continued to the dump, driving on the highway, we saw a school bus from the opposite direction, coming to a stop. I had to chuckle as we came to a stop ourselves, as I saw a mom in a truck at the end of the driveway – a driveway at least a quarter mile long, and we couldn’t see the end of it. As we watched a tiny child crossing the highway and Mom coming out to meet her, I suddenly realize this person looked very familiar. Sure enough, when she turned back to the truck and I saw her face, I realized this was a former co-worker of mine from that last time we lived in this province! I’d been to her farm only once before and lost all memory of where it was, so this was a pleasant surprise. As the bus left, I just had to pull ahead to the truck and say hello! I look forward to catching up with her in the future. :-)

Now that my mother’s car is no longer in one of the lean-to’s on the side of our garage (it was a tight fit, that’s for sure!), we were finally able to take a load of paint to the dump with us. They had been in the basement of the house before. I’m told there was the smell of something leaking, but no sign of which can it was coming from, so they were just taken out to the garage until there was no more smell.

We took maybe half of the 1 gallon cans that are there, and will take more on our next trip to the dump. I think we found the one that was leaking, though. One of the cans had liquid on its lid, so the can that was leaking would have been the one on top of it.

Then there are all the quart sized cans, not only on top of the gallon cans, but a couple of boxes full, too. We’ll fight with those later.

We got about 16 or 17 cans out and into the proper disposal area at the dump. It will probably take a couple more trips to get rid of all the cans in the garage. (I don’t want to take too many at once, partly because we need room for our own garbage and recycling, and partly because I want to avoid paint cans rolling around if I ever had to stop suddenly while driving at highway speeds.)

Then we will need to get rid of the cans of paint in our entryway closet, plus what’s still in the basement. I wouldn’t be surprised if we fine more, elsewhere.

All of these are quite old. Some felt almost full. I have no idea why there was so much paint in the basement, or what it was used for. From what I can see, the only thing that’s been painted recently is the house itself, which was done by my older brother and his wife last summer, in preparation for our coming out. They brought their own paint, and anything they brought, they took back with them when they were done. The only other thing I know of that was painted, was done before my mother moved away from the farm to the senior’s residence.

It’s entirely possible some of it was never used here, but got brought here instead of being disposed of. Like all those large appliances lying around!

Well, whatever reason they all ended up here, they won’t be here for too much longer! :-)

The Re-Farmer

New Heights

May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

With the new hospital bed installed, we still need to figure out what to do with the king size mattress. The first thing I’ll need to do is get a king size mattress cover before we can store it anywhere. Until then, it’s in our dining room, leaning against a wall.

The cats are in heaven.

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They just LOVE the height. The fact that it’s also soft is certainly being taken advantage of, too!

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DaBoy is absolutely languid.

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Mother and son; a matched set.

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They are just too cute for words!

Meanwhile, I phoned the electric company, since someone had come in to check the lines while I was in the city, to find out what their assessment was. The woman I spoke to looked up the notes, and talked about how, if we hired an arborist to clear the line to the house, they would come out to shut off the power, and drop the line, if necessary. What about the lines to the other pole? I asked. There was nothing in the notes. I described our set up, and how the lines from the main pole in the outer yard run through trees in the inner yard to reach the pole in the garden, before continuing on across the road.

You can barely see the power lines just right of center at the top of this photo.

There was nothing in the notes about it. This might be on me; when I called, I was thinking of the line to the house. It wasn’t until after I arranged for the assessment that I walked around and noted the lines to the garden. The guy that came out may have only been told to check the line to the house, which is our responsibility. The house line runs below the lines that lead to the pole in the garden.

Just to be sure, she wrote us up for another service check to assess, and hopefully included her own notes about where it needs to be checked. I hope that, this time, I’ll be home to talk to the assessor when he arrives.

The Re-Farmer

Oh. That’s how that happened

May 9, 2018May 9, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

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!

May 8, 2018May 8, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

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. :-)

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? :-)

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

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

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!

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…

May 8, 2018May 8, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

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

May 7, 2018 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

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.

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.

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.

Then through the maple grove.

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.

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

May 7, 2018May 7, 2018 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

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.

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 Feta

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

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.
Combine chickpeas, black olives and feta into bowl medium bowl.
Add dillweed, salt and pepper to taste, and enough olive oil to moisten.
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!

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