I found out we had a secret space in our kitchen, today…
I was able to visit my mother this afternoon, and bring her the grabber I bought for her recently. We had a pot of tea, of course, and she brought out a sugar bowl with the tiniest of teaspoons in it. She commented that she had brought it with her from the farm, the mentioned there were more of them in the top of the cutlery drawer.
The what? Where???
Continue readingWe got a slightly warmer day today – a whole 8C – that I took advantage of to work outside. I was able to rake up some grass clippings in front of the barn – the grass there gets so dense, it’s hard for the mower to handle, and if the clippings get left behind, I find they make it even harder – and add it to the old kitchen garden.
Since I was out there, anyhow, I decided to see if I could move the trailer frame into the barn for the winter.
How to get it there was the question.
The trailer is too wide to go through the side door of the barn, that accesses the old hay yard. To get to the back door, it needed to be pulled through the remains of an old corral.
There were only two possible places I could get it through, on the north side of the old corral.
You see that big, collapsed fence post in the picture on the left? I figured I could just move that aside, and I could roll it over the rails – including what appears to be metal balcony or stair rails (I am finding these absolutely everywhere!). When I tried to pick it up, however, everything started to lift with it. It’s all still attached to the post!
On the edge of the photo, you can see a fence post that is still standing. The photo on the right is the other side of the post.
There is a “floating” fence rail, and the ground is incredibly rutted. Plus, there are a bunch of big rocks.
Neither opening was very good, but the one closer to the barn was slightly better – if I could get around that big post.
Once I got through there, it would be smooth sailing. I had an open space on the opposite side of the old corral.
After that, it was just a matter of getting it into the barn.
For some strange reason, I forgot that there were double doors in the back of the barn. I don’t remember ever, in my entire life, seeing both sides open before.
The cats were very interested in me clearing space for the trailer, and making sure there was no glass or nails on the floor.
The next thing was, how to pull it. There is a security chain at the hitch end, but it is short. Since its got only 2 wheels, if I lifted the front too high, the back hit the ground. If I didn’t lift it that high, however, I found myself hunched over, and at risk of injuring my back.
Into the barn I went and looked around. I found a couple of lengths of chain, one of which had a hook on it.
It was perfect!
The trailer also just made it through the space, with a bit of shifting around.
That tire by the fence post that’s still standing is actually in a deep rut.
It was awkward, but it worked!
The cats really like this thing.
It’s in!
It can now safely stay here, out of the elements, until we are in a position to put some plywood on it as a base.
Who knows. We might even *gasp* put some walls on it, too! 😀
Another thing off the to-do list for before winter!
Oh, and while I was clearing the space it would go in, I found something for the “strange things we find” list.
I’d found a couple at the start, and by the time I dragged the trailer in, I disturbed things enough that 3 more were uncovered.
Yeah. Those are .22 shell casings.
No, we don’t have a .22 My dad’s guns are among the things that went away when the place was empty, though I’m 99.9% sure I know who has them.
My guess is, someone was shooting through the open top of the split door, then just didn’t pick up after themselves. What they would be shooting at from here with just a .22, I have no idea.
Well, now that we’re here to take care of the place, we don’t have to worry about anyone doing stuff like that anymore.
The Re-Farmer
A few days back, I showed my mother this grabber that I’d found in the garden shed.
We were trying to figure out…
Why soup spoons?
Well, it took a few days, but my mother called me up because she remembered why.
My dad had used this to pick crabapples.
It was such and “of course!” moment. Those spoons are the perfect size for our crabapples.
My mother then asked if we could take the spoons off and bring it to her to use, but the ends of this are damaged.
We’ll be keeping it as it is. Now that I know, I will probably use it for the same purpose!
Meanwhile, I’ll look into picking up a new grabber for my mother, some time soon! 🙂
The Re-Farmer
Thanks to my brother, we now have wheels on the trailer frame we found in the old hay yard. 🙂
Continue readingAfter cleaning up the storm damage, the next thing to focus on was to put stuff away for the winter. Since we now have sheets of metal roofing on the old garden shed, and it no longer has water pouring in through a hole, I decided to move things around so I could use it.
Of course, that meant finding some curious things!
Continue readingWhile cleaning up yesterday, under where the last chimney block had been sitting, having picked up the broken glass and other garbage I could see, I walked over the area and stepped on something buried in the dirt.
I figured it was either a rock or a brick, so I pulled it out.
As soon as I saw the distinctive colour through the dirt, I knew exactly what it was, and childhood memories came flooding back.
I brought it in and gave it a good scrubbing, but after probably 3 or more decades in the dirt, it will need more. The main part of the stone is a surprisingly bright greenish blue colour, and the layer on one end is a bright, creamy white.
This was one of those things that was found around the farm; probably in a field somewhere. I don’t know what type of rock it is, but it is completely different from any other rock typically found in the area. I remember, as a child, holding it and admiring the colours, textures and the abrupt contrast between the white and green portions. It absolutely fascinated me!
I was quite into rocks when I was a kid.
I still am! 😀
The Re-Farmer
I’ll start with the things I found today. 🙂
The first thing I found this morning was a Pump Shack kitten! After opening up the sun room to let the other kittens out and get some cat kibble, I turned to find him at the door, waiting to see if he could sneak past me for some food!
He never did come in while I was there, but after I put food out by the junk pile and pump shack, I came back to find him, with Junk Pile kitten and Rosencrantz (his mom), sharing food with Doom Guy and Keith.
We rarely see Rosencrantz these days, and we haven’t seen Guildenstern in ages. Same with Jim, Bobby and Rolando Moon. I hope they are okay, wherever they are.
While checking the yard for any fallen branches or damage, I found…
One of the tree mushrooms had fallen.
That thing is really big!
I looked around for the others I’d spotted a few days back; they are not only still there, but bigger than ever. All this rain is definitely mushroom weather!
The final find of the day was something my daughter had to point out to me, or I would have missed it entirely.
During the night, I kept hearing the kittens getting onto the dining table, where they are not allowed to be. In coming out to chase them off, they were usually already down, but I could see the cords from our ceiling fan swinging. They were getting on the table to try and play with them!
A friend of mine has had success with using aluminum foil to get her cats from doing where they are not supposed to, so I figured I’d give it a try, leaving sheets of them in front of each chair that they are using to get onto the table.
As you can see by the paw prints, it didn’t work!
Another find I made was a few days ago, during my rare times to the basement. I needed a washer of a particular size and hoped I could find one among the various drawers and cabinets down there.
I found this.
The old syringe my dad used to use to treat cattle. I remember it used to be stored in a case, together with needles of various sizes, but there is only the syringe, now. Check out the inner chamber, that would be sterilized and reused, again and again – as did the needles! They certainly don’t make them like this, anymore!
Interestingly, we found these just the next day.
I found them with my feet. These are the sorts of medicine bottles that would have been used with that syringe.
Knowing my brother was coming with some wheels to try on the old trailer frame in the hay yard by the barn, my daughter and I went to pull it out of the grass. It’s really heavy, so we were not going to be able to drag it out of the old hay yard, through the barn, and into the outer yard, as I’d hope we might be able to, but we didn’t want to just leave it in the grass again, either. Leaning against the barn were some old tires, so I dragged several out to put under the frame. While pulling out the first tire, I stepped on something that my foot slipped on, and found an old medicine bottle, half buried in the dirt. I moved it aside but when I came back for the next tire, I stepped on another one!
We took them into the barn. I don’t know what we’ll do with them, but I want to keep these! 😀
The Re-Farmer
A bit of an update as to how things are going with our budding mead. Visit here to catch up on the process.
Continue readingToday was one of those days when I was able to visit the beach after dropping my daughter off at work.
This time, twice!
I got these shots this morning.
Continue readingThis morning, after dropping my daughter off at work, I took the time to check out the beach and take a walk.
It was really quite gorgeous.
As always, I keep an eye out for interesting things washed up by the waves and tides. For myself, I look for interesting rocks. For my older daughter, I look for interesting… anything.
And, wow, did I ever hit the jackpot today!!
At first glance, I actually thought it was some washed up, crumpled plastic or something.
I’ve found the odd jaw bone of a fish before, but never an entire skull! It’s pretty big, too. About the size of the palm of my hand. Slightly longer, in fact.
I have no clue what it is, though. That bone “sail” at the back of the skull is fascinating.
Does anyone recognize what it is?
Also, it rattles. There is something stuck inside the skull. Sounds like a small pebble.
As I write this, it is being disinfected! 😀
The Re-Farmer
