Bought a scythe!

[Ridgetop]

They are awfully cute! And if you can use the wool, o much the better.

You must have been caught in the northern fires last year. Those of us in California list fires as more frightening than the chance of earthquake. Then there are the mudslides afterward. . . .

Good luck with your rebuilding. How much do you have to do? Did you lose everything?

 

[secuono]

Are you driving out? or arranging for yours to be shipped out and hers back?

Shipper is transporting them.

 

[Stephine]

They are awfully cute! And if you can use the wool, o much the better.

You must have been caught in the northern fires last year. Those of us in California list fires as more frightening than the chance of earthquake. Then there are the mudslides afterward. . . .

Good luck with your rebuilding. How much do you have to do? Did you lose everything?

Thank you! We can use the good luck!
No it was the October fires in 2017 in Sonoma County - we lost both our home and the little cottage we rented out in the first night chaos. No firefighters anywhere around... Luckily the coop, barn and a study remained unharmed. My chickens somehow survived 2 1/2 hot days locked in the coop with little feed and no water....
Rebuilding takes forever. Our site wasn’t cleaned up by the government until the end of February 2018, where they removed way too much soil and so we had to wait for them to remedy the situation in a refill program (thousands of a
sites were affected) until the end of October 2018. That was one year just to get the site ready. Then we had to switch contractors, because ours all of a sudden gave us an estimate that was more than 50% higher than originally discussed and planned for... Lost another three months to that. The rest is waiting for inspections, building permits, etc... And then it rained all winter long, so we couldn’t even think about putting in a foundation until three weeks ago! Hopefully we‘ll be pouring concrete tomorrow. I can’t wait to finally see the house being built!

 

[Ridgetop]

So awful for you. Luckily you weren't hurt. At least you still have some outbuildings for storage. But of course, you can't leave livestock there alone so waiting until you are able to get back onto our property is smart. It gives you time to find a breeder you like and get everything planned out too.

Not to mention the regulations and permits California is requiring now! Do you have to do the whole "green" building thing with recycled wood, etc? You will probably have to put solar panels on too. I know the law is that new homes built in California have to do solar by 2020. Although I like the idea of solar panels I don't like the government requiring a huge expense. And of course the solar installers and sellers will raise prices when it is required. We do plan on going solar when we move. Friends have solar for their well, everything.

Our neighbors lost their home in the fires about 8 years ago. They bought the house next to us to live in while rebuilding. They just finished with everything 3 years ago! Took almost 4 years.

Do you have a well or water service, electric, and septic available now? If you do, you might consider buying a used trailer to live in while doing the rebuilding. That way you can be on site to make sure they do everything right, and it would save you rent at another place.

Good luck in the rebuilding! Send pix of everything going in from the ground up!

 

[goatboy1973]

@goatboy1973 and @Stephine Would you do a tutorial with lots of pictures on how to use a scythe? I have been interested in scythes, but it is a lost art. I sure wish you two would share your wealth of knowledge.

I sure wish I had time as well on how to use these 2 types of scythes. I will be doing spring/ summer maintenance on our herd for the next 2 weeks.

 

[Stephine]

So awful for you. Luckily you weren't hurt. At least you still have some outbuildings for storage. But of course, you can't leave livestock there alone so waiting until you are able to get back onto our property is smart. It gives you time to find a breeder you like and get everything planned out too.

Not to mention the regulations and permits California is requiring now! Do you have to do the whole "green" building thing with recycled wood, etc? You will probably have to put solar panels on too. I know the law is that new homes built in California have to do solar by 2020. Although I like the idea of solar panels I don't like the government requiring a huge expense. And of course the solar installers and sellers will raise prices when it is required. We do plan on going solar when we move. Friends have solar for their well, everything.

Our neighbors lost their home in the fires about 8 years ago. They bought the house next to us to live in while rebuilding. They just finished with everything 3 years ago! Took almost 4 years.

Do you have a well or water service, electric, and septic available now? If you do, you might consider buying a used trailer to live in while doing the rebuilding. That way you can be on site to make sure they do everything right, and it would save you rent at another place.

Good luck in the rebuilding! Send pix of everything going in from the ground up!

Yes, there are green building requirements, you can do a point system, where you get some points for every improvement over standard and need to meet a minimum. That way you have flexibility. Some regulations seem idiotic (like outdoor lights on motion sensors - on a farm! We‘ll all be wide awake each time a possum or fox comes by! (ok, in honesty, the dog makes sure of that anyway, but we don’t need illumination on top of the barking...)), but overall I am for it. Luckily all these things end up saving you money over the longer term. We would get solar panels in any case - we have so much sun, it would be silly not to harvest it! (all that heat has to be good for something! ). We have an electric car and are excited to have it running on sun power, too.
Lord, I hope it won’t take us 4 years... Luckily we had insurance which will cover 2 years of rent for our temporary home, but when that’s up, yes, we’ll move into the studio, and probably add a little trailer for a kitchen and bath (the studio just has heat, no plumbing). It‘ll be good to be there, but cramped, with 3-4 people and a dog. Oh well.
I will post some pics! In a different post - sorry to the mowers for hogging this one!

 

[Cotton*wood]

I know this post has gone in a completely different direction, but I have to say that I LOVE my scythe! One came with the farm, and I bought one that fit me. It's so easy and relaxing to use, to whack down patches of Johnson grass or ragweed or hedge parsley--yes, all things that the sheep would eat, but they're on a rotational grazing plan, and it's many months between passes on any particular place. They're quiet and meditative.

 

[Baymule]

I know this post has gone in a completely different direction, but I have to say that I LOVE my scythe! One came with the farm, and I bought one that fit me. It's so easy and relaxing to use, to whack down patches of Johnson grass or ragweed or hedge parsley--yes, all things that the sheep would eat, but they're on a rotational grazing plan, and it's many months between passes on any particular place. They're quiet and meditative.

Got any pictures?

 

[Cotton*wood]

Got any pictures?

Every couple needs a his and her scythe!

 

[secuono]

I let mine rust.
I'm terrible with caring for metal or leather...
The sharpening stone broke...waiting on a new set to arrive.
I don't use it for grass, but to cut out mixed weeks in grass. It leaves the grass and only cuts the thorns, vines, other odd plants.
Maybe if I sharpen it, it'll get the grass, too.