Jumping the Moon Dairy - the next chapter

[babsbag]

No apology is necessary I had heard it might rain but I was trying to ignore that in hopes that it would go away. It says now afternoon thunderstorms so I am ok with that. In CA rain is always welcomed, I just need it to rain only at night.

 

[babsbag]

My friend came with his Bobcat and did some grading but we couldn't do what we had planned without renting a backhoe to pull the trees out. I called 5 rental places and none of them had any backhoes in the yard so we reserved one for next Tuesday. We worked our tails off getting everything dismantled and all the trees cut. The manure was all pushed to the bottom of the old buck pen and will become my new orchard eventually; trees should love it. It is a transformation but the moving of the trailers is on hold until the dirt work is done.

 

[babsbag]

After spending a week trying to rent a backhoe one was finally found and the trees were all removed but not without a minor problem. The trees were all left with a 3-4' trunk on them so that the backhoe would have something to push on when removing them. One of the trees swung when it was being picked up and came down right on a hydraulic line and broke the fitting on the ram. That ended that project for the day. $160.00 and one day later back in business and the stumps are all out. Now I work on getting rid of them. Wish I had a clam shell bucket on my tractor but I don't so I am having to tie straps around them and lift them out of the pile they are in. Then I cut the trunk off of them to save for fire wood and to not pay the dump for the extra weight. Then I have to put a strap back on the root ball and lift them into the trailer. Fortunately it is a dump trailer. I need to have this done by Friday as my truck and trailer will gone all weekend and I can't work on that project without it. Next Monday the bobcat is coming back to do the grading, move the gravel, and move the trailers.

 

[Latestarter]

Well, a little behind the original schedule you wanted, but it's all coming together for you. I can only imagine how happy you will be when it's all finally done, in place, operating and maybe even generating some income...

 

[babsbag]

Yeah, a little behind. As I spend two hours milking everyday I wish I had planned all my goats to freshen in June and not Feb. It is getting old fast, not to mention throwing away the milk. I wish I had a pig, but no place for a pen right now and no time to build one so no pig this year.

At this point I just want the trailers in place and my yard back. I have 20 yards of gravel piled in the driveway to the barn, an open trench where we had to replace a sewer line we broke, stumps piled everywhere, and craters where the stumps were. It is a depressing mess but I have a lot of faith in the person doing the dirt work for me so I know it will all come together. He is a perfectionist which is what this project needs right now. I do most of this work on my own which makes it tough too. I just need this part done. I am ready to do the floors in the milk barn but wanted to move the trailers first. I am anxious to actually get back to work on the trailer itself, this part of the project has turned out to be much bigger than I had imagined and it has taken a toll on me physically for sure. And the young man I hire to help me has injured his back and is unable to work

 

[Latestarter]

I am intimately familiar with back issues Hurt mine in 87 while on active duty and it's never been the same since. It's not fun at all. Hope his isn't serious.

 

[babsbag]

He's been out of commission for about three weeks and he is only 21 years old and usually nothing stops him

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

Prayers that he gets well! And @Latestarter, for you too!

 

[Ferguson K]

Prayers that you get back on track. Nothing ever seems to go exactly how you planned them to.

 

[babsbag]

The trailers are moved!!!! They aren't level, but they are in their final resting spots and believe it or not I am not sure what to do next. Seems so strange to have them in place. I want to do the floor next but I need the trailer level as the epoxy is self leveling so it needs to be relatively level to pour it.

Don't pay an attention the front of the yellow trailer that isn't done. I am trying to remember why it isn't done and not getting far on that memory. That part of the trailer was on the opposite side from my house so I seldom saw it...out of sight, out of mind.

The red trailer is the milking barn and milk house. The door on the left will be where the goats come in to be milked and they will exit directly across from that door, out the other side. The next door is the "man" door and I need to do the floor before I install the door. There will be a covered paved area in front of the goat door too, they have to have a place to stay while they are waiting to be milked. The back of that trailer is the milk house which will house the bulk tank and the wash equipment. The milk will be pumped from the bulk tank into the pasteurizer which is in the yellow trailer.

The yellow trailer is the processing trailer. It has the pasteurizer, bottling equipment and cheese making equipment in it. Also a storage room. We will be adding another room/porch onto the front as a place to keep shoes and jackets and hair nets, etc. This trailer is a clean room so certain procedures have to be followed when entering that building. We will also build a place to house a commercial refrigerator for the bottled milk.

The white trailer will be my office, a place to get warm during kidding season, and the required restroom.

The gardener side of me wants to plant some trees...NOW!!!! It looks so barren and hot and miserable; I need green and flowers, like these. But I know that needs to wait and I need to focus once again on the buildings themselves and not the landscaping.