Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[Mike CHS]

I'm not sure it's a good thing but the only inspection we get here is a check of functionality when you get electric service. You have to have at least one light and one receptacle to meet the requirements. The county keeps track of septic systems by keeping rough drawings provided by the installer but they don't check anything. The county next to us (which starts at our driveway) goes overboard but they include some of Franklin and the Nashville suburbs.

 

[Bruce]

No inspections here now that I think of it, all new everything in the north building of the house in 2013.

Where we used to live, 25 miles south, no inspections if you do your own work. Seems kinda backwards doesn't it? Presumably a licensed plumber or electrician knows what they are doing and would do it right more than your average DIY person. Certainly the guy that owned this place before us and wired the barn didn't know WTF he was doing. I'm pretty sure Burlington has plenty of inspections regardless of who does the work.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Well, the dirt didn't happen. The guy found someone to buy the dirt from him. Bummer, but makes sense he'd rather sell it and cover some costs than give it away free and have to pay for the truck time. If we wanted dirt from the guy we would have had to pay $150/hour for the truck. Still a decent price but since we didn't have to have it, we are going to continue getting random amounts of free dirt.

 

[Baymule]

Bummer. That’s too bad.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Tuesday it got up to 113 degrees. I lost one leghorn hen but thankfully I didn't lose any rabbits. I was working from home so checked on them throughout the day and sprayed them with water during the hottest part of the day. I am very grateful for the swamp cooler, it made a world of difference. It's on a thermostat so turns on whenever the temperature gets over 75 degrees.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Wednesday we started getting drift smoke from the Foresthill fire, not too bad but definitely noticeable. I had several loads of laundry on the line I should have brought in the previous night. I decided we were going to just deal with it and not rewash it since I don't want to run the dryer and we can't line dry it due to the smoke.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Thursday the smoke was worse but animals still doing ok. Temperature is still high but starting to cool down.

Was working at mom's house so she could watch the munchkin while I worked and dad fell twice. He had low blood pressure and the advice nurse said he should go to emergency. They ran a bunch of tests and he has Covid. Falling and weakness are apparently symptoms. The rest of the family and caregiver tested negative. Not sure where he got it, unless he got it about 5 days prior. He got an infusion and is resting at home.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Friday the smoke was worse, the sky was orange. Picture was taken around 8 something in the morning.

I got an egg from my project leghorns! It's green and a little small, but size should improve over time. Pictured next to a silkie egg.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Saturday the smoke isn't as bad today but still there. Temperature is still hot but the smoke layer I think is helping keep the temperature down lower than it would be otherwise.

We (hubby) are working on electrical for the shed at my parent's house. Mom trimmed a bunch of branches from the fruitless mulberry and I am taking those home to give to the rabbits. I took two cuttings I'm going to try to root. If they take I can try to graft on the fruiting mulberry.

Later we are going to run by the store and then work on going through boxes and reorganizing stuff in the house.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Tuesday morning woke up looked outside and was excited to see blue sky with fluffy white clouds! Wind had blown away all the nasty smoke. And the high today was a mere 80 degrees! Which was good because the power went out. I set up my phone hotspot and worked off that for almost 2 hours until my laptop was at 10% and phone was at 15%. Then I gave up and went to Mom's to finish working the rest of the day. Of course once I arrive I see the notification that power was returned, 3 minutes after I got in my car and left.

Munchkin is either sick or not reacting well to growing more teeth. He has had a low grade fever since Monday evening. All he wanted to do today after hubby brought him home after work was sleep and cuddle. I got home and munchkin perked up quite a bit. He started wanting to play too. Temp is lower than previous, so I think he's getting better. Having a sick munchkin stinks