Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Baymule]

Eventually I will get another Anatolian and maybe do a litter... but not planning on that til we move.

Texas is nice this time of year......... just sayin'

 

[Southern by choice]

Texas is nice this time of year......... just sayin'

No Texas for me! I love where I live... just wish it was a little warmer and a little deeper in the country... maybe mountains.
If I ever did move to TX I know a whole lot of herdies that would be cool to meet up with!

 

[Mike CHS]

The folks we were going to get LGDs from changed their plans but we are working on alternatives. We are still several months away from getting livestock so we have a little time. Our neighbor has a Maremma (sp?) on his adjoining fence line and she patrols 3 sides of our place.

I would suggest Tennessee but I imagine our climates are pretty much the same. Just because of the people we have there met I wouldn't even consider anywhere else. Just as an example - We have met with and talked to the Extension Agent several times and he even came out to take soil samples all around our place and arranged for a gent to talk to about improving our pasture. We have about 75% prime pasture but 25% looks like something from Arizona (not insulting Arizona by the way ).

Just a side track story - We got a letter from the Tax Appraiser last Friday and the 1st thought was "Darn - they already raised our taxes because of the new shop and the house addition". Turns out it was a hand written note from Terry Hatfield (county appraiser) - my last name is McCoy by the way and there was also a form attached. He said he had talked to Keith (the Extension Agent) about what our plans were and he had taken the liberty to fill out the forms to apply for Green Belt Tax Exemption for us - all I had to do was sign it and return it with the Stamped envelope he provided. It won't reduce the house taxes but just about does away with the property taxes.

 

[Mini Horses]

Hatfield & McCoy?? You better do what he says!!

 

[Ferguson K]

I'm dying!!

Terry Hatfield (county appraiser) - my last name is McCoy by the way

 

[Latestarter]

Wow... every place should have public employees so dedicated to those they represent. That's great for you!

 

[Mike CHS]

Latestarter - That kind of treatment has been the norm since we bought the place a little over 3 years ago. One example is the 1st time we arranged to meet with the Extension agent he arranged to have two people drive down from Nashville (1 1/2 hours away) since they had more experience with sheep.

Since this is a journal I do have an update - The Power Company rep came out this morning and it looks like we will only have to run one power pole instead of the two that I expected. That will save $600 off our original estimate and they will hopefully get to it next week while we are there. The $ burn rate has been almost scarey for the last couple of months so that little bit of savings helps.

We did get the big garage door hung and the garage door opener mounted. Of course it is still on manual lift since no power yet.

I'm hoping to get some of the interior walls closed in next week so I can get a U-Haul and move most of my tools and lumber there on the next trip. We are putting our South Carolina house on the market right after the 1st of the year that hopefully will meld with our planned March final trip.

 

[Latestarter]

Wow... fantastic that things are finally coming together for you. Hope it continues to come together for you!

 

[Devonviolet]

Since this is a journal I do have an update - The Power Company rep came out this morning and it looks like we will only have to run one power pole instead of the two that I expected. That will save $600 off our original estimate and they will hopefully get to it next week while we are there. The $ burn rate has been almost scarey for the last couple of months so that little bit of savings helps.

Are you putting in LED lights? We were planning to have the power company put in a standard yardlight. It sounded like a good deal at their special $7/month rate, for a dusk to dawn light. However, that didn't include $10/month rental on their pole. Plus $1200 installation charge, to run wires. (250 feet) to the livestock pen & install the pole.

When we had the electrician run electric to our four outbuildings, he installed a pole which puts the LED light 12 feet above ground. I think the extra cost was $200 for labor a $100 LED light fixture and six inch 15' square pole.

The LED bulb costs pennies/month, to run - dusk to dawn, and will last 50,000 hours! The power company light would need changing at least once or twice a year and was 2700 Kelvin (meaning orange light).

Our light is 5000 Kelvin, which gives blue light, that looks like daylight. Our livestock pen is about 100 feet from the house. We feel like we see what is going on after dark, better with our daylight (5000K) yard light.

 

[Mike CHS]

We bought a bunch of LED 4' shop lights for the interior and we are going to mount LEDs at all 3 doors also. We still have to talk with the electrician and the power company to see what we have to work with. There is such a steep hill leading down to the building that we need to see where they are talking about putting the pole to make sure we have enough clearance.