Thistleblooms Rambles

[CntryBoy777]

I've buried plenty of animals, but no longer have access to any property they are buried on...but I carry the memories everywhere I go....

I don't know any difference other than a phone...eveything I do with the internet is done on it.......

 

[promiseacres]

My laptop is down too...it sucks. Have a tablet but the tablet is old and won't upload photos.

 

[drstratton]

We have been rearranging things on the property once again . Four years ago I downsized, sold the goats, and now keep fewer chickens. So that meant some pens came down, the chicken coop became my tack room and dh built a smaller coop for the handful of hens I now keep.
Then I got my mustang, which meant more corrals went back up, tack room got moved to a different spot, and Luke and Huckleberrys corrals got relocated and rearranged.
Now we have the two new metal buildings, Luke is gone ( ) , Syringa has moved into Lukes corral and bigger shelter, her old shelter (originally the goat shed) is the new woodshed, and her corral and round pen panels are going to be set up for a bigger turnout area for her and Huck adjacent to their current location, south of the house.

I hope you're keeping up with all this.

Anyway, this will probably be the last rearrangement. Oh wait, the garden area will be in the old roundpen area next year (all day sun), and the current garden area may become a space for the dogs to be in when we aren't home, which is roomier than their dog run, it's out in front so they can see what's going on by the driveway, and is better than keeping them tied out. The problem with the current garden spot is the maple whips I planted along the driveway 15 years ago are now Very Large Trees. So too much shade in the garden and a lot of root competition. And dh doesn't want to cut them down .
Yes, I may have suggested it. Hey, building good garden soil takes a lot of time!

So there will eventually be some pics of the final arrangements here.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of our fantastic new buildings.

Before the hay barn...
The corral panels next to the red shelter are down as of this last weekend,
the trailer attached to the tarped tractor is holding the treated wood for the base of the hay barn. Behind the tractor is the former chicken coop, now tack room. The CP arch over the little red hutch type object is the chicken coop/run, and the CP supports clematis and hops for shade in the summer.
Then the big tarped thing is my CP hay "tube".
The four posts in the foreground are the corner markers for the base
View attachment 75638

After. Tada!
View attachment 75639
We moved the old hay into the hay barn this past weekend, and the tarps got pulled off the tube. Next weekend it will get dismantled and the panels will then get a new job as garden fence. My new hay will be delivered and STACKED in August, delivery and stacking will be about the same cost as a new hay tarp that the tube would have needed this year. I'm thrilled about that! The delivery and stacking is a gift to dh. He's allergic to grass hay and it just makes him miserable, plus we both get the hay lung dust cough for a week after.

View attachment 75640

And my husbands new garage. The door was back ordered, but should be here soon.

View attachment 75641

That all looks so amazing...super happy for you guys!

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Miss @thistlebloom,

I have been off the forum for a few days and am just now getting caught up.

I know. That was my thought too. However, my neighbor has a solid surface (pallets, but a solid top) under her hay with no issues for years, so I hope it will be okay.

Miss @farmerjan,

You know a lot about making and storing hay (as well as a lot of other things ). Can you add anything to the conversation? I would imagine that the storage of hay in Virginia with its heat and humidity would make it harder to keep hay fresh compared to Idaho, but still I think that a good bit of it would be the same.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[thistlebloom]

Yay! Kid#2 came over yesterday and magically restored my laptop! He couldn't figure out what the actual problem was, but did some mysterious techy stuff and - tada! I'm back!

And now I'm dumbstruck and don't know where to start, haha.

Ditched three days of work this week (with my clients blessing) but will pay for it tomorrow and next week. Monday I went in but just watered containers because Dh and I were heading over the border to pick up five POL pullets a guy was selling super cheap. They are healthy and beautiful and I can't believe I got such a deal. He raised them from day olds and wanted under $10 for each. I've been keeping an eye on CL for POL pullets but everybody is asking $20 - $35, which is too steep for me.
I need to work on enlarging the pen which is now possible since the hay tube is coming down.

Had an old young friend and her three kids visit Tuesday, yesterday the weeds were too burdensome to tolerate another day so I spent some hours behind the line trimmer, and today is my usual planned day off and I'm taking it guilt free.

Going riding!

 

[rachels.haven]

Lovely australorp. They are so pretty.

 

[Baymule]

You have to take time to ride!

 

[thistlebloom]

You have to take time to ride!

You better believe it!
Had a great ride with a friend at a trail head and up a mountain Syringas never been to. What a great mountain horse she's becoming! And her namesake flower was blooming. Just a gorgeous day.

 

[farmerjan]

Chickens look real nice in the picture. Always nice to be able to get out and ride. I sure miss it. But can't have everything I want, and maybe in a year or 2, I will be physically mobile and can do a few more things. The no-pain ankle has been a great start.
Don't know what to add about the hay storage. You @thistlebloom probably know as much as I do.... gotta be made right to start with. Then stored off the ground on pallets, wood floor or something. It will draw moisture from concrete and such and get moldy or musty on bottom. and it does need to be rotated some or you will get some musty smelling just from it being stored for long periods of time.... the old style barns with the haymows were the best because there was no chance of any dampness from the floor/ground.... and there was more air movement....even on a wood floor, the underside of the wood floor would get air currents and keep the temps more even. In a mow, it also would stay dry and you could store for several years before seeing much quality loss. But it is a pain to put it up there and not for big round bales. Some do store big square bales up there, but it can be dangerous getting them up there unless you have a bank barn and can drive into the different levels to load/unload and stack.

 

[thistlebloom]

Thanks for the hay storage thoughts Jan. We are typically very arid here, so that makes some difference. The footing in the hay barn is packed gravel. There is wicking under the walls when it rains and runs off the roof, but it dries out pretty quickly. My concern was the wood wicking that moisture into the hay sitting on top of it, but dh has waterproofing he uses on shower walls before he tiles them tthat he said we could paint on the bottom of the OSB. It will be sitting off the ground on skids anyway, so my worry may be over nothing. The soil around here is rocky and drains incredibly fast. We hardly ever have standing puddles unless it rains for days.

I hope you get to ride again one day Jan.