Knocked a Few Items Off the Project List

Weekends are a blessed time for relaxation.  With a hectic work schedule, it is nice to sleep a little later on the weekends and start the day slowly.  I usually have a nice cup of coffee, go outside and feed the chicks, the laying hens, the goats, the cows, the dog and the cat.  This routine is much better now that the weather is cooler and the humidity has fallen.  

Then I come back inside and have breakfast.  While eating breakfast, I generally read the daily devotion from Open Windows.   It is a nice way to start the morning.  We usually have a few items that we'd like to take care of and we go outside, soak in some Vitamin D and breathe in some clean country air.  Getting things done is therapy for the soul.  

The first action item was getting Belle a new area to roam.  Belle chewed through my brake lines (TWICE) and while she didn't succeed in killing me, she lightened my wallet to the tune of several hundred bucks at the auto shop.  To prevent recurrence, I wired up a section of pasture to keep chickens out and now Belle has the "bull pen" in which to run free.

Next we moved some riverstone that was formerly used in our landscaping.  We loaded it into our wagon and brought it to the back.  Especially in the wintertime, the walk to the barn is mighty muddy.  We inevitably track a bunch of mud into the garage on our rubber boots that we have to clean up later.  To alleviate this, we used a shovel to dig and bury the stones, making a nice walkway to the garden and the pasture.  Straight sidewalks are a little boring to me, so we made our walking path with a meandering curve.  The shortest distance between two points while it might be a straight line, isn't always the best way.

The stones end up at the bridges that lead to the pasture or the garden.  The photo below shows this, but also shows several other projects that were either completed or still in progress.  First, in the upper left, you'll note the cows are all congregated around a round bale of hay.  I had rolled that out earlier and placed the hay ring around it.  This was the first bale of the Fall season.  

Next, in the middle right, you will see a newer looking board in the garden bridge.  The older piece had to be removed as it was rotten and a piece of it had fallen through.  I was able to find a board and some screws, so I didn't even need to go to the hardware store.  

Finally in the upper right hand of the photo, you'll see Tricia moving a 3 inch layer of mulch around the broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage plants.  This will make weeding an almost nonexistent chore, while at the same time retain soil moisture, making watering a rare chore.

It felt great to get a few things done.  It's nice to accomplish some things around the homestead.  With daylight savings ending and the days getting shorter, we must make the most of the daylight hours.