My trouble started late this morning. I had caught up on my sleep as I had slept till almost 9:30 am after falling asleep the previous night at the incredibly (for me) early hour of 11 pm. Late morning I was walking by my barn when I heard a crash and saw the window near me shatter out towards me.
What?!!
I ducked back then noticed a bird against the window in the hay loft. Then it looked like two birds.
I had left the barn's top half of the side door open this summer so the barn would not overheat with the hay bales I had in it. Tonight on the local news I watched a story where large round hay bales being hauled along Highway 40 spontaneously caught on fire. The people hauling the bales stopped and pushed the bales from the pickup and trailer before they too caught on fire. They saved the truck and trailer but set the ditch on fire. It appears the local fire department got the fire out before it escaped into yet another one of our numerous forest fires.
Anyway, the birds must have flown in the open barn door. I noticed a bird in the ground level and went around to completely open the door. As I did the bird flew out the other window. Not the broken window... the other one. This window was made up of 6 panes and the bird crashed through one pane.
*sigh*
The other bird was in hay loft and I expected it to crash through its window any time now. The one bird that escaped stood on a fence post motionless. I got a camera and was able to get within 6 ft of the bird and it did not move. Odd. I noticed the bird was a Flicker. Several years ago one summer I had one of these birds fly down my chimney and into my wood stove. Other people have told me similar things happening with Flickers and their chimneys.
I got a ladder, and from the outside, opened the hay loft door on the other end. Then I stood back and waited. And waited. I looked inside and the bird was still against the window. I went inside the barn and crawled up the hay loft next to the window taking care the bird did not decide to fly down through the opening as I climbed up.
The bird flew to the other end of the loft and out the open door. At least I saved one window.
I found a small window pane in the barn. What luck! I picked up the broken glass and replaced the small pane. The big window pane was another matter and I removed the frame thinking I would have to go uptown to get a new window.
First I checked my tool shed and found a single frame with glass, and several double window frames with glass in three of the four frames.
I tried the single frame and found it to be an inch too narrow and two to three inches too short. I didn't want to build up the frame in the barn to make this frame fit so I turned to the double frames.
I removed the last pane in one double frame and found it to be a touch too wide and a half inch too long. I decided to remove the thick side of the frame for the broken window and once I get the glass fitted, I then would trim the frame and put it back together.
First I had to shave the insides of the frame so the pane would fit without pressure. I would: shave, try, shave, try... and so on. Once when I lifted the pane from the frame to do move shaving the pane broke.
*augh!*
Ok... calm down, I have two more window panes.
The second pane was a half inch too short. What's going on?! Don't they make window frames and panes in standard sizes?!!
*sigh*
While I fastened the window pane back into its original frame it cracked in two.
Nooooooo!!!
Yup, I only had one pane left. The caulk around this pane was extra thick and hard. I carefully scraped it off. Talking the pane out was the only way I hadn't broken a pane. Until now. When gently - ever so gently - pushing against the pane to get it out of the frame the pane broke.
*AUGH!* What the ....!
I was barely pushing the glass!!!! I swear!!
What is going on today? Did I get out of the wrong side of the bed?
I took the single frame and built barn window opening up so the frame would fit inside it. If I had known this would be the result I would have saved myself several hours of scraping and cleaning ...and breaking. Instead I ended up with a pail of broken glass.
So much for my afternoon and planned chores.
Earlier while around the barn I had noticed a big pile of manure that seemed to be relatively new. Maybe it was a day old. Strange.... The cattle had been by while I was working on the windows and had begged for apples. I thought I had counted 30 head. The big pile of manure was awfully big.... maybe it was from when the cattle were briefly around the barn before being moved to the south pasture? How long ago was that? Never mind - the manure must be from then.
Later I went to check the pocket gopher traps. I noticed a big pile of manure in the gate between the north and middle pastures. Now I know that pile wasn't there two days ago!!
After checking the gopher traps and finding two dead ones, I checked the fence. I found the barb wire where the middle and south pastures and the hayfield all meet was stretched low. Ah, ha. One or more cattle had jumped the fence to the middle pasture from the south pasture. Apparently they found that the hayfield and south pasture truly was where the greenest grass was and jumped back over to rejoin the herd.
The herd by now came over thinking they would get more apples and I recounted them. 30. I re-recounted. 30. I counted once more as it always takes me a couple of tries to get 30 and I got 30 right away today. 30 again. Ok... they are all there. I straighted the fence and barb wire. Hopefully that will keep them.
Tonight I started to water my fruit trees and bushes as I hadn't done this in a long time. I discovered the dirt was piled up all around my serviceberry bush next to the ditch. And then I spied a few more mounds of dirt nearby. *argh!* A pocket gopher had moved in!
The serviceberry bush still has green leaves so I don't know if the gopher has eaten the roots and the bush has yet to die. I soaked the ground around the bush well, and tomorrow I will move one of my traps into the area to catch it.
Darn wildlife!!!!
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