Irrigation done

Friday afternoon I finished  irrigating for the year.  While it is not suppose to freeze overnight, I am not taking a chance.  I took all the pipes apart and drained the water from the pump.  I took the rest of the pipes apart but not away to where they will Winter.

When I woke up Friday morning it was windy.  I found the wind had pushed the black plastic from the tool shed roof peak.  I moved the plastic back and put more bricks and metal posts on it to hold it in place.  Of course the black plastic covers the part of the roof without felt laid down yet.

It pretty much rained or sprinkled all day so I wasn't able to slip in more roof work.

Roof vent

Thursday I actually was able to do some work on the tool shed roof even though it rained part of the day.  First I helped Dan in the morning, then ran some errands uptown in the afternoon.  It was raining uptown so I stopped at a thrift store.  I found three pair of jeans and a pair of shoes.  Just so you know... just because I have a half dozen to eight pair of jeans with no holes or patches, it doesn't mean I am giving up on my two pair of patched jeans that are part of my homeless collection.

The other thing I found at the thrift store - to my surprise - was a box of roof vents just like the one I bought yesterday.  I guess it was good that I didn't have time to install the vent Wednesday night.  The thrift store roof vent was $2 vs $10 I paid at Home Depot.

When I got home I found it hadn't rained when I was gone. I peeled back the plastic covering the roof - which hadn't leaked like the tarp had - and I cut a hole in the roof and installed the roof vent.  Now if Friday has some dry periods I may get even more done on the roof.

A break from the rain

Blue powder marks the spot to cut

$2 roof vent installed

Wednesday was a nice day.  According to the weather forecast, the last nice day until next week.  Rain every day.  Then next week's highs will only be in the low 40s.  Not good as I still don't have the third and last roll of asphalt roofing installed on the tool shed roof.

Why not on Wednesday?  I had to move the irrigation pipes one last time. With below freezing temperatures at night I can't just turn off the pump for a day or two and move the pipes later.  I thought of a way to irrigate the rest of the NE pasture and the fruit tree and garden area.  But to do so I had to re-position the pump and move all of the main line pipes. That takes time.

Instead of dragging four sprinkler pipes from the north pasture I decided to use four pipes still in the fruit tree area.  Mistake.  I hadn't used these pipes yet.  After starting the pump I found that two of the pipes had bad gaskets, and since I don't have gaskets for these pipes, I had to unhook a number of pipes then drag two pipes from the north pasture to use as replacements.  Then another of the pipes had a bad 'clapper'.  Or I should say,  no 'clapper'.  The water ran out of the nozzle but the part that hits the stream of water and moves the sprinkler head was broken off.

Once the pipes were replaced I found the sprinkler head on the last pipe now wasn't working as the water flow was mostly blocked.  Using a wire to clear the obstruction didn't work and once again I had to shut everything down, then take the sprinkler head off to remove a large pine needle.

Donna stopped by briefly; I spoke with Curtis about my tool shed roof and installing a vent; and Dan came over to pay me for the heifer he bought from me last week.  Dan took his last three calves for the auction.  Instead of driving all the way to Missoula he took them to the receiving station at the Majestic Arena on Tuesday.  The loading of the calves went smoothly.

While the morning was foggy and cool, it cleared by early afternoon.  So I took time to remove the tarps to allow the roof to dry.

So, by the time I was done with the irrigation it was 4:30 pm.  Where did the day go?  Especially as I had not eaten breakfast yet.  I had just grabbed a piece of fruit or a roll in between moving or fixing pipes.

I had decided on installing a roof vent on the tool shed as the building gets pretty hot Spring, Summer and Fall was there is no ventilation in that roof.  I went to Home Depot and got a basic roof vent.

Then Kelly came by to hunt.  I went to work on the roof vent just before 6 pm.  I had at most an hour to work on the roof.  I got the bumpy felt problem fixed.  I marked a location between studs where I wanted to place the roof vent.  That was it.  It was getting dark and I decided not to cut the hole in the fading light.

Then I covered the roof again to guard against Thursday's rain.  Now that I don't have to tarp the hay bales to protect them against the irrigation sprinklers, to cover the roof I used a large long plastic sheet in place of the tarp with the tear.

Who knows when I will finish the re-roofing.

Same old sob story

No work on the tool shed roof on Tuesday.  It rained overnight and was cold and cloudy Tuesday.  I found water inside the tool shed at the usual place.  While I have tarps on the roof, one tarp has a tear in it that I didn't notice the evening I put the tarps up.  98% of the roof is covered with new or old shingles or felt.  Where is the tear? Over the 2% of exposed roof.  Figures.

Wednesday is suppose to be sunny.  Then we will have four or five days straight of rain.  Figures.  All year it has been dry and I doubt we had two consecutive days of rain all year - until I have an exposed roof.  I have to move the irrigation pipes one last time Wednesday and that will take a while.  So I'll see how much I get done on the roof before it begins to rain again.

A cool damp Tuesday meant spending much of the day inside the house for once.  I found the house was chilly.  50 degrees F. Maybe more than chilly... cold.  So I prepared the wood stove and lit a fire for the first time this Fall.  Now it is warmer in the house. 70 F.   Tonight Daisy is laying by the wood stove instead of my lap.

If I 'disappear' for a while, blame my computer. (The tools shed 'gremlins' again).  The computer is acting up and a few times during the startup the computer couldn't read a disk drive and failed.  Today it had problems a half dozen times before the computer finally started up.  Then at times when I am using it the computer slows waaay down.  I'm trying to make my nine year old slow computer last until I get more outside projects done and there are Black Friday sales.

Auction frustration

It rained overnight Sunday/Monday putting a halt to my work on the tool shed roof.  I was able to cover the roof with tarps to keep the roof dry. 

Sunday I attempted to lay felt on the rest of the north side and over the peak of the roof.  I had to remove three rows of shingles on the south side to make room for the felt. 

While the north side had no felt or another layer of roofing under the layer I removed, I discovered the south side has what appears to be rolls of green asphalt roofing under the three tab shingles.  That may be why, as bad as the three tab shingles are, water never leaked through the roof.  The green roofing looks to be decent so I plan to leave it on the roof and lay the new three tab shingles over it.



Between the approaching darkness, and the roof line which is not level (it peaks at the point between the two parts of the building), the felt was not laying flat.  I covered everything with a tarp and will wait for better weather and light to make the felt lay smooth. Always something with this project... why can't something go easy?


The rain had quit mid Monday morning so I was able to move the irrigation pipes.  I have finished watering the hayfield and the middle and north pastures.  While I have other work to do before Winter I came up with an idea on how to irrigate the NE pasture.  This pasture really needs water as it is the driest part of the ranch.

The way to the NE pasture from my pump is not easy but I found a 90 degree elbow among dad's parts.   I have my large hay bales in the NE pasture so I had to be careful in laying the pipes. I was able to thread one line from the north pasture into the NE pasture and on near the road.  I had to cover some of the hay bales with tarps as I had one sprinkler head I could not keep far enough away.  The tarp appears to be protecting the bales from the sprinkler water.

As dry as the NE pasture is I may have to water it for two days instead of one day.  Then I came up with one other way to reach the rest of the NE pasture.  It involves re-doing the main line, and while a bunch of work, would be the right thing to do.  Then I'll be done irrigating for the year. Finally.


Now on to the reason for the post's title.  I saw that the weekly auction - where I had bought my current bicycle - had a nice looking road bicycle listed.    I finished moving the irrigation pipes at 1:30 pm.  The auction started at 2 pm.  First I had to eat breakfast as I was starving.  The auction starts with the outside and back room and bicycles are usually outside.  I hoped they wouldn't have sold the bicycle by the time I got there.  The auction is well south of Kalispell.  I got there after 2:30 pm.

I discovered the bicycle - along with an old fashioned tandem bicycle and two decent mountain bicycles - were in the main room.  Apparently the auction realized the bicycle I was interested in was a good and expensive bicycle.

The main room auction didn't start until 5 pm.   Argh.  I had errands to run and groceries to get.  By the time I got home it was time to leave to return to the auction.  I got back to the auction right at 5 pm.  I was on time to an auction for once.  And I didn't have to be.

The auction now has live internet bidding during the auction.  So they had a 'catalog' and everything was numbered and sold in order.  Of 271 lots, the bicycle was lot number 254.  *sigh*  Driving time back home was 25 minutes one way.  I decided to stick around and see how fast they sold stuff.  And they had a few items I was interested in what they sold for even if I had no intention of buying them.

Staying was a mistake.  They never got to the bicycle until 8:40 pm.   By now most people had left, including the guy who really looked over the bicycle.  Things are looking good.

The bicycle was a Ridley bicycle.  NewRidley bicycles run from a little under a thousand dollars to over five thousand.  This bicycle appeared to be a racing bicycle.  The frame was very light.  The components looked good and the bicycle was clean.  It had toe clips, heavy tires and a few other items that made it appear the owner was a general rider and not a hard core racer.  It also appears to have sat unused for a while.  The average person probably wouldn't think much of it.

Even though I had a good bicycle, and don't really need a second bicycle, maybe I can get this one at a deal.  The downside was the frame was a size too small.  But it appeared I could adjust the seat height and other stuff to make it work for me. I would have preferred to have test rode the bicycle to make sure it felt right for me.  But if I got a good deal I could take a chance the bicycle would be right for me.

Because the bicycle looked so good I was willing to pay a much as $200, or bid $180 as the auction had a 10% buyers fee added to the bid price.  The bicycle was worth more, but was it right for me?

The later the auction went the more likely the winning bidder for items was an internet buyer.  I was getting worried. While I was annoyed at spending so much time at the auction, I had counted on the few remaining buyers at not being interested in the bicycle.

An internet bidder opened at $140.   Then two other bidders went at it in $10 increments.  One bidder dropped out when the next bid was $210.  Darn.  Over my limit.  I briefly considered bidding $210 but the winning bidder never hesitated with his bids.  It would take more than $210 to win the bidding.

And the winning bidder didn't even look like a serious bicyclist.  Pudgy and middle aged.  Somebody with more money than ability.

So... in all total I spent around 5 1/2 hours for nothing.  While I couldn't have worked on the tool shed roof, I have many other things I could have done that need to get done before Winter arrives.

Bah.

Curses! Foiled again.

I am still trying to complete the tool shed re-roof.  Friday I actually started work on the roof at 2:45 pm, hours earlier than usual. I got the soffit and metal edging on one side done and actually laid down the first roll of asphalt roofing.

The photo below shows one of the problem areas.  The rain and snow sits against the pole shed wall then runs off the tool shed roof on each side of the pole shed.  The roof used to come out against the side of the pole shed pole (and through the pole shed wall).  I had trimmed the tool shed roof and its studs back to be even with the pole shed wall and then added the two by four board. (The studs are where the jigsaw blade broke slowing me down).  The pole is discolored from where the water used to run against it.

A metal "L" exists from when I did a little work on the roof back in 2002.  That had stopped the water from running into the pole shed.  That also stopped the water from further rotting the tool shed roof that was inside the pole shed, and stopped the water from freezing into ice and trapping a vehicle's tires.

Here I am using a clamp to try to bend the metal "L" against the pole to give it a little bend at its end to help with water flow.

In addition to the standard roof metal drip edge, I added a wider piece of metal to protect the roof here.  When there is a slow snow melt often there is a little ice and water buildup here.

The photo below shows what I had gotten done on Friday.

The first roll of roofing was tricky as the tool shed roof extends beyond the pole shed wall.  Not on this side as here I cut the tool shed roof to be flush with the pole shed wall.  Beyond the pole shed is where the tool shed roof goes past the wall.

To keep the roofing straight I curl up the roofing against the pole shed wall.  The added benefit is to stop water from flowing into the pole shed wall itself.  Curling up the roofing is why I am trying to get this done before it gets any colder.  I don't want the roofing to crack or tear as I work with it.  It is recommended to work with a temperature 50 F and above.  By the time I could work on this roll the temperature was in the lows 50s.  I had to work slowly and carefully.

Complicating matters is that the roll doesn't reach all the way across the roof.  The label on the rolls said how many square feet the roll covered (two different numbers: 108 and 102 sq ft).  I had to call Owens Corning to ask them how long the roll was.  36 feet as I suspected.

Why didn't I just start from one side and roll the material out?  Due to how the roll is rolled it can only be unrolled from left to right because the overlap tab is at the top.  My problem... my roof is 37 ft 9 inches long.  I wanted the part of the roof not covered (for now) by the roll to be on the left side.

After I unrolled the roll I had to slide it down slightly and curl it up against the pole shed wall.  I got my neighbor Curtis to help by holding one end of the roofing.  That worked successfully as I was able to curl the roofing without tearing it or having the roofing slide too far down past the wall.  That was my problem back in 2002 when I did a similar action.  Back then I did it all myself and ended up tearing the asphalt roll.

So I was feeling pretty good at what I have gotten done on Friday.  Then after dark I went into my house and found that the dining room light, the main kitchen light and main bathroom light didn't work.  What?!  The circuit breaker appeared to be still  on.  I would have to wait until it was light on Saturday to fix the problem.

I went on my evening bicycle ride and when I met my first car I discovered my bicycle light didn't work. Seriously?!  I later learned one of the bicycle light's batteries had some corrosion and once I cleaned the corrosion and contacts the light works again.  Also my bicycle computer  is acting up and sometimes doesn't read all the miles I have ridden.  I lightly sanded the computer's contact points with its sensor but that doesn't seem to be the problem this time.

Saturday, after moving the irrigation pipes, I got Curtis to help me with the house light problem as he had electrical testing equipment.  The circuit breakers were good.  We were able to identify which circuit breaker (#16)  was for the problem lights.  We ended up taking multiple light switches apart and then lights, with the bathroom light taken completely apart.  At first the kitchen light started working when we wiggled its fluorescent tubes.  That didn't work on the dining room light.  But when I was switching the circuit breaker on and off for tests the dining room light started working.

The bathroom light's wiring wasn't showing full voltage of 120.  We ended up going into the attic where there was an electrical junction box splitting the wire off to the bathroom.  Apparently one of the wire connections was a little loose.  Curtis said the plastic twisty cap was for two  wires and not three wires and he replaced them.  He tightened the wire connection and now everything works.

Why after all these years since 2012 did this happen, and why now?  After all I haven't been in the attic recently and barely in the house. It must be because of the tool shed re-roofing curse.  Gremlins must have felt that after a productive Friday afternoon they had to slow me down somehow.  And it did.  It took three hours to figure out the problem then put everything back together and clean the mess up.  So on Saturday I didn't get back to working on the tool shed roof until... you guessed it - 5 pm.

Before the sun set at 6:30 pm on Saturday I was able to unroll a second roll of roofing.  But very slowly as it was 51 degrees barely and the roofing material was stiff.

I handled the second roll by myself.  Knowing where the first roll starts you'd think unrolling the roll would be easy.  No.  Because the second roll was two to three inches longer than the first roll.  I tried sliding the unrolled sheet sideways so it would be even with the roof's edge but found the roofing material would also slide down.  *sigh*  I rolled the material back up - this time from right to left.  Then I could re-position the roll at the right height.  I also discovered the roof was not straight.  It was a challenge keeping the edge of the roll even with the edge of the roof while staying correctly on the overlap line.  Eventually I had to give up staying right on the overlap line as it was not possible over 37+ feet while staying true to the roof's edge.

I had to wait until Sunday to finish sealing the overlap and nailing down the second roll.

More October irrigation ice

Saturday morning was another cold morning with a low of 18 F degrees.  Another morning of irrigation ice.  More ice than on Friday as it was cold longer and the area where I had the sprinklers had more things to ice.  Sunday morning I even found a few icicles left on the ground.

Saturday morning was slow to warm up so I didn't start to move pipes until 11:45 am and didn't get done until 2 pm.

Wood (left) and metal (right) fence posts had a thick coating of ice.

I have a wire fence around this tree to stop the cattle from destroying it.

October irrigation ice

Cold this morning.  My thermometer had a low of 22 F degrees.  I waited until mid to late morning to move the pipes.  By the time I was done at almost 2 pm, 99% of the ice had melted.  If it wasn't due to the late start for irrigating because of the pump taking forever to arrive, I would be done irrigating by now.  I'm almost done - it is a matter of days now.

Cold as it was Daisy still came out with me.

Shirt, manure, cattle

Today I broke down and got a newer flannel shirt.  My old one was thin and falling apart.  So I rode my bicycle to Goodwill and bought a newer flannel shirt for $2.50.  And it has long arms, perfect for when I am leaning over riding my bicycle.  I didn't care when my old shirt got caught on the barb wire fences.  My new shirt... well, if you hear a few choice curse words you know my new shirt got caught on the barb wire.

Old and new shirts.

Daisy had to get in the act. She then wanted me to open the door so she could see what was inside.

Beulah and the two bronco-faced cows were in the south pasture this morning while the rest of the cattle were still in the middle pasture.  I opened the gate and Beulah walked over and stood in the gate.  She wouldn't walk through. She was blocking the way so the bronco-faced cows couldn't walk through.  The rest of the cattle came over.  Eventually Beulah backed up in the south pasture and I closed the gate.  Since most of the cattle were in the middle pasture I carried the salt into the middle pasture.

Here are a couple photos of Buddy and Daisy from when I moved the irrigation pipes on Wednesday.  Buddy of course had to check out my work.  Daisy was just relaxing in the sun for a while.  She did get her exercise as I walked here and there and she often followed me.

I washed out the stock trailer this afternoon once the fog lifted and it warmed up.  Lots of manure coated the insides.  It took over and hour and a half to clean the stock trailer and the floor mats.

I did a little work on the tool shed roof.  Not as much as I planned and hoped to do.  I got side tracked closing the gap between the tool shed wall and the pole shed wall.  While the wind doesn't blow much here, it can blow in the Winter when a big cold front blasts down the mountain pass. 

Cattle to the auction

The temperature was at freezing in the morning when I went outside to hook up my pickup to the stock trailer.  Dan came over to help and shortly after so did Donna.  I noticed the cows and Buddy were now in the middle pasture as they walked the river from the south pasture.  I preferred them to be in the south pasture with less of a chance they would see what was happening to their calves.  I hope this isn't a bad omen of the day to come.

I had one bag of apples left and the calves followed me right into the loading corral.  The calves were calm and well behaved.  I backed up the pickup and trailer to the loading chute's head gate then Dan and I went in to herd the cattle into the loading ramp.   Because Dan left his heifer with the crazy steer at the livestock auction he needed another heifer to replace it to satisfy his trade with John.  Dan bought Oreo from me.  So I separated Oreo from the others and Dan watched her as I herded the calves into the loading ramp area.  Donna and I have a soft spot for Oreo and we are glad she went to a good home.

One side of the stock trailer wasn't right against the head gate.  The opening was small and Donna stood watch.  I herded the cattle down the loading ramp to the trailer.  Mama's calf was in the lead.  He is red and a steer - similar to Dan's large steer who escaped last week. When the steer got to the trailer it saw the small opening and made a sharp right turn and pushed past Donna and got out into the corral.  Through that small opening!!!

*sigh*  Not good.

I have a small side gate to the loading ramp.  Dan and I herded the rest of the calves into the loading ramp past the mid gate and I shut it.  Now I could leave the side gate open.  I tried to herd the the red steer through the gate and he refused.  Usually cattle like to go into a corner when they don't want to be herded - but of course not when the corner is an open gate.

Back and forth I went and the steer kept avoiding the open gate.  Dan came to help.  Usually two people will be enough to block but the steer powered past us out into the open corral.  Dan started to run to head the steer off and I told him to let him go. The steer was starting to get excited when all he wanted to do was stand outside the loading ramp fence near the other calves.  I didn't want the steer to snap and try to jump a corral gate.  The corral fences are high enough that he couldn't jump them, but the gates could be a possibility for a crazed steer - especially after seeing Dan's steer go over a corral panel.

I decided to try the large gate into the part where Oreo still stood.  I walked around the pickup and then saw the gate to the NE pasture was open.  Yikes!  We forgot to close it after I drove through into the corral.  I ran over and closed the gate before the steer could see it was open and run out.  If he had run out there it might have been game over and he would have spent the Winter here with the cows.

I opened the gate to the loading corral.  Oreo stood there and Dan was able to herd the red steer through the gate.  *Whew*  No repeat of Dan's crazy steer escapade.

I easily herded the red steer back into the loading ramp while Dan watched that Oreo stayed behind.  Then I re-positioned my stock trailer and made the opening on one side smaller.  Once I got done I learned that one of the calves had climbed into the stock trailer before I moved it and stood in the trailer as I drove forward and backed up.  Thankfully the calf didn't jump out of the trailer.  Another bullet dodged.

Then back to loading.  This time we got the calves loaded.  The last three calves in the back were a pain as they had turned around to face me. The red steer was part of this group.  I couldn't load them backwards.  Dan and I got them turned around, and while they didn't want to go down the ramp we eventually got them to go.  First past the mid gate which I closed, then reluctantly down the ramp and into the trailer.  Donna watched and prevented the calves in the trailer from coming back out.

The calves all fit into my stock trailer.  I could have even gotten maybe two more in the trailer.

For piece of mind I ratcheted a small strap across the lower back trailer door to hold it tightly closed.

I also brought a couple of driving ramps along. I had checked and filled the tires on the pickup and stock trailer, but if I got a flat tire out on the road it would be easier to drive up a ramp to change a tire on the double wheel stock trailer than jack it up with all that weight in it.

It had taken a little over an hour to get the trailer and load the calves.  Dan came and got Oreo after I left and he said he easily loaded her into his trailer.


As we loaded the calves into my stock trailer a number of my cows, especially Mama and a few others, stood in the corner of the middle pasture closest to the corral and watched us intently.  As the calves didn't cry or make a fuss the cows didn't get worked up.  But they watched us.

Then it was off to the livestock auction.  Donna had made some delicious bars for us to eat on the trip as her sister Linda said that was a "North Dakotan thing to do", and I am originally from North Dakota.  We ate all the bars well before we got back home.

The trip to the auction was uneventful.  The traffic was light and I could take my time.  I got to the auction in two and a half hours and got there shortly after noon.  After waiting for 46 cattle to be unloaded from a semi trailer it was my turn.  The calves came out, and the lady checking my cattle in and I, easily herded them though the gate into the auction's runways.

A few more pickups and stock trailers with cattle to unload had arrived by the time I unloaded my cattle.  It is supposed to be a large auction this Thursday with lots of cattle.

Donna and I then walked though the holding pens looking for Dan's steer and heifer.  We found my calves now in a pen and eating hay, and some other cattle in other pens.  Some calves were bawling as they had not been weaned from their mothers before coming to the auction.  Most cattle were quiet.


One of my calves got a "crappy" spot on the ride to the auction.

On the right is the red steer of mine that slipped out between the loading corral and the trailer.

We had to ask where Dan's steer and heifer were.  When I described them the workers all knew of them.  Dan's cattle were in pen #600 up front and off to the side.  The pen was a large wooden pen.

The steer still had two long ropes around his neck.  Sometimes he would step on the ropes as he walked.  The auction workers hadn't taken the ropes off yet.  They planned to do that later in the afternoon.  Good luck with that!  So I couldn't retrieve the ropes - mainly the metal hondo - for Dan.

The lariat has a small reinforced loop at one end, called a honda or hondo, through which the rope passes to form a loop. The honda can be formed by a honda knot (or another loop knot), an eye splice, a seizing, rawhide, or a metal ring.

Dan's steer was on high alert once he saw us. Maybe he remembered me. But he kept an eye on both Donna and I shifting his gaze quickly back and forth when Donna and I were apart. The heifer was joined at the steer's hip and was never away from him.  It was difficult to get close to him for a photo.  We didn't want to get him to agitated that he would try to climb the tall fence at the auction so we left.

The drive back to Kalispell was uneventful. The morning fog had burnt off to clear blue skies.  Newer snow is already on the higher peaks of the Mission Mountains.

Donna and I had planned to stop at the Thai restaurant in Polson for a late lunch but we discovered they were closed until October 25.  *augh!*   So I decided to drive the hillier west side of Flathead Lake so we could eat at a restaurant in Lakeside.  The traffic was relatively light and I was able to pull the stock trailer up the hills decently with my small engine pickup.

We made it home without any problems.  Success!  I spent the rest of the day moving irrigation pipes and getting the water back up and running.  Tomorrow I will wash out the stock trailer as it is filthy with manure.

Roof, panels, trees and missing cattle

Rain was forecast for Monday.  It rained on Sunday and Tuesday, but not Monday.  Figures.

Have I done much work on the tool shed roof?  No.  Of course not.  All I got done was to finish cutting the forth stud and then nailed a 11 1/2 ft supporting 2 by 4 in place.  I also bought three more 10 ft metal drip edge pieces as I didn't have enough.

The good news though was my neighbor Curtis lent me his large magnet on a pole and after 10 minutes of searching I found the missing jigsaw clip.  I also found more nails and wire and rusty metal flakes from pipes.  Both Curtis and Dan told me they have a sawzall and that I really need to borrow it in the future if I need one.

Below are the various items I had to remove to find the jigsaw blade, bolt, nut and clip.

A good portion of one day was moving irrigation pipes.  I had the problem of three fallen and de-limbed trees that were blocking the path of one string of pipes.  And I also didn't want to soak these trees as I plan to cut them up this Fall for firewood.

I only had one tank of gas mixed for the chainsaw and a dull chain as I hadn't had time to sharpen the chain even though I bought a new file for the job.  I carefully cut the three trees into movable lengths.  I ran out of gas just as I finished the last cut.  Any sooner and I may not have been able to move the logs by hand.  Yes, I know I have a tractor.  That was Plan B.

Once cut, I moved and stacked the logs away from the sprinklers.

Now that my cattle are back home I gathered up the corral panels I used to block off part of the neighbor's pasture.  When I get time I'll haul Dan's panels back to his place.

Speaking of Dan he finally got his missing cattle back home Monday evening.  He walked and searched all weekend.  Sunday evening a lady called as they were on her land.  Across the highway. In among trees. Even with the lady pointing them out the cattle initially were hard to see. Only one roper was available on Sunday - two were needed.  Monday morning the cattle disappeared again.

Late Monday afternoon they were spotted near Smith Lake in an open area. You could drive nearby, but if they saw a person outside a vehicle they ran. Two ropers were available.  It took both ropers on horseback, temporary corral panels and extra people to get the cattle into Dan's trailer.  Without the ropers it would have been impossible.

Apparently the heifer wasn't too bad to catch and get into the front half of the trailer.  The steer was hell. It took multiple ropes.  One rope around the neck and one on the back leg. He broke one rope. These are quality $50 ropes.  They finally got the steer into the trailer still wearing both ropes.

The two cattle spent the night in the trailer.  There was absolutely no way Dan was letting them out until he delivered them to the livestock auction.  The trailer has a metal latch on the door.  Dan tied some twine around the door as is his custom.  The steer was raising hell inside the trailer trying to break out.  Dan took his long ratchet strap and circled the trailer and ratcheted it tight.  Even so I don't think he slept well.

Early this morning Dan drove to the livestock auction in Missoula and delivered the cattle for Thursday's auction.  Apparently when they opened the door to let the steer out he came out spitting and snorting and ready to fight.  Dan said it was a good thing the walls were high.

They couldn't get the ropes off the steer so the auction planned on putting the steer in a squeeze chute later so they can get the ropes off before he is sold.  


Wednesday I plan on hauling my calves to Missoula and the auction.  I never hauled this many cattle in my trailer.  I may have to pack them in like sardines but I think they'll just fit.  I'll find out tomorrow.  Missoula, at 120 miles, is too far to make two trips worthwhile.  I hope I don't have any interesting stories about the trip to blog about.  Cross your fingers.


As I type this I have a sleeping Daisy on my lap.  She is in the middle of a dream right now as her leg or paw twitches and her lips move and whiskers twitch.

Cursed

Two hours or less.  That is all the time I get each day to work on the tool shed roof. 

Sunday I slept late.  I skipped moving irrigation pipes.  After feeding and watering the calves I went and got them a bag of pears.  I get the pears that fall from a neighbor's tree.

Then it was over to Jan's house to replace two florescent lights in her garage. When I left Jan's garage it was raining lightly.  So much for the weather forecast which said Sunday would be cool and cloudy and it wasn't until Monday that we would have a chance of rain. 

Last weekend I delayed starting to work on the tool shed roof because rain was forecast.  It didn't rain.    This weekend, because it wasn't suppose to rain until Monday I didn't cover the exposed tool shed roof with tarps Saturday night.  Of course it would then rain. 

And the rain wasn't quitting so I got out the tarps. 

It was 12:45 pm when I got around to eating breakfast.

After breakfast I sat down to read a newspaper.  I woke up later to realized a different program was on the radio.  I woke up again.  Then again and again.  Over an hour passed.  Then another hour.  Then a half hour, etc., etc.  I would wake up only long enough to calculate how long I was asleep.

Finally I woke up for good at 5 pm.  Yes,  5 pm.  *sigh*    Once again I had two hours to work on the tool shed roof.

I didn't think I was tired but apparently I was.  Even after a full nights sleep.

The rain had quit long ago.  All was pretty much dry except for the wet roof under the tarps.   Guess today I won't be laying down tar paper on the roof in preparation for the asphalt rolled roofing. 

After giving more pears and apples to the calves and checking on their hay and water I worked on the roof.  I found extra jigsaw blades.  It turns out I had the extra blades.  I had looked for them earlier but didn't find them.  As I don't have a jigsaw and have to borrow Jan's jigsaw, I thought I had given her my extra blades.  But no, I had them.

I put a new blade in the jigsaw.  I should have taken more note when I saw the nut didn't seem to tighten quite right but I was in hurry to get some work done before dark.  Since I couldn't work on the tar paper I decided to work on where the tool shed roof meets the pole shed and improve that poor design.  I hadn't cut through the first stud when the nut, screw and blade came off the jigsaw. And a metal clip. 

All the pieces fell into a bunch of metal posts, pipes and rods below.  *sigh*  I had to remove everything in my search. I found everything except for the black metal clip.  After 45+ minutes of searching I gave up.  I used a flashlight and had a very small magnet to help me.  I found old nails and the nut from the handsaw that fell off a few days ago, but no clip.  It would have been quicker to use a handsaw to trim the four studs. 

I trimmed three studs before it got too dark to cut the forth stud.  I need to see to cut straight.

I put the tarps back on the roof.  Because some of the tarps were well worn with holes I had trimmed them smaller when I had taken them off the roof earlier.  So I needed another tarp.  I discovered the light in the garage didn't work.  Really??!!!  I had that fixed this Summer by the electrician when they did their conduit work.

I also placed some metal posts on the tarps.  It is not suppose to be windy, but you know, if I didn't take the time to put the posts on the tarps a wind would blow the tarps off the roof.

So.... not much done once again. 

I think the tool shed roof is cursed.  Every time this year I tried to work on it something happens.  I initially was going to re-roof it way back in March when I completed the irrigation shed roof. I had even taken all the measurements and was about to buy the shingles when the weather then other things delayed me.  No problem, I have all Summer to work on the roof.

Then when fixing the well shed roof I was going to do the tool shed roof too.  I even bought the shingles and roofing materials.  But weeds, cattle, fences irrigation, etc. delayed me.  Delays into August, September, now October.  I should have gotten the roof done last week, but you know how that went. 

Who knows when I will get the re-roofing done?!    I'm not optimistic.