More feeder fun

The cattle are testing me.  How patient am I?

Yesterday I found the heifer had tried to break my last repair job on the feeder.

So I fixed it.  I redid the broken side and added more and bigger boards and added another supporting board on the other side.  That seems to have done the trick as today the board is as how I built it.

But then Momma decided to be naughty this afternoon.  I guess if one can't get in the feeder from the side they will do it from the front even if there is not as much room.

The previous photo on the right also shows how I beefed up the previous board yesterday.

To stop the cattle from stepping in from the front I added a board across the front.

Baby and Momma

Now if I can get Momma to stop burying her head deep in the hay and moving it around.  When the feeder is full of hay she spills some over the side which goes to waste after they step on it.

Momma

After I finished working on my feeder board Momma tried to check out the inside of the barn.

Trying to stop backwards

I had to do something.  Since I first found the heifer standing in the hay feeder (see previous post, "Backwards"), I saw her climb in the feeder another time and found manure in the corner another time.  Monday morning I found manure in the corner and late Monday afternoon the heifer climbed into the feeder with her front legs.  When I entered the corral to chase her out of the feeder she completely climbed into the feeder before stepping out as I continued coming towards her.  She won't step out backwards.

I didn't want to block my access for filling hay so I came up with a removable blocking board.  To gain access all I have to do is lift the board up to remove it.

I went to help Bob back into his house after his dental appointment and then a short three mile bicycle ride.  When I returned I rode around the back yard to look for Daisy and saw the heifer was standing in the feeder once again.

What?!

  She put her head and neck under the board to eat and then moved up to raise the board up to step into the feeder.  And I had placed the board a little high to begin with.

Back to the drawing board...

The solution:  I lowered the board.  Then on each side I added a small board above the long board.  That way the board can't be raised by the heifer.  Now to add or remove the board I have to slide it in and out.  More of a pain, but something I had to do.

Here the board blocks out the faces of Momma and the problem heifer.  Just like in the crime photos so you don't recognize the guilty.

My fix where I added boards above.  With effort I can slide the board a bit, and pulling it to me, work it out sideways to remove it.

Tuesday morning... 

I had to go bake a batch of pumpkin muffins and bread so I put the board back up for now.

When I came back from baking pumpkin muffins and bread this is what I found.  The heifer is now challenging me... "you build it, I can break it."  I think I am going to call this heifer "Princess".  I'm going to have to ear tag the cattle someday so I can physically tell her apart from the other heifer.

A side note... this is also the heifer that now waits until I leave before she pushes Baby away from the feeder and takes her spot.  She used to try this when I was there but I scolded her.  Now she waits until I leave the corral and can't see the feeder.  Sometimes all it takes is for me is to walk around the corner or the barn.  Then I hear a commotion and when I come back she has taken Baby's spot.

Why is it that it is usually the female cattle that are the bossy bold problem cattle?

"Princess" shows me what she thinks of me and my camera and my efforts to stop her from getting into the feeder...

Yes, the raising of the tail means...

After cleaning the feeder, I took my "structure" apart and rebuilt it once again.  I lowered the board once more.

I have blocks all around the boards on each end.  So to remove the board I have to slide it completely out one end.

As you can see it was dark by the time I finished.  Baby was checking everything out and I had to keep an eye on her that she didn't take or break any tools, or sneak into the barn as the door was partially open (she tried).

With such small pieces of wood I split some, bent nails in other dry wood, and lost nails on the ground.  Oh yeah... hit my little finger with the hammer.  The finger bled and bled and bled.  Blood can be seen on wood in a previous photo.  When I got back in the house Tammy held her nose and said I smelled like "cattle".  My pants had blood and manure on them.

I just took some apple cores out to the corral for the cattle.  The cattle are chewing their cud in the loafing shed and my board is still up.  Maybe the third time is the charm.

Backwards

Last week as I came out to add hay to the feeder I found this...

Yup.  How dumb is this?  And what's the point?

Fortunately the heifer didn't add any more manure than what was on her hoofs. I had to toss out the hay she stood on.

I caught her one other time standing like this.

February storage auction

Saturday I attended another storage auction.  They were auctioning only one unit.   That is the way it has been lately - an occasional storage auction involving only one unit.  They are usually held at 9 am or 10 am.  Usually I skip them as it can be a bother to drive across the Valley for one auction early in the morning.  I went to this auction as it was nearby.

I arrived right at 10 am as they were opening up the gate to the storage unit business to let the people in.

Here are pretty much everyone who attended the auction.  Not a big crowd.  A couple dozen people?

The auctioneer (in blue) had trouble cutting the lock.  The lock was in the style shown below and it is difficult to get a good grip with the bolt cutter.  He and another guy worked on it for 5 minutes before finally cutting the lock.

The unit had lots of stuff.  Old furniture (behind the auctioneer), contractor tools, some toys, a decent sized telescope with stand, and a mish-mash of other stuff.  I saw a hand-made sign on one side of the storage unit with the words: storage sale.   This unit would have made an interesting unit for a Storage Wars TV show.

The storage unit was big.  The unit was the entire width of the building shown below.  It looked to be the size of two storage units placed end to end.  So it was hard to see what was in the back.  The guy with the light above had an advantage.

While we were at the auction the business closed the gate behind us.  The people were waiting for the gate to be opened when I arrived.  Another guy and I saw a side gate and I opened it and went through.  Everyone else followed.

There were only four or five people who bid.  The winning bidder got the unit for $1050.   Cash payment only.  We were out of there by 10:18 am.

Shoveling shit

I could have called this post "Moving manure" but after all the work and smell I did, I wanted the crude title.

Usually the coming of Spring brings wonderful earthy smells.   Not in the corral.  One smell overrides all other smells - and that is not a good smell.   In the evening when I come back in the house from feeding hay to the cattle Tammy says I smell like "cattle".  I have to wear my 'mud' boots now when I go into the corral when the ground is not frozen.

One area that get lots of manure is by the feeder.  Especially the back end where the cattle stand as they eat.  Hay comes in the front and out comes...

Here Momma and the bold heifer are pointing out work I have to do.

A long line of ....

I scraped and shoveled the sloppy smelly manure into a pile away from where they stand.  Another day I will haul it out of the corral and spread it in a pasture to fertilize it.

Here Momma and Baby are checking out my handiwork.

It smells worse than it looks.

Refrigerator dying a slow death

My refrigerator is slowly dying.  While the freezer is hanging in there, the fridge doesn't cool things much.  I took most of the stuff out of it, put most of that in a cooler with ice, and put everything outside.  The temperatures are great: lows in the 20s and highs in the 30s.

So the past few days Tammy and I have looked at refrigerators in various stores.  My current refrigerator is the common type: freezer on top, standard doors.  For my new refrigerator Tammy and I wanted the freezer to be on the bottom.  After all... what do you use the most... the fridge or freezer, and do you want to bend or not?

We wanted the standard door and not the french door.  That was in the mistaken belief that all french doors had water and ice in them and I didn't want that. Water and ice in the door are not needed and seem to me to take up too much space.  Believe it not, the style we wanted was not common.  Each store had only one or two models. Not much to chose from.

Then at Lowes I saw a french door model without water & ice.  Aahhh!   My refrigerator is 19.5 cubic feet (cf) in size. The non-french door models we had looked at were 21.8 cf in size.   This french door model was 25.7 cf.  I like!  I want a larger refrigerator as Tammy mentions all the time how I fill it after my grocery shopping trips.  Bigger is better.

The french door non-water & ice also are not common.  Again the stores had only one maybe two models each.

So I did research online.

Tammy's daughter has had nothing but trouble with their LG brand of refrigerator (and other appliances).  The Sears saleswoman told us that the Kenmore brand was made by LG.  Several store personal warned us the Samsumg brand has no authorized service rep in the Valley and they felt the people in the Valley who did repair refrigerators seemed not to have an interest in becoming a Samsung service rep.

I focused in on a Whirlpool (same brand as my current refrigerator) and a Maytag.

The problem with online reviews is that most are either love it or hate it.  The "love it" reviewers just got the refrigerator and gush at how wonderful it is.  The haters are people who have had a problem.  It is tough to get an idea how pervasive a problem is or whether that refrigerator was a lemon.

I kept going back to the Samsung.  Something about it I liked.

Thursday Tammy and I again visited a number of stores and re-looked at the refrigerators I was interested in.  It was difficult as no store had them all and I couldn't do a side-by-side comparison.  But I again was drawn back to the Samsung.  While most all refrigerator have the same look, I think the Samsung's handles had a better feel.  I also liked the shelves.  They seemed a little more sturdy and cleaner looking.  The drawers had a cleaner look.  I know... its a refrigerator - who cares about the look?  But in the look I saw an attention to detail and that means quality to me.  Once I get the refrigerator I'll see if it is true.   The bottom drawer - the "Cool select pantry" - has its own temperature control.   I also thought the Samsung doors closed better.  It also has an "open door left open" alarm.

And Lowes was having a sale! I had read that the best times to get a refrigerator was during the Black Friday sales or the Presidents Day sales. And Presidents Day is just around the corner!  In addition to getting a rebate gift card for $180, the refrigerator was on sale at $400 off.  Instead of $1999, it cost $1599.  I know... that is expensive for a refrigerator.  I could have gone with the freezer on top style and paid well under $1000.

The Samsung refrigerator I bought is model:  RF260BEAESR.   It is a stainless steel model.  I originally planned on getting white appliances for the kitchen to lighten the room up, and white and black are cheaper than stainless steel, but once Tammy and I saw the white stoves I changed my mind.  I can handle a white refrigerator but not a white stove.

Here is the refrigerator I bought:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_186006-149-RF260BEAESR_4294857963__?productId=3773537&Ns=p_product_avg_rating|1#BVRRWidgetID

The Sears web site is nice as they also have interior views of the refrigerator.  Note, Sears sells the "stainless look" which is stainless steel with a "Stainless Platinum" covering.  One can stick magnets to this door.  Not a feature I had to have.

http://www.sears.com/samsung-26-cu-ft-french-door-refrigerator-w-internal/p-04682036000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1


The model in the Lowes store was black.   They would have to order a stainless steel model for me.  While this normally takes 5 to 7 business days, the warehouse is out of this model.  The salesman checked and 34 of them right now are on a boat traveling from Korea.  So I should have the refrigerator by the end of the month.  I guess we'll be eating out of a cooler a little while longer.

Now to decide whether I want to buy the extended warranty plan from Lowes.

Lastly... remember where I earlier mentioned this was a larger cubic feet sized refrigerator? That also means that french door models are larger physically.  This french door model is 35.75 inches wide.   My current refrigerator is 32.25 inches wide and the counter and cabinets are built right up to the refrigerator.  In my kitchen remodel plan I had decided to move the refrigerator to a new location.  Until I do the remodel this refrigerator can sit in the dining room.  It will work - it just won't be hooked up to a water line to make ice.

Shining mountains

 A change of pace from all the recent blog posts about Daisy...

Wimpy Canon camera didn't capture the true beauty.   Snow was lit up by the late afternoon sunlight.

Falling apart

When Tammy was gone things began to fall apart.

My front bicycle tire was flat and the new glue is not ideal for patching the tube so I am still working on it.

My pickup tire was flat.

The refrigerator (without Tammy to torment with its popping and wheezing noises) got very quiet.  A side effect is that the temperature is not as cool even with the controls turned all the way up.  The freezer keeps stuff frozen but ice cream is soft.  The refrigerator is cool but not as cold as it should be.  Looks like a new refrigerator may not wait until the kitchen is remodeled in a few months.

Then the vacuum cleaner died Sunday morning.  Good thing I have the vacuum cleaner from when I lived in Minnesota.

26 second video of the end of the vacuum cleaner.  It had been even noisier than what you hear in the video.  Just like Daisy and Tammy who are camera shy, the vacuum cleaner tried to clean up its act for the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgxA1Ex1moE

Baby rubbing

Baby decided one day to rub against my leg and pull on my clothes.

Here is a 1:48 video of Baby rubbing against me and trying to pull my clothes off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78eJXuV2HuM