Rhubarb and dirt

It rained on Tuesday and is supposed to rain on Friday.  So I haven't cut my hay yet.  Lots of people misread the weather forecast for this week and have hay down and wet.

Thursday night I decided to dig the weeds and grass from around my rhubarb plants and my three remaining strawberry plants.   In past years I have lost most of my strawberry plants to weeds and grass, and all my raspberry plants.  So if I didn't remove the weeds and grass now from my rhubarb plants and remaining strawberry plants I may lose them too.

It took longer than I thought it would, but I got it done.

Hot air balloon

Wednesday was a beautiful day at the ranch.  In the evening a hot air balloon floated overhead.

Longest day irritations

Happy Summer Solstice!

I am waiting for a four day stretch of dry weather before cutting the grass for hay.  So far three days is the longest between rain.  Lots of people this year have gotten caught with their hay lying in the field when it rained.  Maybe this weekend may be the start of a four day dry period.  I'll see...   The weather forecast lately seems to change once we get closer to those days.  Otherwise this is frustrating as I am ready to go for cutting the grass and am holding off on larger projects until the hay is done.

I also want to redo the steel mainline irrigation pipe across the pasture so I am ready to irrigate once I cut and bale the hay.   But this is a hassle as the long ago owners cut one section of steel pipe to be shorter and added a sleeve to join and work with a 90 degree elbow.  Replacing the sleeve and elbow is proving to be tricky.  I see tomorrow if my irrigation guy has - or can make - the parts I need.

In the meantime I mowed the yard.  I got the yard mowed but not the extra areas as the lawnmower - which was acting odd - quit.  Acting odd in that I had to leave the choke on to run the lawnmower. Eventually that work around failed.  I replaced the spark plug and that didn't solve the problem.  Donna had a similar problem.  She said the ethonol in the gas ruined her lawnmower's carburetor.  And the same thing happened to her son-in-law and daughter's lawnmower.  Curtis has also heard of this happening.  Guess I'll have to take my lawnmower in to the shop tomorrow.

While dealing with the lawnmower the cattle started to make a loud ruckus out in the middle pasture.  So much racket I had to walk out there.  I found Beulah and Cow #60 in the south pasture with around eight calves.  The rest of the cows were in the middle pasture along the fence and loudly mooing up a storm.

I went to the gate and the cattle in each pasture did also.  But the cattle in the middle pasture wanted to go into the south pasture much more than the south pasture cattle wanted to go back into the middle pasture.  The middle pasture is full of tall grass.  But you know cattle...

Once Buddy came to, and stood by, the gate I gave up.  It is two days earlier than I had planned to move the cattle into the south pasture but I went ahead and opened the gate and let everyone into the south pasture.  The cattle went crazy with excitement and ran around and around before settling down to eat.

I walked the fence all the way to the river to find where the cattle crossed the fence.  I didn't find any sign of a broken fence.  The river is still high enough that the gravel bars the cattle used in the past to move between pastures are still underwater.  The cattle weren't wet; and even the big cows made it across, I serious doubt the calves could have crossed the water.

So how did the cows and calves get from one pasture to another?  Other than the broken lawnmower this is the most annoying part of all this.

Extra power pole

When the power company came to replace the power pole out in the pasture I asked them to take out the pole by my tool shed.  This pole held the electric wires that ran between the garage and tool shed and the barn.  When I put those wires underground last year I didn't need the pole anymore.  With the pole gone it is one less thing I have to mow around or have in the way when I shovel snow.

Only Daisy still used the pole.  When she would run around the tool shed often she would run up the power pole three to five feet high then turn around and go back on the ground before running off.  I think she liked to show off in front of me.  it has been a few days now and I still catch Daisy looking at where the pole was when she walks around the tool shed.

The truck just barely fit under the sign I have over my driveway entrance.  The pole is 6 ft in the ground and the truck had absolutely no problem pulling the 30 ft pole out of the ground.

This pole is from 1964.  The power company didn't want it and gave it to me.

It was a little awkward for me to move the pole but I was able to with my tractor.

I don't have a use for the pole right now, but maybe someday I will.

New wire and pole

Earlier this Spring I took my very old irrigation pump in to be refurbished.  $690.  I believe the pump - based on the steel (!) mainline irrigation pipes I have - is from the 1940s. The company quit making pumps back in the early to mid 1960s.  The shed housing the irrigation pump is made from the same old rough wood as the barn.  The barn was built in the early 1940s.

I updated the electric wire to my irrigation pump. Since burying the electric wire last year to my barn and outbuildings worked so well I buried the wire to the pump.

I put in a meter base since my wire is now underground.  Daisy helped me.

According to the small plate on the pole, the power pole I come off of was put in place back in 1971.  The electric company decided to replace the pole.   They didn't want the old pole so I have it now.  Another pole in the line of power poles is from 1956.  They left that one in place.  The 1956 pole doesn't have any transformers hanging on it.

The power company's trucks matted the grass down.

So once I cut my hay (hopefully next week) I should be ready for irrigating this year to get a second hay crop.

Happy Buddy

Today I used my tractor to fill in the hole from the last tree stump I had burned on Monday.  That done I could now let the cattle into the middle pasture without having to worry a cow or calf would accidentally fall into the big hole.

First I let Buddy out of the corral so he could rejoin the cows.  Today, June 15, means the first calf next year could be born as early as March 24.  Last year I let Buddy to the cows on June 20 and my first calf was born this year on March 29.  Buddy was happy to be reunited with the cows as every day he would moan mournfully for the cows to be near him in the corral.

Waiting in the corral.

After I opened the gate I climbed up the corral fence in case Buddy got over excited.  Daisy - the black and white - is laying under the fence in front of Buddy with her tail on this side of the fence.

Once Buddy was reunited with the cows he quickly went around to each cow to check if she needed his services.

Enjoying the tall grass in the (new) middle pasture.

In the middle of the photo you can see Buddy make his "face" after checking another cow if she needed his "help".

Beulah was in standing heat today.

Once Buddy checked out all the cows he kept company with Beulah.

Beulah may have the first calf next year.  If not the first (if she is past the most fertile part of her cycle), then perhaps the last calf.

Stump 6 bonfire

Monday night I burnt the last tree stump for now and possibly the year.  Stump 6.

This stump was difficult to dig around due to all the side roots going down and sideways and here and there.  It was was hard to get the shovel between many of the roots to get to the dirt under the 'crown' of the stump as the stump didn't have a main taproot going straight down.  I believe I only dug down two and a half to three feet around the stump.  This was more than enough to burn the stump and eliminate the possibility that the remainder of the stump would work its way up out of the ground during my lifetime.

I chopped off a number of side roots to enable me to dig around the stump better.  A few of the roots still had a little liquidy sap in them.

I started the bonfire around 10 pm after sundown and finished around 2 am.

Here is an example of how the roots made it difficult to dig around the stump.  See how the roots grew together to form the letter "A"?

Daisy joined me a number of times when I dug around the stump.

Start of the bonfire.

Hours after the fire started the "A" still stands.

Near the end of the bonfire.

The next day.  This is after almost a third of inch of rain.  One spot is still smoldering.

Here is a 2 minute 15 second video of various times of the bonfire: https://youtu.be/GLbrCpVjbH8

-

Filling a stump hole

Today I used my tractor to fill in the hole from the last tree stump I had burned.  Afterwards I brought some larger branches back to the yard to be later cut up for firewood.  The cattle were near the north/middle pasture gate.  They were chill and I was able to open the gate and drive the tractor through it and the cattle didn't try to get through the gate.  Afterwards they - mainly the calves - crowded around the tractor.   Rose - on the left - scratched her head against one branch.

Here is a 20 second video of the calves when I drive the tractor: https://youtu.be/FlKgOsvdY6g

-

Cattle, fence, turkey, gopher

The cattle are still in the north pasture.  I would have rotated them to the middle pasture today but I haven't because:

1. there is still plenty of tall grass in the north pasture,
2. I haven't filled in the deep hole for the third tree stump I burned,
3. I have finally(!) finished digging around tree stump 6 and have not burned the stump yet so there is a hole there.

I thought about moving the cattle to the south pasture.  Today I checked the south pasture's fences and nailed the loose barb wires and added metal clips to wires on a few t-posts.   But I haven't moved the cattle because:

1. I need to build a simple fence over a section of irrigation pipe coming from the shed as I am afraid the cattle will trip over it and move it,
2. I need to build a simple fence around the new meter base so the cattle don't rub on it.

Also when checking on the south pasture fence I came across this:

The turkey didn't move when I got close.  I don't know if it is sitting on a nest, or if it is young and stays put until its parent returns.  I walked around it and left it be.


I trapped a pocket gopher in the hayfield south of the barn.  Why it traveled to the middle of the ranch to make its home I don't know.  But it didn't work out for it.  I have another trap along the south pasture fence.

Election - primary

Tuesday I served as chief election judge at my usual precinct.  In the past there were five of us.  The couple decided not to serve this year.  The election department was having trouble finding people to serve.  They found us Bud.  He served with my team one election cycle in 2012.  I thought that being a primary election we could get by with just us four.

Then a week before the election Ted - my most experienced team member - found out that he had to attend a meeting the morning of the election and he couldn't change the date.  He thought he would be back to help us between 2 and 3 pm.  He got his mother to cover for him. Ted is in his 50s to 60s - so his mother is even older.

Then Bud realized his one son was graduating from primary school that day so he wanted to leave at 5 pm so he could attend the graduation ceremony.  "Sure. Your son's graduation only happens once. Go support him."

The election department found me another guy who they hired from a temp job service..  A few days before the election when I called him he had to drop out because he thought the election was on Monday and not on Tuesday.  He worked another job on Tuesday.



I recruited Donna to help cover a few hours if I needed help.

Ted helped me set up the polling place the night before and we did a lot of the work so that the next morning at 6 am my team only had to finish up the work before opening the polls.

At 6 am a woman from the temp job service arrived.  The temp job agency hadn't told me or the election department that they found a replacement worker.  But good that she was here to help.

Ted came back at 2 pm; so from then till Bud left at 5 pm I had one more person than needed as Ted's mother was having a good time and wanted to stay until the end.

With so many people voting via absentee ballot the number of voters who came to the polls was light.  We only had 178 voters - much less than any other election I served at.

The light turnout was helpful in the beginning.  After the voting machine counted the first ballot it froze and would not take any more ballots.    Our poll runner tried to help but she couldn't get the machine to work.  We had a container to hold the ballots after people voted.  A machine company representative came out within the hour.

Of course after he came the machine worked.  We fed the ballots from the container into the machine to be counted.  The representative waited a short time until a voter came to have his ballot counted.  That worked too.  So he left.

After reading 7 more ballots the machine froze again.  This time the election department brought us out a new machine counter.  Fortunately the card retained the already counted ballots so we didn't have to feed them through the machine again.  This new counter worked the rest of the election.

Otherwise the rest of the election went smoothly.

The polls closed at 8 pm. We had the polling place taken down by 9:30 pm.  After taking the ballots, cards, and other stuff back to the election headquarters I was home by 10:15 pm.

It was a long day.

Mischief before going to another pasture

Early this morning I heard Buddy the bull mooing. I also heard some cows mooing.  Then it was quiet.  For some reason I was awake early and so I got up much earlier than normal.  When I went outside the calves and three cows were in the corral.  The other cows...  I found them eating from the large hay bales in the NE pasture.

Wait a minute... didn't you earlier write that you had put corral panels around the bales to keep the cattle away from them?

Why... yes I did. I also pounded a metal t-posts in the ground next to each panel.  And tied the panels to the posts using baling twine.

Well... these cattle untied the twine from three panels and posts.  The end panels.   They then pulled one end of a panel on each end (east and west of the bales) out so they could get inside the panels to the bales.  In the process they also pulled two t-posts out of the ground.   They hadn't been there too long before I found them and chased them out.   I reset the panel barrier and tied the end panels down even more.

Who said cattle were dumb?


The cattle have eaten down the NE pasture and fruit tree and garden area over the past five days.  This evening I let them out to the north pasture to begin the pasture rotations.   Over the past two Winters I placed the metal feeders out there for eating from large hay bales.  As a consequences from the uneaten hay and the manure a number of areas have very tall and thick grass.  The calves all disappeared into the grass and the smaller cows only had their back visible.

This should keep them happy for a few days.

Stump 3 bonfire

Saturday night I had another bonfire and burnt another tree stump.  This was a tree stump I dug around way back in April.  So it was good and dry for burning.  Even so I was surprised it wasn't harder to completely burn up the stump as it was a pretty big stump.

This stump was a pain to dig around what with all the side roots.  But it was easier than the stump I am currently digging around which is a nightmare due to side roots.

I was able to use the tractor to pull up a few of the side roots but most of this stump's side roots were solid and the tractor was unable to move them.

After I was able to remove a few side roots.

Start of the bonfire

Cows happy, Bull unhappy

The cows are very happy now that they have 24 hour access to green grass in the NE pasture.

Buddy is not so happy, and throughout the day he off-and-on bellowed his unhappiness.   He doesn't like it that his ladies are so far away from him and that he can't always see them.   The cows did spend one of their siestas today laying in the corral near Buddy which pleased him.

Cattle complaining, etc.

After being let into the front yard to eat green grass the past four afternoons the cattle expected the same treatment today.  Instead I made them finish their bale of hay and they were not happy about it.  A number of them mooed or bellowed loudly whenever they saw me outside.  They also hung around the gate much of the day.

Finally this evening the cattle finished eating most of the hay.  I then herded them into the corral so that I could move six corral panels from the pasture to over and around the remaining 10 large hay bales in the NE pasture.  I also moved some corral panels and placed them along the barb wire fence between the NE and north pastures.  That is my worst fence and I don't trust the cattle not to break it.

All the while the cattle were bellowing at me and getting on my last nerve.  Once I finished moving the panels I let the cattle into the NE pasture.  They acted like they hadn't eaten in a week.  But at least they shut up.


A pocket gopher has moved into the south pasture.  Apparently it is testing out areas of where to move as so far it has avoid the trap.  The latest area of fresh dirt is around the roots of a large tree.  That makes it hard to find enough of a tunnel to place a trap.


I am also trying to finish digging around the sixth tree stump.  This is the worst one yet.  The stump has lots and lots of small and medium roots and they go up down and everywhere.  It makes it very difficult to dig around them.  To make matters worse I broke the shovel's fiberglass handle on a small hidden root.  I wasn't pressing hard on the handle - or so I thought.  I also thought fiberglass handles didn't break.  I think they have a lifetime replacement warranty... but who saves a receipt for a shovel?  I'll have to buy a new shovel tomorrow - and this time save the receipt.  At least this shovel handle lasted longer than the prior wood handles I had.