Out of the hayfield

This evening I moved the rest of the irrigation lines out of the hayfield and into the pasture.  More lifting of the pipes over the fence.  At least I am done with that for the year.

The west end of the irrigation lines in the hayfield half watered the hayfield and half watered the pasture.  Here you can see in the pasture where I had been irrigating the past few weeks and where I have not been doing so.  Water makes a big difference in hot dry weather.

Here is a view of the hayfield.  Now I need to wait and let it dry before cutting it.  That will be a week or so.  Our temperatures the past few days have had highs of 70 and 73 degrees.  But the forecast says our high temperatures the rest of the week will be in the 80s and near 90, and dry.  That will help the drying.

Tonight's sunset in the north pasture as I moved the irrigation pipes.

Diamond still has no calf yet.  But she was nearby when I moved irrigation lines.  Her udder looks a little larger today.  So maybe she is getting close to having her calf.

Pocket gopher, rain, etc.

I forgot to mention when I wrote about my busy day the other day, but I also caught a pocket gopher that day.  In the NE pasture.   Weeks ago, before I started irrigating, I had noticed fresh mounds of dirt.  But when I dug to find a tunnel to set a trap in, I couldn't find a tunnel.  Multiple mounds of dirt but no tunnel.  Odd, but okay...   Maybe the gopher was digging to see if he wanted to move here.  On to irrigation.  Last week when moving pipes in this area I saw a number of fresh dirt mounds.  After I had moved the irrigation pipe on to another area I went digging to find a tunnel.  I dug and dug dirt mounds and finally found a tunnel.  I set a trap and later that day I caught the pocket gopher.   Now I need to set traps out in the hayfield.  When I have been moving pipes across the hayfield I have seen new dirt mounds.  The pocket gophers are moving back in.

Dirt mounds back when I couldn't find the tunnel.

Whenever I get the time I need to better protect the younger trees.  Here you can see where Diamond had bit off the top of this tree when she was in the NE pasture earlier.

We had rain today again.  Which is good.  I am still irrigating the hayfield so the rain makes it more challenging to move pipes.  This morning it had stopped raining when it was time to move pipes at 7 am.  Yay!  The field was wet from the rain so my lower half got wet as I moved through the tall field.  I had half of the second line to move when it started to rain again.  By the time I was done I was almost soaked.

Yesterday I had gotten only five hours of sleep as I was busy with other things that took more time that I expected.  Last night I was tired and out-of-it so I went to bed at midnight - early for me.  At 7 am it was time to move irrigation pipes.  Afterwards, since I was wet and it was raining, at 9 am I went back to bed.  I slept until 1 pm.  Seven plus four hours made it eleven hours of sleep.  Guess the extra sleep got me caught up.

Off and on rain today.  When it came time to move irrigation pipes at 7 pm it wasn't raining.  But rain clouds were off to the West.  I am done irrigating the south part of the hayfield and it was time to move that line into the south pasture.  Moving the pipes across the fence takes more effort and time.  Not what I needed with rain approaching.  But I finally got it done.  No rain yet.  Let me try moving the north line and see if I get rained on again halfway through the move.  Halfway through the move I could see the rain clouds getting closer.  Then a few lighting bolts in the far West.  Holding on to a metal pipe in a lightning storm is not what I wanted to do.

I got all the pipes moved.  As I walked back to open the valve I started to feel a few rain drops.  When I closed the valve to the third line it started to rain.  It was a run back home.  I got very wet, but not soaked.

Cleaning house roof and chimney

With this heat, smoke and moving irrigation pipes twice a day I'm not getting much else done.  Off and on the past week I've been cleaning the chimney and pipes for my wood stove.  Today I climbed up on my house roof, and using a chimney brush, cleaned the chimney.  I have a little left to clean at the bottom of the chimney in the house and then I'll be done.

While on the roof I remembered I needed to clean the gutters on the roof.  I don't think I completely cleaned them last Fall as there were a number of dead leaves in the gutters.  Also on the roof I noticed some small moss starting to grow here and there on the shingles on the north side of the roof, or in the shady areas on the south side of the roof.  So I spent time to remove them.

I then noticed the entryway's fiberglass roofing was dirty.  I used a broom to clean it.  Slightly better. Then when I used a garden hose and water to clean the gutters I decided to wash the fiberglass roof.  Slightly better.  Then I got the idea of using my fine wire brush to rub the roof as I washed it.  Much better.

I don't remember when I had fixed and replaced the fiberglass roof with new sheets of fiberglass.  15 or more years ago?

I know I had replaced the shingles over 15 years ago.  Sometime between 2003 and 2006.  The shingles look good for their age.

I had some small branches laying in the backyard to cut up.  The last time the irrigation sprinkler lines went by the branches got a little wet.  So every so often I would cut up a few of the branches.  I spent a short amount of time this morning cutting up the last of the branches as part of a sprinkler line was going to be in the backyard tonight.  I am laying out what I have cut up in part of the yard that doesn't get wet so they can dry out.

Then it was time to eat breakfast.  Oh, it's 2 pm already?  My how time flies.   After breakfast I then went back to sleep to catch up on my sleep and slept three hours to get my nine hours of sleep in.

Rain and fallen tree

It rained last night.  The first time in a month.  .36 inches last night.  We certainly needed the rain.  I didn't see the rain as Donna wanted company at the Travis Tritt music concert last night.  This is the fourth time she has seen Travis in concert.

It started to rain shortly after we got inside the building and had quit by the time the concert was over.  Being inside a large metal building with no windows and loud music, I didn't realize how much it had rained until the concert was over.

When the front came with the rain apparently the wind picked up and blew 31 mph with gusts to 41 mph from mainly the SE.  We usually don't get high winds from that direction.  This morning after moving irrigation pipes - yes, I am still irrigating - I saw that in the middle pasture a tree was broken off by the wind.  This is a tree that for some reason has been fighting to stay alive and healthy the past couple of years.  Now the tree is partly gone.

In the afternoon I had a handsaw and cut off some of the fallen tree's branches.  The cattle saw me in the pasture and had to come over to check out what I was doing.  So I quit.

On another tree where a very large branch had cracked and fell a few weeks ago, I also trimmed a few of the slimmer side branches from the large branch.  Again, the cattle had to check out what I was doing.

Mama cow kept her distance and watched how the other cows were acting.

The large fallen tree is annoying.  Another tree to cut up.  Nearby I had cut up and removed another fallen tree this past Spring.  Now I have another tree to cut up to make harrowing easier; and also make it easier to lay an irrigation sprinkler line when I irrigate the pasture as the tree happened to fall right where one line goes.

Fortunately none of the cattle were under the tree when it broke off and fell.

Two salt feeders repaired

Today I fixed two of my three wooden salt feeders.  The third salt feeder is fine.  The cattle are hard on the wooden feeders.  I also pulled the rest of the yarrow weeds growing in the middle pasture.

North pasture feeder repaired.  The legs on the left had been bent out.

Here is a photo of the middle pasture feeder taken back in the middle of June.  The feeder was in worst condition today when I repaired it.  I forgot to take a photo of the feeder today before I fixed it.

Middle pasture feeder.

I was done fixing the middle pasture feeder and was putting my tools back into the plastic pail when all of a sudden Toby was nearby.  He started jumping up and down a few times like he was bucking someone off.  And he shook his head.  He scared the heck out of me.  I yelled at him to 'knock it off! Calm down!'  I moved away from the pail over to here where I took a photo of Toby when he walked up to check out the pail.

I waited and waited... and waited.  10 minutes or so.  Cattle usually move on when nothing is happened.  Finally Toby did.  He walked a short ways away and laid down.  I was able to get my pail and tools and leave.

Near the middle pasture feeder the tree roots are partially above ground.  A few roots had round bumps/knots that stuck up.  I sawed them off to get rid of something that was annoying to step on.

This side root(?) wasn't attached to anything on either end.  It was 'fastened' to the tree trunk in the middle.  I was able to pull it off the tree trunk.

Haynes, hay baler, etc.

A busy day.  I didn't get all my sleep.  After five hours of sleep I got up at 7 am to move irrigation pipes. After that was done I went out to check on Diamond.  Still no calf from her.

I saw Muscles laying a short distance away.  But where was Haynes?   The rest of the herd was on the other side of the fence, in the middle pasture.

Toby is in the center.

I saw Mama's calf along the fence.

I looked and saw Haynes eating grass along another part of the fence.  He was in the middle pasture near the rest of the cows.

 

I walked along the fence and found how he got across the fence.  On an old three-strand section the top wire was broken.  I got the fence stretcher and fixed it.

I let Haynes stay over with the rest of the cattle.  I wondered how he and Toby would get along.  Better than I expected.  In the evening, after I moved irrigation pipes again and then removed a pocket gopher from a trap I had set the other day, I saw Toby and Haynes together in the south pasture.  They were acting like best buddies.  They were standing next to each other and slowly rubbing against each other.

After I was done with checking on Haynes and the cattle in the morning I finished installing the fixed belt to my hay baler.  I threaded the belt into the baler last night but I couldn't quite make the ends of the belt reach each other.  Since the mornings are cooler than our afternoons I wanted to finish installing the belt then.  I got my neighbor Curtis to help.  It took two people to pull the belt tight and then install the pin to hold the ends together.

So now I am done fixing my baler and I parked it.

After breakfast I rode my bicycle south of town to the place where an auction is held.  I seen on their listing they had an older carbon fiber bicycle they would be selling this evening.  I checked and the frame size was correct for me.  The frame was lightweight and the parts looked good.  But there was something wrong with the bottom bracket as it was harder to turn than it should be.  Maybe one needs to re-grease the bottom bracket; or maybe it is something else.   I have enough to do and don't need another project that is for a secondary bicycle.  So I passed and didn't bid.  I see the bicycle sold for $105.  So it was good I passed on a bicycle I would need to fix.

The bicycle ride was 28 miles.  One irrigation sprinkler line was blocking me from driving my pickup for the day, that is partially why I rode my bicycle on a 92 degree hot day with wind.  The other reason is I haven't been riding many miles on my bicycle in July as I have been so busy, and I wanted to put some miles on my bicycle.   On the way home I stopped at a grocery store to buy some ears of corn.  At the store another person I know who also has cattle saw me.  He commented I looked out of it.  I guess I was due to the lack of sleep and the heat and work. 

When I got home I went to sleep and got 2 and 1/2 more hours of sleep before I woke up to move the irrigation sprinkler lines in the evening.

Just another day.

Removing grass from around the fruit trees

A little over a month ago I mowed the grass in the fruit tree area after the cows had eaten it down somewhat.

The cows had also pressed against the fencing around the small fruit trees to try to get to the fruit trees' leaves.  The fencing on many trees needs repairs or improvement so I took some of the fencing apart for now after I mowed the grass.  Otherwise in the past I would wait until another day as I have until next year before the cattle are back in the fruit tree area.  And a year goes by and I don't get to working on the fencing.  By partially taking down the fencing that needs improvement maybe I will get to fixing it by next year.

In the meantime I also saw the grass had grown right up around the tree trunks.  Years ago when the trees were first planted I had placed small rocks around the trees to keep the grass away.  Many years later the grass grew in and among the rocks.  I decided to spend some time removing the grass around trees where the rocks were still more common than the grass.  For the other trees it looked like there was more grass than rocks.  So I completely removed those rocks.

I didn't think this would take very long.  Over a month later I only have one tree left to do.   It wasn't like I did this non-stop.  I would take a half hour, or an hour or two and work on a tree or two.  But I found that some very grassy areas still had a large number of rocks.  These areas I had to remove the rocks from the grass roots.  This took time.  I think I worked on ten to twelve trees.

I didn't get 100% done as I had to move an irrigation sprinkler line through this area last week.  I'll finish it up after things dry out.   Cross your fingers.

Here are some pictures of a few of the trees I worked on.

One cherry tree.   I should give up on my two cherry trees.  Both started to die off and then came back from the roots.  The trees should be much bigger as I have planted these trees over 10 years ago.  I did have some cherries on these trees some years ago but it was a battle to get the cherries as the birds would eat them and leave the pits on the stems.

Maybe I should have removed the rocks also.  As you can see in a month's time the grass already has started to come back.

Another cherry tree.  For this tree I also removed the rocks.

A smaller pear tree.  Last year the cattle got through part of the fencing to eat the tree's leaves.  That is why this pear tree looks younger than what it is.

My other pear tree.  Last year, or was it the year before, I had rebuilt and improved the fencing around this pear tree.

You can see how the cattle tried to break through the fencing this year.

This tree required a lot of work to remove the rocks from.  You don't see all the rocks as they have depth to them.  I removed a number of 5 gallon pails of rocks from this tree.

Pears are growing again this year.

I have the serviceberry tree/bush left to remove the rocks from.  You can't see the rocks but they are there.  I started on the right side to remove the rocks until I had to stop because the irrigation sprinkler line was coming the next day.

Maria's dead calf

This morning when I went out to move the irrigation sprinkler lines Maria was mooing.  The rest of the cattle were in the western part of the middle pasture under the trees and Maria was in the eastern half closer to the middle/south pasture fence line.  It was like she was mooing for her calf.  I went and looked and then found Maria's calf laying near where Maria was standing and mooing.  The beautiful calf was dead.  It was a week under two months old.

I have no idea how the calf died.  The calf's body looked fine.  No signs of another animal attacking the calf.  Did the calf somehow eat something bad?  Did the calf's heart suddenly give out?  No idea.

I moved the irrigation pipes, caught up on my sleep and ate breakfast.  Early afternoon I went out there.  I went to dig a hole to bury the calf.  I picked one of the tree stumps I had removed as it was easier to dig there.

Maria was still mourning her calf and keeping the calf company.  So I went and picked a bunch of yarrow weeds growing in the middle pasture.  Things are drying up and so is the yarrow.  It is too late to spray them now.  So I pick them to remove the plants and seeds.  An hour or so later I was done picking for the day.  Maria started to leave.  She walked over to the south pasture to lick the salt block.  I quietly walked over to the calf and drug it to the hole I had dug.  The calf must have weighed 400 pounds as it was hard to drag, and I had to stop and take a few breaks.

Maria then noticed me and came walking back.  I was able to get the calf into the hole and started to cover it with dirt.  Maria walked to where her calf had been and sniffed and checked around.  Then she came walking the same way I had drug her calf stopping and sniffing the ground.  The calf had no blood so maybe its fur shed as I pulled it.  How else could Maria tell exactly where I had drug the calf?

I shoveled dirt fast. I had the calf mostly covered by the time Maria reached the spot I had buried the calf.  She sniffed around the dirt and then moved here and there trying to find out where the calf had gone.  With all the dirt put back I left.  Maria wandered around the pasture calling for her calf.  This evening she has stopped mooing.

So sad.

In mourning.

Calling once again for the calf to wake up.

That was the spot I had drug the calf before putting him into the hole.

Missing her calf.