Hitting the nail on the head Once again, the time has flown by, and with the help of friends and family, the barn continues to take shape. The trusses went up in one day (thanks to Larry and Jerry, who have about 75 years of construction experience between the two of them). The rest of the weekend was devoted to rafters, and by sundown on October 5th we saw our building actually looking like a barn. My job during the following week was to start attaching the skip sheathing, which involves climbing around on the roof, so I only do it when there is someone around to keep an eye on me. My mother came over from Seattle for a few days and helped out with applying sealer to the wood that will be used for the doors, and being my standby while I was on the roof. (Since our guest quarters are gone, she had to stay in a tent, but was a good sport about it. )
I managed to get one lower side done, and then our friends Jeff and Maria came last weekend and we made more progress. Bill and I figured if we worked an hour or so every day after he gets home from work, we can get the rest of it done by this coming weekend. The only glitch in this plan is that it is now getting dark by about 6:30, so I got some big halogen lights so we can work as late as we need to. With any luck we will have the metal roofing on by the end of this weekend (or most of it anyway).
I managed to get one lower side done, and then our friends Jeff and Maria came last weekend and we made more progress. Bill and I figured if we worked an hour or so every day after he gets home from work, we can get the rest of it done by this coming weekend. The only glitch in this plan is that it is now getting dark by about 6:30, so I got some big halogen lights so we can work as late as we need to. With any luck we will have the metal roofing on by the end of this weekend (or most of it anyway).
taking a bath The puppy, Callie, is growing like a weed! She stands taller then Nellie now, and is participating more and more with the guarding duties. On at least one occasion she was the first to alert to something outside the pasture, and then all three dogs went together to the fence line and barked until it was gone. (So far I have not seen what they are barking at, but it’s usually deer or a large bird such as grouse). This is a new step for her, as she used to hang back and let the older dogs go to the front line while she continued barking. One of her favorite things is to stand in the water trough- I don't get it, but it doesn't hurt anything so we let her indulge.
starting a new wood pile Our new chicks are finally big enough to avoid being tempting for Lucky the cat, so mama has been taking them outside for the past week or so. They have the full range of the area around the house and lower pasture, and are exploring all of it. The spend a lot of time in the garden, which is normally not allowed, but I just don’t have time to repair the fence so I’m letting them donate compost and dig around in there. It’s amazing how they all manage to stick together- it’s keeping mama busy that’s for sure. We are just thanking our lucky stars about the weather- haven’t had a frost yet, and the days are still warm. We haven’t needed to build a fire yet, which is a good thing as we have not made any effort to stack up fire wood. I’m starting that this week, and keep thinking about the 11 cords that we lost in the fire. So much work up in flames!! My little chainsaw is my new best friend right now.
Bill and Brian at their new office We have a few other things we’re dealing with, too. Last week one of the delivery trucks drove over a water line and we had to dig it up to repair it. In the process, we found the phone line, unfortunately. So part of our precious weekend time was spent repairing that. And of course, another irrigation valve decided to break and I couldn’t shut it off, so that was another 20 mile drive to town for parts, and a couple of hours of time. All I can say is thank goodness for the backhoe! I used to do the digging by hand, but now it’s a relatively quick job and a lot easier on my back.
And, although I have not mentioned it because it’s not directly related to the ranch, Bill has moved his Surveying office from Winthrop to Twisp, which is a big deal. He was in the old place for 13 years, so it’s been quite a process to pack everything up and get it all in place without interrupting his work, which is getting very busy these days.
And, although I have not mentioned it because it’s not directly related to the ranch, Bill has moved his Surveying office from Winthrop to Twisp, which is a big deal. He was in the old place for 13 years, so it’s been quite a process to pack everything up and get it all in place without interrupting his work, which is getting very busy these days.
Beautiful orange dahlias! Even though it seems that our lives are just overflowing with work, we are taking time to appreciate the little things that we love about this place. Fall is one of our favorite seasons, and I am stopping every once in a while to look around and observe the changing colors. Although both of our big aspen groves are gone, there are a few survivors that are starting to change to yellow, and there are some places along the highway where the sumac is still alive and turning the beautiful brilliant red that I love. I am even looking forward to raking the cottonwood leaves to start another compost pile. And I was very excited this past week to finally see the dahlia that I planted in the Spring. The ones closest to the wood shed burned to a crisp and I feared they were dead, but within days after the fire they started growing back. I had forgotten what the colors were, but the first one just bloomed a few days ago and is a beautiful orange.
As I write this on the morning of October 15th, there is a light drizzle outside. It sprinkled off and on all night- it’s the first rain we’ve had in a long time and most welcome. The dust has been getting really bad, and the lawn has been looking brown. I am going to take this opportunity to clean the house and update this blog and have a relatively quiet day.
Stay tuned for more news in a couple of weeks.
As I write this on the morning of October 15th, there is a light drizzle outside. It sprinkled off and on all night- it’s the first rain we’ve had in a long time and most welcome. The dust has been getting really bad, and the lawn has been looking brown. I am going to take this opportunity to clean the house and update this blog and have a relatively quiet day.
Stay tuned for more news in a couple of weeks.
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