Things forgotten and Accomplishment

This farm trip was a good one.  We left here about 2:30 in the afternoon and got to the farm just before 5:30.  Enough daylight was left to set up camp.  We started "unloading" the shed.  We had stored a pile of 2x4's and a bunch of other stuff over the winter.  Most of it had to come out.  THEN.....the very first thing we discovered we had forgotten was the broom!!!!  The floor was filthy and we had to put our bed there!

I grabbed my pruners and cut a bunch of little twig "weed trees" that were popping up all over.  They were straight and small and had little leaves on them.  I bundled them together with string and swept the floor with my new broom!!!!  It worked really good.....not "Swiffer" good, but it got it clean enough to camp on!!!!

While I set up the "bedroom", Jeff cut firewood for cooking and warmth.  Jaeger got into the act and helped carry wood.  Jeff would put a small log in Jaeger's mouth and he would run over to me and drop it by the fire pit.  Then Jeff would call him back and repeat the process.  I think the boy carried 4 or 5 logs before he tired of this new game.

We took an old grill out of the shed and Dakota was giving it extra attention.  We took the cover off and discovered what had happened to most of the little rug we left there in the fall!  Some little mouse had a cozy home for the winter!  We covered it back up and left it alone.

We got the fire blazing in the fire pit and then discovered the second thing we had forgotten......the brats for dinner!  ugh!  BUT.....I had made a BIG batch of ground baloney with Miracle Whip and pickle relish for lunches.  Enough that we could have this for dinner, too!  So it was sandwiches and cole slaw for dinner.  The ambiance at this "restaurant" was much better than the food.  The moon came out in a clear twilight sky and then as it darkened more, a gazillion stars!!!!  It was a beautiful evening.

When it came time to retire, we went about filling the Kerosun heater we brought along and discovered the THIRD thing we forgot!!!!  The funnel....argh!  We always bring the tool bag, and in that bag is a nice pair of tin snips.  One empty Pepsi can and a pair of snips and, VOILA......a funnel!!  Heater filled and fired up, we had a pretty cozy night in the shed.  It was down around 30 outside and we had to be a toasty 45 or 50 inside.  We slept well.

After a breakfast of bacon and eggs, we had to take everything out of the shed......including the floor.  The reason for this trip was to reinforce the floor to accommodate the new tractor weighing in about 1000 pounds more than the old one.  We dug 42" deep holes and filled them with concrete up to the bottom of the floor joists.  How do you mix concrete where there's no running water, you ask?  Well, you take buckets to the creek and carry them back full of water!!!!  And since the floor was gone, we had to carry the concrete in buckets to the holes.  Jeff mixed the concrete in the wheel barrow and filled buckets for me to pour into the holes.  Yes, we did it the old fashioned way.  Hopefully this will keep the floor from caving in under the weight of the new tractor!!!!! 

All in all it was a good trip.  We accomplished all we set out to do.  We even made a list of things to remember next trip!!!!!  LOL

Today......we are sore!

New Tractor

The new tractor and mower deck are in!!!  I can't wait to use it.....like I'll have a chance with Jeff having his new toy!  We have to put a couple concrete piers under the floor of the new shed since this tractor is about 1000 pounds heavier than the old one.  Can you imagine us pulling it in for the first time and having it fall through the floor, taking the walls and roof with it????  Hence the concrete!  We need to pick it up soon so we can enlarge the garden and mow the orchard.  Are we nuts doing this????  Sometime I wonder!