This Saturday our Mill had the Cabool Iron Club showing off their tractors and motors for free. The tractors were in working order and running for all to see at the mill. We also had tours of the old mill for everyone. We had over 100 people stop by and see the doings of our mill.
This evening my husband drove his car home from our shop and then ran into the house looking for me. He ran over a snake and needed me to ID good or bad snake. We ran up our gravel driveway and no snake. It moved from the scene of the crime. So we searched around the area and sure enough it was nearby hiding, a large copperhead still very much alive. My husband shot it several times, but it moved away fast up the hill. It struck out at us as we reloaded and finished the deed. This is the 2nd large copperhead we have had to dispatch on our property this week. These are very venomous and large snakes. This time I was wearing my hiking boots to protect my legs.
We have been looking to replace our useless Mountaineer wood stove that came with our house. It was not made with dampers nor air flow controls of any kind. It burns too much wood and takes an hour to start a fire. So we found a Jotul dealer not far from us. He sells the cast iron Jotul brand of wood stoves. They are well made and have 2 doors for wood loading. We picked it up in our truck and drove it home. We used our tractor to get it off our truck and onto our porch. We then pushed it into the house. It weighs over 400 lbs!
This is an oak tree that is at least 200 + years old. It is perfect for climbing and seeing the surrounding woods. It has survived the loggers, fires, winds, heavy rains and droughts of its life. It grows on my neighbors property now cleared from the overgrowth below it. Its roots are free again to grow for another 100 years. Its huge leaves can shade his restored barn and livestock once again.
Today was a surprise for me. We all piled into my neighbors truck to go to an auction. But the auction was very crowded and had low quality of goods offered. So we drove to the local hardware store to look for tools. We lucked out and found a lot of stuff on sale including air compressors. I have been wanting an air compressor for ages for rust removal and metal restoration. I look forward to using air tools and sandblasting stuff. The one I wanted was large luckily it did fit in my neighbors truck. He tied it down well and we drove the half hour home. Then he unloaded and moved it for us into our shop with his tractor. The last shot is of my neighbors tractor. He just put together an enclosed cab to his tractor. He will be warm and dry this winter. It is great having helpful neighbors out on the farm.
Since we mainly heat with a wood burning stove, having seasoned wood on hand is a priority for us in the Ozarks. Having the wood chopped, stacked, dry, mobile and handy is our goal. So this year my husband took wood palettes and made a wood holder to fit our tractor. The holder can hold several pounds of dry chopped wood. Next, the tractor can pick up the entire load and haul it to our house. There the wood remains dry, air can circulate and it is close to where we need it. No more falling wet wood piles around our shop and no more messy wood pile by the house. It is all chopped, stacked and mobile. We'll make a few more of these before winter sets in.
Now is the time to get ready for fall and winter in the Ozarks. Our days are in the 70's and the nights now in the 40's. Time for fishing out the sweaters and wool blankets and wood pellets for heating the house. We used about 30 bags last winter so we bought 100 bags this time. We hauled them home then transferred them to a palette onto our tractor to get them inside the garage. It took all day but we beat the rain and the cold front by taking turns unloading. Each bag weights 40 pounds. We got our workout for the day. Now on to the wood chopping.
I almost had a very bad evening this Friday. I got out of the car by our garage and almost stepped on a 3ft copperhead while wearing sandals at dusk. I jumped back and told my husband to run over it with the car. He did but it still lived. So he got the gun and shot the copperhead 10 times until the head was gone. I do not like to kill snakes but this one is the bad kind to have around the garage and round bales. Plus my dog was around where the snake might have a nest.
Here is the new red metal roof added to our neighbors fixer upper. It was installed over the old roof to keep out the rain on this old farm house. This house is getting restored to be put up for rent. It is turning out to be very charming instead of the scary abandoned farmhouse it used to be.
Our neighbor works so fast building his addition, we said it must be elves doing. We joke but the truth is he is doing it all himself. We did get to help put in his 6 inch wide doors, they were heavy, just ask the spiders. Now he can put in the insulation and drywall in air condition comfort.He can work on the decking he has planned for the addition. He will need the help of his deck elves soon.
Coco be the name for our new kitten. She is named after a high end cutting horse mare from the stable. Coco is sweet and adores human contact. She talks all the time so there must be some Siamese in her from long ago. She has pink mouth from the antibiotics she is getting for her sneezing. She is very thin and needs fattening up before she can go outside. So for now she is an indoor beast. She had tapeworms so that also caused her weight loss, too. Now she no longer has worms nor fleas. Life is good for Coco on our farm.
Around the Ozarks the old timers are predicting a long cold winter. We used up our wood pellets last winter and needed to stock up. The price went up for pellets this summer. We just now got to get our order of pellets before fall sets in. It was our first time picking up our order in our used farm truck. It worked out and we got it all home safe.
My horse trainer is moving away from the facility near my home. The owner is moving back in and my trainer, her horse, tack and barn cats must clear out. So she asked me to find homes for the barn kittens. Kittens are very plentiful here in the Ozarks. Feral/barn cats are a big problem on a farm since they can kill the local wildlife and reproduce very quickly if not fixed. Today was her last day and I picked up one of the social kittens. It is a female, a talker about 3 months old. She looks like a 1 month kitten since she is so skinny and under weight. She will see the vet tomorrow for shots and worming. We will schedule a neutering ASAP so we do not have any kittens. All of our cats are fixed so we do not make unwanted kittens a problem for our neighbors and the wildlife. We need a name for this female kitten. We currently have Tom, Daisy, Poppy, and Pepper used our current adult cats.