Monthly Archives: May 2009

The Other “typical” day

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dsc_0007In the interest of fairness, my post about a typical day needs to be balanced by a view of the “other” kind of day.  The kind of day that goes on more often than anyone admits or likes.  It started simply enough, with a head start on the day to do some mowing.  Well, not quite, back up a day.  The day before, a belt broke on the green lawn tractor.  Its the belt that drives the mower blades, so this day, the first stop was at the local implement dealer to get a new belt.

Okay, well, not just a belt.

One of the pulleys is attached to an idler arm and it appeared to be bent, and when I tried to straighten it, it snapped into two pieces, so the trip to the implement dealer was or a belt AND this broken piece.  At the dealer, they pop open a computer screen and after drilling down through various models of tractors, mower decks, and schematics, the counter man and I found the diagram with the needed parts.  This wasn’t my first parts rode0…I’ve done this before, and I was smart and brought part of the broken piece so we could identify it on the computer.  Or so I thought I was smart.

Simple enough and less than $20 later, I was returning on the 20 minute drive to Two Mile Ranch.

Back on the ground, as I disassembled the pulley arm, all was going quite well until I discovered there are two plastic bushing in the hole that guide this arm over the shaft (remember this shaft, we’ll come back to it later.)  One of the bushings came out easily and could be reused, the second bushing was damaged as I took it out and totally un-usable.

Back in the car, back the 20 minute trip, back to the implement dealer.  $less than $5 of plastic parts later, I was back in the car, back o0nn the 20 minute trip, and back at Two Mile Ranch.  Put together, I re mounted the mower deck to the bottom of the tractor and when I attached the drive belt, the shaft (remember the shaft?) tipped forward and angled the pulley into the metal of the mower deck.

Ugh.  I took everything back apart, looked at this shaft.  It’s welded with a plate to the top of the deck.  But it is much more bendable than it should be.  It can easily be repositioned with hand force. So, I loaded the deck into the car, drive the 20 minutes back to the implement dealer, figuring they see these all the time and if this is common, they may also have a fix.  What resulted was some head scratching, a spacer, and a “good luck”.  And a bill for less than $20.

Back at Two Mile, Norman came by looking for more mushrooms and as I was leaving, offered to take the deck and weld it.

He dropped it off later that night, and let me tell you, he did it right.  The deck is back on the mower, and it works well again.

But is was one of those “other” days.

A typical day – just another day in paradise

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img_3420One of the most common questions I get about living at Two Mile Ranch is, “do you ever get lonely?”  I’ve written Five Things You Should Know about Living in Solitude earlier on this site.

It’s a fair question. The idea of living alone in less than 700 ft. is a far cry from typical. Readers familiar with Walden think of Henry David Thoreau, carving out his existence on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s back lot on the edge of Walden Pond. Astute readers of Walden know that Thoreau spent time in the local town almost daily, and had a continuous stream of visitors throughout the 2+ years he lived on the edge of the pond.

Like Thoreau, and others who live a rural and solitary life, I’ve found “alone” is far from lonely and often, isn’t so alone.  Saturday was a typical day.

I woke Saturday morning after hearing the wind blow beginning about 1:30 in the morning. I slept fine but no no one was blowing, meant a change in the weather was coming. After yesterday’s torrential rain, a day of sunshine would be a welcome break. Indeed, the clouds broke early in the morning and most of the day after noon was sunny and bright.

Because I teach graduate students, and the semesters just getting started, I began the day looking over e-mails and reviewing the online course websites. I made a scrambled egg burrito and look forward to a few months from now when the eggs will be from my own flock of chickens. With a couple coffee in hand, I drove north in the town to spend time in Bob’s Barn, the local meeting place where men my age and older swap stories about the week and generally look after each other. At 48 years old, I’m a youngster there. “Frosty” is pushing 80 years old, and talks and acts younger than many of my co-workers half his age.

This morning’s conversation was nothing special, but this group is covered such topics as stem cell research, CABG surgery, the economy, foreign policy, and angiograms. Today’s chat included the pros and cons of Windows XP versus Vista.  And a little bit of “tractor porn” as we talked about new machines some of the locals are using in the fields this year.

When the conversation wound down and everyone headed off to do their chores, I returned to Two Mile to move some mulch and plant my final 10 trees. After launch I spent some time online, helping a few graduate students find their way in their new course. Later in the afternoon, I picked up some dirt, and a flat of flowers to plant in the feed trough I’m converting to an above ground planter. Soon after, Norman my friend and occasional man-who-keeps-an-eye-on-the-place-while-I-am-gone, came by to do some morel mushroom hunting in the trees.

Saturday’s dinner was a stir-fry of chicken, peas, and peppers, all of which will be home grown by this time next year. With garden planting just days away, I look forward to seeing what does well in the new garden space. While Bob Wills music played in the background, my friends Eli and Caroline drove by in their horse-drawn buggy. Seeing their buggy reminded me that I want to buy some baskets from Caroline next time I drive by their home on Elk Chapel Road.

The ducks, chickens, and pheasants are all fed and watered. The sun is beginning to move towards the edge of the hill across the highway. The iPod plays Bob Wills, Asleep at the Wheel, and a collection of country music. Lyle Lovett sneaks in a tune now and then.

Just another day in paradise. Just another day at Two Mile Ranch.

Food Companies Try, but Can’t Guarantee Safety – NYTimes.com

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Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

The Thursday New York Times article by Michael Moss raises interesting questions about food safety, especially as more and more foods are manufactured using multiple ingredients.  Moss shares:

Increasingly, the corporations that supply Americans with processed foods are unable to guarantee the safety of their ingredients. In this case, ConAgra could not pinpoint which of the more than 25 ingredients in its pies was carrying salmonella. Other companies do not even know who is supplying their ingredients, let alone if those suppliers are screening the items for microbes and other potential dangers, interviews and documents show.

It is both reasonable to expect food companies to provide safe products and reasonable to understand how difficult identifying problems it can be.  The reality is the burden of food safety rests both on the companies and consumers, the article points out, however, that consumers have confusion about how best to prepare products.

In addition to ConAgra, other food giants like Nestlé and the Blackstone Group, a New York firm that acquired the Swanson and Hungry-Man brands two years ago, concede that they cannot ensure the safety of items — from frozen vegetables to pizzas — and that they are shifting the burden to the consumer. General Mills, which recalled about five million frozen pizzas in 2007 after an E. coli outbreak, now advises consumers to avoid microwaves and cook only with conventional ovens. ConAgra has also added food safety instructions to its other frozen meals, including the Healthy Choice brand.

via Food Companies Try, but Can’t Guarantee Safety – NYTimes.com.

Spring Rains

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Time to enjoy the gifts of a spring rain.  The ponds are pushing their edges after a full day of rain.  The forecast begins to clear for next week, and until then, there is time to enjoy a spring shower and the images it leaves behind.

Sunset on a pair of Adriondack chairs at Two Mile Ranch

Sunset on a pair of Adriondack chairs at Two Mile Ranch

The chicken house

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Last year’s July 4th weekend project with my son was the building  the pheasant fly pen, a 45 x 25  net enclosed space for the pheasants to grow out from 6 weeks to about 18 weeks.  It is covered with netting and has about 6 – 7 feet of head room

img_3899Along the east, long side, I’ve added a 8 foot wide lean-to pen for the ducks.  And now, at the south end, I’ve placed the chicken coop and soon, the chickens will have their own pen along the south edge as well.

So once again, North Lumber delivered wood and I laid it out on the deck.  a 16 x 48 deck really makes a nice open-air work shop.  I ordered coop plans online from Jenny Robson, and after looking them over and mentally building this in my head, began putting it all together.

I assembled each of the walls and “dry fit” everything to see how it went together.  img_3903Then, I took it apart and re assembled it in place, and finished the sheathing, and the interior roosts, nesting box, and feed box.  The chickens moved in last Sunday and seemed pleased with the space.  Since they are about 5 -6 weeks old, the cool night air and the open front design was causing them to pile in the corner the first night, so I ran a 250 watt brooder  lamp for nights for them.  They find a comfort zone near or far from the lamp, depending on the temperature.

I used cedar shakes for the false roof.  One of the unique features of this design is it is a 6 sided cube/rectangle, with chicken wire under the floor and ceiling for added predator protection.  The “roof” can either be pitched or shed, and I opted for shed roof with shakes, and I’m about 7 shakes short of finishing.

The young chickens are experimenting with the roosts and the lip of the nesting box as a perch.  I have two bared rocks that *appear* to be pullets, we will see.  A black sex link, two Buff Orpingtons, and an Ameraucana.

Testiung the roosts

Testing the roosts