Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[jvls1942]

Barb, reunions are for ;
if you got it, flaunt it.
I am almost finished with the other hand rail.
I refused Annie's offers to help. wanted to see if I could do it alone. She has plenty of other things to do.
Happy birthday Lisa.
Barb, I think your sister knows you hate housework.
Annie and I both hate it. people still seem to enjoy visiting.
Annie keeps mentioning that soon they will start harvesting the soy beans which are planted on three sides of our house. that is always a dusty ordeal.
did I mention that I got lights upstairs in the garage ? Annie bought a huge LED light. she is happy with it.
I have it rigged up on a very long trouble cord.
rigged up a switch at the bottom of the stairs so she can turn it on without feeling around upstairs in the dark. i have it hanging from the rafters so it can be portable if needed.

 

[Callender Girl]

Happy belated birthday, Lisa! I think low-key, low-productivity days are among the best ways to celebrate.

It's 45 degrees right now but is supposed to hit 80 this afternoon. I will never learn to appreciate the Midwest's erratic autumn weather. I don't want to think about winterizing coops and runs already. What exactly do you use as panels on the bantam run?

Has your kitty returned? While I certainly did not want more house cats, I get way too attached and way too crazy when outdoor cats go missing, hence the "adoption" of the three strays. Thankfully, chaos in the basement is subsiding. Yesterday, Calypso FINALLY remembered that she and Jinx are friendly, and I caught them cuddled up together. I do not expect to see Ozzie and my senior girl, Ziva Diva, doing likewise.

Congrats on the upstairs lights, Jim. I dragged Little Sister (I like calling her that; although younger, at 5'10" she is 5 inches taller than me) into the garage yesterday afternoon to help move the table and miter saws. I was pretty proud of having moved them myself over the weekend.

The goal was to have the saws close enough to an outlet that I didn't have to string an extension cord across the garage. I half achieved my goal.

Turns out the cord on the table saw, in the saw's new location, was about two inches short of reaching the outlet. The solution was to switch its position with the miter saw, which has a longer cord. It was much easier with two people doing the lifting and moving. Because there is a floor pad that goes under both, just dragging them along the floor wasn't an option.

With the saws now properly in place for easy use, I am running out of excuses for not cutting the cedar pickets that are stacked on the garage floor.

I'm hoping the propane delivery arrives today -- or at least sometime before I REALLY need it.

 

[jvls1942]

Barb, sorry I was not up early to keep you company
lately, I have been sleeping through the night and waking up around 5:3o. not taking naps helps with that.
I have one miter saw mounted solidly on a bench with an extension table. the other one is in the shed on the work bench. I put wheels on it so I can roll it easily into the corner when not being used.
my shop is almost fully insulated. except for the stairway and the wall at the stairway. I think I have a 24" roll of insulation somewhere around here. then I need something to sheathe the wall with. I have some 2'x 2' ceiling tiles in the old storage truck.
waaay in the front. if i can get to them, I think they can be repurposed.
41F . I'm not is a real big hurry to go outside.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

What exactly do you use as panels on the bantam run?

We use panels that are used on pole shed roofs that let light in. They were pricey to buy, but they should last a long time. We use metal siding screws to fasten them up.

https://www.menards.com/main/buildi...panel/clear1558539/p-1444448578878-c-5717.htm

Has your kitty returned?

She came back yesterday afternoon. I am so relieved. I try to not get attached to them, but it doesn't work.

Because I ran the fan in the window last night I had to click on the furnace to warm the house up to 65 degrees this morning. Hope your propane shows up Barb.

 

[Callender Girl]

Hurray that your kitty came back!!

And, the new propane driver showed up bright and early; he has chickens, too, so we bonded.

Thanks for the info on the panels. I will check those out at Menards the next time I get into town.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Here's a shot from the inside of the run,

 

[jvls1942]

that is a nice chicken run, Lisa.
today is the official end of my gardening season
I moved the raised beds to the winter storage area.
Annie uprooted the squashes. maybe next year.
a little heat felt good this morning.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thank you Jim. I need to clean out my squash too. I think i only have 2-3 smaller butternut.

 

[jvls1942]

good friday morning
yesterday I got about 2 hours of tractor time in
I fixed up the gauges/gouges where I scooped out some granite for DD Barby. as long as I was at it I graded the whole parking area and extended it a few feet.
put the charger on the lawn mower so it is ready for winter. I like to have the battery fully charged for winter.
the rain gutters are full of leaves already. the big maple tree showers down tons of leaves and those helicopter seeds.
have a few things to clear from the front of the garage before snow plowing time comes.
until later, jiminwisc

 

[Callender Girl]

Sounds like you're really preparing for winter. I should have gotten more done while Little Sister was here to help, but she departed this morning with my to-do list only slightly shorter.

Yesterday, she got a first-hand view of my wee-hours-coyote routine. Dinah barked, I flew out of bed, sprinted down the stairs, threw a hoodie over my pj's and began yelling and clapping as I ran across the yard. At that point, Carolyn finally stumbled out of the house but missed all the performance highlights.

We did clear out more space in the garage while Carolyn was here and got the saws moved close enough to the outlets that both will plug in now. Last night, we harvested all the ripe pumpkins that the ewe hadn't already begun eating.

This morning, I was not surprised to find one of my Buckeye hens dead in the coop. Althea had been dramatically slowing down recently. Last night, she was lying in front of the pop door when I went to close her coop. I lifted her inside, and it doesn't look like she moved much after that. In the last few days, her coop mates have been sticking close to her, like they knew something was not right. She was recently the recipient of green grapes, sneaked past the others, because they were her favorite treat.