Sandy’s Visit to the Farm

Monday started off pretty calm here at the farm.  Winds started picking up in the early afternoon.  I was out in the barnyard getting it ready to bring all the sheep in for the storm.  We’ve got the barnyard and the barn configured so that both the boys and the girls get some of each, but hopefully we can keep them separated.  We do this by using wooden panels I’ve built to portion off both the barn and the yard.

Peg has heard/read that we really should try to keep Calvin from actually seeing the ewes.  So I purchased several tarps at Home Depot in the morning and spent an hour or two draping them over the panels and securing them with wire.  I had to move each panel into the barn to do this, as the wind speed was increasing.

Once all the panels were done, we made temporary fences in the barnyard, using re-bar to connect them.  The wind – howling from the northeast – made it look like the setup wouldn’t hold.  So we took the two garbage cans that hold grain – which had been in the barn – and placed them right up against the fence for more stability.  There is a lot of grain in the cans, so they are quite heavy.  That seemed to do the trick.

Once that was done – around 3 pm – we considered ourselves ready to move the sheep up to the barnyard, but we decided to wait a few more hours.  Well, those plans changed when we looked out in the west field to see that the shelter for the ladies had not only blown on its side, but had actually been blown by the wind right through the movable electric fence and was propped up against a birch about 50 yard southwest from where it had been sitting. TIME TO MOVE THE SHEEP! (I would later go down with four bags of rocks – used to anchor the canopies – and strap them to the shelter to keep it from moving any further.)

Peg put some grain in a bucket and starting walking out towards the girls, and I went to the gate so we could move them up to the barnyard.  By the time I got to the gate, I saw the ladies running towards me.  Peg moves fast – she had somehow taken down the movable fence (while it was ON?) and got them to get moving.  Nope – the fence had somehow come down (and it wasn’t where the shelter had gone through) and the sheep were just standing around near it.  WE ARE SO GLAD WE HAVE OUR PERMANENT FENCING!

After getting the girls in the yard without any problems, we turned to the boys.  They came right up, too.  But once they were in their part of the barnyard, we could see Calvin staring at the girls – we knew the tarps wouldn’t be foolproof.  He even tried to mount one of the small wethers! Looking at the set-up, I had a concern that Calvin might be able to use one of the garbage cans as sort of a step to help him get over the panel into the ladies’ portion of the yard.  After surveying the situation for a few minutes and talking over our options, I decided to prop the four panels we weren’t using to divide the yard up against the cans, hopefully making it difficult, if not impossible, for Calvin to get over the wall.  To keep their barn door open, I used two bags of rocks attached to either side of the door handle.  We also used our two last re-bars to keep the gate open for the boys’ paddock.

Sometime during all this commotion, we lost power. While we were working at the barn, we heard a new sound – the generator was running!  I had tested it in the morning, but we weren’t sure it would kick in automatically when the power went out.  Unfortunately, the circuit powering the electric fence is not on backup.  So I connected one of the solar chargers (which also has two batteries) to the charger and we had about half power running through the fence – 2500 to 3000 volts. That’s enough to keep us happy. But I’d rather have full power if possible. After determining that the outlet just outside the master bedroom actually had power, I ran a couple extension cords from the house to the charger. So we had the charger back AND power in the barn for lights. All set. Sandy, bring on your best.

Then, after running for only about 90 minutes, the generator stopped.  I tried to start it several times, but it stopped each time after about 5-10 seconds.  E04 – GENERAL VOLTAGE LACK – was the message on the panel. Darn! I called the electrician on my mobile (without having to stand on top of the septic tank, which is where the best signal tends to be) and Todd said he’d come by to check it out, suggesting it might need oil. About an hour later, sitting in candlelight, we actually got full power back. I called Todd and he still offered to come by. When he did, I went out to meet him, only to learn that the engine was shot – bad piston. No surprise really. He had already been by twice this fall to work on it and had warned us it might “limp” through the season.

The rest of the evening and the night were all calm. I checked the barn in the dark and everything was copacetic.  The winds died down during the night, then picked up again from the south.  In the morning, we decided that the bulk of the pasture’s growing season was over, so rotational grazing is not as important as we head into the winter.  So we let the boys out into the entire east field and the girls got all of the west field.  We got to see some nice rainbows while the girls ate.  They seem to enjoy their new found freedom.  Hilary, who is the most likely to go vertical at any point in time, was literally frolicking in the field – running and jumping across the hill.

 

Surveying the farm for damage, several of our newly built wood piles came down in the wind.  One large branch had fallen against the fence, but without any noticeable damage.  The shelter that had been toppled has a few more dents in it but it looks like it is still serviceable.

Todd

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