Repairs and Maintenance

First, thanks for the correction on the hawk picture.  It is a Kestrel. (already on my list however)

Now, on repairs and maintenance; for those schedule F filers, you know what I mean.  Anyway, on a farm there is no shortage of items in that category.   Barn roofs are our current project. 

Even though our new barn is only 10 years old, we have been having a lot of roof leaking issues.  It was determined that the clear skylight material was to blame.  Apparently it doesn't last that long.  It was already cracking and splitting and I was having to cover everything in the shop in plastic and set out buckets to catch the water.  I am keeping the skylight material on the outside wall, no issue with that yet.

But we had the roof vent replaced with solid  and the original builders didn't like how they had braced the rafters 10 years ago,  so they also added more bracing.  

We also went from 2 panels to one in the shop.  I really liked how bright the skylights made things but I don't like the idea of having to replace them all the time.  Maybe one will hold up better than two. 

We also had a new roof put on the old section of the old barn.  It was pretty much like a sieve.  

J picked green to match the new barn.   Maybe he won't have to get up there to repair it after every wind storm now. 

They also jacked it up and put in new support posts in several places.  I can now open and close the side door all by myself.  
 

Mission Accomplished

I made the top 100!  Ok, maybe it wasn't that difficult.  But I did have to sneak up on these mallards, they are pretty easy to spook. 

I only had to id 30 different bird species to make the top 100 ebirders for the county that I live in.  I guess I will go after the stretch goal E recommended and try for the top 50 which will also coincide with 50 species.  

I just love this little king fisher, now that's a beak. 

And E, is this a red shouldered hawk?  I'm going with yes.  Just 20 more.  Hopefully it will be a piece of cake once the weather warms up.  
 

Unexpected Windfall

Well, for the goats anyway.  Any maybe icefall would be more accurate. 

With all the ice we had a lot of pine limbs came crashing down.  

And to the goats, this is just a much bigger Christmas tree.  

They are like a herd of locust on any available brush this time of year. 

Even if they have to stretch a little bit for it.

I don't think Jewel got wrapped up in their excitement but she was willing to watch.
 

Frozen Ground

J has been wanting to bring the bred heifers back from his dad's house but with all this rain it has been too muddy to try to get in there to them.  

But the forecast last night was for the temperature to drop into the teens so the plan was to get an early start while the ground was frozen.  

Where we backed in and parked the trailer was fine but the lot was still muddy. 

The heifers loaded good.  (J wants to update his profile picture with this one)

And in two trips, they were all back at the house.  Now they will be close by to keep a better eye on during calving season.
 

Bad Timing

Well, E headed off to Texas and ended up in the storm of the century.

She started with a visit with aunt A in Atlanta.  A good time was had by all.  Then she stopped back at Cumberland island to visit a friend she made while working there.  Next up, a successful car camping experience in northern Florida.  She said several people complimented her on her set up.  Then she visited some friends in Baton Rouge.  She should have stayed there.  But she pushed on to Sea rim state park in Texas.

And the storm hit.  She camped in her car, but the next morning she said everything was frozen, even the door to the bathroom.

Ice went all the way to the ocean.

 Next, she drove to Port Arthur and got a motel room for the night.  Then she headed further south hoping to get out of the deep freeze.  She ended up in Corpus Christi and there were no available hotel rooms.  So once again to a State Park to camp with 50 mph winds.  Her last comment was “ It’s supposed to snow in del rio the day I wanted to stop there. This trip could not align with the completely uncalled for storms any worse.” At least she will have some good stories to tell.  

Freezing Rain, Mud and A Ray Of Sunshine

The snow is all gone and now we have freezing rain. 

There is about a quarter inch of ice on everything.  Breaking limbs sound like gunshots.  

Unfortunately, not all the moisture is frozen.  Therefore, there is an abundance of mud. 

I think the animals have had enough of this winter too.  

Frozen net wrap is harder to remove.  Frozen gate latches are harder to open.

And it is impossible to stay dry even with all the rain gear.  

Plus, Hank has been surprising us lately with some visits to the yard. 

Although he looks handsome standing there, a 1200 pound horse walking around in a soaking wet yard isn't so good for the turf.  Lots of divots now.  

So out you go Hank. 

Now for the Ray Of Sunshine!  

V brought S over for a visit yesterday.  She is an angel.  She was enough to perk up even grandpa.
 

Renaming and More Snow

Yes, it snowed again.  This time about 3-4 inches.

It was another sticky snow than covered everything.  But it started melting as soon as the sun came out.  About 1/2 is gone now. 

We have left the puppy out with the other dogs and goats for 2 days now.  So far so good.  J and I are just not feeling Minnie as her name.  Plus, we had that small calf a few years ago named Minnie.

So J is thinking about changing it to Molly.  I am thinking because of her black mask, maybe a character from The Incredibles.  How about Dash?

Maggie has accepted her whatever her name is. 

And the goats have too.

The snow makes for extra work for J.  He has to shovel out the troughs before he can feed the cattle. 

And it makes extra work for me because I have to go around and take pictures of how pretty everything is. 

Hope you enjoyed the snow day.
 

Whine And Wine

First a little whining.  E packed up and left for her 3 week trek to Texas.

We have really enjoyed her being home for the last 2 months and already miss her terribly.   Since she is staying in a furnished apartment when she gets there, she didn't need to pack all that much so she had plenty of room for all of her camping gear.  

Her first stop is Atlanta to visit Aunt A. 

Now for some wine.  For Christmas E got a wine advent calendar and she shared it with me.  We started out ranking the wines best to worst, left to right.  But after awhile it was hard to remember what the first ones were really like.   The arrangement became pretty loose. 

Each wine came with a number so E could open them in order.  

There were some interesting cans, 

some plastic bottles, 

and some pretty glass bottles.  

E's glass is on the left and mine is on the right.  She tried to teach me about the different wines and where they were from and the names.  But I pretty much just liked the sparkling whites.  

We started the adventure before Christmas and finished a couple of days ago.  Thanks for sharing your present with me E.  
 

Moving On Up

I braved the cold, snow and mud today to try to add some more birds to my list.

But first off, E pointed out these Meadowlarks from the kitchen window, so that was easy.  

Song sparrow was already on my list, but I am including the picture I took today to compare to the next one, 

a Field Sparrow.  Notice the pink beak and white circle around its eye. 

This was a very photogenic pair of Dark-eyed Juncos. 

They stayed in place a long time for me to get their picture.  

And a Mocking Bird.  

27 Species so far.  That should put me around 113 in the county.  Only 3 more species to make the top 100.