33-1/3 rpm

What a week. On Thursday, we finally signed the paperwork for an additional 14 acres which is adjacent to El Rancho. So we have more than 33-1/3 acres now.. Lots of room! Where it's marked "Approximately 14.12 acres" is the area we are calling Danny's Wedge.  This is where the well is located, as well as a derelict trailer house-- talk about creepy! He got busy clearing things up right after closing. He's got some great ideas for a homesite, garden, and septic.

On Friday, the guys did some work out at the ranch, but went to Houston to (hopefully) buy a grapple! Dan picked up a part at WCTractor which will convert his front end loader into a skid steer quick attach. A big grapple is like teeth on the front of the tractor. It should reach into the brush and drag it out! This will be useful at the ranch and at the current house in South Brazos. They drove off to Houston with the big trailer in tow. I called the seller and got directions, found a nearby bank where they could get money if they bought it, and off they went to East Mt. Houston and Loop 610 in Houston. Smooooth sailing.

Well, whatever grapple the man was selling (he had a few) was not what Dan was looking for. Too wide for one thing. So, they got back in the truck to come home. On Friday afternoon in H-Town traffic. Things went from bad to worse when Dan had a tire go flat. It took quite a ways to get off the freeway and quite a ways to find a place to pull over and change the tire (with the trailer still attached). Joy.

Yesterday,  I took Dan's truck into Discount Tire in Bryan and got him a new tire, a rotation, and damage certificates for all four. Took 30 minutes! Love this store, it's so much roomier than the College Station one. Then a quick oil change and full gas tank (ok, some kolache from Slovacek's) and I was out to the rancho.

Uh, oh. My sweet donkeys were not so sweet to the Dans or the neighbor dogs, George and Kopper. Now, I had seen George charge the donkeys on Friday, but thought we had smoothed that out. Now everyone knows tht dogs are better than people and make the best friends. The donkeys have been put on notice that there will be no chasing and terrorizing of dogs. I spent a good bit of the afternoon socializing the canines and equines and believe I had some success.

Kopper

George

 The donks kept wanting to get closer to the dogs and the dogs just wanted out of there. George followed me around the fence line as I checked for missed wire ties or loose wires. I don't know if he was protecting me, or was sticking with me as the chief dog, but it was nice to have a friend along. I haven't had a dog in over four years and having George hang out is nice. Kopper is a rabbit chasing fool, baying at the top of his lungs, warning his potential prey. George will often hear him and go out to see what's up, but I'm not real worried about the rabbits and squirrels at the ranch!

Today, the Dans finished putting up all wire, both goat and barbed, on the original 19+ acres. Danny thinks they should have driven in a 'golden staple', but we didn't have one. Ah, well, a celebratory event nonetheless. About that time, my good friend Kristi (who just happens to be an equine vet tech), came for a visit from Fort Worth with her husband, Jack, who is one of Dan's best friends, too. Kristi and I were determined to vaccinate the donks for all manner of things, including West Nile I picked up vaccs at Coop and Tractor Supply). Simple, right?

Well, the first sign that things were going south was when Fiona, my sweetheart, got all stupid and got away. They ended up getting all wild-eyed and pissy and what should have taken 45 minutes, tops, ended up taking all afternoon. The three guys sat around the trucks, talking. Kristi and I had a donkey rodeo, with bucking and twisting going on, and even a clown (me) who fell on her ass at one point.  I ignored the calls of "Hey! I missed it! Could you do that again?"

Amazingly, Molly went first and really acted well. Food is an amazing tool! At that point, the others trotted off and our real work began. Next, we caught Fancy, my big brown adolescent. Kristi schooled her and let her know in no uncertain terms that Kristi was, in fact, in charge. Pretty sure the term "Whoa!" was learned today. No ifs, ands or buts. Done. Whew, the only one left was darling Fiona, who had unfortunately decided that we were going to murder her. This brought out the latent bucking bronco in her. Kristi let her rodeo in a circle, moving her ever closer to a tree. Once they arrived at an oak, she promptly snubbed her up close. Fiona realized she could unwind herself, but Kristi stopped that with a rope reversal. Shots done. Yep, Fiona and Fancy will be tired and sore tomorrow.

Well, they need to have their second round of shots in 3 to 4 weeks. Think I'll get four panels and build a quick working pen, like Kristi suggested. Would come in handy for lots of uses with donkeys and goats and could be moved to different spots around the ranch.

Karen and Fiona

Deer, me

Went out to el rancho today to work on fencing.  It's amazing, but there are still tons of yellow flowers in the open meadow areas. While I was gone, the two Dans finished tieing all the wire we put up the week before and used the new Stihl chainsaw (The "Farm Boss") he got for birthday and Father's Day.  Along PR 4057, they felled trees which died in the drought. I sure don't want them falling on a new fence. The Farm Boss  "cuts like buttah".

Speaking of 'we,' it's sure nice to have the third member of the team with us again! Danny Severn (D3 in shorthand) has been discharged from the Marine Corps and is back home! He was a super help while I was gone last week, also helping big Dan pick up rolls of goat wire and haul them to the farm from Producer's Co-op. He really likes the place we bought and we hope he'll join us. 

We started at the property line along PR 4057 setting posts.  My tractor has the auger and I was driving to the dig site when I noticed Dan on his tractor, signalling me. Not a clue what he wanted, but noticed his iPhone in his hand. I looked the direction he was facing and thought he was taking photos of the markers along the property line, so, I backed up. Turns out I was wrong, wrong, wrong, He was pointing to a doe and fawn standing on PR 4057, not bothered a bit by three humans and two noisy tractors. Through the morning, we watched them come and go while we dug holes and placed poles. 

We didn't work too late today. I'm really exhausted from a week-long conference and there IS work tomorrow. While the Dans were putting up the tractors, another deer just watched them from not too far away (the picture up above). Thus, our deer seem happy. Since goats are also browsers, we should have happy goats! And speaking of goats, I am going to Goat Camp in October for a week of hands-on fun and learning. More camp news as that gets closer! 

Fencing Underway!

So much has changed in the last two weeks, and so far it's all good (mostly)!

We hired someone to come and clear the fence lines. Fantastic! In a day-and-a-half, he not only chopped down the yaupon and small trees in his way, but his machine also mulched it up. It was like a huge paper shredder with scary teeth at the front. What a great investment in saving time! Also meant no burning of brush piles and returning the organic matter to the soil.

So, this moved us into building fence before it gets to be 110 degrees.

First things first, Dan and I surveyed the fence lines, noting how many posts, corners, H-braces, gates and such we would need. During the week, Dan picked up fencing supplies at the Coop and took them to El Rancho. He off-loaded three dozen 8 inch posts, only about 100 pounds each. (!)  On Saturday, we put the auger on my tractor. It hadn't dug a hole in many years, but after we finally got it connected to the PTO, we were in business. (I also had to replace my redneck drink holder as the last one had gotten torn).

First hole we drilled we hit a hard layer of clay partway down and Dan had to get out the 'idiot stick' and break it up some so the auger could bull through. Then we remembered that we do have a front end loader on the other tractor- uh, duh! A little pressure from above and the auger dug right on through. Building braces was aided with the generator, electric drill, impact wrench, and long screws. They are not moving any time soon!

Unfortunately, somewhere in the digging, the backhoe reached out and wouldn't retract. Ruh ro, Astro. Plenty of hydraulic fluid, but no joy. So, we figured out how to release the pressure and fold the arm up so we could put the tractor on its trailer and haul buns to Bryan before WCTractor closed on Saturday. Spent 45 minutes there trying to offload the 'easy connect' backhoe at the shop. Part of the decoupling process requires you use the stabilization legs on the 'hoe to lift it off the tractor mounts. Ha! It actually worked! Still we left it to have it checked out and took the L2800 (Extra Power) back to El Rancho. Finished up the posts and braces on the northeast line.

On our northwest side, we are rebuilding and improving an existing barbed-wire fence. Many of the 'posts' are actually old railroad ties, some are cedar staves, some t-posts and some 3 inch posts. Everything will be goat wire topped with barbed wire once we're done. This property line is crossed by the large lake next door, just a finger of water on our side. So, we decided to start at the water and do that piece of the fence first. Looking at the 'four corner' property line, you can tell how old the fence is by it's fragility and how the tree (which is one of the supports) grew around the barbed-wire. The corner post was one of those railroad ties , but it was broke off at the surface when we pushed it. The auger had a helluva time trying to drill through what was left of the wood and again Dan used the idiot stick to muscle out little pieces. Then I would drill, Dan would dig, I would drill.... finally we got it done. Made an executive decision to never replace a railroad tie unless it was exactly at a corner! In Somerville, there has been a railroad tie manufacturing plant since 1897, and we have tons of railroad lines in the Brazos Valley. I wonder if ties came from rebuilding tracks or were rejects from the plant. Now, for whatever reason, railroads don't give away old ties-- probably an EPA reg.

We set all posts and braces on that line and got wired up. Front end loader again helped out with the t-posts, pushing them in most of the way so that Dan had only to bang once or twice with the t-post driver. We pulled the wire with a come-along and a home-made field fence holder (they retail for over $70 and Dan made this from materials at-hand). Then staples and t-post clips to secure to wire. We ran a strand of barbed wire along the ground to keep hogs and coyotes out and our critters in.

The new fence is a huge improvement. I think our neighbor will be pleased!

Fencing the small run was a great warm-up on the bigger parts. Work smarter, not harder. I am happy to have our his and her Kubotas, power hand tools and a nifty generator. Our next task will be installing the wire on the northeast line.

"Placing" El Rancho

Anytime Dan and I go out to El Rancho, we typically check-in at fb with our phones, sometimes including pictures. So, we had a "place" on fb and could tell friends to follow directions to el rancho. Then we made a facebook page for el rancho. Dan went to merge the two and the fb gods asked him for a copy of a utility or phone bill, address, incorporation papers, vendor lien and whatnot. I've been trying to merge the page and place for my office for three months, so I knew it might be a battle.

I figure a digital presence can only help show intention and be helpful. I'll whip up a webpage and later I can use it to market my goatlings. In my research I learned that when doing taxes, feed, fence, tractors are deductible if it's a farm with a business plan that occasionally makes a profit but it's a hobby if it doesn't make a profit and you can't deduct a hobby. (Thanks, Purdue!). 

In true Severn fashion, he fired back a missive to the fb gods about why he could supply none of those things for his goat farm.... (goats do not answer the phone, it's legal to farm in Texas without a license, I don't wanna...) and it worked!  So, we now have a complete fb page, a webpage and this blog!

El Rancho is definitely a work in progress, literally and digitally, so my work is cut out for me (had to throw a needlecraft idiom in here somewhere!). Keeping this blog will keep be on task, kinda like if you don't tell anyone you're working out or on a weight-loss diet, you can procrastinate. Once you throw it out to the world, you're committed!  

UPDATE:  Read a story in The Eagle this morning about a sinkhole in Bryan. Need to keep an eye on our 'water feature' at el rancho and definitely not put a house there!