The jugs (creches) are finished. I have six pens for newborn babies and mommas to stay in for the first few days of the babies lives. This bonding time cements the moms to the newborns. We had one baby this spring bond to the whole flock and had to go to a new home to be bottle fed. There is room for 1-2 more pens if needed. The pens are all different sizes. We reused the old doors from the old lamb shed (now tractor/mule storage area). They were made to fit that building and unbeknownst to me they were multiple different sizes. Luckily, the size difference was apparent when we laid the doors out along the back wall. So the jugs were built one at a time to fit the doors. I had to custom make one door as the jug straddled a large pillar support. I even remembered to make a gap in the side planks for water buckets and feeders to be hung. This completes 1 of 3 barn goals for the summer.
This weekend it is all about the roof. I have done the math and guesstimate (fairly well) that there is enough tin to cover 2/3 of the lower roof. Putting on the tin and cleaning up next to the barn is the new priority. I would like to get the lot near the barn all cleaned up and ready for fencing.
The weather is totally screwing things up. There is oat hay cut and down on the ground attempting to dry on the upper pasture. Rain and thunderstorms every evening/night are not helping. We are not sure the hay is going to dry before it molds. If it molds we will be buying hay again this year to get through the winter.
On a side note, I applied for a new job closer to home. It is in Pendleton only 15 miles from our home. I would be home 40% more than I am now. Annmarie helped me pick out my interview outfit (doesn't everyone's wife help them dress?). One thing we had not considered was how the barn work would change my shirt size. I used to wear a 15 inch neck. We had to try on most of the shirts in my closet to find a 15 1/2 I could button closed. It was snug, but I could swallow and a tie would go on over the shirt now.
The interview was at a local hotel conference room. I showed up early to verify the location. I had time to kill so I went off and bought a coffee at a new coffee roaster shop in town. I showed up 10 minutes early and sat down in the lobby. I saw the last candidate go by and the front receptionist asked him how it went, his response was "good but it lasted an hour". This struck a chord with me and I asked the receptionist were the bathroom was located with five minutes to spare before my interview.
At this point it turned into a "National Lampoon's" scene. I finished my upright business quickly and turned to wash my hands. I stepped right up to the counter and started scrubbing my hands quickly when it happened. I felt wetness on the right side of my crotch! I looked down and the water from the counter had formed a wet spot on the right side of my crotch near my zipper. I totally panicked, sweat beads popped up on my head and I made a rash decision. My hands were dripping wet so I flicked water all over the front of my pants. I thought maybe I could disguise the water spot with more water. NOPE, this just made things worse, now my light colored pants look liked I had peed myself then gotten in a water fight with a 3 year old. I frantically check my watch, 3 minutes until interview time. I rush to the bathroom stall grab some toilet paper and start rubbing furiously on the outside of my pants. It was kinda working but it was still obviously a large wet spot on my crotch. At this point I remember I had placed a cotton handkerchief in my back pocket (for after the interview in case it didn't go well!). I dropped my trousers, stretched them between my knees and started furiously rubbing them dry with my lifesaving device. Two minutes later it was dry enough you could not see the wet spot. Thank goodness for natural fibers. I swabbed the sweat off my forehead, went out and sat down to wait for my interview. Three minutes later someone came down to get me. Where is a man bag when you need one? I forgot about the hand towels in the bathroom, I forgot to shut the stall door, good thing no one came in. The interview went well from my perspective. I will know by this weekend If I get the job. Sometimes you just cannot make this stuff up.
The weeds are slowly dying. They have started to wilt but are not just keeling over and dying. The sprays usually mess with some enzyme or something so the plants basically starve to death, a slow process. Burning is much more satisfying.
We pulled the old main door off the granary to use as the tack room door. It is only a few inches too tall and too wide. The sawzall will fix that in a jiffy. That leaves on other door on the granary to salvage. We are going to have to spend one day salvaging material from the granary before I tear it down with the tractor.
It is pouring down horizontal rain right now. The baby lambs and moms are running for the barn to get out of the weather. This is messing up plans to finish the roof and use the tractor to finish moving the sheep dung. Okay, glad we don't have wheat, the 1/2 inch hail just started pouring out of the sky, tree leaves are getting ripped right off. The lawn is turning white. Ugh, mother nature is embracing her woman hood.
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