Memorial Day Weekend

 

       I'm reminded every time I mow the cemetery of those who came before us, the sacrifices they made, and the legacy they left.  Even though these gravestones are from the 1800's and are hard to read, I know these are the people who helped establish the Catholic Church in my hometown.  

 

 

     Sadly, when I started trimming on Wednesday I noticed the crucifix which should be standing tall behind the outdoor altar at the cemetery blew down in Sunday's hailstorm.  Jesus landed right on the altar and broken into a million pieces.  Thankfully Mary and John are still standing. 



       Thank you to a handy Dad and great neighbors, who let you borrow their mower when yours breaks, the cemetery is ready for another Memorial Day!  Hopefully after a slipped drive belt, a flat tire, and dead battery my mower is ready for another hot summer. 

Grain Bin

     Last Monday was a whirlwind.  We started the day finishing up the forms to get ready for cement.  Our plan was to pour cement on Tuesday before rain moved in.  When my husband called the concrete company, they informed us Tuesday and Wednesday already were booked.  We didn't want the trench to fill in with rainwater, so we went to plan B.  Hurry up, finish the re-bar work and order cement for that afternoon.  We called a neighbor to come help my husband put the last metal frames around the outside while I finished tying all the re-bar intersections together with wire. 
       Hidden in the concrete are 93 bars of re-bar. They are spread out like a wagon wheel from the center. We used five re-bar circles starting with a small one in the middle and extending to the very outer circle to stabilize all the bars. The re-bar is suspended in the middle of the concrete to give support and keep it from breaking under the weight of the grain.
      Just as I was heading to the house to fix a quick lunch, the first cement truck pulled in with three more right behind him.  Lunch would have to wait. When pouring concrete you only have a small window of time to get it from the truck to the forms, leveled off, and smoothed out before it dries. Luckily a couple of neighbors weren't in the fields yet and came over to help. Plus my father and a retired co-worker of his dropped what they were doing to help. We ended up with eight adults. It was the perfect number, but not an extra hand to take pictures along the way. 

       Once the cement truck is in place he augers the cement down a shoot right to the forms.  One person guides the shoot to place the cement in the right location.  A couple men then take the concrete and spread it out, making sure to fill every space.  We started by filling up the perimeter around the outside because it was deeper around the edge.  The edge is 18 inches thick to form a rat barrier to keep the rats from digging under the grain bin.  The middle, though, is only 6inches thick.  As the perimeter was filling up, my father-in-law tamped down the concrete around the edge to make sure their wouldn't be any bubbles around the outside.  Then I went around the outside with a rubber mallet and hit all the metal forms to make sure it was fully settled. 

       As the second cement truck was dumping we started filling in the middle. We weren't completely done with the perimeter, but the cement truck found a soft spot in the cattle lot.  It was sinking down to its axle and the tires were still spinning.  We needed to unload the truck to lighten its load, making it easier to pull out with our tractor. 

      By the time the third cement truck started unloading some of us had to move to striking it off before it dries.   To strike it off you have one person on either side of a 2x4 that stretches from the center to the outside. You push and pull the 2x4 back and forth while it rests on the outside metal form and a small circular platform in the middle.  As you do this you also pulling around the grain bin much like the minute hand on your clock.  This allows you to level off the concrete.  Another couple people either drags cement to low spots or pulls extra away as you go around.  

       Being the person in the middle of the bin was easier at the beginning, because I didn't have to pull it as far.  In the end, though, it prooved to be more challenging.  When you get closer to where you started you have to step into the cement you already leveled off.  After standing there to finish striking it off, your boots starts to get stuck in the drying cement. 

      As we were striking it off, one person had a bull float to finish leveling it off.  A bull float is a rectangle metal plate connected with a long handle.  The handle has to be long enough to reach across the cement from the outside which was 18 feet 8 inches. In essence you use a bull float to smooth the surface just like you would a knife when frosting a cake.   

     After striking and bull floating are complete, another person takes an edger and runs it around the outside to give it a nice curved edge.  As you can see in the next picture, my husband and his best friend had to leave their mark in it.

 

     If you are pouring a basement floor or garage floor you would spend more time smoothing off the surface so it was slick.  Our grain bin will have a metal flooring in it which made that step unnecessary.     

      As soon as we finished, my husband hopped into the tractor and began working ground to plant corn.  Needless to say it didn't rain like it was supposed to and all our corn was planted before 9 o'clock Sunday morning.    

Let the Fun Begin!!

       Here is the last snap shot of our 1950's kitchen, which my husband's grandparents built. 

        Peel & Stick laminate flooring is where the need for remodeling the kitchen started.  The edges and corners were coming up which easily got caught on socks or on the vacuum cleaner. We decided while we were changing the flooring that we should open the kitchen and dinning room up to each other too. 

         We started looking into cabinets back in January through a family friend.  Last week Tuesday, the beautiful walnut cabinets arrived.  Meanwhile we hadn't started demolition of the old kitchen yet...so they are smashed into our office/crafts room for now. 

          Friday was another rainy spring day.  My husband who is anxiously awaiting good planting weather decide to start the process alone while I was at work.  Luckily I had stayed up late Monday emptying the majority of the cabinets. 

         I was very surprised when I pulled into the driveway after school to find his sister waiting in the drive for her bridesmaid dress which I hadn't finished altering yet.  Then I walked into the house to find it a mess.  After I finishing a very cute purple dress, I started helping him. 

     Later on a good friend of my husband's stopped by to help.  They started taking out the upper cabinets while I went back to my makeshift sewing room to fix Cole's coat.  A cow had tried to kick him.  As he turned from her flying foot, her hoof caught his pocket and ripped it almost clean off the coat.   

       Along the way we discovered an outlet had been covered up over the years.  Awesome!! This is exactly where I wanted one and should make it a lot easier for it to happen. 

         After talking with my husband's father we found out that his grandmother had once caught something on fire on the stove, scorching the ceramic tile.  They then pulled the tile off and covered the black spot & outlet up with a flower board.  I'm not exactly sure what material it is made from.   

       One long evening later, this is what our kitchen looks like now.  You might be able to tell, these cabinets were built to last. We hope to use them in the basement and on the back porch.

       We already hung one of them on the back porch.  For now it is where I store the few necessary dishes and dry foods.  You can also see we have an old sink back there too.  Using a small tub that will be our sink.

        The rain has stopped and we are back to working at removing sand from the bottom field after a flash flood.  I have a feeling if the weather stays nice, this is as far as the kitchen will get for awhile and I am OK with that.



April showers bring May flowers

     With as much rain as we've gotten this spring, we should have a sea of flowers come May. Throughout Wednesday we received 6-7 inches of rain, and here is what we found in the morning. 

     Here is a view from across the road at our old sawmill.  The neighbor decided to store his ton truck next to the creek even though my husband said it floods there.  It's hard to see in the picture, but the truck has debris all around it.  The night before there was a wood pile next to it that the rain waters carried away.  You can tell where the water was over the road, but it had gone down by 9:00 a.m.

     Next we tried to take the back roads to town and discovered the bottoms were all underwater.  All the school kids around were excited to sleep in yesterday.  Pretty much all the roads besides the highway had spots that were underwater, some for a quarter mile or more.

      Then we went to check the farm ground.  Here is one field that normally floods, but this is higher than my husband has ever seen it.  The small stream that you can jump across & drive the car across on most days is way out of its banks.  The water should be way back in the trees.

      Here is a continued shot.  You can see the tree the waters are carrying away.

      This is as far as we could go.  You can see the gravel road leading to the crossing. 

      Here is my father-in-laws new garden.  It's all underwater along with the whole south side of town. 

      Another street in town.  Our friends house looks like an island among the standing water.

      This is where the earlier field drains across the highway.  You can see the magnitude of water and current.

 Half way across the bridge.

Out the other side.  THAT IS A LOT OF WATER!!!!

Happy Easter!

     I hope you had a very blessed Easter celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord.  We had a wonderful day!  It started out a little foggy and misting rain, but by the time we left mass, the sun was out and shining beautifully.  We spent the day with my husbands family.  Dinner was at a busy little cafe with a scrumptious buffet.

Grass seed, grass seed, and more grass seed

     This week's goal...get grass seed sown before some anticipated spring showers over the weekend.  Even though our front yard has numerous uneven spots due to a problem with moles under the trees, I'm waiting to sow seed there until we get the moles under control.  Otherwise our dogs will continue to dig holes to get to them and the chickens will scratch at the ground to get bugs.  With that said, you can see we have lots of other spots that need attention.    

     First up, sow down the front yard garden.  Last year my father-in-law thought he needed even more space for his garden, so he tilled up the front yard.  Along the fence he planted pole beans and then a row of green beans in front of it.  In the other bigger spot he planted broccoli, turnips, cucumbers, and probably a few others I don't remember.  We decided just to use the backyard garden, so grass seed it was.

    Around our house needed something until we reside the house, work on gutters, and put on a tin roof.  We tore out the over-grown bushes to make it easier to reach the windows that we replaced last fall.  This way with grass seed it hopefully won't be as muddy when we get to that project in the next couple years.  I already have plans for what landscaping I want to do.  Now I just have to wait patiently until that day comes.

     Last, but not least was to sow down all the old stump spots.  Here I believe was a birch tree.  It probably was really pretty in its day, but all I have ever seen was the stump it left behind.  There was also a crab apple tree along the driveway that his grandfather planted.   My husband cut it down so he could get in and out with equipment easier.  Also, in the backyard there were five spots that needed attention.  I think they were from old trees that blew down in storms, a clothes line, and a hanging basket stand.   All of them were gone before I knew my husband. 

     Now I have my fingers crossed that we get rain this weekend and warm temperatures next week so it sprouts.  Some spots might be a little thick, but it was a little windy this week everyday after school when I was working on it.   

Orchard, a New Beginning!

     Here you can see how large my father-in-law had the vegetable garden.  I believe my husband said he planted 30 plus tomato plants last year among many other things.  Since my husband and I won't need such a vast area, we are going to change the east corner into an orchard. 

     We plan on using the area east of the chicken house for our cherry, apple, and peach trees.  Then extending a little north for the black raspberries and strawberries.  In the future we might add some blueberries, rhubarb, and possibly another variety of apples or cherries. 

      I know it is hard to see the starter plants in the freshly tilled dirt, but the 25 wet spots each hold a strawberry plant. 

     Along the twine I stretched to mark a straight line, there are three black raspberry plants.  Maybe next year we can buy another pack to make the raspberry bed a little thicker.

     Here you see three larger dark spots which each house a fruit tree.  To the right is a sour cherry tree, in the middle is a peach tree, and on the left is a Jonathan apple tree.  One more tree would complete the square, but that's another project for next year. 
     Now we just have to nurture them for a few years before they start producing fruit.  I can't wait until we have fresh fruit all through the summer.  Strawberries will ripen in early June followed by black raspberries and sour cherries.  Then there will be a little break before the peach tree in August and apple tree in September. 
     Next big project?? Mulch the new plantings to help hold in moisture and keep away weeds before sowing some grass seed around them.