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| I put up my martin house last year and got no takers. This year I put it up around March and saw no activity. Then lately another bird began making a nest in it. Since there were no martins I ignored this.
A week or so ago Rhonda called to say there was a martin flying around and had been sitting on the house. I was at work so did not see the bird, but several days later I did see her (it was a female). She flew around and also sat on the house; the other birds were not around much. I did not hear the distinctive martin song; I am not sure, but I think only the males sing the song.
This morning I did hear the martin song, and sure enough, there are now a pair of martins. I also noticed straw hanging out of the martin house. Since martins are fastidious birds, I was sure they would not have built such a sloppy nest. Also, that had not happened in all the years in Florida when we had martins living in the house. Presently I noticed the other birds chasing the martins away (there is now a pair of the others).
I lowered the martin house and cleaned it out (those birds had put straw in all 12 apartments; what a mess!) I have my BB gun and will try to scare the other birds into leaving. I don't think I can hit them; the first shot hit the house, and since it is tin it makes a lot of noise.
Let the wars begin.
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| In the old west, after fences were put up, a cowboy would sometimes get the task of "riding fence" -- riding along all the fences on the spread to check for breaks or weak spots.
One of my tasks for today will be to mow along the inside and outside of the electric fence. This prevents grass and weeds from growing too long and touching the fence. When that happens it bleeds the strength of the current, making the fence less effective.
I call this job "riding fence".
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| The footers are poured, the steel columns and beams are in place, and other parts of the skeleton are being attached. Some grading is done; more crusher run has to be hauled and shoveled.
Don't think of this as the classic barn structure; it is rectangular and flat roofed. It is not as big as a typical barn. But it will serve the purpose on our little farm. Part of it will be for animal shelter in cold or inclement weather, and the other part will be a workshop for the farmer. It will also house small farm machinery, like mowers and tillers.
I am beginning to believe that Doug would have enjoyed a career as a welder.
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| I was spraying weed killer along the whole length of the fence, so I had the cart behind the mower with supplies. At the bottom of the pasture I ran out of water, so I returned to Doug's house to fill up. Joshua decided to ride along in the cart back to the bottom of the pasture.
As I was working, Joshua said, "I could drive the mower for you, Grandpa". I said, "I don't think you are big enough to reach the pedals." He was sure he could, so I sat him on the mower and showed him how to start it. But as he tried to release the brake, his bottom slid off of the "chicken switch" in the seat and the engine shut off. I flipped up the seat and showed him the reason. I said, "We would have to tape this switch down; then perhaps you could drive the mower."
I went back to working, figuring that was it. But several minutes later Joshua came and handed me a roll of masking tape. "I got the tape, Grandpa!" he said. So I taped up the "chicken switch" and laid it under the seat. Joshua got on, started the mower, and moved it up to the next spot. He continued to drive from then on.
When we got to the top of the pasture, Katherine came up and said, "I could drive the mower for you, Grandpa." "But you're a girl, Katherine." "Well, mama drives the mower. And anyway, I used to drive Cole's gocart." So I put her in the seat and showed her how to start it. Joshua was there to show her how to push the pedal to make it go forward. In the end, one would sit on the left side of the seat and steer, while the other sat on the right and pushed the forward pedal.
Now where did I put my camera?
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| A week or so ago Kathleen went down to look over the scrap steel (barn parts). This is in the pasture where the chickens roam. She felt something against her leg and looked down to see the rooster in attack stance, hackles raised. She aimed a kick at him but missed. This got him more revved up so he did his rooster version of "Bring it on!" The next kick punted the rooster a good way, and he decided he would keep some distance between himself and grandma.
Just then Cole showed up with a stick. He said, "I saw the rooster going for grandma so I thought I better go and defend grandma against the rooster. Turns out I needed to defend the rooster instead!"
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