Down on the Farm – Volume 1, Issue 10

It’s hard to believe it’s already been 10 weeks since I started this weekly column, but here we are on Issue 10 of Down on the Farm! Well, I had a very busy week, and a very happy weekend. I also have tons of scratches and bug bites, one bruised butt, one swollen finger, and there was one little spell of overheating…

But, I don’t complain…

Let’s start with this past Monday. It was only a week ago, but it seems like a really, really long stretch of time! So, I was determined to make this weekend as easy as possible for my Jeremy, because I knew he still had a ton of work to do on that chicken coop and run, and I needed those chickens out of my house ASAP.

So, I thought about what I might be able/capable/skilled enough to do without supervision or instructions. A pallet of 50 cement blocks that needed to be moved about 30 feet and set into place around the chicken run, on top of the chicken wire that came out about one foot from under the fence of the run all the way around caught my eye.

Trust me when I tell you, this helps to make the run/coop far better predator proof than not having that weighted down chicken wire. The wire covers the entirety of the floor of the run, and then one foot past the fence all the way around. Then, on the inside of the fence, there is cement on top of the wire, about 3 inches deep, and extending into the run about 3 or 4 inches.

Is it pretty? No. But it does keep my chickens safe.

Anywho, I decided that if I just moved about 12 of those a day, I could have those moved and in place before Jeremy got home on Friday. Did I get it done? You bet your ass I did! But I only did 12 on Monday, and surprisingly, it only took about 30 minutes.

Was it easy? No! I’m a weakling! I got the dolly, stacked four at a time from the pallet to the dolly on Monday, rolled the dolly as close as I could to the front of the run, then took one at a time, stepped over the crap in the way (carrying a cinder block), walked downhill, kinda tossed the block through the opening between the tree and the fence, then rolled it end over end to the other end of the run to set it in place against the fence.

On the fourth block, I tripped over the crap I was stepping over, reacted quickly enough to toss the block away from me, and landed on my butt in the dirt. I didn’t cry. I immediately got up, dusted off my butt, retrieved my block, and carried on…thankful that nobody saw me!

The good news is that with each 16″ long block, I had 16″ less far to go with the next block 🙂 That’s what I kept telling myself “…not as far…16″ closer this time. You can do it.” I’d get those four moved, then go back to the pallet to load up four more. Three times, for a total of 12 cinder blocks.

But, there’s a schedule here at Lowe Bridges Farm, and it’s important to keep those schedules and routines as closely as possible when you have a loved one with Alzheimers. So, before I moved blocks, I did the usual Monday Housecleaning Day. The day the laundry, the dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, and scrubbing of bathrooms gets done. Sheets get changed, trash cans get emptied, etc., etc.

When Tuesday rolled around, which is Website Day, I spent the entirety of the day doing content for this website. I got up early and got started right away. I probably got about 10 pages done by noon, and I was satisfied with that, so I went outside after I gave Daddy his lunch and meds, and I moved – you guessed it – 12 more blocks.

I was able to finish one side and one end on Tuesday, but it took longer somehow. I think it was about 40 minutes. Also, I decided that 4 at a time on the dolly was just not gonna work out on Tuesday, so I reduced the number of blocks moved at one time to and by the dolly down to 3 per trip…so four trips that day.

After that, I went and picked the few berries that I could find, because I KNOW when it comes to blackberries, you’ve got to get them while the getting is good. Once it gets too hot, there won’t be anymore of those until next year, and I want to get at least 5 gallons this year if I can.

I didn’t get too many. Maybe because me and Jeremy had gone berry picking around the property on Sunday, and he got all the ones that there are around the poison ivy…which doesn’t affect him at all, but to which I am HIGHLY allergic. I avoid those areas like the plague…so I get fewer berries when he’s not with me.

Wednesday has become my usual “Build Day.” It’s the day that I spend my “focus time” between about 12:15pm and 4pm on my building projects…both big and small. Those hours are ideal for me to focus on what I’m doing, no matter what day it is, usually.

I give Daddy his lunch and meds at noon, get him started on a puzzle, then go to where I’m working on my project (upstairs mostly), turn on my video on my phone so I can see my Daddy sitting in his chair, or in the kitchen, or down the hall towards the bathroom to ensure that he’s not walking around looking confused or looking for me because he forgot where I said I was going; to ensure that should he fall, I can immediately get down to him (because he is just TOO STUBBORN and PRIDEFUL to use a cane or a walker, or anyone’s assistance walking); to ensure that he does not leave the house; and finally to ensure that he’s not eating every bit of ice cream in the freezer.

He loves his Moo Bars…but he’s diabetic. I realize he’s almost 90 years old (next month) and should be allowed to eat whatever he wants, but high or low blood sugar makes him not feel good, and I want him to feel good. Other than Alzheimers, and well controlled diabetes, he’s healthy as a horse, and I’d like him to stay that way.

Thank GOD for wireless video cameras! If you have a loved one with Alzheimers, I can highly recommend Blink cameras. They are so, so easy to set up, and the video on the app is very clear and in color. The cameras include audio, so I can hear everything going on, but if I wanted to, I could also talk to him through the camera…I don’t because that would freak him the hell out, but it is a feature of the Blink security cameras.

Without those cameras, my days would be spent right here, sitting in this chair where I can see and hear him…never doing anything else other than sitting here typing I suppose. But, because I have the cameras, I can go all over the property here without worrying about what he might do while I’m outside or upstairs.

Anywho, I digress. back to Wednesday. So, on Wednesday I was able to build two chicken roosts, the stand for the nesting box, and the chicken ramp. I was also able to get the facing boards for my cabinet build cut and on the cabinet. I think they look great, but they still need to be sanded and gray washed.

After the building for the week was done, I was able to go move another 12 cinder blocks. This time I had to go about ten extra feet, over to the far side of the run with the blocks. I decided maybe 3 blocks on the dolly was just not doable for me on Wednesday, so I lowered it down to two per trip…for a total of 6 trips. It took about an hour that day.

It was decided last week that I would have a weekly craft day with my sister. We are each doing a BOM (Block of the Month)…but not the same quilt. So, that’s what I did on Thursday. I got everything out and ready to go on Wednesday night. I set everything up right here at the table, where I’m still in the same room(ish) with my Daddy, where I can see him and he can see and talk to me when he wants to, and I could sew.

I haven’t had time to sew in such a very long time…about three years now. So I was excited. I got up early, hurried through my daily chores, got on FaceTime with sister, and opened up my Month 1 package….

I was a little disappointed. Okay, I was a LOT disappointed. I didn’t get to sew a lick. I didn’t get to iron. I didn’t get to applique. I didn’t get to do any measuring or cutting. I got several baskets out, and started sorting out tiny applique pieces. This coming Thursday, I will still be sorting out tiny applique pieces. No sewing. No ironing. No measuring or cutting. Just sorting. I know I will eventually get to all the fun parts…ok, now I’m just complaining. I enjoyed the time with my sister!

Then, I went outside and finished moving those cinder blocks. I emptied that pallet, two at a time, and finished going completely around the chicken run in about 40 minutes. I felt absolutely accomplished! I also feel like I developed some muscles maybe…but it was the VERY LAST CINDER BLOCK that smushed my finger…between it and the one next too it when I moved it into place…or maybe I dropped the other end and my finger got caught between the two? I don’t know what happened, other than my finger got smushed, it hurt, and I absolutely cried that time!

On Thursday evening, after supper and supper dishes were all done and Daddy was all settled with a puzzle and the Price is Right reruns, we FaceTimed again and did our nails together. My nails needed desperate manicuring after all that cinder block moving and smushing!

Friday, I was still feeling all accomplished from the cinder block goal being met, and I decided that was the day. That was the day I was going to get that upstairs storeroom completely cleared out, get rid of the stuff nobody wants, and take back my storage space!

Did I get it done! Yes I did. I moved everything out into the hall, and separated everything based on where it needed to go (trash, shop, somewhere else in the house, back into the closet, etc.) That closet is now the cleanest room in the house and I’m considering moving in there.

Then, not long before Jeremy got home, I walked out to my vegetable garden to discover LEAF SPOT on my beans!! I immediately investigated and discovered the cause was most likely due to the amount of rain we have recently had. There was nothing fuzzy or powdery, and no yellow halo…just spots and yellowing leaves that would fall off at the touch. And Inkcap Mushrooms. Those things look freaky.

But with Leaf Spot, the cause only matters in terms of treatment, and ALL treatment starts with removing the affected leaves as quickly as possible. When overwatering..whether by you or by God…causes leaf spot, that and thinning the beans out a bit more is really the only treatment available to you.

And all those leaves and thinned plants you’ve removed? They go to the local landfill. Not your compost. They do not get left in the garden bed or the ground next to the bed, or anywhere in your garden or even on your property. You want rid of it as quickly as possible because regardless of the cause…it spreads very quickly.

And this, of course, was when the overheating happened. Thankfully, Jeremy was home by then, and was helping me deal with the leaf spot. We were to the point where all of the affected leaves had been removed, and I was thinning the beans. Jeremy realized something was wrong before I did, and he walked me back to the house, got me a cool wash cloth and made sure I was going to be okay. Then he went and ginished cleaning up in the garden.

Jeremy was able to move all the crap in the hall that needed to go to the dump or to the shop out on Saturday morning, and everything else found their homes in other places. Did I mention that the closet is the cleanest place in the house?

Saturday morning Jeremy had to go on a wild goose chase for one of my sisters to fill her propane tank. He didn’t have any luck, with it being a Saturday, but we weren’t really able to get to work on the chicken run and coop till about noon! The anxiety was hitting hard for me! But, my sweet Jeremy Lowe assured me it would get done…and as usual, he was right.

So, he mixed concrete, and finally agreed to let me help him while he was “placing” the first bucket. I pointed out that it would be faster if two of us were on this project, and he actually agreed!

So, we had two buckets of cement going. He would be mixing one bucket, while I was…not pouring…shoveling(?) the cement in the other bucket around the edge of the inside of the fence, The whole thing took less than two hours! Then he installed the electric door and mounted the solar panel.

That evening, he got the feed bucket and the water buckets ready, with the nipples installed on the two water buckets and the chicken feed ports installed in the feed bucket.

We still had a lot to do, but that was all for Saturday. On Sunday, we hit the floor running. It was chicken moving out day! We finished putting the rest of the wire on the roof and door to the run. Then, we moved the stand, the nesting box, and the two roosts into the coop, and got everything screwed or bolted down.

Next, we used one bag of pine shavings inside the coop, and seven more in the run, covering all the chicken wire on the floor. We put the dust baths in, the outside feed and water buckets, raised to the appropriate level with pavers, put the ramp on the door, then went to retrieve the chickens.

Not understanding what was happening, the poor little things were very scared. I used two clear tote buckets with lids, putting four chickens into each bucket. Jeremy hauled one, and I hauled the other down the stairs, through the house, out the door and down the hill to the coop.

Upon arrival at their new home, the chicks didn’t know what to do…having only ever been inside a tiny box and then a brooder, which was kept indoors…they were scared to come out of the buckets, which we tipped up on their ends. We let them come out and start exploring on their own…but I think we made a mistake.

We should have first put them inside the coop…not the run. The reason I say this is that when it was almost dark, we could tell that they were “bedding down” in a corner of the run, and none of them had gone to check out the coop.

We ended up going in, chasing them down and putting them one by one into the coop. It wasn’t easy because they are apparently little escape artists, but eventually, we had all eight of my little boujee girls tucked in for the night.

And of course, it being Sunday, Jeremy had to leave out on the road again for work. I always miss him before he’s even out of the driveway.

And that was my week. It was busy. It was full. I loved every minute of it…the only thing that would have made it better is if Jeremy had been home for every second of it…but that day is quickly approaching!

On deck for this week? Cleaning Day, a Kitchen Day, a Build Day, a Craft Day and a Website Day. I’m looking forward to it!

Till next week,