Keeping Busy

The weather forecast was supposed to be cloudy with mixed rain and snow showers. Needless-to-say, the weather forecasters were wrong again. It has been sunny, cool and dry - a good day to work outside and around the barn.

Last weekend I cut the old lock off the door into the first level of the dairy shed. We used to enter this area from the gym, but I like to block off the gym entrance in the winter as we heat the gym but don't want to heat the dairy shed. Once this door was opened, I went and opened the entrance from the first floor of the dairy shed to the second floor. I thought it was going to take me a long time, but, to my relief, the blocked stairway just had a piece of plywood resting on the framing. It wasn't even nailed in. I went up the stairs, and I found the door was just latched shut.

Today, I added a new latch and spring to the dairy shed door. I took the easy way out and just ran a 14 gauge extension cord from the first level up to the second level for my future workshop. Opening the workshop took me a lot less time than I expected. I'll get to moving the tools and workbench in a few weeks. I am excited about the new space as it is very sunny, is bat-dropping-free, and has a smooth floor which is easier to sweep.

Since it was sunny, I decided to finish the raking. I raked out the garden beds (the shade garden and the two planting areas in the front of the house with Sweet Woodruff in them). I put the Sweet Woodruff in last year. It is really filling in this year. When I raked the leaves, you could smell the Sweet Woodruff.

My compost bins were running out of room, so I moved two dump wagons of compost into the vegetable gardens. I turned it over and covered it back with black plastic. Though it was not a good year for tomatoes, it was a good year for compost. It was rich and black. I finished most of the raking, but have a little room for some more leaves. As it rains and then snows, the compost will settle down to give up more room. I'll need it next spring.

I then mowed the grass around the barn (I did not get to it last weekend), cleaned out the gutters, moved some rocks near ramp wall by the barn, and fixed a few 'yard sculptures' (more on them in a future posting). I started around 9:30, and was done by 2:00. Pretty good progress. I guess it's easy to keep busy while the sun is out. Not much left to do before winter hits . . .