Butcher Block Attempt

We are attempting to make a butcher block countertop out of some maple lumber we purchased last year. It started out as 2x4's in various lengths.

We had to purchase a few items, I wanted to have EVERYTHING we would need before we began. One of them was four 60 inch clamps, we got the nicer ones on sale for $10.99 each.

We had my dad cut the boards down to thirds

This is the area we are first attempting to cover, 25.50 inches x 15 inches,

its above where the cutting board is, beside the stove.

We had to attach the ends together first

Using Titebond III, it is food safe. Lots of glue was used. Lots.

And a lot of small clamps. We did a few boards at a time, 

& once they are all dry we will put them all together.

So this is where we are with it right now. It needs to be planed. Plained? and sanded.

Snowy Farm

Miniature horses can handle the cold and snow just fine, as shown here by Gus. He stood outside in the snow and it melted off his back but froze again on the hair on his sides.  

This photo was taken day before yesterday when we had 2 inches of snow.

Its snowing good again & up to 8 inches 

Heres our home from the road

The barn with just 2 inches. Its so deep now that I wore my snow shoes to go out there & walked around clearing a path for the hens to come outside. They still didn't.

Southworth beach from the dock yesterday morning

Friday night at about 3:45am. John came down & did the best job he could for me.

It snowed 10 inches that night. I didn't have a shovel, except the broken one, had to borrow one half way thru the night. Only 6 bags of salt. I shoveled the sidewalk 3/4 of the way up to the sellers booths, then came back down to the bridge & shoveled there, over and over again. As soon as I cleared it off, it was covered again.

I got off work at 8am and it was coming down hard. Got to within 2 miles from home & the road was closed so had to back track to Fred Meyers where I picked up cold meds, then went to the freeway and drove the 2 miles at 30 MPH till I got to my exit. 

Horses aren't too thrilled about being locked in the arena but at least its not locked in stalls like so many barns in the area. I know a lot of people fear for their horses lives in this weather but they do need to be horses. I'm going to take their hay up to the top of the pasture tomorrow and let them eat up there but I'll have to be sure they get their hooves cleaned out when they come back to the arena. Snow balls in the hooves can hurt them.

WInter Is Coming

We're expecting a winter snow storm beginning tomorrow night; 

6-8 inches is supposed to fall in our area, area 2.

I have to work tomorrow night 10pm-8am.

This is our pasture this morning, we got an inch of the fluffy white stuff 2 days ago.

Its also pretty cold out & this water pipe in the barn burst but its OK, it wasn't holed up to anything. 

And there are 2 does in our pasture lately, yesterday when I put out hay they can wandering into the pasture & didn't mind me pulling around the noisy little wagon.

Next post will be of the (hopefully) deep snow we get.

A Picture Tells A Thousand Stories

In the last couple weeks there has been a lot of work going on in and around the barn & arena. An excavator was rented, 3-4 foot deep ditches were dug, pipes and rocks wrapped inside fabric & all buried again under sand. I walked around out there today & its muddy, as to be expected, but its a lot less watery. The French drains are working very well.

One of the drains attaches to the down spout from the arena gutters and there is a little water coming down but more is trapped above due to leaves in the gutters. We have a leaf guard on the stall side of the barn & its working great so next summer we will have to do the arena side.

Anyway, this photo is the barn after lots of cold, wet weather, when Lan had to drive the tractor through the barn to avoid more mud. I'd also had a hay explosion. Its much cleaner now but most of the tire tacks are still there. I'm slowly sweeping those back into the arena as they dry.