Finally, it seems that spring will actually come this year! That makes everything seem so much better. On the road into our place there is this first patch of daffodils.
We have made some good progress. We have cut through from the new to the old so we can see how the entire space is going to flow. We are very pleased. The cut-through from Charley & Jackie's new family room to their kitchen is really a nice space. This is our contractor Tyler and his helper Fernando a few days ago. Now the beam is all in and the drywall mudding is done.
Also, we are beginning to use our basement, even before it is actually set up. Because C&J will be going to get their next son in another couple months, at the same time, Jackie is getting their room in shape. Plus Uncle Wendell gave Charley a hive so he can get started with bees and that hive needed painted. So, Jackie and I are painting in the new basement. Fabulous space.
In this picture, the door behind Jackie is into the basement kitchen/mud room. That has a door to the back porch and into their family room. The door to the left is into the farm office and there is a bathroom there also, so that will be a very versatile space.
This week, we are having a painter paint part of the space. We started to do the painting ourselves and realized it was too big a job for us, so will pay to have most of the new upstairs painted. We will still need to paint the old upstairs and the basement, so we still have a lot. The vinyl is supposed to be installed next Monday and the hardwood the Monday after that.
We need to get the garden started and there just aren't enough hours in the day.
Exciting and busy times here in the Bluegrass.
Today our contractor cut through from the new space to the old space. They connect in 3 places. Charley & Jackie's kitchen/dining room connect to their new family room. Their bedroom connects to a new walk-in closet and upstairs there is a hallway connecting our main floor to their upstairs. It is exactly as I had dreamed it to be.
I didn't get any pictures taken, believe it or not. There was too much else going on.
We are doing the painting ourselves to try to save money. It is a big job. We have the primer done in the basement and will move upstairs tomorrow. On Saturday, Wilma and Amy and Claude and Sallie are coming out to help us paint. We hope to get all the primer done upstairs so we can begin putting on color on Monday.
Tomorrow morning we are going to a class at the Garrard County Extension Service on gardening. Charley wants us to learn about this whole garden thing.
I'll try to post pictures soon.
Exciting times here in the Bluegrass.
Easter died this morning.
Sad day in the Bluegrass today.
This past weekend, Charley & family went up to Marion, Indiana to see Josh & family. They were predicting snow, but we always figure we can handle whatever comes. Well...
The kids left Friday after John got out of school. Saturday morning Bob and I woke up at the farm. I looked out the front window and down the pasture. I saw an area covered with about a hundred vultures. At least that is what we call them. I hollered at Bob and he drove down to check. One of the young cows had her calf and it had died. The cow's name is Easter.
Charley's bull is a small breed, I think called a Dexter. Well, the cows had gotten into the neighbor's pasture last summer and their bull is a big, big one. Evidently he got to the cows before Will, our bull did, so the baby was too big for this young heifer and it died. Something happened to Easter in the process and she can't stand up. And Charley is gone...
This is Charley's bull, Will.
We first built a shelter for Easter, putting the horse trailer on one side and some fence panels on the other side with a tarp over it. We were guessing which direction the storm would come from.
Well, she evidently didn't like it, because she worked her way out of the shelter. Every so often she will struggle to get up and since her left hind leg will not support her, she falls back down.
That night the storm came with sleet first and then snow. This is some of the other cows, but Easter was covered with ice also. We gave her hay and water every few hours.
On Sunday we put loose hay over her, trying to keep her warmer. The other cows ate all the hay off of her and the next morning, she is laying there covered with ice. There was nothing else we could do except keep her fed and watered. We didn't expect her to survive Monday night getting down to 6 degrees. But she did!!
When Charley got home, they took the tractor and loader and put her on this pallet thing Bob had built so he could use the tractor kind of like a forklift. The forklift itself is actually a 3 point hitch mounted hay fork for moving the big round bales. He used the hay spear attached to the loader and a strap around her belly to pick her up and put her on this pallet thing and then carried her up to the shop. She was strapped down so she would not fall off.
Charley and John built a pen using some plywood and some pallets.
And she is now inside where we can keep an eye on her, although the temperatures are going to be warmer the next few days. At least, the other cows will not steal her food. She is such a sweet cow. She is one they raised on a bottle.
This last side was enclosed after the picture was taken.
Everything is better now that Charley is home.
The farm is beautiful with the snow, but we are ready for it to be gone!!!
And that's how things are here in the Bluegrass. We are longing for spring!!
