The saying “time flies when you are having fun” is an understatement. The last couple days on the farm just flew by so quickly. In the basement there was a Styrofoam room for a lack of better words that had refrigerators with the backs but out placed into the walls of Styrofoam. The room was used to place large blocks of ice into and it would keep items cold for extended periods of time. I am not sure exactly how long it lasted for them but the Styrofoam was very very thick. A neighbor from down the road told us about how the Amish family that lived here years ago would drain all the oil out of the blade of the chainsaw and cut giant blocks of ice out of the creek across the road. And then they would haul the ice and put it into the room. The reason they would drain the oil out is to keep the oil from going all over the ice and contaminating the creek. The cold ice would keep the blade cool.
And to think, I complain about being exhausted after grocery shopping and meal planning in general for the month. I could not imagine having to cut large bricks of ice out of the creek, and haul them over to keep my food cold after or before shopping. The modern conveniences we have make things much easier and they choose not to use them. To me, they are the ultimate survivors or dooms day preppers. I hope to learn so much from them.
The septic tank is on the outside of the wall behind this ice fridge and will need to be removed to be able to get indoor plumbing. My dad dug down, wayyyy down and found the pipe that plumbing will be tied into while we were at the zoo. The Styrofoam had to be cut out with a chainsaw it was so thick. I have never seen Styrofoam that thick before in my life. As it was taken out of the basement it was stacked by the road with a sign on it that said “free” and it was gone very quickly. Even the fridges that were glued into the foam. The bottom layer and a section of the back was having not been removed yet. It makes it easier to stand on it instead of a ladder or scaffolding to put in other plumbing pipes and electrical lines. It will be removed at a later date. My dad and I headed to Lowes to get the list of plumbing parts and some beginning electrical supplies while Chad started grinding away almost 100 years of paint off the bottom side of the bath tub. My dad and Chad are not allowed to go to Lowes unsupervised. They like to buy expensive things and try to tell me it was a great deal. LOL
There are 3 Lowes all within about 30 minutes of the farm. My dad loves to go to the town of Morehead. From the Farm to Lowes in Morehead it is 19 miles or 26 miles. I like the Lowes in Mt. Sterling better which is 29 miles or 34 minutes away. Then there is also Lowes in Maysville that is 24 miles or 31 minutes away. So, I chose for us to go to Mt. Sterling, and my dad complained the entire ride there about how much farther it was. I told him I would fill up the truck with gas on the way home if would quit complaining about it. Do you think that stopped his belly aching? Nope he is also a brat! It was quite comical though.
When we have a project to do with my dad, he always thinks of prices from the 1990s. and we always say that when dad gives a quote of cost to add $200-300 more to the amount for prices now. Dad and I went all over Lowes and got our pipes, a small piece of ply wood and some electrical wire. When we got to checkout Chad texted that he needed more stuff for the grinder and paint remover. I paid and we loaded up the supplies and then went back in for the items Chad needed. We looked all over for the paint remover and finally found it. When we got back to the farm, we gave Chad his supplies to which he quickly pointed out we got the wrong paint remover. It clearly said on the front not for bath tubs. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?
I offered to go back but Chad said no and he got back to grinding. He said it was taking much longer than he anticipated it would. My dad went and found a second grinder and the two of them kept grinding away on the tub with generator power into the night.
While grinding my dad’s grinder got away from him and he ended up grinding up his arm and injuring himself pretty good. He tried to act all big and bad. Didn’t want to put medicine or a bandage on it but, I am pretty stubborn and he knows that so he finally gave in and let me. Last thing I wanted was for him to get an infection. OLD people I swear. Chad kept grinding and finally quit way after dark. He was trying to get finished with it before we had to head back to Texas.
The next afternoon we had to go back to Texas. We had been having a great time and did not want it to end. We had gotten to explore some of our property, the plants growing on it and we found a wet weather creek in the back corner. What an amazing trip, so sad to see it end.
Pink Squirrel Farmstead 