Pink Squirrel Farmstead

It has been a busy few days both here in Texas and on the farm in Kentucky. The days are starting to get shorted and my mom is tired of cooking by lantern light. So I got on amazon with Chad and we searched page after page looking for the perfect light fixture for above the kitchen table. Thankful for Amazon prime and the light came in on Thursday afternoon. Now, I am very particular on where I want things to go in the house….and my dad and Hunter played a mean trick on me this weekend. They hung the light from a hook in the middle of the ceiling in my kitchen area and moved the kitchen table under it and sent me a picture. It looked like it was mounted from the ceiling but it wasn’t. As soon as the picture came in on my phone, I was calling them from a deep sleep. Remember there is a time change between here and there and they are morning people (EWE). They got a good laugh at my expense and I was not amused with their shenanigans.

I have been working on the antique dresser vanity for several days now. I bought some wood filler for some boards that were separated but I ended up not liking how it looked with stain over it. Then I went and purchased some wood glue and went for a scavenger hunt in our storage unit for some large clamps. I glued and clamped each section and let it dry overnight. Then I did the second area the next day. This gave me time to get better from the sanding and my allergies.

I started working on the second antique table we purchased. It is a drop leaf table that was also needing some love. I had never stripped paint before but I decided it would be worth a shot. I am glad I did. It was such a neat process and it was much better than sanding 8 layers of paint off of a table. I still did a lot of sanding and luckily Chad was home the next day to do more sanding. I love working on projects with him.

Chad has been learning to play the guitar. He has been trying to learn more and more each day. He ordered some accessories from Amazon for it and the strap was supposed to come in Friday. He got the package from amazon and all it was, was the tag for the guitar strap. Seriously, how frustrating is that? Amazon can be amazing but sometimes ordering things online can be a letdown. Now we get to mail back a tag in an amazon package so they can either refund the cost or send a new one.

Living in an RV is not always bad but these last few days I have defiantly wished we were back in a house again. Cooking dinner has been making the house very hot and the ACs cannot seem to keep up, there are no trees here but I like eating real homecooked food. Then while working on the tables it started raining. We had to bring the vanity and the table inside so they didn’t get wet. If you have been in an RV, you know that there is absolutely no room for these items in the RV and be able to still move around. We have been trying to finish them up in between rain showers.

My dad worked on weed eating the garden area on the farm so he could put some of his “teenage” chickens in the chicken tractor. They caught the chickens and put them in there and then had much less luck putting them back in the big coop that evening. The chickens will eventually do better and go back to the big coop on their own but I am sure they were very excited to eat all the bugs and the different plants. Tex (the cat) has decided he forgives my dad for the tortuous ride to the farm and is now letting him pet him again.

Payton had her first physical therapy appointment and it went great. The physical therapist has figured out that when she is walking, she is turning her foot inwards most likely to relieve pain or pressure on her hip from her back pain (she has scoliosis) which is causing the pain in her foot. She learned some exercises and has been working on them daily since. I thought it was amazing that the physical therapist prayed with us after her appointment for healing. Such an awesome experience! She will be going twice a week for now. School has been going great for her this year. She is way ahead and is making good grades. Hopefully it will be a good school year for her. I cannot believe she is a sophomore!!!

When I was at the farm there was a cattle gate by the barn and it was being held up by some string and a belt. I took it down so I could do some mowing and so it could be put back up properly. My dad got the gate put back up and it in working condition again. Eventually it will need to be replaced but it works for now. They have also been getting a lot of rain on the farm. And it looks like the tin behind the barn did not block much so I will be working on that when I get there. I have got to get that fixed before any tools are ruined.

We had to make a trip to Lubbock because the hardware store here does not sell color tinted stain which we planned to use on the drop leaf table. Lowes had a beautiful display for the 13 fallen service men and women. Prayers for their family I know this is a very difficult time for them. While at Lowes we got some table legs for that vanity it was way too low to the ground and I am short so that says a lot. In addition we got the blue stain for the table and took Cheyenne to lunch. We also went to Sam’s Club for more toilet paper since apparently there is a shortage again. We have finished the vanity for the most part, we are still waiting on the new handles and faucet to come in. What do you think?

My dad and Hunter finished hanging the light above the table and I love it! My mom was glad to have light to cook by other than a lantern. It is the first light fixture in the house. I ordered some Edison light bulbs for it that should be there early next week. Things are coming together and I am so excited! We will continue to work on the drop leaf table tomorrow and hopefully get it finished, weather permitting. There are some boards that need replaced that hold the table legs on. They were split in half but still worked. Chad started to make new ones when the rain decided to honor us with its presence. What is Labor Day weekend without rain?

Kentucky has been getting quite a bit of rain lately from Hurricane Ida but that has not stopped any progression on the farm. Due to all the rain it made the hill up to the chicken coop very slick and my mom slid down it and fell. Luckily, she didn’t break a hip or anything just a bit sore, and probably a bruised ego. My dad decided it was time to put in some rock steps up the hill to make it easier to go up especially when the ground is slick.

My dad and Hunter put in some more electric. They put in one at the coffee bar nook, and one in the living room to put in the big window unit that has heat and AC to use the heat for the winter time if needed. Eventually we will be putting in mini splits throughout the house but we will need to save up for them. We want to stay out of debt as we work on the house so we will be doing little by little. It will slowly but surely get done.

I have been tormenting Hunter and my dad with getting measurements for the upstairs so I can work on the layout of the bathroom. Chad stopped to get fuel on his way home from work the other day and saw an antique dresser that was made into a vanity, we contacted them and went to pick it up along with a few other items. It was in need of lots of love and I have been working on it. I sanded it yesterday without a mask on and I was regretting that last night and today. My allergies are very unhappy, but I will still try to work on it.

I also tried to deep clean the handles on it but I did not like the look when they were cleaned up. I found a YouTube video about how to clean them. You take a 1:1 ratio of water and white vinegar, pour into a pot with the handles and bring to boil. You boil for 20-30 minute, take out and scrub the remaining gunk off. They cleaned up pretty good, but I just wasn’t a fan. We ended up on Amazon looking for new handles and found some cute ones. I can’t wait for them to come in. The drawers are just fronts since there is plumbing behind them. The bottom drawer we plan to put hinges on so if plumbing access is needed, we will have a way to access it.

Our Amish neighbors came back yesterday afternoon and baled the hay. I know most people are probably not as intrigued about hay cutting as I am but I have never seen it done at all. Let alone the way the Amish do it. At first it was just the young man’s father out there with his machine baling the hay. I had Hunter bring him some water and he asked him what his name was. His name is Meadow, his son’s (the one that was cutting the hay) name is Adley, and the 3 horses pulling the baling machine’s names are Polly, Dolly, and Linda. Shortly after another group of the Amish boys came up pulling a trailer and started loading the hay on to it. I asked Hunter if he was going to go help them load it up but he wanted no part in it. After all he had an important role of filming and taking pictures for me. They got over 150 square bales of hay out of the field. We had asked for them to just leave us 3 bales but they left us 7 bales.

The way Amish do things just amazes me. They work so hard and take pride in the way they do things. I love that even when they are working on the hay field you can still hear the sounds of nature. You don’t hear the loud noises that gas/diesel powered farm equipment makes. I was surprised that the baler had a gas-powered engine and it was still pulled by the beautiful horses and it was still really cool to watch. It kind of looks like the machine is pooping out the bales of hay.

There is a small road that goes up a steep hill to the hay field and the chicken coop. They brought the hay down that steep hill. They made it look easy but it still looked scary to me. I hope the hay helps them make it through the winter and I am glad they were able to get it in between rain storms. Since I didn’t know the hay process timeline, I was worried that rains from the hurricane in the gulf could affect it. I need to do some research on how to get the weeds out of the hayfield so it will be a better-quality hay. I have so much to learn about owning a farm but I love learning new things and I look forward to it!

Update on my dad: His arm is still sore but each day it is getting a little better. If he hangs his arm down by his side it throbs. He doesn’t know how to just relax and let it heal so he is out working on things all the time. I don’t blame him I would be too. He doesn’t like to just sit around. He may be a bit hard headed too.

A little of this, A little of that

The Amish guy that cut our hay field came back. He used a different tool to move the hay around. I am not sure if it is just to help it dry more or what exactly it is for. But, once again I made Hunter take some photos and videos of him working. I find it so entertaining. I cannot wait to see what he does next with it. Hopefully the rain doesn’t ruin this hay again.

Hunter and my dad have been working on building a chicken tractor. If you don’t know what a chicken tractor is I will try to explain. It is a large cage that can be moved around so the chickens can safely eat fresh vegetation to forge in but not turn the ground into nothing but barren desert land. Chickens like to relish on bugs in the pasture and it also keeps the pest population down on our property. In addition, it keeps the chickens safe from predators like hawks, and owls taking them. The chicken tractor will have some repurposed wheels found in the barn so it is easily movable, and it will have a roof for shade but no floor. I know the chickens will love getting some outside time in it. The plan is to put them in the garden area first to not only fertilize the area with their nitrogen and phosphorus rich manure. The chicken tractor name comes from the chickens scratching of the ground that will loosen the top of the soil and it is a way to get rid of weeds or patches of grass to prepare for planting when it is left in that area for longer lengths of time.

Internet was also put in yesterday at the house. This is very exciting for my parents since their phones did not work in the house. They were having to go up to the hay field which is at the back side of the property to have phone service. Now they can use the internet calling feature on their phones in the house. Hunter will be glad that his phone is now not the only phone usable in the house.

We have a hay field on the back side of our property. The property has been cross-fenced because they used to have cattle on the property as well. We knew we had a hay field but we don’t have a tractor to cut the hay, only thing we have right now is a push mower and well that’s just not helpful for a hay field.

I know absolutely nothing about hay other than buying it and giving it to our animals for bedding and to eat. I don’t know how tall it should be before cutting it, I don’t know how long it needs to lay on the ground before it is baled, and I don’t know how it is baled. But I do know we have a hay field.

Up the road from our house less than a half mile is an Amish store that sells baking supplies, pasta, cereal, cheese and meats. The owner of the store is the parents of the couple that was renting the house when we purchased it. When I was there the father came by and stopped to talk to my dad and I on separate occasions. He was super nice; at the time I did not know the connection. He was on his way to our neighbors to fertilize their hay field. My dad had told him if he knew anyone that would want to cut the field for their own use to let us know because we would not be cutting the hay this year.

The young man had lost all his hay from all the rain they had received the prior 2 weeks and asked if he could come cut the hay. My dad just asked that he leave us two or 3 bales of hay for target practice and that he could cut it for his own use this year. He came yesterday evening when he got off work to cut the hay. It was quite the experience to see. I had Hunter take photos and videos for me.

The horses were so beautiful and it amazed me how well trained they were and how they followed his commands. A couple hours after he had been up there cutting hay, I asked Hunter to go take some more pictures. And then I sent Hunter to grab him a bottle of cold water. I am sure he was hot and thirsty. The young man was very thankful for the water and quickly got back to work. I am sure he was ready to be done for the day and I don’t blame him.

I am not sure what time he finished up and I am not sure when he will be back to bale it. But I am glad it is cut and we can see the fence line around it to check for any that needs to be fixed and just to look at the topography of that part of that land. I hope you enjoy the pictures and videos like we did.

Since we got the farm, we have met several of the locals. In town of Hillsboro there is only a convenient store, an elementary school, an auto/tire shop, a small bank, and a funeral home. We made several trips to the convenient store for ice, and drinks. While Chad and I were driving around one day we stopped at a yard sale. I love a good bargain, and I love to go to yard sale. Why buy new when you can buy gently used for a fraction of the price? The ladies running the garage sale saw that our license plate said Texas and asked how we found their yard sale. We explained that we had just bought a small farm and explained to them where it was. They said, “ohhhh, we saw your Polaris out front and said Well I guess they aren’t Amish that live there now.” This kind of cracked us up. They were super nice and welcomed us to the area. She had seen us a few times at the convenient store but didn’t know we had purchased that farm.

One evening we were cutting down a dead tree in our front yard. Well mostly just pushed it down. We did not want it falling and damaging anything in a storm or anything. We had a chainsaw but had not used it since we cleared the property we have in Livingston, Tx. It was not wanting to start. About that time a man that lived down the road about a mile drive up on his Polaris and welcomed us to the neighborhood. He warned us about a thief that lived a couple miles away, and saw that we were cutting up the tree. He said, “hold on I’ll be right back let me go grab my chainsaw and I’ll help you get it cut up.” We told him it was no problem we would get it but insisted and headed off. We didn’t think that he would actually show back up with his chainsaw but he came right back to help out. We finally got our chainsaw going and they had it all cut up in no time. He stuck around and chit chatted with us for a bit, told us where he lived and said if we ever needed anything just knock on the door and he would help in any way he could.  

Another man stopped by that also recently bought an Amish farm down the road that was trying to find someone to install his electrical inside his home and was trying to get my dad to do it since he was doing mine. My dad said he wasn’t interested because I have a ton for him already to do. Apparently, there are not many people willing to put electrical inside of the Amish homes.

We have met so many wonderful people since purchasing the farm. It is so refreshing meeting people that are happy and nice. Too bad we cannot move to Kentucky now. But I must say that people are on their own timeline there. I cannot wait to be on a no rush timeline though, can’t say that I blame them one bit.

My dad also did some more grinding on the bathtub today. He is going to have to get another grinding wheel because this one is starting to throw pieces of wire at him which is not safe to use anymore. I am so in love with this bathtub! It weighs over 400 lbs. and I am not excited about moving it up the hill and through the house into where the bathroom will be. But I will love it when it is installed and I can soak all those muscles used to move it.

The beginnings of modern conveniences

My dad has started putting in some of the plumbing into the house in the kitchen area. He has also been working on grinding the bathtub so it can be resurfaced. It has been quite the chore in its self. I know it will be beautiful when it is completed. They have also been slowly adding in electrical plugs around the house. But I am sure my mom is most happy with having a fridge again.

Hunter and my dad have been working around the farm cleaning up. There was a spot in the yard that the previous people burned their trash. Hunter sifted through it and got out all the trash he could. We now have a trash service with a small dumpster on our property that will help to get rid of the trash that was just left. They also burned the brush pile from when we cleared out the area behind the house to put in the creek and the area I got poison ivy from. My dad has found where I got it and sprayed it with weed killer.

They have been working hard around the farm and they have been exploring the land. The weeds and grass grow quickly especially with all the rain they have been getting. Maybe we need to revisit the idea of goats to help keep down the quick growing weeds.  I may just want some adorable goats to play with while I am there too but they would be helpful as well.

Meanwhile here in Lamesa I have been working on our RV. When I got back from Kentucky, we found a leak in the underbelly. After checking out each of the pipes with no luck I finally found the issue. The pump had a crack in it and was leaking more than it looked like. We had taken everything we had stored under there and moved it out into the yard while we repaired it and got it dry again. Luckily Chad was on his way home from an out-of-town meeting and was able to go through Lubbock to stop at the RV store and buy a new pump. I had never changed out a pump before but I just disconnected one wire at a time until they were all hooked up. The flooring in the underbelly was carpet and it was soaked. We were afraid it would start molding under the carpeting so we ripped it all out.

Of course, of all days it started raining and we all rushed to bring in everything that would get ruined in the rain. Chad sprayed everything down with bleach a few times over the course of a week just to keep any mold from growing. Last night everything seemed dry enough to work on the flooring so Chad and I got busy. We had some left-over peel and stick tiles in storage from a previous project and we got some liquid nail to put down first to keep them from peeling with the Texas heat. Of course we were short one tile to be finished but I will have to search for one to match since I bought them over a year ago. Cheyenne and I put all the stuff back in the underbelly today and organized it as we went.

Talked to my parents and Hunter early this morning, they are officially Kentucky residents. They went to the DMV today and switched over their license and Hunter an identification card. Hunter has no interest in driving but needed to get an ID card to show he is a resident so he can start college there next year at Morehead State University.

The Barn

The barn was a bonus when we bought the house. It was on the list of wants but we did not think we would actually get one in the price range we wanted to spend. The barn will need a lot of TLC to get it to where we want it. The floors are made of concrete which is amazing in its self. There are some nail holes in the roof that we will have to fill in, and there are rotten boards along the bottom of some of the walls some of the hay loft flooring. The barn doesn’t look like someone took much care of it.

I know with the love we will put into it; it will be amazing. I am so excited to have a nice place for our future animals to go. We have been cleaning out stalls one at a time and we will have quite the pile for compost when its all said and done, as there are lots and lots of horse manure that was left everywhere in the barn. Currently we have 3 stalls cleaned and most of the cobwebs and mud dobber nests cleaned out above them. The whole ceiling was covered in cobwebs. I guess we should have waited until after Halloween to clean them but I am glad they are starting to be cleaned out.

Now I am not the most observant person in the world. Ask my husband, he can get his haircut and most of the time I don’t notice until hours after he has been home or even a day or two later. And I didn’t realize right away if we had an attic in the house or how to get into it…. low and behold there is an attic and the entrance to the attic is pretty easy to spot. But anyways when we unloaded the Penske truck, I had Hunter and Payton put my holiday decorations in the hay loft to get them out of the way (I have a lot of decorations). After finding the attic and cleaning it out I decided that I would rather have the decorations in the attic in the house. Hunter was very grumpy (he said I should have thought it through before I had him put it all in the hay loft) about that but he will get over it.

There was actually quite a bit of hay left in the loft from the previous owners. The baby chickens were glad to have some of that hay in the coop and the hay will be very handy as we start to grow our farm. I am so excited that we have the barn and I am excited we will have the chance to slowly work on making it better.

I plan to work on the issue with water flowing through the barn when I go back in September or October. I just hope I don’t end up getting poison ivy again. I was covered from head to toe and everywhere in between in it after clearing the large area between the barn and the house. I was miserable! I covered myself very frequently in Benadryl gel to help with the itch.

On my way back to Texas from Kentucky I called and made an appointment to get a shot of steroids to help with it. I had already had it for over a week at that point. I am pretty sure I was on the brink of an itchy mental breakdown or cause of everyone around me to be miserable.

Electrical updates

Before I left the farm, I had to get one of the stalls cleaned up for electrical panel to be put in. When we moved stuff in to the barn it got piled into that stall. We wanted power put into the barn at the same time as the house so we would not have to hire someone to come out again. I am so glad that we did because this is not a quick process at all. We tried getting the electrical process started prior to closing day.

After viewing the property, we contacted an electrician. He was supposed to give us a quote and a date of installment within the week. This guy was next to impossible to get ahold of. Never answered his phone, and never returned calls. I was getting quite annoyed with it but we did not have anyone to ask locally to find out who to use. If the guy did not want to do the work, then he should have just said that instead of leading us on.

Once we got to the property he came out and met with us but still did not give us a cost of how much it would be. He said he would have a quote to me by the end of tomorrow. Well, the end of tomorrow came and went. I called him, and I text him and finally he called me back. Said he had not had time to work on the quote he was helping his wife do some canning.  Yes, you read that right…. he was canning with his wife. That was the last straw for me, apparently, he did not want our business. We contacted our ditch digging friend, Lonnie, that we had met and asked him if he knew who we should use in the area that actually wanted to work. He gave us the number to a man named Wes. Lonnie called Wes and told him about the previous guy and what we were wanting then called us to call him. We talked to Wes that evening and set up a date and time for him to come out. He said he would try to come out sooner if he could but they have been pretty swamped with work. He came out Saturday morning and gave us a quote while he was there…. now that is how you do business.  We set up a window of time in which he would be out to get it done. He was very helpful with all my questions, and concerns. We have not heard back from the original guy regarding power being installed. Maybe he caught wind that we hired someone else.

I asked how he would like me to pay him because I would be back in Texas by the time, he would be working on it. He said oh just mail me a check when the job is complete. I was amazed by his trust in people. Would you accept a check from an out of state resident that you had just met?

On August 13, Wes and his crew came out with Lonnie to get the power party started. The power company should have already been out to do what ever it is that they do to decide where the electrical pole will be placed but they had not. That did not stop Wes and his crew from installing the electrical meter box, and both the fuse box in the house and the fuse box in the barn. We decided to go with underground lines so they dug a trench from the house to the barn to bury the electrical lines.

My mom and Hunter were the only ones at the farm during this process. My mom called me bright and early (10 am CST) to verify if the pole placement would be okay. It would be located between two gates by the barn. Wes assured me that both gates would still be operational and that was my main concern. We plan to replace both gates but want to make sure that we would still be able to use them. One gate is the driveway gate and one is a walk-through gate. The driveway gate is old and made of fiberglass. Every time you open or close it you get fiberglass on you. It will eventually be replaced with an automatic gate opener. The walk-through gate is still up in the air. We found an old stall door when cleaning up the barn that I wanted to use but not sure it will work because it is a bit smaller than the opening.

Anyways back to the electric. Hunter had strict orders to take pictures and send them to me during the whole process. I want to document every little thing that that we do on the farm. Mom and Hunter had cleaned out the fridge that had been closed up during the move to have it ready for power, little did they know power would not be turned on today. Talk about a letdown. We didn’t really understand how the whole process worked with getting it turned on. Wes gave my mom the invoice for me to pay and I mailed a check to Wes for $5000, and one to Lonnie for $300. I am so thankful that part is done.

Wes had set up for the electrical inspector come out Tuesday morning at 11am and for the electrical engineer to come out Monday morning to okay the pole placement. And power should be on with 3-4 days after that…. Another week without power but at least there was an end in sight. My mom is tired of “camping” and buying ice to keep food cold is getting expensive.

I had set up our account with the local power company before coming out to Kentucky because I wanted to make sure that there would be nothing to delay the process anymore. Tuesday morning, I get a call from my mom while I was driving to Dalhart (8-hour round trip drive) for a doctor’s appointment. The electrical company is needing a form signed by the property owners since the pole will be placed on our property. They could not do anything without this form signed. Why didn’t they give me this form to fill out while I was in Kentucky? The guy assured me that I would just need to sign it and email it back. Ok fine I can do that; I am trying to stay positive. I called the lady at the power company to email it to me, and I ask why it wasn’t sent to me when I set up the account in the first place. She didn’t have a great answer and I am sure she could tell I was not happy about that. I get the email about an hour later and the form has to be notarized…. are you freaking kidding me? One, I am not home to print it, and two I am driving to Dalhart. I forward the email to Chad and ask him if he can do it. He said the form says it has to be notarized in the state of Kentucky and it is asking for a bunch of information we don’t know. At this point I am about to lose it, already annoyed with the fact that this could have all been done while I was in Kentucky for 3 weeks, I call the lady once again. She asks to verify with someone else if they could put the info on it after we have it notarized and send it back and verify, we could go ahead and get it notarized in Texas. I call Chad back and luckily with no other hiccups he gets it done and I email it back. Glad that’s over with.

The electrical inspector was supposed to be there at 11am but had not shown up yet. Hunter went to go shower still in the basement with our makeshift amazon shower and guess who shows up? Mind you the inspector has to inspect the electrical box in the basement. Hunter was not amused by this but I thought it was quite funny. Hunter texted me that they got the green sticker. Now I had no idea there as any sticker involved so I asked what color sticker did we need?  And What did each color sticker mean. Apparently, it just meant it passed inspection and we were good to go. Now we just had to wait on the electrical company to come install and hook up the electrical pole. It was also being delayed by the fact that it had rained almost every day for the last 2 weeks. The electrical inspector said they were putting it in for a rush job….as they should.

Impatiently waiting for electric to be installed my dad installed the electrical plug for the fridge and plugged it in. Luckily it was relatively an easy plug to install since the wall backs into the stairway and the stairway walls are not complete. Hunter is learning new things every day, which is such a great experience for him.

This morning August 20, the electrical company showed up to put the pole in. YAY!! We are so excited to have electric! There are many things that could not be worked on because there was no electric for the power tools and the generator did not have enough power to run. I am sure my mom will be excited to have a running refrigerator and they have a way to charge their electronics. I asked what plug my dad was going to put in next and he said to his coffee pot! Oh, the little things in life that you miss.

Here are some photos that we took throughout the week while Chad was at the farm. I did really good documenting until Chad got there. He is distracting. lol