Barn and rabbit hutch progress

So yesterday while I was at work Tom was able to get the joists for the hay loft started and pulled down the old rotten center poles.

So this morning when I got home from work I started add more joist hangers in preparation for more joists. After I had screwed in 4 more I noticed that the screw box fine print said "not for structural use". Now when we were shopping we were going to buy the correct nails but the Home Depot sales guy convinced us that screws were better. Then Tom's dad called saying he was back at our house wanting to borrow the buffer and where were we? So we grabbed some screw of the correct dimensions, checked out and headed home. So longer story a little shorter, we bought deck screws. So now I had to remove about 64 of the screws and replace them with the nails we had wanted to buy in the first place. Of course we ran short of these nails (since there was a reason we wanted to buy more) so Tom had to go back to Home Depot to get the nails we originally wanted to buy. Now I can blame the sales guy, our carelessness, or my father-in-law for this extra work.

There are problems with trying to do construction amongst animals. They knock over ladders and tool boxes, they grab and nibble on things, and you really have to be careful with power tools. You also have to be careful to pick up every fallen nail or screw since they can eat it and die from it. Lastly, you have to be careful with wet cement. They like to leave their hoof prints there.
Finally, the first section of the hay loft is done! Tom got up the ladder first to be the first ever in the new loft.
Here's the view of some of our property from the loft.
Here's another view. Tom is talking about making an office for me on this area of the loft with a couch, fridge, microwave, couch (for lambing season). I am not sure it'll ever happen, but it's nice to dream. Of course, the hay loft will be enclosed, but we plan on putting in windows for light, ventilation and maybe even views.
This hen acts like she wants to help out.
While Tom was at the hardware store, after I did the animal chores I decided to finally fix up one of the 4 rabbit hutches I have been trying to find time for all summer. So I tore off the rotten wood, repaired the rusted out screen, paint it and added fiberglass roof panels. It looks 1000 times better and hopefully will last longer now.
INJURY REPORT: Tom's left knee is hurting from going up and down the ladder so much. He also has major blisters on his hands from wearing out all of his gloves. I managed to hit my fingernail with a hammer (I guess I am a menace with hammers). The nail is bruising up but not to the point where I have to perform a hematoma evacuation on myself (I have in the past). Finally, not sure if this counts as an injury, but I got white paint in my hair painting the hutch. I am desperately trying to get it out of my hair before work tomorrow morning.

More blueberry and barn progress

So yesterday before it got too hot I picked more blueberries. Two days prior I had picked a third of the bush but some of this area already had ripened blueberries only two day later. So I spent time in the heat again picking blueberries. It's the everlasting blueberry bush. I filled our large sieve up this time.

Then yesterday and today Tom and I worked on the barn remodel. I finished taking down the tin and wood supports on the center section we are replacing while Tom dug holes with the auger and tractor, placed the poles, and cemented them in.
Here he is explaining how easily the last of the 4 poles went in, and you can also see all the tin finally gone. After this we headed to the hardware store for beams, hangers and more cement. Tomorrow hopefully we will get more poles planted and be able to remove the worthless center poles that have almost all rotted out at ground level.
INJURY REPORT: Much more minor- I tapped a finger with the hammer- it hurt briefly. And I was nettled again on the ankle. They say bee stings help with arthritis. So if nettle stings help with anything I am golden. I have definitely relearned to use eye protection, but I guess not ankle protection.

Barn remodel update

So today I cut the remaining tin on the roof. This is quite challenging in 90 degree heat. That tin gets mighty hot. I also removed half of the tin I cut and the underyling support joists. Again you can really appreciated how badly the barn needs fixing when you uncover the structure. We also got our first pole up last night and can start envisioning what it is going to look like.

INJURY REPORT;
Today I got a dark sharp object in my eye while removing a 2x4 from the roof. Rinsing my eye and using my finger did not get it out so I had to pull it out with tweezers. I also dropped a 2x4 on my finger. This barn fixing business is painful.

Summer Heat

We are in the middle of a heat wave here- unusual for this area. My thermometer currently says 103 degrees and it is in the shade. The sheep are seeking shade:

And the goats are hiding in the barn:
Ebony (in the background) is only in the sun because she thinks she's going to be fed some grain (and she's right).

Barn and Blueberries

Today we concentrated on the barn and blueberries. First thing (before it got too hot) we proceeded to remove more tin sheets and wood from the barn roof. We did not finish because there are two swallow nests with chicks almost ready to fly. So we'll give them a few days more before we proceed. We did notice even more poor construction of the barn as we take it apart. It makes me glad we are finally doing this, and it is motivation to do it right. Myself, Tom and Jerry's daughter Anna spent the previous two days scooping out the barn floor so it will be ready for placing poles.

After the roof demo was completed Tom took a look at the auger that our friend Jerry gave to us. It had a slight bent auger and a frozen drive shaft. Tom worked on fixing both issues and got the auger to work. It dug a 3 foot deep, 10 inch wide hole in no time flat! It also removes most of the dirt from the hole in the process. This is going to help tremendously with placing poles for our barn as well as future fencing projects.

While Tom was working on the auger I picked our blueberries. We have one bush that came with the place that produces a huge number of blueberries. I am not sure the photo does it justice. We have also planted 6 other bushes that are starting to produce as well. It was above 90 degrees today, and this picking took about 2.5 hours so I was quite hot and sticky with it.

INJURY REPORT: With the roof demo I managed to lose my grip on the hammer, and it spun around and hit me in the forehead. While milking the goat she kicked me pretty hard (as well as knocking the milk pail over and the baby wipe container). And twice I encountered nettles while picking blackberries. This farming stuff is high risk.