We're WIRED!

Before you jump to the wrong conclusion, cause I know you could and probably will by just reading the title of this post. Let me explain our situation here at Heartland. Yes, I know the phrase wired takes on a new meaning in today's society. What with all the headlines in the news it's a daily problem for a lot of people. I admit on occasion I too have succumb to being slightly wired when I've had too many cups of "morning caffeine" (aka - coffee) or drank a glass of sweet tea too late in the evening before bed. To some extent I am a little sensitive to normally occurring caffeine. A fact that's come more into light since I've had a little scare with my heart last month, but that's another story.

It has been exactly 15 months since we moved into our little homestead. Wow! how time has flown by. For all of them and a few more before we moved in, we have been constantly remodeling, building, repairing and such to the 2 buildings that occupy our farm. One was a major undertaking, as it was the house we now call home. Large portion of the work went on even before we spent the first night here. After securing a safe, warm/cool place to lay our heads, we started focusing on the need for a barn of sorts. This place housed another dwelling on it, that in past years had been the home of a previous owner. Many, many, many years ago, so you can imagine the amount of decline we found when we first shoved open it's door. Not to mention the amount of junk, trash and old furniture left to be engulfed with cobwebs, dust and rats. UGH!

Slowly and with lots of muscle power we stripped it of it's dump treasures and began to make it into a usable structure. Thankfully the main part of the roof was sound at least for now, even though the porch roof leaks in a couple of places. Somewhere down the long road of plans there is a new roof in it's future. But that will have to wait as more pressing needs are met first.

We have over the past year, reinforced the floor of what is now our milking room. Put up wood siding on the walls and gave them a coat of soft Spring green. We used this space this past Spring when our 3 does gave birth in their individual labor and delivery stalls. The other room of this 2 room house we have been using to store bales of hay and feed. (Can you even imagine living in a 2 room house? Sorry, off topic.) Making choring easier by the closeness of the food items to the hungry mouths we met each morning. Plans were this past Spring to put power to this once electrified building. Our plans went as you know all plans can and so often do in a different direction when a new need arises. But I promised myself not to have to go through another winter milking by lantern light or checking pregnant goats by flashlight.

So for the past week I've been a "handyman" in an effort to get the necessary wiring done, a new breaker panel set and the main power wire strung overhead to a new disconnect on the pole. No, I am not an electrician! When I say I was working as a handyman, I am referring to a "hand me this", "hand me that" girl to my husband. He was the one doing all the electrical stuff, I just handed him the tools & objects needed for the job. We called the Alabama power last Friday to say we need a hookup to the pole. We were told that they would be here on Monday of this week. I could almost see the glow from the barn windows as I waited with excited anticipation.

Just as they promised they arrived on Monday, took all of 10 minutes to set the meter YEA! Only then to tell me that I still didn't have power. Seems that the transformer wasn't any good on the pole that should have been supplying the juice to our barn! My heart leaped with the possibility of disappointment before me. But I was assured by the power guy that he had called it into the office and someone should be out to put up a new one that same day. Whew! Hope stilled reigned that I could have the soft glow of lights overhead the next morning at chore time. Sure enough a truck rambled up into our pasture in a couple of hours and placed the need part securely on the pole. Just as soon as they had left out of my sight. I quickly called my husband for directions for turning everything on. WE WERE WIRED for takeoff.

Flipping a few breakers and switches spoke volumes. The good message was we had power coursing through the wires. The bad was we had some bad bulbs in the light we had just installed over the milking stand and it was still sitting in the dark. Lon was at work and I didn't have the bulbs to make it work. So wait I did, knowing that the next day he would be stopping off at the building supply store for new bulbs and a few other things we wanted to add to the barn.

I can honestly say I get a thrill every time I walk into to the place and flip up a switch. Seeing that light now floods the rooms. Even if I get started after sunrise and can see clearly in the barnyard, just being able to brighten the interior of the barn is great! The bright light pushes those imaginary creepies out of the dark corners of the rooms. No fear of stepping on something unwelcome or tripping over something that might scoot cross my path. Lon also put a light out in the goat shed too, along with a double floodlight on the opposite end of the barn and a single flood light directed to shine out over the space behind the barn. With little effort we now have added overhead porch lights and a receptacle should we need it. Opening the gate and reaching just inside allows us to light up the place should we find ourselves gathering eggs after dark. No more flashlight surprises for us.

As was the case this summer when Lon went down to the barn just before nightfall to gather the day's eggs. It was dark enough to need a flashlight when the need arose to capture and kill a visitor who was happily gulping down our hen's eggs. As it turned out I had to hold the flashlight while he did the killing in a narrow roosting area of the barn porch. The space houses our nesting boxes and roosting poles for the flock of hens & roosters that call it home. It was the third one that had been found in and about the barn since we moved to the place. Luckily for me, it was his "pleasure" to find all 3 of the unwelcome visitors each time. Though this particular one top the scales with the biggest dimensions of them all. Measuring in at over 5 feet.

All of them have been the same kind with a taste for fresh eggs. They have only been spotted just before dark, in those dusky hours when we as humans can't see real good. There is no telling how many eggs we have lost to these thieves. But each one has received swift judgement for their crime at the end of a shovel.

We hated to kill each one, as they are simple rat snakes. They are found anywhere there are mice/rats for the munching. Having livestock requires feed, having feed insures there will me field mice for gobbling up freebies, having free-loading mice insures a rat snake is nearby. Hence our problem with these non-poisonous snakes. They were doing us a service by keeping the mice population at zero. Only to eat themselves out of a meal and then to discover a tasty one under the fluffy undersides of our hens. We knew one meal would lead to two and so on. Plus we couldn't take the scare they put in our hearts before we could identify them. Not knowing if in the future they would go looking to some of our young chickens for their next meal. They had to GO!

Hopefully with the the amount of traffic in and out of the barn and the new illumination we have seen the last of the omelet eaters. We now are looking forward to being able to get morning chores done as early as we can pull our bodies from a warm bed. Then settling back with a cuppa of warmth in the front porch rockers and watch the sun rise yet again to start a new day.

Wired and happy,

Deborah