Yesterday, Steven went out and hand-gleaned a bunch of rye and volunteer wheat. He bundled it and we will store it for feed for the goats for winter. I imagine he will do that off-and-on all summer, as gleaning opportunities are around.
I had originally suggested maybe he put it in the "attic" area of the garage -- which is currently just the open area above where I put the car in the old shed, which just got a new roof last year. Building on that, he said yesterday (and I agree) that it makes more sense to create a holding area like that in the barn itself. It has a fairly low roof, but it does have an "attic area" of sorts in the rafters. If we attach lengthwise boards, and maybe some chicken wire, that would be a good, dry, and handy place to let the hay sit until needed in winter. Then they would already be out in the pen, as well. So with a bit of planning, we will probably do that.
Worked on the ceiling in the living room of the house last night. Hot, dirty, nasty work. The old horsehair plaster-n-lathe work from this 1880s part of the house is crumbling. Big chunks of plaster had fallen off the lathe work and weighed down the acoustic ceiling that had been added below it. We had to take off much of the acoustic panels, clean out the broken plaster and stuff, and try to put the acoustic back up for now. This ended up being a much bigger job than we hoped it would be - and it is apparent that in all reality the entire ceiling is going to have to be torn down and re-done; but we got it patched for now. I was sneezing black dust out of my nose the rest of the evening, even though we wore bandannas over our faces to keep from breathing all the dust. I'm sure this plaster, most of it, at least, really began to break away and fall when we had that roofing crew putting on the new roof two years ago. Lots of pounding on the roof will vibrate that old stuff loose.
We also weeded in the garden for quite awhile. The frequent rains have made the garden wonderful, but has also been a boon for the weeds; and the mosquitoes! So I worked on the bean rows for quite awhile, which Steven did the squash and strawberries. We got our first fresh ripe strawberries of the season too! Delicious! They are loaded, so we are bound to get many more.
1 comment:
I think the hayloft in the barn sounds like a good idea. Less carrying to do in the winter :).
Our house has plaster walls, too. Eventually, we plan to rip it all out and put actual insulation in the exterior walls, but since the plumbing and electrical need to be upgraded, too, we're kind of waiting until we can afford those, first.
Old houses are so much fun*. :/
* Where fun == work
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