I Need Another Title!

 Another sunny day and this little goat is still on his stump!

Morning temperatures are down to freezing and the duck girls spend the afternoon soaking in the sun's warmth. I do, too.

 

 

Red ball at ready, Hattie waits for play time after the walk while Tux settles down to sleep some more.

 This salmon survived the last firing (there were the usual disasters, too) and I'm pleased with the glaze. It was a job spraying it with the little Badger sprayer as I applied six different glazes in multiple layers. Shrinkage was surprising. It lost 2 1/4 inches in length and is now a bit over 16 inches. I'd like to make them bigger but the unfired size is limited by the width of my kiln. Anyway, three more follow and maybe one or two more that will fit on the shelves, then I'll have to fill in the rest of the space with bowls or small things. The plan is to hang them at the rental house but I'm not sure where yet.

A Title

 We moved the boys to a neighbor's pasture this morning but they weren't too keen on staying by themselves. They watched in horror as we closed the gate and walked away. Hattie was not believing this wasn't some exercise where I would send her back to retrieve them. But the grass is low at our place and they'll only be away a few hours every day to eat their fill.

What is it about goats and climbing? The tallest stump is a major attraction for this guy.

 

I've been busy putting the gardens to bed for the winter. Everything ends up in the compost bins. I feel some sadness seeing the bare beds but am looking forward to having time for things other than yard work. And my back is killing me!

 

Time to walk the dogs and check on the boys now.

Rental House Update

Work on the batten boards is almost completed and that will be the end of work for this year. We are looking forward to refocusing on projects at our own place. I think the boards give the old house some textural interest especially with the contrasting shingled elements. Today we'll try to finish the boards if the rain holds off long enough. Anyway, we've been getting compliments on the improvements from people walking by and are pretty pleased with the results ourselves, considering there were no structural changes made.

A Short Walk Around

Cool, gray and wet fall weather arrived early. It makes for flat pictures but good walking conditions. I brought the camera today to get pictures of the mini goats perched atop the stumps but they were too busy eating to be sociable.

The mini horses had fewer distractions and trotted right over.

A nosy greeting for me.

 But the other boy isn't allowed.

Back in the yard, everything has greened up fast.

It's siesta time for the boys, saving their energy for when it's time to eat again.

 

 

An open milkweed pod releasing its seed to be carried off in the wind.

 

Clay! These are a few things I've been working on for Jason. Someday I'll get enough to do a bisque firing and glaze. Blame it on the humidity, drying is slow, but I am trying.

Rain!

Not much water, but enough to see the rain chain at work.

It looks like I lost (ahem... forgot to save) a blog post showing the finished product on the new roof, not that a roof is exciting, but here are a couple of pictures anyway. Along with the stained shingles on the dormer and bay window it really improved the looks of the house. The metal footing still needs to be finished but it will have to wait for cooler weather as working on the south side of the house gets awfully hot on a sunny day. And the battens. I guess there's still a lot to do. *sigh*

Is there anything cuter than a mini horse?

A mini goat! They are just beginning to get comfortable in their new home and come round to visit when we walk by so I will try to get better pictures.

With new roof and gutters on the rental we had to put up a rain chain. Now waiting for a big rain to see how they do. Next week we go to town putting the batten up on the siding. Well, there's a lot of measuring and cutting and priming and painting before it actually goes up so it goes pretty slowly even if we are going to town on it.

Sheep Walk

An evening walk with the sheep is so much better than stewing in front of the TV over the latest newscast.

 

The boys eat as they go and Hattie gets to be boss.

 

Today we can stroll with the horses. They run to the corner of their pasture to greet us at first sight.

 

The mini thinks the sheep are great friends.

 

But the big horse presents his back side with hoof ready to give a swift kick.

 I suppose he's disappointed when no one is impressed and decides to join the parade instead.

It's nice to take a few bites together before saying good bye.

 

Time to head back home.

 

With a final stop to help trim the oaks.

 

And get some special attention.

Waiting out the heat wave

 The roofing is done on the rental house and now we are prepping for installation of new gutters. The house was built without an overhang so gutters are essential. But of course the fascia under the old gutters is rotten so it needs to be replaced and painted, and this heat is making for miserable working conditions. How did we ever accomplish anything when we lived in the desert?

 

I have no pictures of the house today but here is one of my garden. All the flowers look washed out from the heat and bright sun, just like me.

 

Roofing Time

Big changes at the rental house. The roofers started work Wednesday. The crew foreman went up to start removing material and broke through the roof first thing. We soon learned the north side was still the old shiplap siding that was quite rotten and parts of the roof had no insulation. All of the rotten stuff was replaced and insulation was added where missing. Then Bob discovered a rotten panel on one wall that turned out to be more than expected and that needed replacing. So it's been a busy few days. Job should be completed Monday with a four man crew working on it.

Keeping fingers crossed the roof holds all these bodies!

 

Old shiplap siding and rotten area on north side of house. Picture below it shows the patch. Another plywood panel goes over the top and will be painted matching gray and eventually we'll add battens to give it a coastal look. That's a real opening porthole in the bay wall.

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Cedar shakes go on the bays. This is the north bay which is hard to picture because it is inside the fenced area. 

 

Front of house with new black roofing. The south side bay up there on the roof will be covered with cedar shakes, too. Should add some interest to our little box.

 

That's it for now.

New look

Made some changes to the style of the blog.