Geek Acres

Pyro

2008-07-06T12:53:00.001-07:00

IMG_3545
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

My buddy Lee, pictured here with his son, is a bit of a pyromaniac. Some people really get into Christmas others go all out on Halloween. Lee goes crazy for the fourth of July. He's pictured here next to his completely automated, fully wired, fourth of July trailer. I got some neat photos of his display in action in my photostream.

Storm damage

2008-06-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

This is one of three trees blown over in the Frisco building parking
lot at Chestnut and 65.

Driving with an Accent

2008-06-03T04:42:00.001-07:00

accent
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

Fueling the F-150 for the drive to work and back was becoming a significant expense, so as of Friday we parked the F-150 in the drive, relegated to pulling the trailer and other duties suited to the V8. When we bought the Truck in 2004 it was averaging nearly $0.10 a mile to drive. Today it runs over $0.25 a mile. With a 60 mile commute it was adding up fast.

In it's place we bought this little car, a 2002 Hyundai Accent, and I will be using it as my daily driver. It's a no frills base model with hail damage but she'll do the job!

It's a bit different driving when compared to the truck. The most obvious is the height and size difference. With my seat this low to the ground 55 mph seems quite fast, this psychologically helps offset the noticeable difference in power. The amenities and comfort level are different as well but for the savings I'll suffer through it.

In Bloom

2008-05-23T08:11:00.001-07:00

in bloom
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

This colorful medley of plants borders our driveway and front yard area. Jennifer was happy to see the Iris blooms this year as last year a late freeze had destroyed the fragile buds. Also pictured is a Knockout Rose (about center), Evening Primrose (the pink flower on the right), and Yarrow (the yellow flowers in the foreground). Also peeking out in the background are the purple flowers of the May Night variety of Salvia.

We began our Memorial Day weekend early this year. I have vacation time and know how to use it! I've taken Thursday and Friday of this week off and will be back in the office on Tuesday of next week.

Last weekend we hauled in 3 cubic yards of compost and quickly used it all up in the vegetable garden. Yesterday we used my dad's dump trailer and hauled in another 6 cubic yards. That ought to last my wife a couple more days! ;)

The vegetable garden is coming along nicely and Jennifer is having good success at the farmer's markets "in spite of herself," she says. I plan on taking some photos today. The heirloom and organic herbs are selling quite well and this weekend some unique varieties of lettuce and radish will be ready for market. Stop by the Willard Community Farmer's Market and pick some up this Saturday!

The rest of the weekend will be interspersed with fence building, irrigation system installation, hay hauling, outdoor grilling, lawn mowing, and some occasional relaxation.

Back Yard View

2008-05-04T18:36:00.001-07:00

back yard view
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

Jennifer's back yard creation is starting to come together. You can see a few of the raised beds she created in the back/side yard. She has just recently finished the Missouri Master Gardener's classes (way to go, honey!). Jennifer's a go-getter and has already put in all the required volunteer time for the year! One of her classmates scoffed at her suggestion of planting in raised beds consisting of nothing but compost. Behold the evidence presented here. Take a look at more photos of plants here.

So far this year we've had to scramble to protect all these plants (and more) from frost damage on three separate occasions. Hopefully we're done with that! (Audible sound of knocking on wood)

Look close at the photo and you can see Scarface the rooster, as well as Des our Percheron mare. Scarface is of course so-named for the Great Chicken Massacre of 2007, of which Scarface survived, sans one eye. We've been diligently closing the chicken door at night and have managed to keep the flock number steady. In fact our recent arrivals (25 new chicks) now call half of the chicken house home. I divided the house in half to let the little ones acclimate to the outside temperatures. We keep a heat lamp in one side in case they get cold. I haven't had a chance to get back to the hair-brained idea of an automated chicken door. I do still imagine it coming to fruition one day.

Hot/Cold/Green House

2008-05-04T18:26:00.001-07:00

mini greenhouse
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

I built this structure the other day... If you decide to build one, wait for the wind to die down to save yourself some frustration. I'm not sure if this is a hot-house, a cold-frame, or a mini green house. In any case it's supposed to somehow help all these little plants (you'll have to ask my wife).

To construct it I used 2x8's in fastened together in a simple rectangle. On one side I stapled weed fabric. For the hoops I attached 10' long half-inch CPVC. It was more flexible than regular half-inch PVC. We stretched plastic over the hoops and stapled through cardboard, through the plastic, and into the wooden frame. To keep the plastic from coming off the ends I used some alligator clips and rope to keep tension on the plastic from within.

First Market

2008-05-03T19:19:00.001-07:00

First Market
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

Jennifer and I loaded the explorer and headed to our first farmer's market (as a vendor). We were one of five vendors at the first Willard Community Farmer's Market. All in all we were pleased with the turn-out. The wind was blowing hard today, which made it a challenge but we'll be back next weekend with more and better plants!

Chicks

2008-04-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

chicks
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

Brown egg layers were selling for minimum of $15 a piece at the Bolivar Sale Barn a couple weekends ago. We want to ramp back up our egg production so instead of spending big money on bigger birds, Jennifer picked up some smaller birds for less from Estes Hatchery. We were down to six hens and a rooster after some predator attacks and giving some away.

Green house parts

2008-03-28T05:47:00.001-07:00

green house parts
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

It may not look like much but it sure made my wife happy. Jennifer, my parents, and I went to visit my aunt and uncle in Illinois a few weekends ago. They had two green houses that they said we could have it we come take them down. They're each about 20 x 40 feet in size.

We arrived late on a Friday night after making the 6 hour drive. On Saturday we awoke to snow on the ground and freezing temperatures. This was no matter for us though, we came prepared with warm clothes and power tools. An pneumatic impact wrench made short work of the rust bolts and nuts. We were able to take the two green houses completely down and load them securely on the trailer in about 10 hours. Not too bad for a bunch of amateurs. The area behind the pile of metal in the picture is where one of the greenhouses will go.

In a previous post snapped a picture of a plant auction and you can see some of those pots in the background above. Jennifer is already busy tending and preparing these plants for sale. We plan on hitting some of the farmers markets and perhaps an auction or two once the plants have developed. Longer term Jennifer is starting a new venture growing heirloom vegetables as organically as possible. There seems to be a lot of excitement and interest in this market, hopefully the hard work will pay off. In the mean time, Jennifer is finishing up her master gardener's program and has been enjoying it immensely.

From the Grassy Knoll

2008-02-15T12:19:00.001-08:00

From the Grassy Knoll
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

Not exactly farm related... I was in Dallas on business this week. Having arrived early and finished setting up our booth a few of us wandered down to Dealey Plaza where President Kennedy was assassinated. There were several other curious tourists as well as several peddlers of memorabilia and opinions on conspiracy theories. We listened to one gentleman's tale who promptly asked for a donation. Having enjoyed the monologue we each offered up what we thought was a fair donation.

Pictured here is the "X" that marks where the fatal head shot struck the president. The view is from behind the fence on the grassy knoll, the supposed spot of the second gunman.

Our sweet boy

2008-01-28T15:26:00.001-08:00

Dobie After
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

The fateful day came last week, January 23, 2008. Jennifer arrived home to find Dobie not doing well. His heart wasn't able to keep up and his lungs had filled with fluid. Over these weeks his dosage of medications had continued to climb. His original prognosis, back in October of 2007 was "maybe two weeks."

It was a constant struggle for us to balance his quality of life and our own selfish needs to keep our boy in this world with us. He had many good days playing with us and animating that personality we love so much. We worried we were being selfish, our vet told us we will know when it is time. On this Wednesday in January the balance tipped away from our own needs to Dobie's needs.

Dobie went to sleep for the last time in Jennifer's lap on the couch he loved. We couldn't have asked for a more peaceful end; our deepest heartfelt thanks to Dr. John Mozier.

Dobie rests now in a spot over-looking the pasture where he often would lie and take in the sun.

It's been dark and cold in our home since he passed. Maybe time will make it easier, but there will always an empty spot in our hearts that Dobie filled.

There will never be another one like him. He was the kindest, most loyal and loving soul I've ever known.

My only comfort is knowing someday I'll see him again.

We love you, Dobie Do.

Mr. Mellon

2008-01-14T17:57:00.001-08:00

Mr. Mellon
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

I rarely call any of our animals by their given names, unless they're in trouble. Gelleon, pictured here, had to go to the vet today. We came home from a trip to the feed store to find a glass casserole dish shattered on the kitchen floor.

Gelleon was bleeding from his mouth. We called the vet who told us that it's a rather common thing to hear about and to feed the dogs wadded up balls of bread to help coat any small pieces they might have eaten. Mr. Mellon couldn't keep the bread down and kept gagging, so off to the vet he went. Dr. Mozier examined him and observed him for most of the day. He was sent home with some prescription dog food.

He seems to be all right now, but we'll going to have to be extra careful with what we leave on the counters.

Stuff like this always happens when I take the day off from work.

New arbor

2008-01-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

My cousin Aaron helped me build Jennifer's birthday present shown here.

Green house auction

2008-01-05T15:07:00.000-08:00

Jennifer just bought most of the plants in the picture. They're
dormant for those of who are horticulturally-challenged.

Test mobile blogging from iPhone

2007-12-28T20:33:00.000-08:00

I thought I would try out some mobile blogging.

Automated door for chicken house

2007-12-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

Since the chicken massacre earlier in the year, Jennifer or I (mostly Jennifer) have had to make sure to be home at dusk to close the chickens up in their house. The chickens always go in their house after dark. It' not something we really had to do anything special to make happen, which is nice.

The raccoons become active after dark though and thats when the chickens are most vulnerable. Lately it's becoming a bit of a pain to make sure someone is home right at dusk. We've had our friendly neighbors close the door on more than one occasion. So that got me to thinking of a solution to the problem. One solution which crossed our minds is to get rid of them, but then all the work of building them a home would be for nothing. Besides, we like the chickens, and it doesn't seem right to get rid of scar face after he's come back from such dismal odds (he's back to crowing even!). So I got the idea of an automatic door. Right now I open and close the walk-through door each day, but there's always stuff in the way of the door that requires a sweep of the foot. Luckily the walk through door has a dog door already installed.

A buddy of mine at work loves this kind of stuff so I posed the problem to him. At first we were thinking a rack and pinion type setup with a gear driving a rack of teath to open the door. The current plan is to use a long threaded rod in a screw-driven type fashion. The diagram here (minus the homer head) was the result of a quick brain-storming session. There have since been many revisions to the drawing (such as the fact that the bolt is currently in the way of the door). The door will probably be built using drawer slides. A nut will be welded on a bracket that can be attached to the door. The threaded rod will spin in the nut raising it up and down.

The difficulty lies in the electronics really. The specs are as follows:

I want the door to close and open on a timer (open at dawn, close at dusk)
The motor needs to stop running when the door is fully open or fully closed
The door must be secure when shut, gravity holding the door down isn't enough to keep a raccoon out.

With that in mind are there any guesses as to what the device pictured here does? (Sorry for the poor camera phone picture quality.)

Technorati tags: Geek Acres, farm, automated chicken door

Dobie Do

2007-11-19T10:13:00.001-08:00

Dobie Do
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

I took this picture of Dobie and Suey a few weeks back. Jennifer tied my flannel shirt around Dobie's neck and he had a good time with it. Our boy is doing well, despite the diagnosis. We cherish every day with our Dobie Do.

Des is home from the trainer, but we're still without a saddle that will fit her. Dressage tack is so unnecessarily expensive in my opinion. We bought a saddle sight unseen, and it turned out to not be so great. The seller threw in some synthetic stirrup leathers and stirrup irons though, and we found out the irons are of really good quality and are probably worth more than the saddle itself. Oh well, to ebay we'll go with the saddle and be happy with the irons.

From ice comes fire

2007-11-16T11:04:00.001-08:00

from ice comes fire
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

I finally got around to burning a brush pile that I created of debris from the 2007 ice storm. I threw on several pieces of scrap lumber from various projects which really cleaned up a spot next to the garage.

Ford 600

2007-11-16T10:55:00.001-08:00

Ford 600
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

My dad, ever the bargain hunter, found this tractor at an auction. He couldn't pass up the deal, knowing we're "farming" with out a tractor to call our own and bought it for us. He got a heck of a deal. The tractor is a Ford 600 series. I'm not yet sure on the exact model (I haven't yet seen it in-person as the tractor is having a tune up at the moment at the shop) but it does have a 3-point hitch and a PTO. From my initial research I've learned that this tractor was probably manufactured in the 50's and from the pictures my dad took, it looks to be most if not completely original. I've toyed with the idea of restoring it to it's former glory.

On the homestead we've been clearing fence lines. Fifteen years of neglect has let some nasty brush grow up in the line, making it difficult to maintain. The honey locust trees are horrible pains to remove, especially when they've grown so close together. We're actually considering running some goats on part of the pasture. Which reminds me I need to pick up the goat books I reserved at the library,,,

The rooster and flock are doing well. No more raccoon incidents. Scarface, as I'm calling the rooster, has even returned to his crowing (despite missing an eye and just looking plain ugly).

Jennifer recently rode in a dressage clinic and was very encouraged by the clinicians comments. It makes me happy to see her happy about her progress and accomplishments.

New blogs

2007-11-09T05:47:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon a couple of blogs worth some attention.

Woody of Woodys Rocky Ridge left a comment on my post about our Percheron mare at the trainer. He's recovering from a broken hip (ouch!) from a Belgian mare, but that's not stopping his blogging...

From Woody's site I noticed another kindred technology-geek living the farm life. The Transformation: DBA to Hillbilly chronicles the life of a former Database Administrator turned homesteader.

Technorati tags: Geek Acres, farm, tag

Dressage Saddle Lessons

2007-11-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

We are absolutely having a heck of a time finding a dressage saddle for to fitDes. I never before considered the fact that a saddle should fit the horse's back in addition to it's rider's butt.

Jennifer has been training in dressage at Taura while leasing a horse that is stabled there. The horse's owner is graciously letting Jennifer use her saddle. Of course this saddle wouldn't even come close to fitting Des.

We found a good quality saddle locally, used, but it won't fit either. Other than that, we've been out of luck on the local scene. We used craigslist and found one in Deleware that is her size. We saw a few pictures and the price was decent, so we ordered away. Upon getting it, Jennifer noticed that there was a large "bump" on the saddle, right where her legs would be. She hasn't had a chance to try it out yet, but is sure that it's going to bother her and her horse. That's bad. After some research I learned that it's actually the stirrup bars, which is under the skirt of the dressage saddle. The bars on the saddle she's used to are recessed, and reduce the bump in the skirt.

Now we know. And maybe someone else getting into the dressage sport will find this on a search and learn from our mistake!

Technorati tags: Geek Acres, farm, dressage

Des at the trainer

2007-11-07T05:45:00.001-08:00

Des at the trainer
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

Des has been at the trainer for nearly a month. She's quite the celebrity there. Everyone who visits the farm has to go by and pet her. After a week of ground work the trainer, Dan Dyke, thought she was ready to ride.

We'll be bringing Des home in the next few weeks, and Jennifer can trade that western saddle for her dressage saddle.

Poor guy

2007-10-21T20:31:00.001-07:00

IMG_8238
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

We've had a varmit problem recently that's forced us to start closing the door to the chicken house each night at dusk. I open the door before I leave for work, which recently corresponds to just after dawn. Last week I discovered one of the chickens didn't make it back into the house before I closed the door and was killed on the door step of the chicken house. I felt bad about accidentally leaving one out and her getting eaten.

The following evening Jennifer and I failed to close the door right at dusk, and four more chickens suffered at the hands of what can only be raccoons. Unfortunately, our lone rooster was mauled pretty bad. I think I caught the varmits in the act when I went out to close the door. The rooster 's still around and feels well enough to do us, uh, ahem, "roosterly" duties, despite half of his face missing. We just can bring ourselves to put him out of his misery and I don't think our vet will do a rooster euthanasia.

Too late

2007-10-18T18:48:00.001-07:00

storm
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

Last night a series of storms traveled Northeast, sliding just south of us. Jennifer, the dogs, and myself waited it out the basement. When the reports had the storm past us we came up to see a tornado on the horizon to the east of us. I was about 5 seconds too late to capture the funnel cloud... No damage or injuries on the home front.

Dobie Do

2007-10-08T10:32:00.001-07:00

Dobie Do
Originally uploaded by duanekeys

We had a rough week last week. We learned that Dobie has cardiomyopathy, an enlarging and weakening of the heart. We were told our sweet boy only has at most 6 months to live. We've got him on medicine, a special diet, and lots of TLC. We're making the most of every moment until that fateful day comes.

Dobie's life has been all about beating the odds... We're hoping that continues!