Homestead Update 9/11/16

Just a quick post to let you know how things are going around here. I looked out of the back door recently and I saw 9 turkeys grazing across the yard. I finished planting the deer browse and turnip green patch in the back in anticipation of the 80% chance of rain the weathermen were promising. After I hurried to get it all planted, we only got 1/10 of an inch of rain so the seeds will just lay there until we get some decent rain.

I started feeding bees with a community feeder. I hope to install the individual no-drown feeders in each hive tomorrow.

I encountered this grain truck as I was making my rounds this week. The truck came around the corner of this intersection and the trailer full of corn collapsed. I bet the driver said “Darn”!

I also encountered these pigs feeding in the edge of one of the cotton fields I check. After I took this picture, I chased them back to their pen where they belonged!

I also saw this Mini-Mansion that had burned during the past week. It reminded me to check my fire extinguishers when I got home. You always need to be prepared for fire safety. Keep prepping everyone.

No, I didn’t forget this was the 15th anniversary of the attack on 9-11. I have been watching the lip service the politicians have been giving this event over the weekend and I have been disgusted beyond words. I don’t know exactly what needs to be done with these terrorist; there is not one, easy solution. We might be able to stop the big organized attacks, but there is no way to stop all of the lone wolf attacks, so I guess we will just have to learn to live with those. We should have left Saddam in charge over there, he kept those people in Iraq under control. They were too afraid of what he would do to them to start any bull. Maybe we need to take a lesson from him? God bless America!

Electrical Fires

I started this post a couple of years ago when we still had the house in town. I decided it might not be a good idea to post this in case my insurance agent stumbled across it so I just saved it in drafts, but now it is ready. I think fire safety is especially important this time of year due to fires caused by Christmas lights and electric heaters so I am posting it now.

This is a building on the corner of downtown which burned recently. The downstairs were office buildings and upstairs was a residential apartment. A fire started from a faulty space heater; fortunately no one was injured. They are tearing it down and cleaning it up. I sure could use some of that rubble to fill in some of the gully behind the house.

We were in the process of cleaning out the last of our stuff from the old house in town. We went in recently and noticed the pump for the aquarium was not running. When I checked it out I found this sight above. This cheap electrical strip shorted out and we were very, very lucky the house didn’t catch on fire! When I saw this my stomach did a flip flop let me tell you! I’m thanking my lucky stars everything turned out OK. Do you have fire extinguishers handy? We do and so should you. Keep prepping everyone.

Homestead Update

I’ve been busy with job related tasks the last few weeks so I haven’t done much in the way of prepping.

I have attended two meetings in Nashville and three meetings in Memphis in the past few weeks. While I was on the road, I stopped in a convenience store and I saw this firewood stacked by the door. It is for sale for $5.99 per bundle, and it looks like it would take two bundles to fill a 5-gallon bucket. Man, at that rate I bet I have $3000 worth of firewood just laying on the ground behind my barn. I better get out there and cover it up with a tarp, I didn’t realize it was so valuable!

I also noticed the gas prices are going back up quickly. I think they got as low as $1.82 around here, now they are up to $2.09 at most stations. Oh well, I knew it was too good to last. I planned on getting my new diesel tank set up and filled while the prices were down, I think I better get on that next week before the prices go up any further. The weatherman is prediction snow and single digit temps for tonight, I hope he is wrong this time. P.S. As an update to this post, they are predicting 6-9 inches of snow and sleet, then freezing temps all week with one night possibly below 0! I can’t take that! I grew up in SE Arkansas about 30 miles from the Louisiana border, I am practically a Cajun!

I refilled the firewood rack on the back porch. I hope we burn a fire because we want to and not because we HAVE to. Those cold winter days with no electricity really suck, but we are prepared as well as we can be I guess.

I looked over towards the barn last night and noticed the security light was out. RATS! It burned about 2 years before the bulb burned out, but I have it replaced now.

I ordered another beekeeping book. I have three electronic beekeeping books on my ipad, but it might be handy to have a hard copy of one just-in-case.

I also just received an email from Sam’s Club about a fire extinguisher I purchased a few months ago. These units have been recalled by the manufacturer and I have to contact them to get a replacement. I hope we don’t have a fire in the meantime. I’ll probably go to Lowe’s tomorrow and get a couple to have on hand while I wait on my replacements to come in. Keep prepping everyone!

Fire Safety

When I did my last post on fire safety, someone commented on the fact I didn’t have an extinguisher in the kitchen. It reminded me to go get one. This is a special extinguisher for kitchens, that is why the tank is white instead of red. It has a special formula for grease and electrical fires; thus especially suited for kitchens. If it was up to me I would leave it sitting on the counter where it could be reached in an instant. But, I know that will not suit Sweet Thing so underneath the counter it will go. Well, at least it will be close to where it is needed if I can just remember which cabinet it is in. Be prepared!

Fire Safety

Last month I bought three fire extinguishers for our new home. I put one of them upstairs in the attic by the heating unit. I put one in the garage and I put the third one beside the fireplace. What better place to have an extinguisher than right beside an open, live fire, right?

So there it sits, right beside the fireplace for anyone to grab and use if something bad happens and the fire gets out of control. Well, Sweet Thing says “I’m not going to have that ugly, red extinguisher sitting out in the open like that.” I told her it is supposed to be out in the open so everyone can see it and be able to find it in an emergency. Now we have to camouflage it so it can’t be seen, but she says both of us will know where it is. So, she comes up with this big, heavy, ceramic Urn for me to lug into the house.

It looks like it will fit OK.

So there it sits, ready for instant use, but with all that glaring red ugliness hidden away inside a beautiful decorative Urn. Be safe everyone.

Construction Update 42

They put in the electrical service last week. Until now, we have been using electricity from a temporary service pole, this is the regular meter. I am going to paint all that grey plastic with matching brown paint. You can see where the mud is splashing up onto the bottom rows of bricks because we don’t have any grass or mulch to protect the ground. I plan on getting some bales of straw next week and spreading them out under the drip line. That will give a little protection until I can do some landscaping next year.

They also ran the gas line and installed the meter, although it is not hooked into the house yet. We are waiting for the plumber to come do that and then we can fire up the heat!

These are the men from the gas company welding the lengths of gas pipes together before they put them in the trench. They welded them together then drug them over to the trench in one long unit instead of doing it piece by piece, they said it was faster that way.

These are the AC units. They were installed 2 weeks ago but they have not been run and tested yet.

These are the heating units installed upstairs in the attic. They have not been run and tested yet either.

When they do fire up the heating units I will be ready. I bought 3 of the largest fire extinguishers that I could find. One will be kept by the heating units, which is also next to the chimney in the attic. One of the extinguishers will be kept near the fireplace and the other will be kept in the laundry room by the dryer. I will get a special unit for grease fires to keep in the kitchen. More tomorrow.

Fire Safety

Sweet Thing and I decided to do a little Christmas shopping in Memphis last weekend where we encountered this. I know a lot of people say to carry a fire extinguisher in your vehicle in case of fire. You know I am all about being prepared and safety, but I don’t carry an extinguisher in my vehicle. I have them in our home and in the barn, but I don’t carry one in the vehicles, I guess I should. But I will tell you why I don’t, it is just a safety issue. A vehicle contains a large amount of gasoline, and gasoline and fire don’t mix! I don’t want to be standing around trying to get my extinguisher out of the vehicle, or using it to put out the fire and have that gas tank burst into flames! A vehicle is not worth getting burned or even killed trying to put it out. That is one of the reasons to carry insurance, to replace the vehicle if it burns, so for my own safety, I am going to stand back away from all that gasoline while the fire is burning. Leave that job to the professionals folks! Be Safe!