Cattle Carpet - GeoTextile Fabric

We found a local distributor for the cattle carpet, so we saved $200 on shipping/freight. The carpet is sold as a unit, not piece, so some think it is 'pricey.' It pays for itself, really.

Since installing it at our place in West Virginia we have not bought another load of gravel. We also installed carpet from the fence line in the parking lot, under the entire barn and overhang lean-to. Have not bought stone in four years.

No mud seep, ever. Highly recommend this application. Now we need a load or two of gravel/stonedust to top the fabric. The run-in shed will be placed on top of the gravel.

Snakes!

The weather has been delightful - had the windows open even during the day! Bright, clear days with low humidity. So not like here!

While doing barn chores I realized that the large Black Rat Snake was hiding within the clustered tools in the storage space in the barn. By the time he got into the barn, the other snake had showed itself!

These snakes tend to be rather shy. They don't want to be 'discovered' and try to blend in. The smaller one was seen lately around the house, but seems to have moved to the barn.

Both snakes were trying to get into warmer accommodations, the smaller snake had an easier time scaling the wall, the larger snake was doing chin-ups around the electrical conduit in the rafters.

The bigger snake had shed its skin recently, completely intact and inside-out, from the rafters hanging into stall #5 that is used as my hay staging area. Measured to be nearly six feet long.

Skunk And The Gang

We have an on-going war with the groundhogs and a skunk. The weather has been delightful, from time to time, and we can't leave the windows open because of the skunk.

The groundhogs have made themselves at home, expanding their estates and creating a hazard in the new horse fields. The holes go straight down for about 18 inches or more, posing a serious problem for horses. It is completely legal to kill them, any time, any day of the year, any way.

I prefer the 'bombs' from Southern States Cooperative. One hole has taken twenty-one buckets of dirt and three bombs, but still the hole was re-activated.

One evening, still light out, I took a walk down to the holes to see what the status was, and saw two groundhogs, looking back at me! I called out to him to get the gun. Yea, we're killers.

He shot at one, but missed and the other jumped in a hole. I told him to stand guard so he didn't come back out, I was going to get a bomb and some bucket of dirt and a shovel. As I was walking away I heard another shot.

He claimed he didn't get him, but the next morning there was a dead groundhog, bloated on the ground and several buzzards on the fence solemnly sitting Shiva.

The skunk hole has not been activated since we bombed it, as with the two groundhog holes near it in field #2. It is going to be war on field #3, with three new holes discovered. It's like "Caddy Shack" all over again.

Last Weekend in July - Ride Time

The weather has been delightful, so we took advantage of a great ride in the park.

Block, Bricks, Pavers

Trips to the dump - too many to count, but at least twice a day, some days three.

This area will become the 'sacrifice area' for the horses when it is too wet to be out on grass in the pastures. Horses can really cut up a field when it is wet.

Making it safe for them required to clear out the area of all that was left or dumped by the previous owners. There is also an apple tree that was next to their chronic burn pile, where pallets, with nails, were burned. The tree suffered too much stress. It does leaf out every year, but immediately goes into die-off mode, no apples have ever been produced. It will be removed, but not today.

Frequently we run an industrial strength magnet over the burn pile. So many nails are picked up, it is hard to lift the magnet. Over and over.

Box Scrapper

Finally got the box scrapper on and working the dirt. Scrapping the area where the new run-in shed will be placed, uncovering more bricks, blocks and blobs of concrete. All this detritus goes to the 'transfer station' where it is recycled. My poor little car! My poor back!

He scrapped until after dark, and we had another fantastic sunset, here at the Annapolis Rock.

Another Gate

Mostly he mowed today. Last night, after dark, we annihilated the paper wasp nest that was using the electrical tape as building structure. The nest had been steadily increasing in size and volume. He couldn't mow the grass near it because of the wasps. They are vigilant and militant.

His solution was out of a James Bond movie; he used aerosol carburetor fluid, lit with the grill lighter. The flame shot out of that can like a flame-thrower. The nest was burned to a crisp. Black ash. No signs of life. It was awesome!

He mowed all the areas that hadn't previously been cut, because we are going to put either the auger or the box scraper on the tractor. We've had a verdant summer so far.

We also went to Sykesville and Woodstock, running errands or investigative noisiness.