Non-Stop Work

 

   

Today I went into work at 4:00. I fed the barn cats and the cows on my way to work. After work I had to get some gas and then I stopped by the farm and checked on the cows and fed them before I got home. Our neighbor stopped by and bought some syrup, and then I got my mud boots on and headed up to the farm. I unhooked the back blade from our 584 tractor and then tried to start it, only to find out the battery was dead. I instead got the 784 started and headed back up to the house. I hooked up to our old sap wagon which had plastic totes on it and brought it up to the back door of the house. I ran a hose from the backroom sink into the front tote on the wagon, and filled it with 100 gallons of water about 90 degrees. After that got filled, I headed back up to the farm because I forgot a short piece of hose with a fitting that attaches to the totes to drain them. My dad's aunt was up here at the farm and was loading hay up into her truck. I helped load over half of the 33 bales for her. I got the hose and then took off back to the woods. I pulled up to the shack and got the pump out and brought it over by the bulk tanks. I hooked the hoses up and then carried the hose up the ladder to the raised tank and put it in. I pumped maybe 20 gallons of water into the tank, and then I got a big bucket and put about 6 gallons in that. I brought that and a brush up with me as well, and then when I was ready to get into the tank, I switched out my boots for clean ones. I scrubbed with the brush all the sides and walls and even the ceiling of the tank. After I had everything scrubbed clean and all the sediment freed up, I picked that bucket of water up from the outside of the tank and got it into the tank. I used a small pan as a scoop, and I threw the water on the sides to give it a final rinse. I was sweating even without a coat on because the hot water combined with moving and no ventilation heated things up. After it had all been rinsed, I climbed back out and put my muddy boots back on. I climbed down and then did the same thing to the other tank on the ground level. By the end of this one, my back was hurting from having to bend over for a long time. After I finished the bottom tank, I used the remaining water and pumped it in really fast, so it was like a fire hose and gave both tanks a complete final rinse down on the inside and a rinse off on the outside. I then unhooked and drained everything and put away what I used. 

Inside of The Cleaned Bulk Tank

I drove up from the woods and came up to the farm where I pulled the tractor and sap wagon into the tractor barn. I went into the other barn and fed my cows some hay again, and then I got the hoses out and began to fill a water tank. It started raining by now, so I worked inside the barn cleaning up one of the small pens. I threw out trash and put stuff on a skid to be moved later. After the tank filled, I blew the hoses out and hung them up and then I came home a bit later. Paul stopped by and bought some syrup and then left. I got 25 lbs of pork out and then headed back up to the farm for a quick minute to get our old meat grinder which weights a ton. I got it set up in the kitchen and then my sister and I cut up the pork butt to be ground up. All the ground meat was put into a porcelain tub and later dad mixed in the breakfast sausage flavor seasonings. Another friend of ours stopped by and bought some syrup and honey. I came up to the farm after 8:00 and fed my cows hay for the night and then I bedded them lightly with some straw. I came home and put 25 pieces of wood on the fire and then came inside to get ready for tomorrow.