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| Meet the Orange Jeep Mailman! |
He showed me where he'd like me to place the post. We talked a bit about the area. He lives two farms to the south of me. His brother lives across the blacktop from me and it turns out that his brother is the man who is farming our 80 acres directly across the street from me. The farm I am on is 160 acres but my Grandma was wise enough to buy the 80 acres across from us when it came up for sale. There's another 160-acre farm somewhere to the north of me, on the other side of town, but I haven't been there since I was a child.
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| Standard $30 mailbox |
I'm not quite sure what the Postman will do when I order large items. I supposed he'll either open the gates and leave it at my farmhouse OR he'll leave me a note in the little mailbox letting me know there is a large box awaiting me at the post office. Anybody have experience with this? The following is the video I uploaded today showing me putting up the mailbox and testing out my Coleman propane lantern during a storm.
As I was thinking of things I can be working on while waiting for the mobile home loan approval, I decided one basic thing I can do for now is use the Ford tractor (always a bonus to drive it!) and the box blade to scrape up the cow dung in the cow's watering pen. For a good 45 minutes, I scraped dung heaps for future use in our family garden. It is a nice start on some good manure. The thought of starting our first garden here on the farm is really exciting!
After that, I used the Ford to pull more metal scraps out from the dirt behind the barn. I am collecting everything in front of the barn so that it can be sorted. Stuff worth keeping for repair or reuse will stay. Stuff that is not useable with go to the recycling yard for some extra cash to use for gasoline in the tractor. I'm partial to the idea of sandblasting old farming tools and keeping them for display. I found several discs today.
I pulled the old Scouting trailer that Grandpa built around front too. It appears to be all intact, aside from the obvious bad tires. Once I put new tires on it, that trailer will be perfect for hauling wood or trash around the farm. Grandpa even built a swing open back tailgate. I'll show it on a future video for sure.
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| Specialized dart shotgun |
Just my luck, he had a downed cow yesterday while I was at work. He and the local butcher (also down the street) made quick work of the cow on the backside of the property. I wish I could have seen that! They gutted it right there on the farm and took the carcass back to Mr. Butcher's house. There are some skills that will serve my family very well. He also showed me his dart gun and medicated darts and explained what happened when he tried to stop a 300 lb calf with a Shepherd's hook (not good).
~OJD
New Farm Rules
19) The sooner you use your windshield washer button to blast the fresh bug guts off your windshield, the better chance you have of being able to SEE out the windshield for one more day. If you wait, you'll have layers upon layers of opaque bug guts blurring your vision.
20) It's much easier to take down a 300 lb calf with a dart gun than it is with a Sheppard's Hook or sometimes called a Calf Catcher. (wisdom courtesy of Cousin big D, after he was yanked out of his quad and drug face down through the stickers and sand while trying to stop a calf with said Sheppard's hook).
Back Home Report
Team Alpha is busy helping Wifey pack up all our food storage. Years ago, we were blessed enough to put aside nearly a year's worth of food. It is either dehydrated or freeze dried. Originally, we had it just sitting on top of the overhanging knockout in our kitchen. Then we started to feel like we were broadcasting to anyone that came over that we had excess food so we decided to place it inside the knockout. I wrote a post on it long ago.
Thirteen more days until I head back to get The Clan! Woo hoo!
How about a large box (wood or steel) for large mailed items. Maybe you could camouflage it to blend it somehow. Maybe have some of the old farm gear around it??
ReplyDeleteThat's not a bad idea Rob! Thanks.
DeleteOur mail carrier brings boxes to the house. At Christmas time he gets a big tip from us.
ReplyDeleteI have the larger mail box about 2x as big as the normal ones, every box the mail man (or woman) delivers fits in it so far. UPS/Fed Ex just drop them over the gate in the driveway.
ReplyDeleteMy postman is a postlady. She drives a white four door Wrangler, they must be in vogue amongst the post office people. I have an oversized mailbox, but when I get something too big for it, or the UPS man brings me something, they put the item in a big plastic trash sack and leave it at the base of the mailbox post. They call me and let me know, because they are aware that for me walking from the house, down the mountain, through the woods to the mailbox and back is part of my routine. If I got down there and something heavy was waiting I couldn't haul it back up the mountain in my arms, so when they call I take the Jeep down.
ReplyDeleteMy mail lady just drives up the 800' drive to the house and drops off the parcels too big for our mailbox. The UPS guy makes sure to drop the parcels off under the porch on the swing protecting them from rain. You will find that living in the country is like stepping back in time. People still have respect, friendly, and helpful. At least around here it is. Idaho Bill
ReplyDeleteI put in a locking mailbox in order to prevent thefts. It's a good precaution to take.
ReplyDeleteDiggin' the RoundHouse bibs your cousin is wearing! Made in Oklahoma!
ReplyDeleteFarmers/ranchers always have a scrap pile of metal, iron or old implement parts. If something breaks there will be something to weld a mend or make a fix. You are your own repair man. Don't sell the scrap iron!
ReplyDeleteI have a regular poly trash can by the front gate. UPS and FEDEX usually drop into it and slap a sticker on the side. Mail lady does to, but she puts a note in my mail so I am sure to look. The USPS has rules about opening gates to deliver so this was her idea. FWIW, I got the locking mailbox too since we have 90 day prescriptions delivered I wanted them to be safe.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get settled in the community, you may find that the UPS guy leaves your package with a neighbor. When I lived in MO, I would often have a message on my answering machine from someone saying Bernie left your package here, come over with the kids and pick it up, we'll visit awhile!
ReplyDeleteYou and your ladies are in my prayers as you do the advanced preparations and they pack up the belongings to be moved. I am very excited for all of you!
sidetracksusie
That Jeep brings back memories of the one I got shortly after I graduated college. It was a beautiful cobalt blue auto that I got for a good value at my local Jeep dealer. I even loaded it up with a nice stereo system. My girlfriend and I went to so many great places in that vehicle!
ReplyDeleteHave u chosen a site for your garden yet? Seems like access to water, good soil, & a fence to keep critters out are the main criteria. Here in SE Okla, almost everyone puts a fence about the garden to keep the hungry animals out.
ReplyDeleteCould u leave a tall kitchen bag in the mailbox for the mailman? Or leave several...
With prayers & Best wishes!