Jan
2009
Snow: Five inches in three hours
January 25th, 2009 at 08:36 pm by Shari Thomas in About Beryl, Around the Farm, Chickens, Dogs, Family Cow, Horses, Sheep, WeatherShortly after dinner, Cindy suggested we feed, even though is was about an hour early. Good thing we went out when we did. The wind was already sustained from the south-southeast at better than 20 mph.
We got the chickens fed, and closed in again (with high winds we keep their door closed), and turned our attention to the rest of the animals. As I tossed a couple flakes of hay into the cow and calf, I couldn’t help but think of the Arnold Palmer Classic Golf Tournament, where they had sustained winds in excess of 30 mph. Talk about golf balls going where you didn’t want them… the hay didn’t exactly land where I wanted it, either.
On to the sheep… C’mon girls, go that way so I can throw the hay over here and miss your woolly coats. You’ve done well this year. Maybe your wool will be worth a little more with less alfalfa tangled in it.
Cindy fed and watered the horses and called our two dogs back to the house. By then, it we spitting rain and we still had to reposition a couple bales of hay at the cow stack. With that done quickly, we stopped by the hen house to gather the eggs and head inside.
Within about 45 minutes, it was snowing… hard! It’s been doing that now for the past three hours. Weatherbug tells me we’re supposed to have five to 10 inches by tomorrow night.
Hmmm, we already have five inches and there’s a lot more storm to come yet. Bev’s not gonna have much fun tomorrow, digging out to go to work, only to have to dig the Senior bus out, too.
We’re even expecting a thunderstorm or two this evening… better known as “Thunder-snow”. Right now it’s 29.5 degrees. The wind had shifted to the northwest about time the snow started. That’s our indication that the front has passed. Never mind the jet stream is going the opposite direction.
I know one thing, the “arctic dogs”… Sarah the Finnish Spitz, and Koda the part Siberian Husky, would rather remain indoors, while our two lab crosses just love the snow. The shepherd… she’s not sure but will go play as long as someone else goes first.
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Oct
2007
Welcome to my new home…
October 16th, 2007 at 01:03 pm by Shari Thomas in About this SiteFor all you intrepid readers of Shari’s Gone Country… welcome!
I’m still putting the finishing touches here, such as hooking up the photo gallery, and creating truly workable tags, but I’ve moved all the old posts from Blogger. I’m sorry about not moving the comments, but was unable to totally control all the variables.
If I find a way to move the comments and maintain all the integrity (IP addresses, dates, usernames, etc) I will do so in the future, as I’m not readily deleting that blog, simply redirecting it here.
Watch for posts regarding our activities this past week… it’s been another wild ride!
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Oct
2007
All About Me
October 11th, 2007 at 08:25 pm by Shari Thomas in UncategorizedOver the next few weeks, I’ll be posting an autobiography.
Why? Well, because I believe you’ll find my story inspiring… and hopefully, you’ll discover no matter what you’ve done in life, there’s always more to be done.
I’ve got it pretty much written (had it posted on the domain in past years) but need to polish it a bit… that translates to take out some of the “sales talk” from a past life. I’m sure you won’t mind a bit if that stuff has gone missing.
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Oct
2007
One more “to do” project DONE!
October 11th, 2007 at 12:45 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Chickens, Horses, SheepYeah, I know… it’s been nearly a week since I last posted.
Here’s why… another one of those simple, “dig a trench, lay a water line, cover it up” and you’re done projects.
First, to bring you up to date… we didn’t get any snow over the weekend, but it was pretty cold on Saturday. We pretty much “hid out” inside that day. I guess you could say we kind of took most of the day off, with both football and baseball games on the TV.
Sunday was more of the “get ready for winter” stuff, and that included work on the compost pile. Bev and I spent about three hours cleaning the horse pen and stalls so we’d have hot, fresh manure to add to the compost pile. When the wind came up, we declared ourselves done for the day.
Monday, I hand cut cucumbers, onions, tomatillos, green tomatos and sweet red peppers so we could can “sweet relish”. Got enough for nearly 8 quarts. Yes, we can our relish by the quart since we use it so much. We managed to get the first 4 quarts done before running out of spices… and even though we’d already run to the corner store… 17 miles one way, we were content to make do with alternate spices for the next 4 quarts.
Tuesday, we spent the day getting ready for our neighbor, Ray to bring his big backhoe over for the “trench project”. The first issue we always have here, is where do all these old irrigation lines go, and what happens if we cut one? Do we have a geyser?
Bev and I cleaned the big hole we’d excavated last spring. This is the one next to the chicken coop, where the first frost-free hydrant will go. In the process, we found a one-inch galvanized line (about 36 inches deep) heading somewhat north from below the nipple for the frost free. Where the hell does it go? What does it feed? We know it’s a “charged line”.
We tried several times to locate the line, even having Ray do a couple of “pot holes”, but were unable to locate it. Oh well… we’ll just have to keep an eye on any wet spots, or if we here the well pump running at odd times.
By dark Tuesday, we’d managed to dig about 25 feet of the trench. I has to be 36 inches deep to be below the frost line here. It was particularly difficult as the chicken run limited access with the backhoe… no room for the stabilizers.
Add to that we just knew there were two lines about 6 or 8 inches below the surface that we had be locate, cut and cap. Again, no idea if they were hot, or charged… or even where they came from or went. Cindy and I had both encountered them when we were trenching in the chicken run… just 8 inches from where this really deep trench was going.
We probed, we tickled the dirt with the backhoe to no avail… Those lines weren’t to be found
Yesterday, we really settled in to all the hard work. This trench is 60 feet long, 36 inches deep, and better than a foot wide… dug in very sandy soil. The real “hard pan” is at about 30 inches, so that meant the backhoe really had to chew hard, and since Ray couldn’t get a direct (inline) shot at the trench, it often meant he was chewing from the broadside.
That meant the trench walls would semi-collapse with each “chew” to go deeper… Enter the “three-man”… well one man, one fat woman, and one young boy… shovel crew. I gotta’ tell you… I really didn’t know I could do all that! I shoveled in that trench for about 5 hours, until finally we had it deep enough, and could move to the next step.
By then, Bev had come home from work… just in time to miss the shovel detail. That’s ok… her job was to help Ray with the plumbing… cut all the PVC, and configure all the valves and angles.
We needed hay to insulate the lines. The worst hay was in the horse barn, so off we go with the backhoe. Now, I had two choices… walk to the horse barn in the 30 mph wind with all the dust swirling from the backhoe, or jump up on it, and ride on the fender. This old lady actually got on the backhoe and rode… both directions! No small feat when you consider all the “lead in my butt”.
Ok, hay in the trench, water line laid, time to backfill. Once again, we’ve got the same issue… The backhoe can only get “so close” and is unable to really compact the fill. I’ll be raking, and watering for weeks.
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Oct
2007
It’s October, and we’re expecting SNOW!
October 5th, 2007 at 12:44 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, WeatherHere it is, the first Friday in October, and we have a 50% chance of snow tonight. Needless to say, we’ve been putting things away, cleaning up the garden area, and adding both manure and mulch to protect the soil.
Yesterday brought high winds and a dust storm. I was out in it, feeding and watering the animals. You could chew the air, it was so gritty. We’ve had a little wind damage, which we’ll repair this evening shortly before dark. The wind is forecasted to lay down a bit, and that will make it easier to put plywood panels back in place on the stable.
Tomorrow, we have to head down to the Beryl Community Center and sign up for our “care and share” boxes tomorrow. Because we’re considered “low income”, we get a couple of monthly food “drops”. Between them and the meals from the Enterprise Senior Center, we’re able to keep the food bill to a reasonable level.
Cindy will be out of work in about three weeks, so we really have to wrap up all the projects (at least the ones that cost money). That includes get the farm truck here, purchase one more frost-free hydrant and get both the chicken and sheep hydrants installed, and get the tin for at least the stable, if not the chicken coop.
After that, we’ll be limited to simply paying the existing bills and barely keeping our heads above water over the winter. At least Bev will be working all winter and she has gained some extra hours as well as a raise.
Time to return to work on “The Four Country Gals“, the book/blog I’m writing about how we all got together, and then got to where we are.
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Oct
2007
I’ve been working, not just playing!
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:43 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Chickens, Horses, Sheep, WeatherOk, I know… it’s been way too long since I brought you up to date about things here at “The Four Country Gals”‘ little spread. I really do spend a fair amount of time “out and about” with the animals, and my roommates.
With excellent weather this past weekend, we worked to get as much protection up for the horses as possible. Oh, we also spent time in training with both Dakota and Dusty.
I’m working with Dakota, who really believes she’s a “pocket pony”. While I love her to death, I’m really working to get her out of my personal “hoola hoop” space. It’s gonna take a while, since she’s a real lover. Together, we’re working on “back” as well as “yield your hindquarters” correctly. That means pick up your inside hind foot and cross it over in front of your other hind foot.
Cindy spent some real quality time with Dusty, and lo and behold… She actually got on him.
All by herself, she saddled him, prepared him for weight with the “jump, jump, jump” and lay across his back. He was such a perfect gentleman, she took time out to get Bev and the camera… just in case.
Here’s the proof! She’s up in the saddle. Looks like she really belongs there, too.
Oh, the chickens… well, they’re laying up a storm, to the point that Mom has asked me to post ads for her… Farm Fresh Brown Eggs For Sale as low as $1.75/doz. We’re getting anywhere from 8 to 10 eggs a day… more than any of us should eat.
Our sheep are still getting fatter. Sure wish I could tell if they’re really pregnant or just getting fat. I’m giving them until October 20 before I turn Algernon (our ram) loose with the ewes. If they aren’t preggie now… they will be all winter!
Yesterday afternoon we had our first “disaster” of sorts. The greenhouse blew apart. We had been aware (to the point of filing a claim against the warranty) that we had wind/sun damage to the greenhouse cover.
Earlier this week, we received a replacement cover, which we’ve not yet installed, as we were busy with the horses, and also waiting for the right time… gotta have little to no wind to install the cover.
Anyhow, yesterday we had a huge windstorm with gusts somewhere around 50. The greenhouse was up when I gathered eggs at 2:30pm and it was down when I went to feed at 4:45pm.
When Bev and Cindy got home, we at least stabilized what we could and laid down both end covers to prevent further damage. I feebly suggested we should maybe move things in case it rained. With a 40% chance of rain, my idea was ignored… not the smartest thing to do.
In about 2 hours, we had a series of hellacious thunderstorms roll through the valley. Lightening took out our new DSL connection for over 3 hours. We got close to a quarter inch of rain… see, I told you so!
Mom checked things over this afternoon and was very relieved to have only lost one small box of “plant food”. Everything else that got wet was ok, so there’s no dog house visits for any of us today.
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Oct
2007
Yes! Small Town Living has published my article
October 1st, 2007 at 12:41 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Horses, UncategorizedOver the weekend, Small Town Living, an online magazine dedicated to promoting a simpler life and small town America released their latest issue.
“Oh give me a home…” can be found on page 21 of this fantastic bi-monthly magazine.
Just so you know I’m not the only one published… you can learn how to grow winter squash… with enough to share with your neighbors. There’s also some awesome recipes for Acorn Squash.
Got bats in your belfry? You don’t? Maybe you should. There’s a whole article on the value of having some “local bats”.
If you’ve got the hankering to carve pumpkins, you’ll find tips and ideas for creating that special face as well as ways to stay safe.
Oh, and if you love the Appalachian Trail… then you really want to grab this issue.
So, what is “Oh give me a home…” all about? I’d tell ya… but then you might get lazy and not click on the link to Small Town Living.
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Sep
2007
With the Seniors to Bryce Canyon
September 28th, 2007 at 12:36 pm by Shari Thomas in Exploring UtahYesterday was a long day. I went with the Senior Citizens from the Enterprise Senior Center to Bryce Canyon National Park.
It was about 170 miles each way and took nearly three hours to get there.
We had lunch at Ruby’s Inn a delightful destination resort. They’ve been open since before Bryce Canyon was declared a National Park.
All told, there were seven of us including Bev (my roommate) and myself. She drove us to all the major “points” so we could get out and explore the sites. You can see the “untitled” pictures here.
Having left the house shortly after sunrise (before 8AM) we didn’t arrive home again until shortly before sunset (7:30 PM).
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Sep
2007
Water rights… stop the abuse of power
September 27th, 2007 at 12:35 pm by Shari Thomas in About Beryl, Water RightsThis post is a personal opinion by a resident of Escalante Valley. It is also posted in conjuction with Bloggers’ Unite, and effort to bring world-wide attention to abuse of all kinds.
I’ve done a little research on this issue of suddenly needing to restrict the use of water in Escalante Valley, Utah.
In the state of Utah, water is public property, and to use it personally, you must purchase “water rights”. Typically, they are sold by the acre-foot (325.8 thousand gallons). You purchase that right for a lifetime, to use annually.
Over the years, the State Water Engineer has established water usage “duties” as well as the formulas determining how much water it takes to do certain activities, like irrigation. The duty for irrigation water in this valley is four acre-feet of water per acre of crop, no matter the crop, or the irrigation method.
In our valley, the most prevalent crop is alfalfa. Corn and potatoes comprise less than 20% of total crop production. Also, of all the water used, less than 10% of the water rights are dedicated to domestic or culinary use.
The State Water Engineer has been tasked with the requirement to establish Ground Water Management Plans for various regions in Utah. The Beryl-Escalante Aquifer has been singled out as an example of “water mining”. That is the unique situation where far more water appears to be removed annually that is re-charged by natural runoff.
Here’s what I find interesting.
Water users, including the large irrigation users do not meter their water. Home users don’t meter their water. So just exactly how do you really know how much is being used?
The State Water Engineer bases his figures on how many “water rights” have been sold and recorded with the state. It shows there are approximately 83,000 acre-feet of water rights issued in the Beryl-Escalante Valley Basin.
Best “guesstimates” are an annual re-charge rate of some 33,000 acre feet.
Unfortunately, there is no credit for conservation of water. The State Water Engineer’s office makes no distinction for the difference of using a “corn gun” vs using drip irrigation, or even calculation the savings generated by simply lowering the sprinkler heads on the large pivot wheels.
Their water usage tables are way out of whack when it comes to how much water is used for watering farm animals. We water three horses, nine sheep, and just under two dozen chickens. We control the water we use by always putting the water into measured containers.
Our horses rarely drink more than 15 gallons per horse per day, and yet the calculations say we are using 75 gallons per day.
Our entire herd of sheep rarely drink more than 20 gallons per day and yet, the State Water Engineer declares the sheep drink 45 gallons per day.
Our chickens rarely collectively consume more than 4 gallons of water per day, and yet the forumlas say our chickens consume nearly 18 gallons per day.
So, if we use about half or so of what we’re allowed, what happens when that figure is multiplied across the valley population?
The large water users have formed a group called the Escalante Valley Water Users Association. They have come up with a plan that is unprecedented in Utah history. In addition to actively working to conserve water usage, they are willing to participate 50/50 with the state to repurchase and retire up to 20% of the existing water rights.
That is a much more palatable solution than the one proposed by the State Water Engineer. His solution is to cut off water rights for anyone who’s rights are dated more recently than 1941. That solution would take away virtually all the domestic water rights. With no domestic rights, homes become unfit for occupancy and millions of dollars worth of property become worthless overnight.
The State Water Engineer has been routinely rejecting any plan offered by the Escalante Valley Water Users Association. I personally believe that after the meeting this last Monday night, at which almost all the local legislators pledged their whole-hearted support… things may change.
If in fact, the State Water Engineer is being short-sighted and heavy-handed to the point of abusing the valley… things could get very exciting.
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Sep
2007
Results of the Local Water Users Meeting
September 26th, 2007 at 12:34 pm by Shari Thomas in About Beryl, Water RightsWe (along with about 300 other local residents) attended a meeting presented by the Escalante Water Users Board. This is a group of large agricultural users who have been diligently working on a plan to stimulate water conservation and also to assist the state by developing a plan to re-purchase and retire “water rights”
Seems that the largest issue surrounding the plan offered by the Water Users is that the Utah State Engineer, who is personally and solely in charge of administering Ground Water Management Plans, feels the plan is “woefully short” of goals set forth by the State Legislature.
Basically, the state passed a Ground Water Management Law that says “The State Engineer may establish Ground Water Management Plans where necessary for conservation to reach a “safe usage level”… and that he shall consider any and all economic impact to the local water users.
The Escalante Desert Valley sits atop an aquifer who’s size has yet to be fully determined. We know that in the 1950’s average well water levels were around 46 feet. Today, the average well level (as determined by 11 monitored wells out of thousands) the water level is closer to 90 feet.
Since most wells are drilled to about 200 feet, no one really knows for sure how deep the aquifer really runs. No one knows for sure how long it takes for the mountain snow to re-charge this underground lake either.
Now the State Engineer would love to exercise the “easy solution” quite soon. That would be to come to “safe usage” within a matter of a few years. After all, he could say this is what he was directed to do, and he did it.
Utah law provides that water rights and the restrictions of their usage is based on “first priority” by date. For all practical purposes, to return to “safe usage” in the near future, anyone who owned water rights dated any more recently than the end of 1941 would lose the right to use water… even if it meant they’d have no domestic (culinary) water right.
That means a person’s home would become immediately unfit for occupancy, and financially worthless. That would affect hundreds of homeowners throughout the valley.
For further information on this “abuse” of power by the State Engineer, check the latest article, written by Mitch Cole a resident of Beryl Junction and member of The Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.
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