#homestead — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #homestead, aggregated by home.social.
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Another thing that was in the crooked shack (the one with the useful beams) was this pile of dried bundles of reeds.
No idea what these were collected for here. Don't think I've seen many thatched roofs around. No, I don't want to build one either.
What to do with this? Someone spent a lot of effort gathering and bundling them.
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Back to foundation work. Guide string and depth gauge out and hacked away the clay to the right level. That last bit is always manual work.
Pulled out the grounding rod for the old phone line, which was pounded in deep along the foundation.
Then some rock drilling and hammering anchors for connecting rock and concrete and I even got the long glass rebar pieces in before it got too dark.
Finally threw some improvised cover over the hole as tomorrows forecast is for heavy rain and I don't need to wade around in a mud pit the day after.
Oh, those Colorado spruces I felled because they were too close? Found their roots. Under the foundation rocks. So they did indeed have to go.
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Looks seedy.
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Another sleep deprived night, this time on account of #Knirps having a 4am dance party.
Strong morning coffee and back into the trench, patching the poor house up.
Cleaned out most of the rot and fitted a support for the window post that is somehow still intact, then moved the exterior brace over to a smarter place, after much thought.
Mortared the back gaps a bit, stuffed in some reclaimed slag wool, OSB on top and cladding back on to hide my bodge.
Its not great, obviously the beams still need replacing once we find some and are ready to make a huge hole in the living room wall. But it'll last the winter.
Ready to resume work on the foundation, which is what I actually was planning to do. Alas, tomorrow the usual flood resumes. 😫
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Well, that sucked. I cut away a section of the cladding to see how far the hole goes. Its partway up the window. Must've leaked for 50+ years, the beams are gone entirely, up to the backing strips of the plaster in the living room. Something has been living in there as well.
The rest of the wall luckily was not so bad. One more long small beam replacement on the bottom.
Then I cleaned up the big hole and went looking for at least one big beam. Found one too short, one too narrow and one too moist. Saw a baby racoon dog though, which was very cute.
So I spliced in what I had, another of the small beams at the outer bottom. Better than nothing. Then a big beefy 14x7 brace on the outside so I can sleep again, which I could not last night.
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Big fucking hole in the house, but at least the weather is nice and the apples getting ripe.
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Picked the #blackberries from my driveway, the #figs from behind the house, and the #apples from the nearby public fountain.
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Beans did great this year, we ate loads, froze some and they just kept coming.
Peas are done, we let some dry for seeds and tore out the plants and supports.
The last two surviving sweetcorn cobs were the largest and so got plucked and peeled to dry for seeds.
Also got seeds from the two tobacco plants that popped up randomly after we dug over the former greenhouse for the first time. Nobody here smokes, but I'm kinda curious to experiment with them.
Cucumbers are done too.
Even managed to save a few hazelnuts from the mad squirrels this year.
Just pumpkins, sunflowers and apples left now. And the apples are pretty sour still. Not enough sun. Endless rain.
#Homestead #Harvest #Garden #Beans #Peas #Sweetcorn #Tobacco #Pumpkin #Cucumber #Hazelnuts #SeedSaving
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Back to the foundation job. Cut off the lengths of rebar I need and then managed to tame the garden ornament back into an orderly roll with the help of quite a lot of (re-usable) zip-ties.
The excavator got a quick check and grease-up. Did find some chafe where the two lowest hydraulic hoses for the arm are rubbing on a pin. There is some protection on them but it was chafing through that. Added another layer on top, insulation from an old thick power cable.
#Homestead #Foundation #Renovation #MiniExcavator #Rebar #DIY #Maintenance
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Snacks from the garden.
Some did not grow very big, but the last two that aren't ripe yet are much bigger for some reason. Perhaps they did like the extra rain. But they're all tasty :)
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Stumps hauled off and raked the dirt flat a bit.
Or as they say in Lithuanian: Man rake ya![sorry 😬]
#Homestead #Stump #Removal #Yard #MiniExcavator #Tractor #Rake
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Waiting for my concrete to cure on the south side. Meanwhile I can prepare the next.
Gotta get rid of these two stumps and the roots stretching towards the house and under the extension there.
You might think this is easy with an excavator and maybe with a 30 ton one it is. But with our 1 ton machine it takes time. It can only break smaller roots, big ones had to be sawn. Then dig all around and finally underneath to cut the roots going straight down.
Even when the stump wiggles around a lot it is still held firmly by those. Finally the first came out, I filled the hole and tackled the second.
My poor chainsaw needs a deep clean and sharpen now. Won't bother smoothing the terrain here as I will just dump the foundation dig on it soon.
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Hmm, could use some kind of dumper right about now 😅
Also some new wheels and tyres for this thing. Those are really hard to find (at a non-ridiculous price, that is).
Anyone got some Simson moped wheels laying around they don't need?
#Digging #Hauling #Dirt #Homestead #DIY #Dumper #Wheelbarrow #Simson
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Let’s Harvest Some Organic Fruits, Veggies, and Herbs https://www.diningandcooking.com/2718934/lets-harvest-some-organic-fruits-veggies-and-herbs/ #BackyardGarden #garden #GardenHarvest #GardenToTable #Gardening #GrowYourOwnFood #harvest #HomeGarden #homestead #KitchenGarden #OrganicGarden #VegetableGarden #VegetableGardenVideos #VegetableGardening #VegetableGardeningVideos
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Hey friends, per our recent mutual aid request, here's our update. If you follow @Siiin, you've already seen something like this, but I figured folks here may be able to support, too, and we're also launching some Ranch related stuff to try to bring in more cash that you all may find exciting!
We've added a page on our website with a service we've dubbed "homestead coaching", but which is more like permaculture design on a much more intensive scale. Even if you live far away, we'd love to hear your needs and help you design systems, choose perennials for your climate, reconsider your water use and how you plant for climate resilience, and create a closed-loop system on your land. If you're on a smaller plot and still want help climate-proofing your garden or urban homestead? That's fine! We'd love to shift the pricing to reflect the smaller scale.
If you know anyone who may be interested, feel free to share. We're in urgent need of funds, and we really do have a lot of value we can share. We will continue releasing newsletters, and paid subscribers there also help bump us towards feeding ourselves!
Thanks friends, hoping you're staying cool out there.
https://rancholibertad.com/homestead-coaching/
#Farming #UrbanFarming #Homestead #Homesteading #Gardening #Farm #SmallFarm #FoodSovereignty #Resilience #ClimateChange
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High time I got these concrete pylons levelled. Stuff arriving soon.
First attempt was to do it with wedges cut from birch logs. This would've worked if I had a few days to spend on it, but I did not.
Our little excavator can't lift the thick end of these (I worked out they weigh about 1.17 tons each), but it can reduce their weight enough so I could do the rest with some levers, including removing most of the tilt.
Then I wedged rocks under it for support and voila, level enough. At least until the next winter. I don't want to pour deep concrete footings under these nice big trees and fuck up their roots in the process, so this will have to do.
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Still no foundation digging weather with all this rain, so I grudgingly have to do some other stuff.
Been down in the valley with the brush cutter, clearing a path through the jungle to get to the crooked old shack there.
Inside is some old wood that may have once been the old sauna building by the river which is long gone but was stored here for re-use.
Hauled a load up to the farm. Some usable stuff, although full of big nails. And some fuel for the sauna boiler.
There are many more treasures down there, but I can't haul too much in one go up the steep and muddy tractor road, nor can I go too often or the road gets too churned up.
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Got a pack of some wildflower seed mix from a relative this spring. I'm not much of a flowers guy, so I threw the whole pack into a big pot with some soil and put it on top of the stump of Alan Birch, the big old rotting birch we had to cut down.
Seems to have worked!
The stump is covered in grass clippings which help nature digest it faster.
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Rest of the machine got dirty grease wiped off, washed and then greased again. Found two problems, both on the dozer blade pins.
Bottom had a crushed collar around the grease nipple, that was probably me trying to juggle concrete beams without a thumb. Hammered it back in shape.
The top grease nipple wouldn't accept any grease. A battle ensued, the victims of which included a pile of rags, my t-shirt, the hose of the grease gun and half a cartridge of grease when I had to load and repair the other grease gun.
Turned out the pin is just very tight fitting and with the good pump I got some grease in there. Should get easier with wear!
One track needed a little more tension. Luckily no grease needed for that.
Ready!
#Excavator #MiniExcavator #Maintenance #Homestead #DIY #Grease
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Excavator maintenance. Its been a year already.
Found the throttle frame on the engine was bent. I recall sometime in winter the throttle briefly sticking, which I put down to it being frozen. Working it loose probably bent the frame. Bent it back.
Other than that, the little 1-cylinder Koop diesel is doing ok. Very light on service items, the fuel filter is see-through, the oil filter is really just a re-usable strainer and the air filter can be blown out and will last a long time if you don't work in a dusty quarry.
There is some dust from the rubber pads on the flexible engine/pump coupling, I guess that will need to be replaced when they're worn through. The rubber is available separately.
#DIY #MiniExcavator #Excavator #Maintenance #Homestead #Oil #Koop
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Maximum #CottageCore bullshit today.
I wanted to move this hay out of the way so I can store something in this section of the barn. Turns out its very compressed. Hay.bz2 or even Hay.xz.
You can't even stick a pitchfork in, that's how dense it is. Its been there a really long time and had been walked on and stuff stored on top, perhaps that's why.
I've used the mini-excavator with my adjustable thumb on maximum setting to grab big chunks and drag them apart, which worked, but it can only reach in halfway.
The rest I'll have to do by hand. And its in a big decompressed pile now and needs to be pitchforked to the rearmost corner of the barn so we can use it for mulch and chicken floor later. 😓
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Thumbing around behind the barn, picking up "treasures". The thumb I made has already proven itself immensely useful and got a coat of black paint on top of the primer.
Bunch of big rocks there, some concrete, some weird garden railway track and a lens of bitumen, I think.
Not sure what to do with the latter. Make a road? 🤷
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Been thumbing around some concrete beams and then played some jenga.
The firewood store got expanded a little and some of the beams had sunk into the soft soil under the weight of the firewood stacked on them and needed rebedding.
The new thumb was extremely useful doing this and I managed to do it without either knocking over the stacked firewood or the roof.
Then stacked the split pile onto there so it can finish drying.
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China excavator upgrade: Hinges and latches for the rear door.
Because in order to get to the engine you had to unbolt four big bolts, two of them from underneath, then lift off the door. Then lift it back on and fiddle in the bolts. Made it super annoying to check the oil level or hook up a battery booster in winter.
I ordered these parts just after getting the machine last year and finally got around to installing them.
Fits nicely, the door swings open wide and can be lifted off the hinges if need be.
Now the oil can be checked as often as it should. And it saves precious time.
#Excavator #MiniExcavator #ChinaExcavator #DIY #Hinge #Tap #Homestead
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"You can't weld cast iron!!!111" the internet says.
Well, it was half right. The big nut cracked when tightening. The other part, which is a sort of bushing fixed into the wheel that had both ends broken off remains intact, even with the impact driver tightening the bolts.
The wheel nut is not strictly necessary on these wheels, so unless I find a suitable replacement nut laying around somewhere I'll consider my log hauling contraption wheel repaired.
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#ExcavatorThumb progress:
Clamped and aligned the thumb sides with the help of two bricks that happened to be the right width, then tack welded the tubes on.
Next part was the adjustable support leg. Figuring out the length of both parts was easy, swing the thumb up and down, measure distance between pins and copy it to the two parts on the workbench.
Making the inner part slide smoothly into the outer took ages as I had to grind down the thickness of the entire outer surface, then polish it smooth.
Solved the problem of the outer tube having a seam weld inside by hammering on the inner one until it bowed inwards just enough to allow space for that seam.
Fits very nicely now and almost no play.
#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking #Welding -
Thumb update:
Made the thumb wider so it fits better between the bucket teeth, which required cutting new reinforcements. Cut the ones for the support leg as well and decided where to attach it to the thumb.
Then worked on the adjustable support leg. A cylinder each welded to the end of a box section. The lower fitting was easy, just an approximate half-circle with three shallow cuts of the angle grinder and then bend it back and forth until it breaks out.
The upper fitting having the added challenge of being narrower than the box section, so it got tapered a bit by cutting some wedges out and banging on it with a hammer.
#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking #Welding -
Always keep your hole saw plugs, in case you need to Ctrl-Z a hole you just cut so you can make it bigger 😆
Sure wish there had been room for the drill press in the car last time we went to the old place!
Four biggish holes were cut through 10mm plate, eventually. Of the right size this time.
#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking #DrillBabyDrill -
Slides, more or less.
The outer one has an annoying seam inside, so we'll see what to do about that when I've figured out the lengths.
#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking -
Today's progress on the thumb:
A tube section and restored pin for the support. Since the pin is kinda long, I could make some more tube sections on the outside as well.
And two beefy pieces of thick plate with a hole in them for the thumb, plus two more tube sections for reinforcement. One with a groove to keep the quick-release pin from rotating and sticking out.
That's it. Recycling is slow work. Spent a lot of time running around looking for two pieces to fit inside of each other for the support.
#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking -
Next project: A thumb for the mini-excavator.
Because I've been kinda needing it for a while and now I do even more.
In case you don't know what it is, it's the same as yours - an opposable thumb for gripping things. Try lifting a pencil without using your thumb. Or a concrete beam or a log.
The cardboard mockup I made last year, but I wasn't really happy with it and with some more excavator experience under my belt I did think of several improvements, like making it adjustable.
Sifted through my scrap metal and found some suitable steel.
#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb #SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking
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Kitchen garden moved. Now the big spruce can stretch its roots without interfering with our vegetables.
And we can till the garden without bothering its roots. Which we'll do in a couple weeks - still risk of frost and snow in April. Will toss that compost back there on as well.
The compacted area will turn to grass eventually and we'll sprinkle some straw on until then.
Did a fair job with the grading this time. Even fixed a few low spots from before.
Now the rain can come!
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Relocating the kitchen garden after getting rid of the concrete around it.
You can nicely see the difference between the good soil and the clay rich stuff below in the spot where I scraped too deeply.
The big grading bucket moves dirt fast but unfortunately it just started raining, to my great annoyance. Sprinted out to rescue some stuff and now having coffee while hoping it doesn't get too muddy to continue. 😫
Like most excavator work, it requires a bit of strategy. Here I'm piling the good soil in the middle, then I'll have to move the bad soil over it to fill the gap left behind and then distribute the good soil in the new hole.
#Gardening #ExcavatorGardening #MiniExcavator #Homestead #Soil
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Next job: Removing the concrete pylons that formed a foundation for a greenhouse that must've collapsed some time ago.
We want our kitchen garden in that area (the soil is great), but a bit further from the big spruce as its roots compete with anything we tried to grow there last year.
The huge concrete beam is a little on the heavy side for my machines. You can see the excavator at tipping point there, but just about lifting it and I did wheelies on the tractor but managed to drag it out the back gate with some tricks.
One more to go.
#Garden #Gardening #Excavator #ExcavatorGardening #MiniExcavator #Concrete #Homestead #Digging #DIY
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Pre-jungle season is running out soon. Time to tackle goat pen #3.
Difficult access, the former outdoor service pit was in front of it, which is now just a ditch. I scooped up some dirt and built a causeway, then got rid of the ingrown fence and creeper roots.
Now I can drive the mower into there and keep it from overgrowing again.
The thorny fuckers inside got chipped into the hole and the non-thorny shrubbery got chipped onto the new causeway.
Treasure so far: The usual bunch of steel, a large concrete chunk and enough scrap wood for a few sauna sessions. Some of it even already dry.
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CW: Mummified Mustelid
Why do I keep finding corpses around here.
This guy has obviously been dead for some time, stuck inside the straw insulation of an old livestock shack I'm taking apart.
Probably one of the local pine martens. Looks like it wasn't a peaceful death.
#Corpse #Animal #Mustelid #Homestead #Death #Mummified #PineMarten
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Continuing unfinished jobs from last year: Taking down old fencing in the garden.
Four of these posts were cast in concrete, so I got some help from a strong arm.
The fence is fine mesh, good for a chicken coop, hope to re-use some of it.
The posts steel profiles and pipes of varying size. Gotta Mjölnir-smash the concrete off.
Sifted through where the fence was, as last time I found lots of steel, but here was only junk. Still good to have that fished out though. Rubbish in the bin, concrete in the pile and a lot of playing "plastic scrap or maple leaf?"
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"Negative Debbie." Photograph of a friend's Yeagertown home in 1995, with her image cut out to be used in a collage. #art #artwork #artist #collage #arting #makingart #cutandpaste #mixedmedia #photocollage #collages #home #homestead #1990s #pennsylvania #yeagertown #mifflincounty #summertime #summer #clement #landscaping #landscape #bush #bushes #plant #plants #tree #trees
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Going through images of our farm through the years. This was our mini Jersey bull Signet. A super sweet boy that gave us healthy beautiful babies. He moved on to bigger pastures with more lady friends. :)
ART
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/mighty-mini-jersey-bull-cow-sharon-cummings.html#minicows #minicow #minijersey #jerseycows #animal #animals #art #artwork #rustic #country #countryliving #countryhumans #countrywestern #western #texas #cow #cows #dairy #dairycows #farm #farming #farmer #homestead #homesteading #farmhouse #SharonCummingsArt
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Lots of very heavy snow arrived. Got some help pushing it.
#Snow #Lithuania #Winter #Excavator #MiniExcavator #Homestead
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Living on 1 Income: Simple Guide to Making it Work "I will show you step by step. Lets brew some coffee & learn how to live frugally and fabulously" Sale: $5.99 to FREE by Kate Singh Rating: 4.3/5 (191 Reviews) #Frugal #Homemaking #Budgeting #SimpleLiving #Homestead #Cooking #Gardening #BookSky
Living on One Income: A Simple... -
Grmpf, not the best day. Excavator was in the way of something else, so I drove it out, decided to do some quick jobs to charge the battery up and then parked it outside the barn. Upon turning the key again, nothing at all, not even the solenoid clicking.
Keyswitch ok, battery ok, so I had to trace wires (no diagram, although it's not complicated) until finding the culprit: A failed crimp on a ring terminal where the instrument wiring connects to the starter/battery plus.
Easy fix, put everything back together, two hours down the drain. 😮💨
#Excavator #MiniExcavator #Repair #DIY #Homestead #Electrical #Troubleshooting
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When you're sweaty and tired from potato digging by hand and you've got the excavator out anyways...
It worked, of course, but I'd need an assistant to pick up the potatoes. Hopping on and off all the time is very inefficient.
Also easy to miss a few when you have such a big shovel of dirt.
Much less sweaty though 🤔
#Excavator #Potato #Farm #Digging #Homestead #Gardening #MiniExcavator
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Hauling complete! It was 10.75 loads, we both guessed 10, so not far off.
Now I can process it at my leisure.
Should last a while!
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Getting there! A few more loads. There's quite a lot of junk at the bottom, which I'll cut up and take too. I didn't count that when I measured for pricing, as some of it looked rotten. But the sauna is always hungry and rotten wood, once dried, burns fast! :)
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Went south to retrieve wife and buy excavator.
Wife is dubiously inspecting the new living room arrangement, excavator should get delivered tomorrow.
The B&S Petrol engine would've been a six month wait, so I grudgingly went with the KOOP 1 cylinder air-cooled diesel, a copy of a Yanmar design. It's got a year warranty in case it goes wrong (they tend to go wrong early on or not at all from my research).
Bonus: Wide and trenching buckets included!
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When our backup #pump failed on the #Oregon #homestead, I built a #calculator to figure out what we really needed. It’s a small, #opensource tool born from necessity and a few iterations with #SelfHosted #ai
https://sij.law/thinking-like-a-developer-pt-1/
#python #code #devops #Oregon #water #ollama #qwq #selfhosting #aiml
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#Holistic #HolisticHealth #HolisticHealing #HolisticWellness #Herbal #HerbalMedicine #NaturalRemedies #Naturopathy #Wellness #HealthyFood #HealthyLifestyle #Detox #Juicing #Smoothie #Organic #NonGMO #GrowYourOwnFood #Homestead #WeightLossJourney #Transformation #FaithOverFear #Prayer #Spirituality #Strength #Artist #Poet #Podcaster #AngeliaKay #DivineCrystalArts #WeDoNotConsent
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Hanging with the herd this weekend. :) It's REALLY REALLY hot here in Florida! 98 today! Misting the chickens and feeding them frozen treats throughout the day. We have a pond and cool shade trees/barn filled with fans for the cows/goats.
ART
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/black-and-white-jersey-cow-art-sharon-cummings.html#farm #farming #farmhouse #farmlife #homestead #homesteading #jerseycows #cow #cows #cattle #florida #floridian #floridians #summer #summertime #animal #animals #country #rustic #farmanimals #memorialday #cute #animalwelfare