The toy box and the big shop, my New shop Build.

[ericmac]

I am dying of envy here!

[GARY F]

Lets see where the ducks are living and swimming.

[edinmass]

4 hours ago, GARY F said:

Lets see where the ducks are living and swimming.

 

Randy, I agree.......please have all your ducks in a row, in the pond, for a appropriate photo posting. And, while you at it, the largest in the front in descending  size. Daffy 🦆🤣

Edited May 19, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

22 hours ago, ericmac said:

I am dying of envy here!

For the shed or the duck Chalet?  

[auburnseeker]

I have to admit they are a bit amusing to watch.  It's like having 8 dogs with no independent thought and they play follow the leader all day.  Sometimes it looks like they are chained together every move of the lead one and the rest follow exactly.  If they are walking to their coupe and the lead one falls over a rock,  the 7 behind it will fall over the same rock instead of going around it.  My wife looks like a dictator out their directing them and this is her Regime.  

[edinmass]

Sure.....they are cute, till you come home and see one sitting on the Auburn using it as a toilet......with muddy feet scratching the paint. Then it’s going to be roast duck for dinner! I had a 18 pound wild turkey sitting on the hood of my 100 point Pierce about ten years ago. He was trying to stay warm, and the Pierce twelve keeps the hood warm for hours. I accommodated him, and placed him in the oven.....true story. 

[auburnseeker]

6 hours ago, edinmass said:

Sure.....they are cute, till you come home and see one sitting on the Auburn using it as a toilet......with muddy feet scratching the paint. Then it’s going to be roast duck for dinner! I had a 18 pound wild turkey sitting on the hood of my 100 point Pierce about ten years ago. He was trying to stay warm, and the Pierce twelve keeps the hood warm for hours. I accommodated him, and placed him in the oven.....true story. 

Well i did name mine (when we thought we could keep track of them) La Ronge.  Told the wife the Coop should be named Chateau La Ronge.   It's only a matter of time.  

Fortunately the cars are in the garage on the other side of the property.  They don't seem to venture very far either.  Hopefully it stays that way. 

[SC38dls]

Otherwise roast duck for the grand opening party!

[auburnseeker]

So I just took a few quick shots.  You can see them nicely from the kitchen so we can keep an eye on them but there is some room between the house and the swamp as well as Chateau La Ronge.   

There was alot of brush I had to clear.  You can see it in the piles that are neatly stacked and squeezed together with the excavator to move them.  I didn't want to play around too much in the swamp as we are in the Park.  Anyone around here knows that means environmental Nazis are just waiting to pounce.  Since they don't realize much of this was probably dug out years ago especially when they put the powerline in the first place.  We mainly cleared the brush on the powerline right of way that the crew was too lazy to do when they cleared the line last year. They stabbed at some of it then gave up because it was real dense and they probably knew it wouldn't grow tall enough to affect the lines.  I cleared a bunch of stumps and flattened the area to the water though, as much so we could mow it and keep the brush from coming back.  They like to poison it as well so I figure with the kids playing in that area they told me they won't poison it if I keep it clear. 

The girls are down playing with frogs in the one picture. 

Surprisingly the ducks only spend less than 30 minutes a day in it.  We do have a couple of wild ducks that seem to visit it daily. The swamp is spring fed and much larger than you see.  It's probably a couple of hundred feet long.   This is all I cleared out but they can swim much further back they just have to meander through the brush to get there.  I'll probably clear some more brush later this year. 

We had to put rocks along the ramp so they wouldn't fall off it.  They are incredibly clumsy. 

 

[edinmass]

Randy, having lived fairly close to you, the pet ducks would be in serious jeopardy in my yard from fisher cat, coyote, fox, raccoons, and such.  On my farm unrestricted birds had a short life expectancy. I lost 45 chickens in one night to a fisher. Keep an eye on them. Good luck, Ed.

Edited May 20, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

The Coop is almost a fortress,   but during the day we do keep an eye on them.  With the kids out in the yard through out the day as well as the wife and I it probably helps.  I have seen a fox around here about a year ago.  I've heard Coyotes running at night as well.  Fingers crossed right now. I really figured one would get picked off in the first week but so far so good.  That was also part of the reason I cut back the swamp.  It was alot of dense brush and a great place for a predator to hide. 

If anyone is feasting on duck it better be me.  Besides I have to get a return on my investment.  They eat 25 lbs of food a week. 

[edinmass]

25 pounds of food a week, and they have names?..........Randy, you are what we call a "city farmer"...............🤣

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Need any decoys Randy?

[auburnseeker]

1 hour ago, edinmass said:

25 pounds of food a week, and they have names?..........Randy, you are what we call a "city farmer"...............🤣

I told the wife (from a farming community and her family had all kinds of farm animals growing up on their 100 acre more hobby than anything farm) That she tried so hard to distance herself from farming life that now she is knee deep in it (literally) as I watch her out theri in her muck boots cleaning out the coop.  Brings a little smile to my face.   

[auburnseeker]

16 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Need any decoys Randy?

Only if they work to distract the predators. 

[dei]

2 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

I told the wife (from a farming community and her family had all kinds of farm animals growing up on their 100 acre more hobby than anything farm) That she tried so hard to distance herself from farming life that now she is knee deep in it (literally) as I watch her out theri in her muck boots cleaning out the coop.  Brings a little smile to my face.   

 

Seems the older I get I find myself leaning to things I did when I was young too. 

Might be that simpler comfortable time thing?

Guess that's why I kept my High School car all these years...

[edinmass]

Until three years ago, I kept 45 chickens, 12 turkeys, an an occasional goat or pig......all good eating......

[auburnseeker]

58 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Until three years ago, I kept 45 chickens, 12 turkeys, an an occasional goat or pig......all good eating......

I never figured you for a farmer Ed.  Goes to show there are lots we don't know about each other. 

[edinmass]

54 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

I never figured you for a farmer Ed.  Goes to show there are lots we don't know about each other. 

 

Just a gentleman’s hobby farm..........but I am no gentleman!

[auburnseeker]

1 hour ago, edinmass said:

 

Just a gentleman’s hobby farm..........but I am no gentleman!

Not so sure about that.  You could have bought the Auburn and Sold it to me for a profit.  Though not sure how much more I could have paid at the time.  But you just turned me onto it.   I would say that's a gentleman.  Now I understand if it was a Pierce Arrow the gloves might have come off.  

[edinmass]

Randy, I’m just glad you finally got the car of your dreams. Honestly, watching you clean it up and sorting it are just as enjoyable to me as owning it and driving it myself. I’m very fortunate to have owned a bunch of great stuff(according to me, not to many others). I’m hoping you can get to dig in under the hood soon......with luck, it won’t be too difficult to resolve any issues. If I make it up north this summer, I’m going to stop by and visit you and the ducks............

Edited May 21, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

The wife is finally starting to shorten my to do list.  Property is all leaf blown.  That was 8 tanks of gas.  Swamp cleaned out, Duck house built, I bought $300 worth of flowers another $100 worth of Dirt and Mulch , dug out some overgrown gardens here and just finished today putting in all new gardens plus freshening up what we started last year.  So that's all done.  Still have railings on the deck to finish / replace, but she said as we went for a walk today that I could work on my cars if I want to now.  Wow never thought I would hear it.  Lots more to do,  but it's not as pressing as all the Spring chores.  

I need to get my Dad's 47 Ford truck going for him.  I have to replace the fuel valve on the bottom of the tank and just go over it quick. A friend and I put a new distributor in it last summer. I drove it around and it ran great.  He got it , drove it around , then it started  running rich and missing then wouldn't even pop.  I got to checking around and the distributor was loose so it went out of time and fouled the plugs.  My Friend tightened it and I saw him give it a good snug,  so the new distributor must have been hung up on a bur or something so that it wasn't completely bottomed. I have everything all set on it now,  but since the slow drip on the fuel valve emptied the tank,  I want to replace that first , then fill it and it should fire right up. 

Then maybe I can dig into my own cars by this weekend.

 I really need to get that metal wrap on the foam finished first though to get my CO and avoid the new Permit fee of almost $700 as they are jacking it up this year almost double.

Edited May 21, 2020 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[SC38dls]

How is it we do all the things on the honey do list and she gets the credit for shorting the list?  I’m at least glad to know it’s not just in my house. 
 

[edinmass]

I stopped working around the house 20 years ago........she still keeps adding to the list......and complaining about everything on it.......after twenty years, she still hasn’t figured it out yet..........go figure.

[auburnseeker]

Some good news and slow forward progress.  I had my final inspection today and the building is "officially" completed. They are going to mail me my CO next week once they file it.  

Lots more to do down the road but no more permit fees.

Most of the pressing homesteading tasks are taken care of (there is always a long list that will never be finished)

Cleared more swamp out but with no rain in 2 weeks and a steady dry wind it's getting shallow.

Lost one of our ducks the other day as well. I think it was the night before when my wife put them in after dark,  she thinks it was during the day when she went swimming with the kids at a friends pool.  I was here but never heard a commotion during the day and something had them spooked the night before.  I'm pretty sure it's a fox as mine son thought he saw one the same day. 

I asked her if she counted them when she put them in,  but hadn't.  I usually count them every time I see them. Now that something has been here once,  I imagine it will return. 

[Steve_Mack_CT]

With Hershey week now open, if you hustle you can have the place ready for a good ole open house before the weather turns.  😁

[auburnseeker]

We could do a mini Hershey around the garage with indoor spots for "preferred" vendors. 

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Not insensitive to the duck seeker, we have rabbits under the mini barn and our deck.  One is molting, wife spotted it and was very upset initially thought it had been attacked.  He is fine, but oddly only one losing hair now.  

[auburnseeker]

I figured it was only a matter of time.  We just got them trained to go to the swamp and swim whenever they felt like it to keep cool.  Now they are spooked and need a life guard to Watch over them.  Life goes on.  We figured it was going to happen the first week we put them out.  It's been 3 I think. 

[edinmass]

2 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

Some good news and slow forward progress.  I had my final inspection today and the building is "officially" completed. They are going to mail me my CO next week once they file it.  

Lots more to do down the road but no more permit fees.

Most of the pressing homesteading tasks are taken care of (there is always a long list that will never be finished)

Cleared more swamp out but with no rain in 2 weeks and a steady dry wind it's getting shallow.

Lost one of our ducks the other day as well. I think it was the night before when my wife put them in after dark,  she thinks it was during the day when she went swimming with the kids at a friends pool.  I was here but never heard a commotion during the day and something had them spooked the night before.  I'm pretty sure it's a fox as mine son thought he saw one the same day. 

I asked her if she counted them when she put them in,  but hadn't.  I usually count them every time I see them. Now that something has been here once,  I imagine it will return. 

 

If you let a fox in the hen house, it’s a sure thing he’s having chicken for dinner! Gene Hackman.

 

 

[edinmass]

2 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

We could do a mini Hershey around the garage with indoor spots for "preferred" vendors. 

 

I need six spots.....near the bathroom and bar. 

[auburnseeker]

2 hours ago, edinmass said:

 

I need six spots.....near the bathroom and bar. 

Ed I'm just out of town in the sticks, Everything qualifies as the Bathroom.   Just preferably use the North, west or east Field,  not like my Dad who uses the south field,  facing the lady neighbors house off in the distance.  

[auburnseeker]

I was just thinking I even have a mud hole and a tractor.  We could relive Hershey's past towing the vendors through. 

[edinmass]

25 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

Ed I'm just out of town in the sticks, Everything qualifies as the Bathroom.   Just preferably use the North, west or east Field,  not like my Dad who uses the south field,  facing the lady neighbors house off in the distance.  

I’ll take the third tree on the left facing north. Just be sure my spots are near the bar. 🍺 🍷 🥃 

[SC38dls]

If he wants to be that close to the bar I suggest you put him to work behind the bar. At least that way you will get something for all he is planning to drink and keeping him busy will let the rest of us possibly get a drink or two.

dave s 

Edited May 29, 2020 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

I owe him atleast one drink.  Might even have to be one from behind the bar where we keep the good stuff. 

[Paul Dobbin]

I'll take the back seat of the 1932 Auburn in close proximity to the bar.