Desert Weyr Blog
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Garvin Mesa Day
On Saturday, October 4th, we had our big Garvin Mesa Day Open House. All three wineries and our farm were open, with special events planned. We had a barbecue with mutton legs for tasting, plus some locally-produced cow’s milk cheese. The three wineries – Terror Creek Winery, Stone Cottage Cellars, and Azura – all had… Continue reading
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Solar Start-Up Issues
The solar system is finished, but on one of the first days, something went wrong. In spite of the various sensors and pumps, the circulator pump stopped working. Temperatures at the top of the collector reached nearly 350 degrees! Ken put tarps up to shade the panels until the plumber could come and fix it.… Continue reading
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Cool Tool!
Every year, we tear down our welded wire pens so the manure can be scraped out. Then, we have to rebuild them. This usually means several days or weeks of pounding in t-posts by hand. Blisters and sore muscles are just a few hazards of the job. It’s getting very old, very fast, so we… Continue reading
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Solar Controls
With the panels up, work now moves back inside. Sensors, controllers, expansion tanks, pumps, and valves all had to be hooked up. Continue reading
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Solar Panels on the Roof
September 16th: it’s the Big Day! It’s time to get the solar panels on the roof. Our system is designed to have five panels initially, but it’s also designed to take an extra panel if we need it later. First, we had to get our ropes and ladders set, then get safety lines tied to… Continue reading
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Fall Farm Work
While the solar system was being installed, we continued fall farm work. One task was to clean out one of our ditches. Ken used the backhoe to clean it out on September 11th. This area is where we will rebuild the pens for the rams for winter. We have an apple crop this year, and… Continue reading
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Wales Trip
I was fortunate to be able to attend the Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Annual Show and Sale in Abergavenny, Wales, on September 4th, 2008. Then, I got to judge and view a number of flocks, culminating in my attendance at the Cadet Judges training. It was held at the Ted Williams Garth Uchaf Farm in… Continue reading
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More Solar Work
On August 25th, the heat dump loop was completed. Next, we had to work on the actual panel mounting structure. The first step was to get the blocks that would provide the spacing for the braces. That was finished on September 11th. The next day, we started the mounting structure. With the blocks secured, we… Continue reading
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Somerset, September 6th, 2008
Another day with Melinda Baker. We sorted and looked at her entire flock, then got to finish two other flocks as well. Here are Melinda’s show sheep, ewe lambs, and wethers. After getting the catch pens set up, we got the sheep into the pen. It was refreshing to see someone else set up pens… Continue reading
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Somerset, September 5th, 2008
My next stop was at Melinda Baker’s farm in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. She had to work for part of the day on Friday, so her husband kindly took the day to take me around and play tourist. This is the chapel of the Marston House. It belonged to the Earls of Cork and Orrey. The… Continue reading