Snow Day and Night

Snow days can be a struggle then again there are times like these when you can take a deep breath relax with one of the tastiest bowls of potato soup I have made in years. Whew!

                           Day

Home made potatoe soup for supper  made with chicken broth, crisp bacon, shaved Black Forest ham, butter and heavy cream.

Night time snow in the back yard with yard light adding just the right look.

   Somehow it is just the soothing touch I needed tonight.

Love

Ranchmama 

Well pump troubles

For those of u with well pumps to deal with this is a great place to learn how to do it Yourself !

http://m.inspectapedia.com/site/inspectapedia_2/air_conditioning-2?url=http%3A%2F%2Finspectapedia.com%2Fwater%2FWater_Pump_Table.php#2785

Check wiring against the pump installation manual diagram, check all connections for tightness, shorts, burns, damage.

A loose wire can cause intermittent pump or other electrical device failiures as well as a hard failure that means no power or blown fuses.

Rewire or repair or replace wiring

WATER PUMP WIRING DAMAGE

Burned out pump motor

Check that the pump pressure control switch is trying to turn on the pump and that there is voltage at the pump wiring

Repair or replace the pump motor

ELECTRIC MOTOR DIAGNOSTIC GUIDE

Bad motor control switch

Check the control switch contacts for burning or wear.

If the motor control is a well pump pressure control switch,check the pressure control switch settings - cut-in and cut-out; inspect for burned, pitted switch contacts or for dirt or wear.

For water pumps, adjust or replace the pressure control switch.

Temporary emergency repair by cleaning the switch contacts may be possible.

See WATER PUMP PRESSURE CONTROL SWITCH 

Bad pump pressure control switch

Check the tubing connecting the pressure switch to the pump housing for clogging

Clean or replace the tubing and be sure the connections are not leaky - an air leak will prevent the switch from sensing pressure properly

Bad water pump control switch tubing

Clogged or leaky tubing connecting a water pump pressure control switch to the water system results in failure to properly sense and respond to water pressure.

Debris clogging can also occur in the bottom of the pressure control switch where it mounts or connects to the tubing.

Check and clear tubing blockage (blow air through tubing). Or install new tubing.

Be sure tubing is proper diameter and type to seal properly with other fittings.

Tighten tubing fittings to be sure there are no water or air leaks. Soap solution may help find air leaks in tubing fittings.

Clear or replace clogged pressure control switch if the bottom sensor opening is clogged and cannot be cleared.

See   WATER PUMP PRESSURE CONTROL REPAIR

PUMP PRESSURE CONTROL REPLACE 

Bad pump impeller or impeller seal leak

Turn off electric power to pump, see if you can move the impeller or motor - if it won't turn it is jammed or damaged

Remove obstruction in impeller housing, inspect for and replace damaged impeller or frozen motor.

Bad pump motor starting capacitor

Use a VOM in ohms setting to check resistance across the capacitor. If the meter does not move (no current flows) the capacitor is "open". If there is zero resistance the capacitor is shorted.

Replace the starting capacitor

Pump motor shorted out, jammed, burned up

Fuse blows or breaker trips as soon as the pump tries to turn on. If the external wiring is ok (no short circuits) the motor is shorted internally

Replace the pump motor

Things to Check if the Pump Motor Starts but Overheats and Trips its Reset Button

Pie Time !

My husbands favorite pie is pecan. I have found Miss Kay's Honey Pecan Pie recipe and everyone says it's the best they ever had! 

    I went into full production mode can u tell?

I gave one pie to the helper along with a store bought thanksgiving precooked turkey dinner. I had one for hubby. Funny gave Nikki pecan pie to take to a party. It barely made it into the door of her house before her and boyfriend lit into it ! Lol

Turns out I had 1 too many pies because not everyone showed up for dinner but I am going to get some pecan praline ice cream and not only will we be fat as a tick we will for sure be in hog heaven!!!

Love

Ranchmama 

Copper Experiment

It's a experiment! I had copper wire I polished and made into bangle bracelets.It's the wire off the telephone poles! Copper doesn't bend as easy as u think! That's why it's all crooked.  At first I tried SOS pads then polish. Non of it was working to get all the caked up black tarnish off from years of outdoor exposure. I finally got smart went down to the shop and used the wire brush on the grinder. Duh..... 

    They say you wear copper your arthritis doesn't hurt as bad. It's worth a try. It didn't cost me anything.I talked to a bull Dozer man that absolutely swears by it.

I have more wire to play with but I'm gonna have to get better at dealing with it than this!

Love

Ranchmama 

Sunday Roundup!

Looks like a normal move the cow here to there thing doesn't it ?

Ain't no way in heck!

Hubby went out and did a little much needed brush hogging. You know how much fun mowing your yard is? Imagine 800 acres with a little woods and a whole lot of grass! You are never ever done. If you don't keep up with it you get a tremendous amout of weeds! Those weeds will shade out and take all the water away so the grass doesn't grow to feed the cows. We have sprayed for weeds in the past but we really don't like to and it's very exspensive. So driving around brush hogging takes the same amount of time and fuel but is cheaper you would think. The deal is when you spray it is more permanent ! Well anyway he went out and cut the weeds until he was worn out. Coming back over one of the bridges he looked down as we always do to see if the water gap is blocked with fencing. It's one of those things you don't spend a lot of time and money just use old posts and wire to get the job done. The next flood is going to take it all out anyway. It's been out for a while but it had a lot of water that you don't want to work in to fix it. I'm not kidding, it just dried up 1 day and we were going to get the helper to fix it.

    Before the help could get here even hubby notices a whole bunch of cow tracks heading under the bridge to cousin Sam's bunch of land.

   Hubby counted and found we had 11 heifers out in SAMs ! He came back just so steamed! Fussing and cussing about he's too tired, too old and how in the #%^* is gonna get them back??!! Here he is 62 yo with Parkinson's and he is supposed to go chase down cows over on the cousins head high weedy place!

    I tried calling and texting cousin to get the key but no luck. One thing we have learned about that place is as soon as you located them get them out because if they scatter it is almost impossible to get them all or in one day!

   We got lucky and saw them from the road and they were all together. Tried to get them to go back into the creek where they came from and they wouldn't have it! Scared them to death! So he chased them on foot west then chased them back east a long ways. 

     I was on the road in Old Blue honking the horn and calling them an banging on the side of the truck to let them know where to head too. Helper showed up but he had to hide in the bushes because they just get a peek of him and run the other way ! Helper said this is a one man herd for sure !

    Finally heifers stopped at cousins gate waiting to be let out. No keys still so hubby cut the wires next to the gate opening it up to let them through . Nope! Wouldn't have it! Had a bucket with feed to get them to the gate now he put some just outside the fence. Took forever to get one through that gap! Then finally after a while got 3 more out. Couldn't get the others to step out so I headed them down the road. Hubby didn't like that. The other cows that wouldn't come through scattered but we had 4 so I wanted to get them up before our other cows on the other side of the road talking to them found the open creek again! 

     The pictures above is me driving down the road with them up the side against our fence line running with the contained cows . Hubby is walking behind this bunch I am beside in the truck along the road and helper is up hiding by the gate just in case they want to keep going down the road instead of turning into the gate. As soon as we get them in the gate hubby jumps on the tailgate to get a much needed ride down the drive to the pasture gate . Get that bunch in we have to start over again. 

      The other bunch had followed and was just across the road from the house and of course they jus HAD to get hubby to tromp another quarter mile away through all those weeds and the creek down to the same gate they wanted to get out of again! just in time cousin Sam drives up with a key! Holy cow!! It would have been so much easier to have this a few hours ago! Oh well so now we do the same walking, honking , yelling, and banging on the door for the quarter mile road trip back home. This time we have cousin Sam in his truck filling in gaps! 

  It was for sure a process. Took about 4 hrs to get them back! In all that time we only had one truck come by. Cousin Sam  was nice enough to give us a spare key. It don't happen often but maybe next time it will keep hubby from almost dying! Helper fixed the cousins fence we cut and will fix the creek in the morning .  

      Poor Hubby is so miserable! Can't even eat. To much walking too much brush too much heat too much everything !

   Got him cleaned up, Rhus tox for poison Ivy in him, medicine on his toe blister,  1 mist to drink,  gave him a mini rub down. Trying to feed Him but won't eat. Yet. I finally got him to eat a tiny bit about midnight when he woke up 

     So it took me at least till noon to feel like I was going to recuperate and I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies for everyone to say thank you.

  So I made 3.5 dozen which I see isn't enough. I doubled the recipe. Daughter Nikki got me these cool stackable cooling  racks! I need more cookies to fill up the last rack though !

   Well so far we all survived ! We now know we have diva cows that although there is plenty of nice grass here it is always greener through the creek on the other side and they MUST have the gate opened to come back home ! Lol

Love

Ranchmama

Sssss..... 3 AM Surprise

I had a video but haven't figured out how to up load it.

4 am Wednesday bathroom run and look what my left big toe touched in the floor. I thought it was trash until I turned to look. Then I thought man that's a big worm... No that's a snake! !!!

I hollered at hubby and was really lucky to wake him up. He was asleep in the living room recliner . I yelled his name a few times. He finally said what ? I told him there's a snake in here!!! Either he couldn't hear me well or it just didn't make sense. LOL it took several times to get through to him it was a snake and to get something so we could kill it! I couldn't open the door or it would get away. Still it was so skinny ( about as big around as U'r little finger) he was about to sneak out under ther door.

     He finally got a broom and I told him to stand back away from the door since it was right at it. We opened the door and I  held it squished down with the broom while he got the trash can. I got lucky it held on to the broom and I shook it off into the can.

It got bagged up put into the big trash can and tied up in it. 

Dang! Whew! I have no clue how it got into the house! We keep everything closed all the time!!!  Not only that this is a tight house. We are thinking maybe it got through the a/c pipe that allows the wiring to come in from outside. It's plugged up good now! 

Even if it might have been as big around as my pinky and a foot long or so.

Pigmy Rattler can be deadly I bet!

    Both my daughters said I need a cat if Heidi Ho wouldn't eat it! 

   It's funny in the video hubby was slightly excited and saying a few wordy dirds telling me not to get so ##%**# close or I would get bit! I thought it was funny because I could hear myself laughing about it. Even funnier when I saw that brown band aid stuck to the bag! Fat lot of good that did there.

    Another thing.... I wasn't screaming and hollering like panic come save me ! I don't know why I stay calm usually during that kind of thing . I just wanted to keep it from getting away !

     Still it's like finding 1 tick on u. You find one and you feel more. I can't help but wonder if there is a mate or nest under the cement somewhere ! Lol

Love

Ranchmama 

( wishing I could have gone back to sleep after snake wrangling this morning! )

Arthritis and Doorknobs

Age seems to be catching up with my husband. With the issue of Parkinson's it has made stiffness and arthritis a problem some days. 

    To help make life a little easier I went all around the house and replaced these ugly doorknobs ....

 

With something not only much easier to use but a heck of a lot prettier! 

    4 outside locking doorknobs and 7 indoor locking knobs tore the heck up out of $300 . I think I wiped out Lowes current supply of this style. I had to return one that was defective but it's all done now.

      I was even able to key all the outside locks alike so we only have to use one key! Yippee  ! Smaller keychains are always nice.

Love

Ranchmama

( dealing with older age is for sure not easy )