Brace Yourself, Summer’s Broken
COVID , COVID , COVID . Damn you COVID you have broken all the fun things about summer. There were no summer camps for the Kid and no breaks from the Kid while he was attending summer camps and no no summer sailing with local yocals. And while there were no days spent at the beach at least there were days spent at the Doubters where the are acres to roam, a tank to fish at, a creek to wade in, and AC to enjoy all day long. Cause it COVID wasn’t enough, good grief it was hot this year.
Summer started the afternoon the Kid was released from virtual learning. Seriously, the bags were packed, the doggo was loaded up, the truck was running with the AC blowing cold. Summer vacation here we come. Five glorious days working, cooking, relaxing. The Kid was off doing his thing, the Planner, Doubter, and myself were removing dead trees. Killed by oak wilt now close to 15 years ago, these trees are dropping broken branches and limbs all over everywhere. One dropped on the house but luckily nothing was broken. Trees so big, the extra long blade did not reach across. It took dozers and skid steers to move these massive trunks around. Broken 100+ year trees, such a waste of life.
Poor doggo, running back and forth between broken trees and the house plum wore her out. Her heart still has the desire but her body doesn’t have the go. She was so tired from her output she came home broken. The Kid even gave her favorite apple slice and she didn’t move. Broken doggo.
Having ordered a warranty replacement water tank back in April, the broken tank was attempted at a fix with Flextape. Super sticky, super sealable even in water. It was a no go until the new tank would arrive later in the summer. If the attempted fix had worked, Boxes in Fields would have had three water tanks and that would have been fabulous. Oh, well.
Moving the little peppers from their inside home to their outside home, they were made a 5 gallon feeder. Not having a lid to seal off the bucket a piece of heavy duty plastic was secured with rope. The plastic wrap lasted almost two weeks before little chicken feet broke it. Finally having secured a lid a whole new bucket was made as the lid did not fit the green bucket in use.
Week two into June and the chickens broke into the garden. Not really broken into so much as sneaked in during snake removal. This had to be one of the biggest garden snakes Boxes in Fields has even seen. And the Planner broke it with a week wacker. Wacked it right in half.
Week two ended with the installation of the new replacement water tank. Yeah not a moment too soon as there is rain on the way. Broken tree limbs were removed, stumped were dug out, and the new tank was slide into place. The excitement was short lived.
The very next day, the two hundred gallons transferred over leaked right out through the crack at the bottom of the tank. Looked like a forklift stabbed it when loading. Broke right through the mold into the inside.
Week three ended in June ended on happy note. Another new water tank delivered. Looked broken upon arrival but the dent propped right out. To ensure no broken dents, cracks, etc, the Planner opened the lid, the Kid crawled inside and the Planner closed the lid. Dark as crap and hot as hell reported the Kid. This Kid and his mouth. Did I mention he is full blown teenager?
Week four of June started out with a broken Kid and ended with a broken doggo. The Kid wacked his head on a cabinet and the doggo got her crunchy self stuck in a corner. The Kid had to be glued up and the doggo to old to wiggle out had to be picked up and resituated. Good grief.
Ten days come and went into July before anything broke. Ten days of calm and then the Storage Box box. Not so much the box as the 12×12 post the box sits on to keep it out of the salty dirt. The Planner was driving the tractor up into the box when the ramp fell off the post from rot.
Installing a new 10×10 weather treated post was easy peasy. High lift the boxes up, secure into place with 2×4’s, pull out the rotted broken post, and install the new post. All done in less than hour.
Later that same afternoon, the Kid could hear the water pump running and nobody was using any water. The Planner was johnny on the spot and ran over to the water system. One broken busted pump line. No pump, no water. Guess these water pumps were not designed for South Texas heat. Luckily the Planner had some airline in one of the multiple storage boxes on his shelf. And since we just organized those Shop Box Boxes back in January, he knew right where the line was. Another broken job fixed in less than hour. Amazing.
Week three into July and only two minor broken fixes when all hell broke loose. Needing a bigger water feeder for the little peppers, the Planner and the Kid made a smaller version of the ice chest feeder.
When installing the water feeder, it was observed that the food feeder had been chewed on from inside the coop. Last week checked, chickens don’t have teeth. Figuring it was a squirrel sticking its head through the fence, not another thought was given the chewy mystery as the lid wasn’t so broken it couldn’t be used. Just damaged.
But we should have. Halfway through the last week of July, the little peppers containment was broken into and three peppers were broken. Guess they were broken as they were missing. Chicken wire was placed across the top of the dog kennel and wired together. Poor broken chickies.
The very next morning, another break in. And the next day again. Just four or five weeks to go and they would have been ready. Instead, the remaining eleven feeder chickens were sent to the freezer. Broken chickens, broken fencing, broken hearts.
And before July could end, another hurricane tried to break Boxes in Fields. At the last moment, Hurricane Hanna turned south. Sorry Mexico, I hope you are not broken.
Summer wrapped up with another trip to the Doubters. But unlike the first trip, these four days were just for relaxing. Relaxing was short lived. Upon our return home, the broken pepper bandits had moved onto the chicken coop. A barred rock and an Amerucana were taken hostage. Broken chicken wire in three different locations.
Unable to find more chicken wire, welded wire was found instead. A trench was dug, welded wire was stapled on top, and 2×6 boards were placed along to the bottom to keep the unwanted critters from digging under.
Unable to attach welded wire on broken chicken wire around the windows, leftover chicken wire from the little pepper cage was used. It was the perfect size as the window is less than two feet across.
To complete the final assaults on the breaking and entering varmints, a layer of rocks was placed in the trench.
Two solid days of work and the chicken coop is once again unbreakable. It looks great.
Before the summer could officially end, the Kid needed to fix his teeth. Not broken, just badly in need repair.