(AF) STUPID NEIGHBOR!

I have been in a battle with the neighbors on each side of me for awhile now. I always thought neighbors were supposed to get along, help each other out, support each other. No, not the ones on each side of me. Most of my neighbors are terrific people, and would do anything to help their fellow neighbor out, but the one on each side of me is a whole other story!

The neighbor to my West, it seems I have things under control with, at least for now. But I will save that story for another day and another post. But tonight, I will tell you about my neighbor to my East .... Leroy. The feud with them actually started out with Leroy's wife. She is an odd one, and I could fill quite a few posts just with stories about her antics, but for now, I will tell you about my ongoing conflict with Leroy, a conflict that I hope finally ended . . . . . . tonight.

They have quite a few people living over there, living in old sheds, trailers, and any other kind of ramshackle dwelling you can imagine. Over the years, Leroy has brought in trailer after trailer full of what everyone thought was more people moving in. .  .  .  . trailers loaded down with, although very tattered looking, all the basic household furniture and junk. People out here have often joked and asked, "Just how many people are they going to move in over there?" and "Good grief! They are getting their own little town going on their property!" We rarely saw things moving back out.

As I said, this has gone on for years. And I never associated the occasional smelly fire with the activity over at that property .  . . . . . until recently. In the beginning, the fires were only very occasional, and everyone always figured they were burning their trash like many do out here. From time to time there would be a little off smell, not too bad. But over the past several months, the fire smell has gotten REALLY SMELLY! The smoke from those recent fires badly choked up human and animal for days. About that same time, Leroy started "moving in lots more people." The stench from the fires became so bad that I was often sick for days and my throat and lungs burned badly, not to mention what it was doing to my asthma and chronic bronchitis. Some of my smaller critters mysteriously died. And there was just enough space between the stuff being 'moved in', the fires, and the trailers full of scrap metal going out, that I wasn't putting it all together, until one day, when Dave was here and got a closer look at an 'incoming' trailer, that we began to figure out what was going on. This guy was bringing in all kinds of household junk, burning it off, then hauling the scrap metal back out for cash! He had made a business of it. Now, I don't mind anyone burning their own trash at all. nor the occasional piece of household furniture that is too worn out to use any longer, but NOT bringing in trailer after trailer of other people's junk to burn!

The last few fires were REALLY BAD!  They stunk something TERRIBLE! My asthma flared up and I got seriously sick each time. I watched more closely and sure enough, that is what the idiot was up to. This just couldn't be right! I talked to a friend in the local volunteer fire department and asked what could be done to stop it. He was not at all happy to hear about the situation and insisted that I call the next time the guy lit a fire. Well, I hate to make trouble with neighbors, so the next time he lit one, I told him to put it out or I was calling the fire department. He promptly put it out. But only temporarily.

The guy continued to bring in trailer loads of stuff, only now, in the middle of the night. He built another fire and I warned him one last time..... put it out or I was reporting it because I was tired of me and my critters getting sick. He immediately put it out. He tried to be more clever about bringing in those trailer loads of junk. He used a different truck, and covered that big ole flatbed trailer, piled higher than you would think possible, completely up with tarps, tied down well. I mean, really, did he think I was that stupid!? 2, 3, 4am he was bringing in trailer loads of junk. I knew another fire was coming. And a member of the fire department firmly told me to make sure I called them the next time he lit one, NOT to give him any more warnings! I decided I better listen and do it because I didn't want to be in trouble, too.

Well, today I had gone in to town for some groceries and errands. I got back just as it was getting dark and in no time, the horrible stench hit me. Yep, he was burning another one of those nasty fires! I was on the phone with a friend and figured I would call it in when I got off, but while we were talking, we heard a loud explosion. I looked up and saw the smoke coming up from behind my house. I thought the back of my house was on fire! Ugh!!! My friend on the other end of the phone was getting pretty scared, too, and anxiously asking if that was a gun shot or what. When I went around the side of the house to look, I saw the enormous blaze!

Leroy was burning a little further back on his property, explosions continued to go off, and when they did, it carried the fire further and my WOODS WAS ON FIRE! I got off and immediately called 911. There had been some explosions with some of the last fires, which carried the chocking smell of paint fumes right down my way, but the fire never got out of control like that. As the dispatcher asked me determining questions about what was going on, closeness of structures and all, he was in total disbelief. He just couldn't believe that anyone would be doing such a thing and I could hear the concern in his voice when I explained about the explosions. The fire department was here in record time and by then it appeared that Leroy had gotten most of the blaze in my woods out, but his was still blazing up pretty big!

The fire department had sent 5 or 6 assorted trucks out (I counted 5, but 6 left from over there), sirens blaring and all. Every one of them drove right past and had a hard time finding the drive way that led into Leroy's property, but they turned around and finally found it. His driveway is moved from where it once was. They were up there quite a while, the last and biggest truck staying at the bottom of the extra long drive just in case it was needed, too. They got the fire out and thick, choking, black smoke filled the air for quite some time. I thought I was going to cough my insides out and my Billy goat choked and coughed harder than I have ever seen him cough. I wasn't sure there for awhile tonight if he was going to make it. Oh, and it was one of my goats, yelling and screaming loudly, that "informed" me of the fire.

Finally, the last fire truck left and I was left to try and breathe and get my very upset dogs settled back down. I was just getting them to calm down a little when a car with a spotlight kept driving back and forth, then parked in front of Leroy's house, soon followed by another, single, fire truck. Not sure what was going on with that, but they both soon left and all seems to be quiet again in my little country world. . . .  just a little, burnt chemical stench remaining. I truly hope that was Leroy's LAST junk fire ever!

Sorry I didn't think to grab my camera and get a pic. I was just too panicked with the thought of my woods, full of so much dead wood from the last two years' drought, to think of anything but plan of action if the fire spread any faster towards my house and animal pens. SOOOO many things goes through your mind all at once in a situation like that! And now, I feel great relief on many levels, but I am afraid to go to sleep for fear of rekindle.

(AF) 4-Wheelers.... GRRRRR.......!

I am sure they have their place on a farm. If I had one, I could find a gajillion uses for it around here, no doubt.

BUT .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

I have grown to DETEST 4-wheelers! They carelessley  run up and down our road at all hours of the day and night, usually at their top speed. They are so noisy and put wandering children and critters in great danger. And those donuts! I hate it when they put all those big ole round donuts in the gravel, making the already bad road extra hard to get down.

And tonight was one of those exceptionally bad nights. An entire herd of the viscous beasts began growling and running up and down my road at around 3 am. UGH!!! And people wonder why I hate them so much. An hour later they were still at it, making sure to periodically pause in front of my house, making extra noise and commotion.

On their last pass by I finally went out and laid on my car horn, giving them their only warning. My next stop was going to be to call the law, but fortunately, they quit. I really hate bothering the Sheriff's dept at this time of night for such a little thing, but this is really getting old.

NO, it isn't legal for them to be on the road at all, but they do. And I don't mind at all if they are using them for transportation to go from house to house out here. If you have one, it makes more sense than using your full size vehicle just to run down the road to a neighbor's house. But the abuse of them is very infuriating and gives all of them a bad name.

Right now, as I type, it sounds like they just moved over to another road. Maybe they will run out of gas soon or someone will hide their keys, One could hope!

(DF) CHEAP, HOMADE SOLAR PANELS: First Try

For many years I have been interested in solar power.  Unfortunately, several years ago, information and supplies were limited and prices were quite high.  Wit lack of information, components and funds, other interests took priority and alternative energy was left to simmer on the back burner.

Not, things have changed.  Information is readily available, components are more readily obtained and, though prices aren't exactly cheap, by shopping around a bit, some decent prices can be found.  Over the last couple of years, I have done quite a bit of research; research that has led in many directions.  As expected, most sites with information are trying to sell something, giving enough free information to spark interest and a price tag for getting enough kno0wledge to make it work.

After looking at several of these sites, I was able to piece together a general knowledge of how solar energy works.  Details and components, however, were more elusive, unless one was willing to pay for the training program.  Being such a tightwad, I was not willing to pay for the information.

One evening, armed with some basic knowledge and a good deal of frustration (mainly involving the local power company), it occurred to me to search for solar cells instead of information.  Most sites were pricey so I broadened the search to include "CHEAP" solar cells.  I found several sites with much kinder prices, but one in particular caught my eye.

A site Called :"solarcells101.com", not only had quite a variety of B grade and damaged cells relatively cheap, but also carried other components.  Perhaps more importantly, they have a free e-book of instructions.  These may not be the most detailed instructions, but 6they seemed to make sense, and the price was right (even for a confirmed tightwad).

With the obstacles of information and components taken care of, that only leaves cash (or lack of it) standing in the way.  While barely making ends meet, it is hard to come up wi8th funding for more projects.  Question is simple, can solar energy be funded with pocket change?  With pocket change being about all that was left after paying the bills, I was determined to find out. I have long had a habit of putting pocket change in a can to build up for emergencies, so I started counting up change.

Before ordering solar cells and such, there were a few tools I needed to acquire.  First round of chance got a soldering iron for putting the cells together and a multimeter for testing Amps and voltage.  I already had most of the other tools needed.

Next time the pocket change allowed, it was time to order cells.  To be more precise, it was time to order cells, tab wire, bus wire and (just for good measure) diodes.  For this first order I chose the 75 broken cells Item (it takes 36 cells for a panel that will produce enough volts to charge a 12 volt battery), 20 feet of tab wire, 8 feet of bus wire and 4 diodes.  This choice was made in order to have relatively cheap components for practice.  This order came to $70 which was a bit more than the contents of the change can.  A couple of weeks later, however, the change was cashed in, deposited and the order placed.

A few days later, I was like a kid at Christmas, opening packages and playing with new toys.  At first, I was amazed at just how delicate and fragile the cells were.  Yes, I broke a few before getting a feel for how to pick up such thin delicate items with my large hands.  Soon, this became less of an issue, but soldering such delicate connections took a bit of practice.

I began by soldering tab wire to the bottom (gray) side of the cells, leaving enough tib wire to cross the top (blue side) of the next cell.  As a
point of information, the bottom is the positive side and the top is the negative.

With tab wires on bottom, the next cell is aligned with the first and the tab wire soldered to the top of the second.  Positive wired to negative is called connecting in series, which increases voltage, leaving the amps the same.

This process was continued until four rows of nine cells were created.   A few of the cells were broken to the point that two pieces had to be soldered together in parallel (positive to positive and negative to negative) in order to get the amperage up so they wouldn't weaken the whole panel.  The "repaired" cells were then soldered in just as normal cells.

Four rows of nine were placed side by side, and attached with bus wire, in series just as the individual cells.  Wires were soldered to the bus wires for making connection the panel to the inverter or battery.

Now all the cells were together and they were producing electricity when placed in the sun.  However, a group of solar cells tied together, do not a solar panel make.  Now they had to be enclosed to prevent the delicate little buggers.  There are three basic ways to encase the cells.  One method is to make a metal frame with a pane of glass, place the cells face down on the glass and fill the frame with a resin type substance called encapsulent.  Another method is to make a flat plywood box, glue the cells in it and cover with glass.  The other method (and the one that seemed most often recommended) was to place the cells between tow layers of glass and seal the edges.

Being a tightwad, I chose to use the resources at hand which included a pane of glass salvaged from a storm door and some good, thin plywood salvaged from an old shipping crate.  I cut the plywood to size, treated it with deck sealer which had been purchased at a surplus store quite cheaply.  When the sealer was dry, I attached the cells to the backing with silicone sealer, made spacers from pieces of an old pencil so the glass would not crush the cells, and placed the glass on top.  The edges were then sealed with silicone and later with waterproof tape for good measure.

Though not the most powerful solar panel ever made, the finished

product produces about 2 amps at 21 volts in full sun.  That translates to about 40 watts at peak, plenty to charge a 12 volt car battery or feed back through a grid tie. To make it even nicer, the actual cost after figuring in the remaining parts for future use, was under $60.

Now all that remains is to hook the new panel up and start producing power.  For the next panel, I will use unbroken, higher output cells designed to produce over 3 amps.  The supplies are already ordered (yes, from pocket change)and I can hardly wait to get started.

(DF) SPRINGTIME BABIES.....JUST BARELY

Yes, it is springtime, though the weather calls the calendar a liar.  Fact is, whatever the weather is doing, the vernal equinox has passed making it officially springtime.  As circumstances would have it, the first day of spring was fairly nice here, with sunshine and a gentle breeze.  Be that as it may, we haven't had a nice day since.

With that in mind, it was really good timing.  My milk goat took advantage of the nice weather to have her babies, and with them being born on the vernal equinox, you can probably guess the name of the little billy..  This is the only milk goat I have ever owned or knew of who would not wait for cold or stormy weather.  So far she has always picked a nice afternoon to give birth, a trend that I hope continues and is passed on to the offspring.  This time, as usual, she had twins, one male and one female.  They are large and healthy, thriving well on all the milk they can drink (at least until they are penned up part of the time so I can have a share).

It is always encouraging to me to see springtime babies.  As with all the other beginnings of spring, it serves to re-affirm for me the natural cycles of life.  Simply put, it reminds me that the good things of life always come back around.  Soon wild foods and fruit blossoms will be popping up everywhere and the garden will be all fresh and new.  I can hardly wait.

(DF) WHERE HAS DAVE BEEN HIDING?????

For those of you who have been wondering where I've been hiding, what I've been doing, or worse yet, haven't thought of me at all, I am still here.  Yes, I have been lax in posting, but I am still here behind the scenes while Anna is working hard to hold the site together.  THANKS HONEY!

While I have not been posting, there have been a few things going on.  OK! quite a few things going on.  In short, I have been busier than a cat covering sh__, meeting myself coming back and so on.

During my apparent absence, I have continued to work at the previously mentioned large, corporate department store in order to keep paying the bills.  At this point, I no longer work in the garden center.  I transferred to the claims department at the first of the year.  Lots of new stuff to learn, better pay and a better schedule.  My days off are no longer on weekends when Anna is tied up with her business, so we can actually spend time together getting things done.  The only real drawback (other than having to be there at all) is the blatant, shameful (and yes, I will say it), SINFUL waste of this world class corporation.  It is appallingly clear to me in this department and frankly, it sickens me to the depths of my soul.  Sorry about the soap box ------ ok, sorry is much too strong of a word.

I am not sure that I mentioned that I am a massage therapist.  My practice fell off sharply a few years ago through circumstances (and people) beyond my control, and for some time now I have only had a few clients who only schedule a couple of times a year.  Recently, business has begun to pick up quite unexpectedly, giving a glimmer of hope that it may actually pay the bills at some point in the future.  Though rebuilding a practice takes some time away from the farm, it is helping fund some projects and could eventually allow for far more time at home instead of feeding the corporation.

The forge here at Dave's Farm has also been up and running recently.  Believe me, it feels good t be pounding hot metal again.  As an added bonus, a young co-worker is anxious to come out and learn the basics.  Always good to see young people wanting to learn old ways.

Yes, of course, and absolutely, I am still working toward self-sufficiency.  The first order of solar cells arrived a couple of days ago.  Now we will see if I am smart enough to put together panels that will really work.  This will be my first attempt, so maybe we will all be able to learn something from my fumbling.  I will try to post pictures of this process.

If by now, you are asking when I find time to see Anna, I must confess that I don't know how I find that time, but thank goodness I do.  We don't get to spend near enough time together, but what time we have together is quality and very precious.

When you add to all of this, the efforts to prepare the garden for planting, preparation of high quality compost, clearing fence rows for goat fencing, and many other projects, it isn't hard to see some reasons for my lack of posts.  While I can't promise that I will have a great deal of time to write, I do apologize for being so lax in posting.

Meanwhile, thank you for supporting our site with you views and comments.