Lights, bees, bulls, collaboration

 After many months of delay, I finally got electricity run to the little goat barn on the East side of our property. As I was considering it a few days ago, once again talking myself out of the work, I was given an inspiration to just run the wiring overhead versus underground. So, I bought a length of cable and the connectors required to string and tighten that cable and ran the required length from the back corner of the shop to the front corner of the shelter. I had the cable secured by dark Friday night. I had a couple pieces of conduit to run the wire through so early Saturday morning, I attached the conduit to the cable. Once I was back from helping Mama get set up at her even in Decatur, I fed the wire through the conduit and made the necessary connections at each end to install a light switch/outlet combination at the entry of that shelter.

All in all, it looks pretty good and is high enough to keep it from being a hinderance to getting the tractor into the lot on those rare occasions when that is necessary. The lights Mama and I bought are small LED fixtures so I will not have to replace lightbulbs – which tend to do poorly in the cold times we have over the winter. Those little fixtures are very bright, especially considering we have never before had lights in that dark shelter. The goats were not impressed with the results. They rather enjoy the dark interior.

With an outlet now available, I was able to place a night light at that spot to give Mama some light to easily find the switch when she attends to the bucks on a dark morning or evening. I was pleased with the outcomes. Enough so, that I will now focus on getting lights to the large goat barn, which also tends to be a little gloomy in certain corners. That will take more time and materials because it is a longer run for the wiring and conduit which will have to be run underground, but it is doable, and it will be a great comfort to Mama when we have to be in the barn during the dark hours of the day. We could have used that light a couple months ago when the nanny goats were kidding this year versus one of us holding a flashlight to give the needed illumination.

While I was getting Mama set up at an event at an Elementary School Saturday morning, I ran into one of the go-to guys from our bee club. We talked in general for a few minutes just catching up and then I asked him for advice or guidance on what I had decided to do for our bees to winter them over. All the precautions I had taken were agreeable to James although he and his wife do bees, honey, and bees wax products as a fulltime business. In his case, he would have taken all the produced honey from the hive and fed the bees to supplement. I had left about thirty pounds of honey per hive as well as put candy boards on each of the two hives. That, to him, was not necessary. It was not wrong, just unnecessary. On the bright side, in the Spring, I will be able to harvest most all of the honey left in the hive over the winter, so it is not a loss. Simply a delay.

Almost on the porch

This morning, while I was at work, Mama and Grandpa had to wrangle an ornery young bull out of the front yard. Neither of our neighbors owned the bull, but Wayne was kind enough to get the animal moving down the road away from our property. He told Mama he would put the bull in his corral until the proper owner could be identified, but it caused quite a stir at the home front. We have long, heavy metal gates that can be closed at the access to our property, but only one operates easily. The other takes a lot of strength and effort to close across the driveway. Wayne struggled with that one by himself. It is only because of some remedial repairs I have made to the structure holding the gate that it operates at all, but it is still a challenge. I am struggling with long term remedies, but it is not high on my list.

At work this week, we are doing a Think Week. A weeklong collaboration and brainstorming session. At the conclusion of this week, we will present to management some of the recommendations we have come up with to offer as enhancements to our area of expertise in our company. I did not originally think that I would be a big part of the discussions, but I was able to add a couple ideas. Although I am planning on working my way out of this employment, I want to engage as much as possible while I am still here. At least I can add value from the perspective of someone who has seen many things happen in the workplace over the last forty years to perhaps avoid some unattainable ideas.

We are off to a good start. So far, we have not gotten lost in the weeds. I will reserve judgement as to the outcomes because many of the little thoughts captured through Day 1 are bound to evolve through the days following. This is a bright group of young individuals.

I have high hopes for them.