Rats, Zack’s house, time management

We had another rat in the well house yesterday. This time Victoria found it. It was another big one and it was caught in the livetrap. I wish there was a different way to dispose of them but all I know to do is use my .22 to dispatch them. In parts of Africa, rats are roasted and eaten. In fact, they are put on little spits and sold like we would sell hotdogs. I don’t foresee that happening at my farm. This one was far more active than the last one and had taken the trap – which is not small – and moved it several feet away from the door. I am guessing it was pretty active the morning Victoria found it because Mama said she heard her scream when she realized what it was that was caught. I think she was more surprised to realize it was still alive. The fact that it was trapped was not a big comfort to her. The kids in school got to hear Mama scream yesterday because when she opened the microwave, there was a bug inside. I was in the bathroom down the hall and I clearly heard her. A couple of the boys were still holding their hands over their hearts when I got back to the kitchen. We were able to revive the two students that were on the kitchen floor…not. I am imagining Victoria’s scream to be along those same lines. So, getting the rat taken care of was the first order of business when I got home. Otherwise, the poor goats would starve to death because the feed we give them is kept in the well house. It is in a rat-proof container but it has to be kept in the well house because if we put it in the goat barn the squirrels would eventually chew through the lid. Besides, it is probably good for us to go into the well house every day.

At lunch yesterday, I agreed to meet Zack at his house to look at the floor joists and sill he had exposed. He did not contact me until a little after 5 pm but there was still enough ambient light that we did not have to do everything by flashlight. I was surprised to find most of the timbers in really good shape. There were a few places that will need to be reinforced but those will be accessible from the opening he has created with his current demo. As far as leveling the floors, that will be a challenge. It will require him digging out enough depth below the joists to set the small hydraulic jacks he has bought specifically for that. It will also require two persons to get the job done in order for Zack to not have to move back and forth so much. I explained to him that you have to be aggressive enough to get the wall and roof raised – which is how the floor comes to level, but not so aggressive that you disrupt the structure. “How will I know how much to raise it when I start actually jacking it up?” He asked. My answer. “The house will tell you?” It is hard to explain but the house will creak and pop when the levelers are put to it. You want to do enough to get it where you need but you want to keep the structure intact. A little here. A little there and so on down the wall and back until you have what you need or all you can safely get. With this house, it will tolerate a good bit of force so I am not overly worried about the process and I told him so. The only way to find out is to start raising the floor and see what happens.

Mama and I have a full weekend ahead of us. I am not sure we will get everything on the list done, but it will be worth a try. None of the projects are large but all of them take time. Squeezing all of them into one afternoon is challenging but I am learning to break projects up into small pieces so I can move forward on several at a time. Now, if I could get the time in the evenings to work a couple hours on any one of them, I could really get ahead.

Soon – maybe.