As the weeks go on, and the pigs turn from juveniles to adolescents, there is a growing fear among the farm adults. These little piggies came into being after boy pigs unexpectedly mixed with girl pigs and a Gilt became a Sow. And so, we finally caved, and the great divide began.
Not covered in this weeks episode;
Wk 35 and 36, and practically nothing of interest happened.
A visit from an engineer.
Motorbikes.
Husbandry
Felis Catus
Tuesday morning of our 37th week on the farm brought with it quite a surprise, for me at least. After all the other people had left for work or school, a general calm fell over our accommodation. Then I turned around!
All around me are familiar feathers.
Without a sound, a darkness had fallen over the bedroom corridor. A slightly fluffy darkness, in the shape of birds’ feathers, and they were suddenly EVERYWHERE.
I weely saw a puddy tat.
Unfortunately, Bonnie had managed to catch and de-feather a bird. Much to my annoyance, it meant a rather large clean-up operation. Which was much to Bonnie’s annoyance when I took her toy away. I then explained to her that it was mice she was meant to catch, not birds.
Don’t mind us, this is ours now.
And after a long morning of hunting, the cats seem to have decided they are taking over my bed. I am NOT amused!
The Great Divide
As the pigs were the focus of much of this week’s work, a ‘Porcine’ section for the Husbandry update seemed a little, well, pointless.
Water Water Everywhere
Separating the boy pigs and the girl pigs suddenly created a need for two of everything. And as I was alone for a few peaceful hours, Friday saw the digger out to bury some magic blue pipe.
The ground was carved by mechanical machines with mechanical hearts.
The pigs were entirely unfaxed by the rattly three cylinder diesel engine in the digger, although the vibration did have an interesting side effect.
Big fat juicy ones, Eensie weensy squeensy ones, See how they wiggle and squirm!
The pigs started foraging like there lives depended on it. I spend a lot of time tending to the pigs’ behaviour, but it didn’t take long to find they had struck a wormy gold mine.
Below the permafrost should help the flow.
A downside to digging on sand is that it is easy to get carried away. In under an hour, the ditch was dug to 700mm (and some) and the MDPE water pipe was laid.
Dozer backfilling was more successful than expected.
Once I was happy there was enough pipe at both ends of the run, the trench was backfilled. Not quite before the children came home, but not too far off. I wouldn’t want to accidentally bury them!
Connecting Up
Now comes the tricky part. The actual connections are simple enough; however, plumbing while being ‘nudged’ by the piggies does have its issues.
Stainless steel auto-filling bowl, the best for the piggies.
Only the best for these Kune Kunes. A stainless steel water bowl with an automatic fill. The existing bowl does have some freezing issues, but this is much easier than hauling water everyday.
Running the pipe under the fence to stop the pigs from vanishing.
Keeping the pigs in while running the pipe means taking the blue MDPE under the fence while they’re not watching. At the same time as running the pipe, a hole big enough for a railway sleeper was dug.
And a small piece of an old tree was dropped in place, and the water bowl bolted in place. A little lower than the previous bowl, which should be better for the pigs. And with a two-foot footing, I’d like to see them knock it down.
PigWam Two – The Second Comming
From Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we continue on from water and into shelter. While the shelter will be made from recycled materials, it needs to be able to withstand an adult pig and not just these six-month-olds.
Finding the right wood from the pile.
The building of the second PigWam starts with finding the timber. Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of spare pieces of timber around the farm, in a range of decay. Unfortunately, this means finding the right piece takes a little bit of time.
The second PigWam is complete. The girls will be happy.
With a range of nails, screws, teks and other assorted fixings, the frame of the PigWam is bound together. Then the frame is wrapped in some ‘pre-loved’ corrugated steel. Finally, the second PigWam is ready to be moved into the ‘girls’ half of the field.
Stake Out
One last thing before the boys and girls can go there seperate ways. The dividing ‘wall’ needs to be errected.We’re fortunate enough to have taken on the farm with an entire hedge row of electric fence stakes.
Dividing the pig pasture.
The recent hedge trim has exposed more than enough to move the boundaries around. In no time at all, the barrier is in place.
Seperation Axiety
And finally, the moment had come. Possibly the hardest part of the whole day, unmixing the boys from the girls. And oh, how much fun that was!
If you visit, you have to watch the video, it’s hilarious!
There were absolutely better ways to start the great herding, but we didn’t use any of them. To be honest, I was laughing too hard to actually help. I’d almost forgotten about ‘Some mothers do have ’em’, until I went and got the paddles.
As days passed, the separation anxiety became easier.
There was definitely some separation anxiety over the next few days. The pigs’ behaviour had certainly changed, so, like all nervous parents, we had to check on them every few minutes. And for the first few days, there were moments when the boys stood looking at the girls, wondering what they had done wrong. But they’re all settled now.
And that’s your lot for this week. Nothing to Farm
As we reach the end of December at the farm, a most peculiar thing happened. Apparently, I had a lot more holiday left than I had expected, and was effectively ‘sent home’. This might have meant a whole week on the farm, but frankly, it came as such a surprise that I was mostly unprepared. However, it might give me a glimmer of hope of being in the Megashed 2.0 for Christmas.
Things not covered in this week’s report;
Lots of bike and bike part movement with the ‘team’ trailer
Visits from friends and relatives in the pre-Christmas chaos
An unexpected, but not too painful, school nativity.
Husbandry
The animals continue to be a general source of hilarity. The addition of a Christmas Tree has been incredibly entertaining for the cats. But the pigs haven’t been left out of the seasonal gifts.
Felis Catus
I’m not really sure why we bothered dressing this Christmas tree this year. The cats have been systematically stripping both the lights and the baubles.
The cats have slowly unwrapped the Christmas tree.
As I sit and write, the bottom third of the tree is free of decorations, with all the baubles moved a few feet away from the cats. Not only have they been climbing the tree, but they’ve also taken to ‘wrestling’ under the lowest branches, much to the demise of the remaining ornaments.
Cats will find water in the strangest of places.
While the cats always have access to fresh water that is changed regularly, they really do love to get in the shower. Neither have been brave enough to join us in full flow, but as soon as the water goes off and the door opens, they’re drinking from the shower tray.
Who’s been sleeping in MY bed!!
They also continue to sleep, and leave little muddy footprints in places they shouldn’t be. Namely, my bed. However, finding Clyde tucked in under the sheets makes me suspicious that my eldest might be encouraging them!
Porcine
The mild weather has been joyous for the bacon, sorry, I mean the pigs. Warmer temperatures seem to have spurred the routing and general turning over of the soil.
Ah, snuggly happy rashes.
And in the sunnier moments, they do rather love to sunbathe. Usually, they only snuggle up in a row when they’re in the pig-wam, but I did catch them all snuggled up together, catching a few rays.
The auto-water trough will save us a lot of work.
After many failed attempts to buy water troughs at farm auctions, I finally bit the bullet and ordered new ones from APUK. The water had been brought over to the field before the pigs had arrived, so connecting to the supply was relatively straightforward.
Megashed 2.0
A huge amount of the unexpected free time was, not surprisingly, spent on the Megashed. Really, there is only ‘decoration’ left, but this is tiring work on such a grand scale.
New plaster is nearly dry after less than a week.
With the plasterwork pretty much dry, preparation could start on decorating. This meant sanding down all the surfaces to remove any defects, and this took absolutely ages. My body still hurts.
The floor is scraped and scrubbed before painting can begin.
Once the walls were all sanded and dusted, I was nearly ready for the mist coat on the new plaster. Before any wet paint was applied, the whole floor was scraped and brushed to minimise contamination.
Condensation in the Megashed will be a real challenge.
Throughout the painting process, I continued to battle moisture. Between the moisture in the plaster and the added water in the paint, I seemed to be pulling out 10 litres of water per day with the dehumidifier.
A misting layer of paint will help future layers bond to the new plaster.
After what felt like a lifetime of preparation, I was finally ready for the first coat. This application of thinned paint ensures the final paint correctly bonds to the new plaster and does not peel or flake as the wall’s moisture levels change over time.
Many hours spent rolling can lead to snow blindness.
After a few days, all the surfaces had two coats of a 50:50 mix of Leyland Contract Matt paint and water, well mixed, of course. The ceiling would get a final coat of a 1:9 ratio as the final covering.
The next step in the decorating will be to plug the holes.
Decoration ended with expanding foam and a significant Polyfilla session. Joints around the rafter ties and steelwork were just a bit too wide to get the plaster into, so they needed a touch of remedial work.
Vehicles
With a few days off, all the vehicles have had their levels checked and a bit of a runaround. Some have been more fun than others, if a little impractical.
Tractors
In view of making the farm look a little less abandoned, there was a lot of half-arsed tidying up going on. From moving dropped trees to cutting hedges. It is a drop in the ocean of what is needed, but something is better than nothing!
The seventy-four-year-old Fergie proves its value yet again.
It’s only four months since the tree in the garden was dropped by the power board, and finally, I had time to move some of the timber. The ground was rather wet, so I took the opportunity to run the Fergie out, having the best traction-to-weight ratio for the job. Despite being 74 years old, she started on the button and performed faultlessly.
Who needs a wheelbarrow when you have a tractor?
The Ford 7610 also had a decent run-out, making an afternoon trip down the road to a mate’s house to move some materials. What better way to spend an unexpected day off than a nice local drive? Certainly cheaper than therapy, and it beats unloading tonne bags with a shovel.
Landy
The Landy also saw a bit of attention. Since the recent brake changes, I’ve found that it stinks when stopped at traffic lights. I had also noticed something hanging down from the front subframe.
Not a mouse house, but a LOT of flora and fauna.
Up on the ramp, I discovered a considerable amount of debris wedged under the car in various nooks and crannies. A mixture of big stick and airline saw most of a tree appear from the various trays. I’ve recently driven through a lot of flood water, so I’m hoping this was floating debris, rather than a mouse house!
Motorbike
After passing my CBT and motorbike theory earlier in the year, the week ended with a bloody fantastic opportunity. A late scheduled lesson with my favourite team at Aintree Motorbike School.
Not a bale or cone in sight, almost eerie.
An early start made me rather nostalgic for the many, many early mornings I’ve had here with Liverpool Motor Club. However, on this occasion, I wasn’t here for bale tossing or even four-wheel motorsport.
A mighty BMW F-series GS has taken me on an incredible adventure.
I had come for a lesson on this little beast. And what a fantastic session it was, lovely to get out with some great people. Something may have happened during the ride, which we will have to wait until the next blog to really get into!
That’s all for this week. With Christmas upon us, I’m doubtful that the shed will be done for Christmas Day, but it’s relatively close to completion. I reckon finishing the interior in 2025 is more than possible. Maybe in time for a NYE party?
What seemed like a relatively relaxed weekend appears to have seen an incredible amount of work completed. The weather seems to have settled into a fairly regular pattern: cold in the day, rainy in the evening. At least now that the roof is on the Megashed, we can chop and change between inside and outside chores.
Things not covered this week;
An unexpected power cut creates village gossip.
A lot of woodchips have found a forever home.
Work is slowly starting on gutting the house.
Husbandry
The animals continue to eat, sleep and grow at a healthy rate. Our fears of badgers, foxes or owls otherwise engaging with the animals seem to be waning.
Felis Catus
Ah, the cats. I’ve never had two cats before, and I’m discovering the joys of having a pair. They’re entertaining when playing with us and when playing with each other.
The kittens aren’t in a bag, they’re in a box.
The madness is still there, but it seems to be a little more restrained now. I suspect this is simply because ‘cabin fever’ has waned now that they’re outside.
Sleepy kittens seem to need more rest after long days of roaming.
They are surprisingly inseparable. For a brother and sister, they seem to really enjoy each other’s company. Bonnie especially enjoys preening her brother.
I see no kittens in this picture, nope, not one.
Although the cats have been out for a few weeks now, they’re still a little timid when outside. They’re also pretty terrible at playing hide-and-seek. I definitely can’t see Clyde in the bushes.
The Henry Ferguson Cat Hammock.
The terrible duo have also found some really interesting snoozing spots. I would never have considered the steering wheel of the Fergie to be a hammock, but how wrong I was.
The cat flap gives the kittens freedom to come and go.
The cats have also received a cat flap this week, and once they worked it out, they seem very happy to have some freedom.
Porcine
The pigs continue to eat, drink and poop at alarming rates. They’re slowly starting to ‘beg’ for extra food as we come past in the evening. They certainly seem to kick up a fuss.
Piggies are always happy when they’re eating.
But some gentle petting at feeding time is settling them into being around us. I’m hoping this will help with moving them around, if they don’t think they’ll be picked up and driven to a new home every time we come near.
Megashed 2.0
With the roof mostly installed and the weather being relatively moist, Megashed’s work this week has focused on the interior.
Sheeting Up
The key to keeping the shed warm isn’t just in the insulation, but in controlling air flow. To manage airflow, the building must first be sealed. My best chance of sealing is through a barrier.
A vapour barrier will help to control moisture in the Megashed.
Wrapped around the entire interior is a vapour barrier. This green sheeting, if installed correctly, should form a near-airtight boundary. Each wall is carefully covered with the overlaps sealed with a 100mm wide PVC tape.
The sheeting will stop air from passing from inside to out and back.
By installing the vapour barrier, the air inside the building can be managed. Heated, mixed, dried, or cooled, the building’s air can then be conditioned as needed. Arguably, this layer is as important as the insulation in keeping the room warm in winter and cool in summer.
Holes in the vapour barrier are sealed up.
To get the best from the vapour barrier, every hole, perforation or imperfection is sealed up. Where the staples secure the sheet to the wooden frame, each one is carefully covered with a piece of aluminium tape.
Deliveries
There’s been a spate of ever-bigger vehicles on-site, with varying levels of driver skill. At the start of the week, one lorry decided it was too big to make the turn and unloaded on the road. Giant bags blocking the gate made for a fun surprise when I got home in the heavy rain.
By far the biggest vehicle we’ve had on the farm so far.
Fortunately, the Travis Perkins driver had a lot more skill after some gentle persuasion. This is by far the biggest vehicle I’ve had on site, but now I know they can get in and out, although I might make the entrance a little bigger.
Torrential rain as the plasterboard is delivered. As usual.
And they were delivering a pack of plasterboard for the Megashed. And, as always, when I order plasterboard, the lorry wasn’t quite unloaded before an unexpected and rather heavy rain shower hit.
Rafter Ties
I’ve been struggling to get enough height to install the rafter ties. Fortunately, with the plasterboard moved inside, it gave the extra few inches needed to reach the roof comfortably.
Ridge ties add significant strength to the roof.
I’m pretty happy that the rafter ties aren’t structurally necessary; however, they will help lower the ceiling’s overall apparent height. There are a few left to install, but I can’t reach the others yet.
Boarding Up
With the vapour barrier installed and minor holes sealed up, the plasterboard could now be installed. Once long ago, I bought a giant box of plasterboard screws. Could I find them? Nope.
The first sheets of plasterboard going up feel like a significant milestone.
A brief trip to Screwfix and I could start to fix the boards. As there is still some primary flooring to go down, the boards need to sit off the floor a little. And this is why the noggins between the studs were set to 123cm from the floor plate.
The laser level compensates for the natural bends in a timber frame.
Using the laser level, I could set the board to be perfectly level. This exposed the twists and bends in both the floor and wall; however, this should minimise the gaps between boards.
Window Details
I’m not quite ready to install the windows fully, but I do have to prep for them.
Careful measurement and the windows are marked up on the plasterboard.
The boards over the windows were measured, marked and pre-scored. I hope that when I come to knock the plasterboard out of the window openings, it comes out neatly!
Before the boarding goes up over the windows, the vapour barrier needs trimming.
Before the boards go up, the vapour barrier around the windows needs trimming and joining. The final seal will come when the widows are installed.
While I’m not living on a prayer, I am halfway there with boarding.
And as if by magic, the window holes have vanished. Hopefully, all the prep has now been done, and installing the window units should be that little bit easier.
Vehicles
After the recent brake replacement and battery change on the Freelander, it seems the other vehicles have become a little jealous.
Tractor
When trying to jump-start the Freelander with the tractor a few weeks ago, I noticed the tractor battery voltage was relatively low, even with the engine running.
Knowing the battery wasn’t charging, I probably shouldn’t have parked in a bog.
That possibly should have been a warning. A non-charging battery would soon prevent the tractor from starting. And I perhaps should have thought about this before parking the tractor in a bog.
Still young at just 7800 hours.
Apparently, she’s not looking too shabby for forty years old and 7800 hours. But she’s certainly crying out for a bit of attention.
The alternator belt is worn out and no longer drives the generator.
At least finding the charging issue wasn’t too difficult. The alternator belt was slacker than a slack thing. Not stretched but simply worn out and loose, with no adjustment left. A new belt is on order.
Land Rover
The Land Rover also had a bit more love and finally received some new dancing shoes. The front tyres were very much at the end of their life, and the lack of traction was becoming obvious.
New dancing shows on the Freelander.
I may well have made the mobile tyre fitters’ day. By the time he turned up rather late in the evening on Friday, the Freelander was hosed down, on the ramp, with the wheels off. I’m fairly sure he’d never had a customer like me before.
The new tyres clearly have some serious grip.
And how are the new tyres? Well, they certainly have some depth to the tread, and hold the road far better than the tyres that came off!
Trailer
And not to be left out, the big trailer also had TLC.
Infill boards on the trailer should make the collection of bulk bags and equipment easier.
As the car transporter seems to be moving far more than just cars these days, I really needed a deck and a bit of an infill. Fortunately, some recently donated scaffold boards seem to be just the job.
So despite the weather, we got through a lot of jobs this weekend. Hopefully, I can make some progress on the Megashed next week, aiming to get the space plastered, dried, and painted before the end of the year.
One thing I’m really starting to understand about farming is the relentlessness of the weather. Beginning the week at sub-zero temperatures, and finishing with a few inches of rain over the weekend. Neither end of the week has been the most pleasant for roofing work. But against the odds, more progress has been made than I ever expected.
Things not covered in this week’s write-up;
I found out the wife’s car is Rear Wheel Drive.
Holes have been dug down to find foundations.
The kids were sent out to litter pick, but it didn’t go well.
Husbandry
There is a general calmness when it comes to the animals at the moment. The fear of losing a pig (one way or another) overnight has abated. With the kittens now allowed out, the panic of getting in through the door without letting them out is lost. Generally, all the animals are just a little more settled.
Felis Catus
The cats are slowly finding their feet outside. Bonnie is still quite timid, but Clydes confidence is gradually building. They’ve not quite made it to the farm’s furthest boundaries, but Clyde has been out to the top of the drive.
And in a flash, they were gone.
The kittens’ morning routine hasn’t changed much. They’re still zipping around like angry wasps come five AM, and there is a good chance of bitten toes if you don’t get out of bed and feed them soon enough.
Upside-down kitten sleeping.
The pair are slightly less bonkers in the evening, but I think this is from all the daytime flying around. Clyde is growing at an astounding rate and already feels fully grown. However, it seems Bonnie has the bigger appetite, eating far more often.
Porcine
Like the cats, it seems the Kune Kunes have us well trained. Heaven forbid they’re not fed at 7 am prompt, they’ll certainly let us know if we dare to have a lie-in. And they are equally boisterous when it gets to 3pm in anticipation of someone coming home.
Some days I think I should have only got three, three little pigs.
Food is definitely the way to their hearts, and a bit like puppies, they are not beyond begging if you are in eyesight. There aren’t many apples left on the trees, but they’re still enjoying the occasional lunchtime sna-pple.
These pigs are like kids to Haribo when it comes to their nuts.
Interestingly, just one of the pigs has started rooting quite heavily in places. While a relatively minor behaviour change, it does seem to be only the single piglet digging in. Regardless, they’re all growing well, and I’m not sure I could pick them up any more, even if I could catch them.
Apis
The bees have all been wrapped up for the winter now. The extra insulation of the small hives should reduce the energy loss in the cold months.
Beeses in their houses.
Although the bees are relatively self-sufficient and generally aren’t seen, they were coming for a visit quite regularly. As their journeys over to our house have dropped off, their absence is definitely noted.
Farm Cottage
While the construction focus has been on getting the Megashed 2.0 complete, so the office can be set up, some work has started inside the cottage. If only to avoid the cold and rain.
Inside work is best in the cold.
To find the floor and locate the foundations, the former pantry needed to be cleared out. With a little help from mum and dad, the cladding and shelves were stripped out last weekend, and this weekend saw the walls stripped.
Running out of power
Rather frustratingly, the Freelander has been suffering from an increasingly frequent flat battery. While it hadn’t quite left me in the lurch away from the house, the frequency of jump starts was becoming problematic.
One of these things is not like the others.
Yes, it is winter, and I’m using more electricity for the heated seats and the windscreen. Yes, the battery is nearly five years old. But even after a full charge on the CTEK, the battery was flat within a couple of days. Finally, I caved and bought a new battery.
This single piece of plastic added about 10 minutes to the battery install.
Having been a bit unimpressed with Varta batteries dying at almost exactly five years, regardless of use or treatment, I’ve moved to Yuasa. Despite the size difference, I was somewhat hampered in the battery swap until I realised this bonus plastic piece needed removing!
The new battery is snug as a bug in a rug.
Once installed, charged, and the battery management reset, the starting has been much improved. So far, no flat battery. The quiescent battery current meets spec, and the alternator seems healthy, so all being well, this new battery should see us happy for another five years or more.
Wet Weather
I mentioned that the weather has been rather wet, with plenty of localised flooding. The front field has been turning into a pond in the worst of it, though it drains pretty quickly.
Diverting your floodwater onto my property isn’t cool!
However, a walk around the block might have highlighted an additional water source. Where the main road dips, it seems someone has dug through our hedge to run the water off the road and onto our field. I really hope this doesn’t kill the grass. This isn’t the only time someone has taken liberties with our boundary. Clearly, someone local has an ‘it’s only a farm‘ attitude.
Megashed 2.0
The urgency of completing the Megashed has increased as temperatures have dropped. Currently, I’m working from the cottage and with no heating, office work is getting ever less efficient.
Roof Sheet Delivery
Monday saw the arrival of the metal for the roof, having been ordered from MCS Roofing a week earlier. For the expenditure, the actual delivery was rather underwhelming. Ten nested roofing panels really don’t seem like a lot, until you try to pick them up!
Top-notch sheets from MCS in Juniper Green.
However, these are top quality, having opted for Tata Rural Clad sheets in a 0.7mm. They’re heavy-duty sheets, and probably excessive for this little shed of mine; however, they should outlast me!
Eaves Felt Support
Before the sheets could go up, a few additional trimmings needed to go up. First off were ‘eaves felt support’ panels.
A brief moment of sunshine in an otherwise freezing weekend.
These plastic trays, made from recycled material, help to guide the rain away from the breather membrane and into the gutter. IN turn, this should help to keep the barge board dry.
Plenty of overhang in the eaves.
Such a simple, cheap piece of trim, this seemed like something of a no-brainer. I guess only time will tell. However, for the time being, they really tidy up the underside of the eaves.
Front Roof Sheets
And finally, after weeks of building up to this point, a break in the weather on Friday means the first sheets could go up.
The front roof sheets go up in just 45 minutes.
And they practically flew up. Although the first sheet took a little while to position, once we had a method, the rest shot up. Amazingly, the whole front of the roof went up in just 45 minutes. Not bad for amateurs. They were also lined up by eye, and over the five-metre length, the complete panel only runs out by 5mm!
Perfection lies in the screw head alignment.
Once the top was loosely fitted, the bottom row of screws was marked before the fixings were applied. By the time I’d finished, the rain had arrived, and frankly, I forgot to get a picture of the roundabout-straight row of screws.
Insulating out the cold
In the later, darker, colder hours, installing roof sheets is less than optimal. Especially when the plastic-coated cladding is lubricated with a misting of water. This means working on the inside of the building once the light and temperature drop.
Wall insulation is nearly complete, keeping the noise out.
Speaking of temperature, the evening task has been to install insulation in the wall cavities. While this isn’t really making much difference to the temperature yet, it has made a big difference to the interior sound.
Gable Cladding
In between the showers and the breaks in other tasks, the remainder of the gable cladding has gone up.
The gable end cladding is complete.
For recycled sheets, often cut with a recip saw, the finish is fantastic. The overlap line between the upper and lower sections is remarkably straight for ‘by eye’ measurements.
Rear Sheets
Saturday started as ‘all go’ for installing the rear roof cladding. The weather was scheduled to be a little variable, so every minute counted in the drier spells.
The eaves finisher is located at the rear of the building.
Like the front, the rear received an eaves felt support panel to deflect moisture from the wooden structure.
One sheet at a time, and the rear section of the roof goes up.
Then, having learned a bit of process from the day before, the first sheets were offered up, stitched together and aligned. Again, the alignment was by eye, and I might regret that this time.
Installing the rear roof was much quicker than the front.
Between each panel, a lapping tape was used to help bond the lips, stopping moisture and air from blowing up between the panels. On the rear, the runout was closer to 15mm, but once the finishing cladding and gutters are on, this won’t be visible.
Another Cold Night
Overnight, the temperature dropped to sub-zero again, and back inside I went.
The wall and roof membrane are joined in the eaves.
Where the wall membrane meets the roof membrane, both sections were lapped with a breathable tape. This dark coloured joiner helps to bring the two sections of membrane together, but really it helps keep the cold out while the heater is running!
Roof insulation may be going up pre-emptively.
Once the sections of breathable sheet are joined, the loft insulation is offered up. This might be getting ahead of myself a little, but as the roof is nearly complete, I hope it won’t get wet!
Unplanned Guttering
After getting drenched multiple times while walking out the shed door on Friday and Saturday. In order to combat this deluge to the neck, Sunday morning saw a trip to Screwfix for their finest flow plast guttering.
The guttering over the front door should keep the rain off.
And while probably not the greatest priority, it was satisfying to get installed. The relatively short run of the gutter went up rather quickly.
Ridge Finish
While it was great to get the gutter up, I should have kept a better eye on the weather. By the time the barge flashing was installed between the shed and the shippon, the rain had arrived.
Ridge work in the freezing cold rain was less than fun.
Not only was it wet and rainy, but it was also really rather cold. Practically icy everywhere it ran. Down my back, down up front and up my legs. It took an excessively long shower to get warm again.
The complete roof is a huge milestone for the Megashed and the farm.
But despite frozen toes and testicles, by midday all the roof sheets were on, the ridge flashing installed and finally weatherproof.
Compared to the original Megashed, this one is just so much bigger, and the size has definitely caused some challenges. From the roof’s apex, on the plastic finished wet panels, the journey to the floor is a lot more rapid. Then there’s getting onto the roof in the first place. And of course, working on the inside at height causes its own problems. I might need to buy some scaffolding!
And that’s a wrap for this week. Hopefully, next week I can get the inside wrapped and semi-air-tight. Wouldn’t that be something!
After getting so close to covering the roof, before running out of membrane, the rain came. And oh, did it come down! Not quite the wettest day on the farm so far, but certainly the longest continuous shower. This made for a slow week of progress, unfortunately, and after the rain came the cold!
Not covered in this week’s round-up;
Even more pallets were brought up to the farm.
Road safety improvements installed.
Destructo-parents 2: Shelved.
Husbandry
While it feels a little like cheating to give the weekly updates a regular structure, I’m hoping to create some anticipation for you, especially when the animals are so cute!
Felis Catus
The kittens are definitely growing, and at very different rates. Clyde is already becoming much bigger than Bonnie and a little bolder. I guess that’s just a boy cat thing, which I’ve never had before.
The kittens fall asleep in the strangest postures.
Both Bonnie and Clyde seem positively settled in. Bonnie seems more than happy to be stroked until she falls asleep. They’re still learning their way around the farm and slowly getting further away from their food.
The kittens have made friends with the other pig.
Both of the kittens seem to be enjoying their wanders around the Shippon. We’ve had to cut holes in some of the doors so they don’t get trapped. They’ve also made a new piggie friend.
Porcine
The pigs are also well settled in, knowing their meal times and making sure we stick to the schedule if we forget. Three of the four seem pretty happy to be petted, once they have their food.
Happy piggies have some toys to play with.
With Halloween having passed, there’s a local glut of cheap pumpkins. The pigs have had great fun pushing a giant pumpkin around until they finally broke it open.
A happy piggy is a full piggy, and they made short work of the pumpkin innards.
Once they were through the pumpkin case, they quickly devoured the innards. I suspect they’re hoping for another one next weekend.
Ethnobotany
There are many wild edibles on the farm. Not all of it would I eat myself; however, some things, like apples and blackberries, do go together rather well under a crumble.
Mycology
When I thought all the mushrooms had receded into the ground, a damp, warm day resulted in a rather large crop appearing.
Nothing to four mushrooms overnight.
Believe it or not, there are actually four mushrooms in this picture, all of which seemed to appear in a single evening.
Megashed2.0
Much of this weekend’s focus has been on the Megashed and on finally getting the room vaguely water-tight. Once water-tight, I can start to get the space warmer and drier.
Wrapped
You might remember that last week, I ran out of breather membrane. Well, a break in the rain on Monday night meant I could throw some more sheeting over the gaps.
Step one to water-tight was to finish installing the membrane.
I didn’t have enough daylight to get the battening in place, or all of the overlaps seemed before total darkness fell. Unfortunately, the rest of the week was rather wet, and the shed was far from water-tight.
Although not quite water-tight, a complete cover keeps more rain out!
A mixture of driving rain blowing through the unsealed overlaps and heavy wind pulling some holes around staples made for quite a lot of leaks.
F€$£ing Foam
To dry out the shed, I needed to get the room a little more air-tight, so I’m not just heating the street. The gaps around the door were a little more than could be filled with sealant, so a can of expanding foam was broken out.
Filling the gaps will make the shed warmer.
And what a disaster that turned into! I nearly always use Soudal expanding foam, but it comes in a pretty big can, and I didn’t want to create a load of waste. Instead of sticking with what I know, I picked up a smaller can of No Nonsense expandy foam.
Unfortunately, the expanding foam didn’t go as planned.
And that was a massive mistake. The expansion rate is nothing like I was used to, resulting in a huge amount of excess being extruded. The cheap masking tape also failed, allowing the expanding foam to spread into too many places it shouldn’t have.
Insulation
To feel a little better about the foam disaster, I threw myself into installing the wall insulation. This is an interesting stage in the build as the space slowly gets quieter.
Insulation means warmth, in theory.
Pre-planning of the spacing meant that a lot of the sections of insulation slabs didn’t need any cutting. Better still, combinations of offcuts also fitted perfectly into the smaller gaps.
With 100mm of insulation all the way around, it should keep the bills down.
In just a few hours, I’d flown through a couple of packs of insulation and, amazingly, the temperature was already rising and slowly getting warmer.
One wall at a time, the insulation goes up.
Once all the insulation slabs were in the lower sections of the wall, I turned to the noggins. If I’ve got my sums right, these should all line up quite nicely with the plasterboard.
Within a short time, two walls are thoroughly insulated.
Some of the larger sections wanted to fall out as they expanded. A slim strip of breather membrane offcut allowed the batts to be held in place until the vapour barrier is installed.
Ready for a roof
By the end of the weekend, a break in the weather finally allowed for the additional membrane lapping to be installed. On top of that went the final battens for the roof sheets.
The shed roof is nearly ready for the sheet metal.
Hopefully, that should make the roof of the shed a little more water-tight. There are still some accidental holes to deal with, which a little tape and sealant should sort out when it arrives.
And that’s it for this week. Next week could be an interesting one if the roof sheds are delivered and I can find the time to install them. Then I can work on drying out the shed before the vapour barrier goes up.
However, that is very much dependent on the weather playing ball, and yet another named storm not turning up to ruin my fun!
An extra-long weekend for a little bit of catching up looked to be a washout with a lot of rain. However, Sunday was plenty dry for when the piggies arrive and a spot of Megashed building. And after a busy few days, I’m sore in all the wrong places!
Other things that happened this week that aren’t covered;
Halloween Spectacular XXV.
A day out to Aintree.
Yet another trailer collection!
Satisfying destruction of a cast-iron bath.
Kitten Updates
The kittens are most definitely settled in and very much ruling the roost at home. They continue to enjoy ‘zoomies’ every morning (usually before 5 am) and at bedtime (around 10 pm). They’ve even taken to a little parkour up the walls and doors.
Kittens aren’t always as cute as they seem.
Don’t be fooled by this cuter-than-cute appearance. These savage beasties are not beyond a sneak attack, usually to the feet. They also gang up if you’re not careful.
Interesting sleeping shapes often raise concern.
Quite why Bonnie sleeps like she’s been run over, i’ll never understand. More than once, I’ve had to wake her just to make sure she’s not deceased.
Concrete
A mid-week concrete rave for the not-so-solid concrete crew was a mid-week activity nobody needed. This isn’t even my ten cubic meters of concrete. However, we are getting good at finishing now, so perhaps I have a future career.
This concrete hurts. Especially when wet.
That said, this much lift and shift did not set me up well for the weekend. Everything hurts. It still does. I may have reached that age where I’ll never recover!
Agri Auction
I finally dipped my toe into an Agri Auction after wimping out at the last dispersal sale I went to. Unfortunately, I was away from a computer for most of the auction, so I threw in some low bids before I set out.
Finally bought something ‘useful’ from a farm auction.
Would you believe it, I actually won something. Nothing exciting or expensive. And in true farmer-in-training style, I don’t even need a set of ‘Trima’ brackets for the tractor at the moment. But when I do need them, I’ll know I didn’t pay much for them
Fungi Updates
While I expected last week’s fungi news to be a one-off, they haven’t stopped erupting from the ground.
I bet these are great at a party.
Damp warm days seem to be bringing something of a bumper harvest this year, with all kinds of shapes and sizes I know nothing about.
Just need a non-water-living frog to sit on it.
And yes, we did walk the field before the piggies arrived. Not quite a regulation line search, but plenty of eyes on.
Megashed 2.0 Updates
After two weeks standing down from the Megashed build due to the rather epic weather, it was nice to get back to the build. The downtime had given me some thinking time, though.
Bracing
One of the downtime realisations I had made is why I couldn’t seem to get the front and rear rafters to line up properly, or sit snug to the ridge beam.
First, we cut the triangles.
The observation I had finally made was that the ridge beam hadn’t actually been fixed to the supporting columns. Better still, the supporting beam at one end had no triangulation reinforcement. The result was a rather loose structure flopping about under my weight.
Then, we mark the triangles.
The solution was, of course, bracing. And if it was good enough for Pythagoras, then triangles are good enough for me. These 10mm mild steel plates were for a slightly different design I had for the roof, but drilled and bolted, they will be ideal for rigidity.
And then we forget to take pictures of drilling the triangles and skip straight to installation.
A couple of plates, a couple of end rafters, and a combined four triangles had one end of the ridge beam fixed solidly. And the difference was night and day. Well, it took a while, okay!
Un-walling
Getting one of the end rafters into place meant one final bit of demo at the end of the old pig sty. The tower clearly wasn’t of an original construction as it seemed to have been stuck together with concrete.
Imagine a house brick, placed on a stack of biscuits. Similar structure here!
Unfortunately, the original lower section of brickwork was glued together with lime mortar. I really do mean ‘was’ as these days the section of wall was more akin to a dry stone wall with some sand between the layers.
Bang, crash, whollop, and amazing —the wall is still standing.
I really did think dropping this tower would result in a complete collapse of the wall, but amazingly, the softer section survived. Some relaying and repointing will be required, but right now, I’m happy with the result.
God damn tool retrieval
One downside to leaving the original pig sty wall up is the not insignificant gap between the shed and the wall.
Tool magnet for non-ferrous tools. Grrrr.
Sure, the trapped air will act as an excellent thermal barrier, and the bricks will keep the worst of the weather off the tin, but the gap is a bloody tool magnet. Which is ironic, as that alloy speed square isn’t magnetic. Grrr.
Rafters
Before the piggies arrive, and with a break in the weather, I found a little time to crack on with the roof rafters.
Measure one, cut ten times, then make a nice template.
Birdsmouths in rafters are something I really hate doing. I’m not very good at maths, so I tend to go for an iterative approach to get to an accurate template.
Since and repeat until you go a bit tweety.
Then some replication of the template results in a nice stack of pre cut rafters ready to offer up to the wall plate.
The wood finally rises to make the roof.
And while the sun was shining, nearly all the rafters were thrown up to make the new roof. It’s very satisfying as each timber shaft reinforces the structure. (Don’t say ‘erection’, that’s just childish)
Piggies Arrive!
Okay, okay, onto the reason you’re actually reading this week’s update. PIGGIES! Ah, now this is a proper Nothing to Farm milestone. Our first livestock on-site.
piggies arrive
Apparently, you shouldn’t name your food, but ‘Jasper’ (because he’s a carrot) is too cute not to have a name. The four Kune Kune piglets are sixteen weeks old, two girls/gilts and two boys/boars.
Water, food, shelter and security. Happy bacon!
I’m so glad the afternoon was sunny and they settled in well. They also snore rather loudly, lying on top of each other in the pig-wam. Fortunately, the breader they came from is a fantastic human being and made everything nice and easy for us.
Pretty Sky
Yes, it is mad to buy a small holding, and start from nothing and try and make it into a farm. However, it’s weekends like this that make it worthwhile. I’m sore, bruised, probably too old for this s#it, but even in the coldest nights, completely worth it. And hard to believe it’s been six months already!
No, that really is the moon.
A very different type of work and one that is surprisingly rewarding. Having the piggies arrive is another massive milestone. It’s also like having a new baby with friends and family alike clambering to visit the ham for next Christmas.
