Mt Hood Excursion

Although we don't take many Saturdays off, last week we spent the day near Mount Hood.Our main reason for going was that Dad and Scott were given blacksmithing lessons for their birthdays. (One of our dreams is to have a blacksmithy set up on the farm. ) After watching them blacksmith for a while, the rest of us went on a mile and a half snow hike, then came back and picked up the guys and visited Timberline lodge before heading home.

Walking through the snow in 65 degrees and sunshine.

Looking at Mt. Hood across a meadow.

Almost done!

Copper brushing

Up at Timberline lodge.

Looking across the Cascades.

MPU - Putting it together

Working on the trailer Tuesday evening:

Andrew and Daniel putting the bolts in.

Scott using the plasma cutter to create the holes for the bolts.

Goofing off.

MPU - Planning

Scott pondering out the next stage in the MPU.

MPU - Stage 2

Next the internal supports had to be ground off. The supports were not load bearing and had to be replaced. Last Saturday, in rather intense heat, Scott tackled the supports.

Sparks are flying from the grinder.

As Scott's face show, this is rather an intense activity.

The third out of ten cuts to be completed.

MPU or Mobile Processing Unit - Stage 1

Last week we decided to take the plunge and begin putting together a mobile processing unit, or MPU. This is basically a fancy way of describing a trailer that holds the equipment to process (butcher) chickens. Scott and Tyler have spent the last couple of days working on it.

They started with a trailer skeleton. It just has the brakes wired in. In the background you'll notice the barn, Scott's welding tent and some piles of bark chips and logs.

Then the trailer gets sandblasted to remove the rust. Tyler spent a day sandblasting. He was roasting in the heat under all of the protective layers, but he stuck with it and never complained. You can't actually see the sandblasting out of the nozzle because he posed for me. The air compressor was extremely loud and I couldn't plug my ears and take a picture at the same time.
Here you can see the diffference between where he hasn't sandblasted (red) and where he has (gray).

Saying good night...

... to the second batch of baby chickens.

Liming around

Jacob helping spread lime.

A week ago or so, Daniel and Jacob spread lime in the orchard and on the lawn. Daniel was on the lawn tractor with a spreader and Jacob used a small fertilizer spreader. As you can see in the picture, lime covered them quickly!

Bike ride

Jacob, Daniel and Andrew taking

advantage of the warmer weather.

Chicken grain

Almost empty!

Pastoral serenity

Looking at the southeast corner