Turkey Trot . . .

Of course, a Turkey Trot is an old time dance.  But it makes for an appropriate opening or title for this bit.

Yesterday about 4:30 PM we look up and out our front window from the den where we spend most of our time now days, and there goes a single turkey hen walking across our front yard.  She was not trotting, she was just strolling across seemingly on her way somewhere.  She was not driven in her pace so I am sure she was just poking along free as lark.

It fits in with our typical urbanization.  We have lots of deer, and occasional skunk, possum and raccoon.  We also see the fox every now and then. We have even spied an occasional wild cat properly known as a lynx or bob cat. Adjacent to our subdivision is an undeveloped tract of wild land.  The owner eschews gas well drilling, hunting, or clearing of land.  It is said that she wants it wild and harbors the deer herd seemingly her pets.

I had seen a turkey along Mikus Road, the main drag into our subdivision some years back.  I figured it was lost.  Turkeys are not to bright when it comes to birds and wild animals.  We have what is known as the "turkey herd" out at our flying field in Springtown, TX.  We see them quite often in bunches as large as forty or more birds.  They are totally oblivious to us and of course not to be found during hunting season at all.

Any way, we know that we are on the edge of wild life around here.  There are still some areas devoid of houses where the owners encourage the fauna to coexist with us.  And once in awhile one or two of the rare ones pays us an unexpected visit.

Stuck Valve . . .

We noted yesterday morning, that circuit #3 in the back was stuck on.  I had to go out and shut the well down, it was pretty wet out there.  I left to dry out.

Today I started with a kitchen spoon digging out the valve, the only thing visible was the solenoid.  So using a kitchen spoon I dug around the valve removing enough soil to see the top of the valve and down the sides a little bit.  Basically, I uncovered the "bonnet" or top of the valve.  I noted the connections were okay and apparently the solenoid, the usual culprit, was working just fine.

So I went in and did an Internet search, figured out it was a Hunter RPV valve (one of many Hunter designs).  It had a knob on top and that is for flow control.  That is the knob can regulate the pressure a bit.  I loosened up the bonnet and took the solenoid off.  Water came out of the solenoid mount and thus I knew when I unscrewed the bonnet I would have a ton of water to deal with.

So I had to excavated the valve, I removed the vertical cover, dug it out careful not to destroy the wires to the solenoid.  Made a big enough hole to capture the water and of course, bailed the water out.  I got most of the water out and removed the bonnet.  I took the bonnet inside and clean it up.  I saw in the bottom of the valve where the water comes in from the well a large chunk of old blue glue.  I am not sure that was the problem but removed it anyway.  It probably slowed the water down a bit.

I did see some small rocks in the solenoid area.  They get under the solenoid and keep it from closing thus allowing the water to flow.  I cleaned the bonnet, the solenoid and blew out the channels and got all the debris out of the valve including the glue.  I washed the insides up well and reassemble the valve.  Then turn the well back on.  Problems solved.

The valve was dirty inside, it is a "dirty water" design.  So the discoloration from the microscopic sand particles produced by the well does not inhibit its operation.  Clean water valves are designed to run on city water but I do not do that at all.  City water would cost a fortune, the well paid for itself in just a couple of years in avoidance of city water fees.

Like I said, irrigation systems are constant maintenance.  Another job done.

The Well . . .

The water well has suffered through several really bad freezes this year, each time a pipe or faucet breaks, each in a different location.  I have heat tape on the well plumbing near the tank but none out were the faucet is located.  So the faucet problem is somewhat expected, those breaks at or near the well is a different kettle of fish.  I chalk it up to general yard maintenance.

When I went out to fire up the well again there was yet another leak at the elbow I had glue back in place.  That elbow suffered from some substandard glue that separated.  First time at one end and the second time at the other end.  In those cases I simply reinstalled the elbow, not a big deal.  This time the elbow broke in the middle, both reglued joints survived.

As I was cutting out the elbow I was thinking about how to replace it, I discovered a short piece of pipe not far away, maybe a foot, had also shattered.  That piece of one inch pipe was rather thin walled, not really schedule forty material.  The elbow was schedule forty material but it failed too.  I had at one time replaced a slip joint in this short length of pipe with a union.  That was easy enough but alas the pipe on one end failed, not the union.

So I have now replaced the entire length of this short pipe, may 22 or so inches long, got rid of the union and all the joints in between and replaced it with first class schedule thick wall pipe.  I am giving the glue a while to set up and will fire up the well again.  But the union is gone, a slight restriction and possible future leak location is also gone.

I'll say for one thing the pump at the bottom of this shallow well, about 190 feet down, really pumps out some water.  A year ago, maybe two years ago, we had the well people tune it up.  They replaced the starting capacitors and the pressure switch.  It really pumps out the water now.  I had thought the pump at the bottom needed to be lowered but not so, just a tune was necessary.

As I have said before, irrigation systems are constant maintenance.  This one is no different.  But over the 12 years we have had this house we must have saved at least $10,000 in local water fees.  And if all else fails the shallow well can act as a reserve supply of water, albeit, much harder than city water.  But it is much cheaper than city water, we have well amortized the cost of the well so it is just the price of electricity to run the irrigation system, pennies per day at most.

So I keep a box of fittings, a can of glue and the tools to repair any leaks.  And we continue to have a nice green yard when other's yards are turning brown.

And the beat goes on . . .

Got The Message . . .

I got the  message from nephew Johnny on the Log House, it is the missing piece of data I needed to close out last year's taxes.  Sometimes, well at least once, we skipped a year, not much to report and file, that translates to no tenant in the house.  This was a good year, apparently had a tenant all year long.

Sometimes it is a tie between the Plantation and the Log House on which piece of information I get.  But it does not matter when it matters what the data is.

It is always a family affair of sorts.  The Log House is a John Morrison family thing and the plantation is the entire Walter Morrison family thing.  Of course, the Plantation is always a more complex issue as there are a myriad of family members that now have ownership.  And for the most part they, the attendees, all participate in some kind of way.

That's family for you, nobody always agrees and but yet we find a good consensus and the majority rules.  There is a big enough plurality to make things interesting.  The meetings sometimes get raucous but that is the fun of it all.  It happens but once a year and there is always good food at the end of all.

The best part is seeing the family.  Not all get to attend, some miss it but not me, it is one of the highlights of the year for me especially to see the family members that attend.

Until next year, well maybe next week . . .

We Are Back . . .

Son James accompanied me to the family farm business meeting and get together.  There is always a topic of some kind that elicits much discussion and we had perhaps three of them.

The first was the survey conducted by cousin Camille on the farm and its management.  In her words it was almost identical with the one conducted 10 or 15 years ago.  There a couple of responses from those who said they did not care about it one way or the other.  The desire in that case was to find out who did not care and see if we could get them to part with their shares.  Not an easy idea to deal with as we first do not know who they are (anonymity was a key element in the survey) and nobody can put a value on the stock.

This led to the second topic of discussion the Usufructs Agreement.  Our parents made a deal with each other on the use of the front of the plantation.  The W. C. Morrison (Walter's family) got the use of the family home as they all grew up there.  That made sense.  Then the remainder divied up the other three parts roughly equal in size.  In that case my father (John) traded his spot with his younger brother (Farnham or Uncle Ham to us) so that my brother, John, could build a log house on the spot he desired.  The last piece was Aunt Edna's and neither of her daughters seemed to care to much about the use of their spot.  It is the garden location now days.

There were some peculiar issues buried in the Usufructs agreement, one of which said as long as Uncle Walter and Aunt Flea lived they had exclusive use of the family home.  Upon their demise that exclusivity ceased.  No matter, we do not chose to live there and Chris Morrison, a son of Walter's does so and maintains the home.  It is far better to have a willing occupant than to have an empty structure which will immediately begin to seriously deteriorate.  The agreement expires in May of the year 2020 at which time all improvements, changes, structures all revert to the ownership of the farm.

The final issue was a new suitor for leasing the farm.  Currently, the Schexnyder family leases the farm.  They have been very good tenants over the years but the rental income for 520 arable acres was marginal at best.  a new lease offer made by "Jobie" Beaud, also a family that are long friends of our family. was tendered.  That offer was more than twice the amount paid by the Schexnyders.  That is quandary that the board of directors must deal with.

None of the issues had a final solution and some present some real issues to deal with.  So goes the family farm meeting.  A family meeting first, a business meeting secondly -always.  Some how we have to  figure out how to deal with it.  And we will.

Then we had a wonderful repast catered by "Hot Tails" restaurant.  Food was fried Catfish and Sensational salad with hush puppies and Boudin balls.  After the meal we visit and played with the grandchildren that ran about all over the place.  The weather was beautiful

James and I departed False River camp the next morning for Texas   The drive was uneventful until Marshall, Texas.  At Marshall the temperature dropped from a balmy 70 degrees to 49 degrees.  By the time we got to Tyler, Texas it was 32 degrees with freezing rain, sleet and snow.  At the out skirts of Dallas it was 26 degrees and dropping.  But the time we got to Weatherford it was 20 degrees out side.

But we made it back safe and sound, albeit a little bit cooler than Louisiana - not.  It was damn cold.