Monday, August 28, 2006
Dog-Tired
I am dog-tired. And just about every part of my body is aching. And I have a lovely red neck that burns a bit.
So how did I land in such a shape? Bunnies.
Andrew and I started the Great Barn Cleaning of 2006 this past weekend. But this is no ordinary great barn cleaning. Oh no. We’re also adding our PVC automatic watering system at the same time.
We started on Saturday morning by moving everything extraneous out of the first aisle of the barn. We have three aisles with a row on either side. I moved the bunnies into carriers placed on the third aisle. Then we took down the cages in one row and took them outside for pressure washing.
This will be the last time we take them down. I am hoping that in the future, we will pressure wash them in place. We’ll see about that when the time comes.
While I washed the cages, Andrew cut the PVC and fit the pieces together. We had a few things to figure out – where to put the risers, where to put the drain, etc. Finally things seemed to come together.
The heating cable must be threaded through the PVC (the cable will keep the water from freezing this winter). We figured the best, and maybe the only way to do that was to thread and then glue the PVC together. It all worked well, so by evening, we hung the cages back, marked the location of the founts, and removed the cages again.
Andrew drilled holes and glued saddles in place. Then it was time to hang the cages again, place a crock in each, and juggle bunnies around so that the second row of cages was empty and ready for the next day.
The first day, I had washed cages facing a westerly direction, so I got a bit of sunburn on my arms. I made sure I had sunscreen on them the next day. But Andrew showed me the way he normally cleans them, so I ended up facing north – and getting a terrible sunburn on the back of my neck. Ouch!
We proceeded in generally the same way as the day before. I would take a break and go inside when Andrew glued the pieces. I am extremely sensitive to chemicals, so I got the heck out of there when he glued.
Things took a downward turn. I knew it was bad when Andrew came in and told me that I had married an idiot, or something like that.
You see, after gluing a section, part of the PVC started bulging a bit. So, he did the sensible thing and decided to cut the pipe, take out the extra and rejoin it. It was the millisecond after he cut the pipe that he remembered that the heating cable was inside.
And the directions plainly say, “Do not splice heating cable.”
So, we securely taped a new cable to the end of the old and carefully pulled it through. It’s not as easy as it sounds with all of the twists and turns. There are over 50 feet of pipe in that section alone.
Things went well for a bit and then snap! the wire came apart. There is a connection between the heating cable and the electrical wire. We had reinforced it with electrical tape, but apparently not enough. Now what?
Luckily, the new cable had made it far enough to be in the sections not yet glued. So, we took some pieces apart and got the rest threaded through.
That put us a bit behind in our schedule. That, with an unplanned trip for more PVC glue, made the day slip away. It was 9:00 p.m. before the cages were hung, the spots marked, more drilling, more glue, and at last the cages were hung again.
I then went out to move rabbits around, make sure that every cage on the first aisle had a crock for water, and fed my furry babies.
I got to bed around midnight and closed my eyes for two seconds. Poof, it was time to get up and start home school.
So that’s why I am dog-tired. And we still have four rows to go!
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry “Home Of Grand Champions”
Precious Pet Rabbits
Affordable Web Site Design
¶ 3:36 PM
So how did I land in such a shape? Bunnies.
Andrew and I started the Great Barn Cleaning of 2006 this past weekend. But this is no ordinary great barn cleaning. Oh no. We’re also adding our PVC automatic watering system at the same time.
We started on Saturday morning by moving everything extraneous out of the first aisle of the barn. We have three aisles with a row on either side. I moved the bunnies into carriers placed on the third aisle. Then we took down the cages in one row and took them outside for pressure washing.
This will be the last time we take them down. I am hoping that in the future, we will pressure wash them in place. We’ll see about that when the time comes.
While I washed the cages, Andrew cut the PVC and fit the pieces together. We had a few things to figure out – where to put the risers, where to put the drain, etc. Finally things seemed to come together.
The heating cable must be threaded through the PVC (the cable will keep the water from freezing this winter). We figured the best, and maybe the only way to do that was to thread and then glue the PVC together. It all worked well, so by evening, we hung the cages back, marked the location of the founts, and removed the cages again.
Andrew drilled holes and glued saddles in place. Then it was time to hang the cages again, place a crock in each, and juggle bunnies around so that the second row of cages was empty and ready for the next day.
The first day, I had washed cages facing a westerly direction, so I got a bit of sunburn on my arms. I made sure I had sunscreen on them the next day. But Andrew showed me the way he normally cleans them, so I ended up facing north – and getting a terrible sunburn on the back of my neck. Ouch!
We proceeded in generally the same way as the day before. I would take a break and go inside when Andrew glued the pieces. I am extremely sensitive to chemicals, so I got the heck out of there when he glued.
Things took a downward turn. I knew it was bad when Andrew came in and told me that I had married an idiot, or something like that.
You see, after gluing a section, part of the PVC started bulging a bit. So, he did the sensible thing and decided to cut the pipe, take out the extra and rejoin it. It was the millisecond after he cut the pipe that he remembered that the heating cable was inside.
And the directions plainly say, “Do not splice heating cable.”
So, we securely taped a new cable to the end of the old and carefully pulled it through. It’s not as easy as it sounds with all of the twists and turns. There are over 50 feet of pipe in that section alone.
Things went well for a bit and then snap! the wire came apart. There is a connection between the heating cable and the electrical wire. We had reinforced it with electrical tape, but apparently not enough. Now what?
Luckily, the new cable had made it far enough to be in the sections not yet glued. So, we took some pieces apart and got the rest threaded through.
That put us a bit behind in our schedule. That, with an unplanned trip for more PVC glue, made the day slip away. It was 9:00 p.m. before the cages were hung, the spots marked, more drilling, more glue, and at last the cages were hung again.
I then went out to move rabbits around, make sure that every cage on the first aisle had a crock for water, and fed my furry babies.
I got to bed around midnight and closed my eyes for two seconds. Poof, it was time to get up and start home school.
So that’s why I am dog-tired. And we still have four rows to go!
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry “Home Of Grand Champions”
Precious Pet Rabbits
Affordable Web Site Design
¶ 3:36 PM
