Feed storing

Firstly, I'd just like to give a quick welcome and thank you for hitting the followers button to my latest readers :

Helen Blom - I can't see a blog for you Helen
Wendy of http://whishinrecipes.blogspot.com/; http://whishin.blogspot.com/;
http://whishincolony.blogspot.com/
Murphy's Law of: http://lagniappeslair.blogspot.com/
Jean of http://shrimptonandperfect.blogspot.com/
Ken Alviti of http://www.englishhomestead.com/; http://www.sawdustinmysocks.com/
The_Shroom of http://rsandss.blogspot.com/

Thanks guys and girls - appreciate it :)

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Then - onto today's topic...

November 2012 - the garage in all it's glory :)

When we built the garage section it was so that we would have somewhere to stay whilst the house build was completed.  Well, that - and somewhere to give one of the cars some shade during those blisteringly hot summers days.(Where we are two cars is, to us, vital and ensures that we will never be marooned - if one doesn't start for any reason, the other one should be able to get us to emergency medical attention if, and when, required.)

We had a garage added to the plans so that if at any stage we wanted / could afford the garage it would just be a case of getting it built - no resubmission to the municipal housing plans department would be required.  Bear in mind that initially we started building here so that we could escape to the country for a weekend / week now and then.  Little did we know that it would be required to store boxes, and us, when we moved here permanently.

November 2013 - the carport is added - for the
tractor and for a feed storage area

Then RMan got an old tractor.  So we needed somewhere to protect the tractors exposed electrical parts / gearbox from the rain.  So we added on a "carport" to the entire side of the garage.  The garage is long enough that the carport can protect both the tractor and a car from the weather - sun or rain. RMan left it open at both ends so that the tractor could enter from one end, and a car from the other.

But, we also store the back-up generator there - noise and pollution dictated that positioning LOL

And then we decided to get our alpacas.

As you can see, the lucerne bales are right next to the
back-up generator - not good!  Especially given the
exhaust is pointed right at the bales.  RMan
tried to create a "barrier" between the genny and
the bales

And we needed somewhere to store their feed.  So, the car got ejected from the carport, and the tractor, genny and the feed took precedence.  But the genny was right next to the lucerne bales - with the exhaust unfortunately pointed right at them.

So, we needed to make another plan.

Back to the sawmill in town to purchase more of their (cheap) offcuts.  well, we don't need the feed storage to be in an airtight space - just protected from the rain.

The carport now has a enclosed end...

RMan has "enclosed" the one end of the carport for the feed and for the genny - and we have moved the genny.

...and the genny is situated so that the exhaust
points outside of the feed storage area

It is now situated with it's exhaust extending out of the feed storage area.

Happy days :)

It's amazing how your outbuildings, which you try and plan so carefully, can adapt to new requirements.

But, I have a feeling that once we harvest the oats, we will require more feed space and the tractor may have to move to the 2nd shadecloth veggie hut which is still incomplete.  It will mean reforcing the roof structure and putting IBR sheet (corrugated iron) roofing on it, but that shouldn't prove too problematic...

And, it will move the field mice, which are sheltering inside the bodywork and under the tractor's slasher, just that little bit further away from the house. Win-win :)