Living on a small farm requires skills.
Lots of skills.
We both love being as self sufficient as possible, but there are some things we don’t do, because we don’t have the tools, knowledge or strength.
From the time I (Julia) was a child, my dad taught me how to take things apart and reassemble. He was a do-it-yourself kind of guy, mostly because it was more economical. I’d like to think he enjoyed some tasks as well. Not once did he ever suggest that I should not do things because I’m a girl. He was ahead of his time in that regard.
One of his side hustles was to put together feeders for cattle from a kit, then sell the finished product to other farmers. I stood by his side, reading directions over his shoulder and handing him the correct parts. (A skill that came in handy later with Ikea furniture.)
Donna’s dad taught her the value of hard work and doing for yourself as much as possible. Later, he taught both of us how to take on a fixer-upper house. He spent many hours teaching us what we needed to know. Everything from installing siding and shingles to changing out windows and electrical outlets.
Now when a repair job or maintenance need comes up, we first consider if we can fix it.
Change an outlet or light switch. Yes.
Change the oil in a mower. Sure.
And now change an ignition coil in the riding mower.
Having a couple of acres to mow means riding mowers (yes, plural) need to be in running condition. When one of them was sluggish, we decided to investigate.
After disassembling the housing around the flywheel, we found the problem. A family of mice had taken up residence in the engine. Apparently, during their construction efforts, they got a little hungry for spark plug wires. The little beasties had chewed off half the insulation and right through the wire.
After a YouTube lesson, an Amazon order and a half hour or so of labor, the mower is back in service.
Another do-it-yourself task completed.
Plus, we saved time and money.
Our Dads would be proud.