# LatestartersDaughter 's Journal



## LatestartersDaughter (Mar 4, 2019)

Today was not the best day emotionally. Definitely had its ups and downs. Saying goodbye to Mel was sooo hard. It did end on a better note. I found more pictures which always make me happy! So I thought I would share a few here. We've got my dad taking the first selfie ever in the early 80's looking all modelesque. Not sure where the second one was but he was on deployment. The third one he was on Midway Island with a gooney bird. I needed the smile so much!


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## LatestartersDaughter (Mar 4, 2019)

I'll go ahead and follow in my father's footsteps here. My brother was shown by @Devonviolet how to give the goats their shots. He had all of them done himself last night except the three males. I went out there if he needed help because RJ has an attitude problem. It was very muddy. Neither of us had proper footwear. It was almost dark. I am clueless about this stuff. My brother only has a couple more clues than me. Surprisingly, RJ lets him give him the shot. Next goat, not happy, but gets his shot. Now it's Beast's turn. Beast ain't stupid, he saw what happened to the other two. Joey tries enticing him over, nothing. Tried to corner him and ends up sliding in the mud but somehow not falling. Next, I get animal crackers, his favorite. He won't go near us. I'm trying hard not to go in the pen because all i can picture is myself falling face first in the mud. So I enter...and realize RJ is huge and wants to be beside me while we catch Beast. Pretty sure I looked like a baby trying to walk when I was chasing  Beast. Finally  he ran behind their shelter so we  boxed him in. The other male slipped in and they both bolted at me, I panicked and did nothing to grab him. We get him back there again and he slips past Joey. We get him back there again and Joey grabs him!  That goat is making noises like we are killing him. Joey leans down to put the needle in and he escapes! Takes a few minutes but we get him cornered again, Joey catches him and is able to give him his shot. The fact that neither of us fell is a minor miracle. At least we shouldn't have to do that again. Our dad would have had tears in his eyes laughing at us.


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## Devonviolet (Mar 4, 2019)

Contatulations Brandy and Joey!  Y’all have now experienced your first GOAT RODEO!!!


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## CntryBoy777 (Mar 4, 2019)

Thanks for sharing the pics!!.....and the story about the goats...the 2nd pic was taken near Jerusalem.....hope things settle down for ya and ya can continue on, moving forward.....


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## Senile_Texas_Aggie (Mar 4, 2019)

Miss Brandy,

Thank you so much for posting the pictures and telling us of the goat roundup!  That was so funny!  I am glad you and Joey didn't fall and get too muddy.  Please post more of your adventures.  We all welcome you to BYH and will show the love to you and Joey the way your dad did to you and to us here at BYH.

Senile Texas Aggie


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## RollingAcres (Mar 4, 2019)

Thank you for sharing Brandy!

Sorry but I laughed out loud reading about your goat roundup adventure!


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## greybeard (Mar 4, 2019)

CntryBoy777 said:


> Thanks for sharing the pics!!.....and the story about the goats...the 2nd pic was taken near Jerusalem....


Yes, without doubt. the Old City, Temple Mount,  and Dome of the Rock mosque is in the background.
An ancient area, with the wall around the old city dating back to the earliest pat of the Ottoman Empire.


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## Ferguson K (Mar 4, 2019)

You survived your first ever goat round up! Way to go!! 

You definitely get your writing style from Your father. Y’all write very similar.


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## LatestartersDaughter (Mar 5, 2019)

Tomorrow I go home. Even though I'll be back next month, I hate leaving dad's house, it is such a comfort. I can't help but worry about his goats knowing how much he cared for them. Thank you everyone for all your support, otherwise I'd probably be more of an emotional wreck!


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## Senile_Texas_Aggie (Mar 5, 2019)

Please keep in touch!  We all love you!


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## B&B Happy goats (Mar 5, 2019)

Brandy...you have a hurd with you now honey, you ain't  gettin away from us, you belong here


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## RollingAcres (Mar 5, 2019)

Please keep in touch.


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## BlessedWithGoats (Mar 5, 2019)

Have a safe trip home Brandy.  See you soon!


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## LatestartersDaughter (Mar 5, 2019)

RollingAcres said:


> Please keep in touch.



I definitely will!


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## LatestartersDaughter (Mar 5, 2019)

It seems like with every place we talk to we find a cost that had to be paid. I never expected settling an estate to be like this. We get good news then bad news. The stuff we are trying to sell is being sold for half of what we were expecting throwing our budget out of whack. Things are so stressful!


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## BlessedWithGoats (Mar 5, 2019)




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## SA Farm (Mar 5, 2019)




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## frustratedearthmother (Mar 5, 2019)

Sorry you're dealing with this.  I lost both of my parents last summer and I know it's not an easy task to deal with.


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## goatgurl (Mar 5, 2019)

i'm so sorry you and joey are having to deal with this.  its never easy and dang sure not easy from long distance.  just take a deep breath and do the best you can.  that's all you can do in reality.   know that we are here for youall if for nothing more than a sounding board.  safe trip home


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## goatgurl (Mar 5, 2019)

i'm so sorry you and joey are having to deal with this.  its never easy and dang sure not easy from long distance.  just take a deep breath and do the best you can.  that's all you can do in reality.   know that we are here for youall if for nothing more than a sounding board.  safe trip home


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## Sumi (Mar 6, 2019)




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## Devonviolet (Mar 6, 2019)

My heart goes out to you, Sweet One!  Things have sure not gone the way we had hoped. Dealing with the aftermath when a loved one dies, certainly isn’t easy - on many levels!!!

I have at least two options, for the goats, that MIGHT work.  One person has expressed an interest in the herd, however it may not work out, as we had hoped.  That still leaves my second option. I hope to get that in motion by tomorrow morning.  The important thing is to get those goats off the property SOON, as they now no longer have an LGD protecting them. And their is a heavy coyote presence all around the property!!!


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## Baymule (Mar 6, 2019)

Be safe going home. Settling an estate seems to never go as expected. Just do the best you can do. Big hugs.


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## Bruce (Mar 6, 2019)

LatestartersDaughter said:


> It was very muddy. Neither of us had proper footwear.


Not to worry, your father never did either. As you read through his journal you will find references to that. 

Things will work out


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## Devonviolet (Mar 6, 2019)

Please let us know you got home safely, Brandy.


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## LatestartersDaughter (Mar 7, 2019)

Devonviolet said:


> Please let us know you got home safely, Brandy.



Made it home safe and got a wonderful greeting from my dog Teddy. I needed that so much!


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## Devonviolet (Mar 7, 2019)

Awww! That’s sweet. . I grew up with cats, so didn’t learn about how amazing a dog’s love is, until my kids were growing up.  It never ceases to amazing me how soothing the love of a dog can be. I know you really did missed your Teddy, and am glad he didn’t disappoint.


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## B&B Happy goats (Mar 7, 2019)

Goodmorning  Brandy, happy you made it home safely.  
I am sending you my first mornings greeting  i got from Mel today....a big slobbering  drooling kiss across your face, lol.....ok how about a hug from me instead ...no drooling  included


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## RollingAcres (Mar 7, 2019)

Glad you made it home safely Brandy.


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## Bruce (Mar 7, 2019)

LatestartersDaughter said:


> Made it home safe and got a wonderful greeting from my dog Teddy. I needed that so much!


What no video of the reunion?? 
We used to tease your dad about pictures. He was always quick to mention that we all LOVE pictures when someone new joined but didn't get around to taking near as many as we would have liked. We did get some good ones though.


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## LatestartersDaughter (Mar 12, 2019)

The auction went well. We made enough money to pay my dad's mortgage for a few months. The bank does nothing to help you out there - shocker right. I was surprised Bang sold for the most, she is pregnant though. Thank you so much @Devonviolet and @Baymule for your help!

We've decided we are going to wait until we get the life insurance to go back to Texas. Lawyer isn't cheap and you have to have one to file the will in Texas. Now we wait for the death certificate in order to do anything!


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## Baymule (Mar 12, 2019)

Banks don't care what problems a person may have, they just want their payment. I am so happy that the sale of the goats helped you and your brother keep the payments made. I hope that the farm sells quickly. Y'all may have to make a decision to lower the price for a quick sale. It will be a choice between holding out for more money (and having to make payments for however long?) and taking a short sale and getting the worry of making a house note off your minds. That's the ole proverbial "between a rock and a hard place". 

When we moved up here, we had that choice and made the decision to take a short sale so we didn't have an empty house sitting there for months and months while vandals stole everything. The house we bought had already been struck by vandals that tore out copper wiring, the furnace and outside air conditioning unit. They also tore out the breaker box and wiring. It cost us $10,000 to repair it all.


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## B&B Happy goats (Mar 12, 2019)

Could you rent the house until the estate lawyers get everything  done so you can sell ? 
As Bay mentioned above....when our parents passed, we did a sale and sold the house within a week... for 15k over the low listed price.....the house didn't  have a mortage on it... we had a family trust that stated we could do that, but because dad had gotten a new truck after mom died, the whole truck issue took a year for the title to be released....getting government involved in settling what should be family matters is a pain....happy you got a good price for the goats !


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## Baymule (Mar 12, 2019)

Renters can be a blessing and a curse. A good renter would keep the place clean and the yard mowed. A bad renter..... the horror stories abound. LOL Most want a lease, If month to month, it can actually be harder to get them out. Real estate laws are screwy.


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## greybeard (Mar 12, 2019)

LatestartersDaughter said:


> The auction went well. We made enough money to pay my dad's mortgage for a few months. The bank does nothing to help you out there - shocker right. I was surprised Bang sold for the most, she is pregnant though. Thank you so much @Devonviolet and @Baymule for your help!
> 
> We've decided we are going to wait until we get the life insurance to go back to Texas. Lawyer isn't cheap and you have to have one to file the will in Texas. Now we wait for the death certificate in order to do anything!


Not things that are easy to talk about at this time but....
If I read it correctly, Joe was cremated vs traditional burial.
If you haven't already done so, as next-of-kin, you can apply for & the VA will reimburse most of the cremation costs. It takes up to a few months to receive the check. I paid for the cremation of my father-in-law in 2014 and I had to walk my m-i-l thru the paperwork but she did get the check. They don't pay 100% but the check was still over $1000. I think it may have been transport costs from the VA hospital to the creamatorum that they did not fully cover.

(EDIT!...IF an insurance policy or a prepaid plan covered the final costs, then the reimbursement from VA may not be available.)

It's usually customary in Texas for a will to be filed by the deceased's attorney as soon as the will is written out and the official notary seal stamped. Filed at courthouse with clerk of court.
Entering probate will indeed  have to be done with an attorney, tho not all estates go to probate. Depends on the size of the estate. Make sure the 2018 taxes have all been paid. Property and fed income taxes.

I can tell you, that in the case of my father's uncontested will/estate, everything had to be listed to clear IRS.
They wanted a value for:
His wardrobe.
Vehicles...with year and miles.
Equipment..model and serial # and estimated value.
Homes and real property.
Firearms.
Shop equipment.
Real and other tangible property.
(if the estate is under a benchmark value limit, IRS probably won't become involved in the probate itself. My father's was relatively large and varied)

Do be aware, that if Joe's place was under ag exemption, the county can invoke a rollback of county tax exemption since it is now no longer qualified. The rollback is having to pay the difference of what appraised tax without exemption would be minus what was assessed under ag. IIRC, they can go back 5 years, tho it may vary county to county. It all depends just how hard that county's appraisal district keeps track of things and how 'money hungry' they are.  It's the 'new owner(s) that pay the rollback, which for now, is Joe's legal heirs, but often, the rollback doesn't happen until the estate is sold and new warranty deed is filed with clerk of court. Real estate agents and title company will likely advise you of this when the time comes.

It's always unfortunate in these circumstance, that the farm animals have to go to disbursal sale/auction..but sounds like they found good homes.

Several times, I have been to livestock auctions and seen a lifetime of someone's cattle work go thru the ring not long after their obit appeared in the paper. 40-50-60 years of a rancher's livestock genetics pass in front of you in a matter of minutes.


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## Baymule (Mar 12, 2019)

All sound good advice. Brandy and @SonOfALateStarter we all truly wish the best for you. There’s lots of people here with experience in these things. Do the best you can, we are here if you need us.


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## Bruce (Mar 12, 2019)

Like Bay said, keep us informed here. I know it is your private family business but many of us are willing to assist if possible/necessary. 

I hope Joe's farm sells for more than he paid, he did a fair amount of fencing and built the goat mansion. Definitely value enhancers.


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## B&B Happy goats (Jun 11, 2019)

Hey Brandy, it's  Barb and Mel stopping by to say hello, and to let you know we are thinking of you...hope life is smoothing out some for you


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