Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[B&B Happy goats]

sleep well,... you need it with your very busy life and all that's been goin on.

 

[farmerjan]

Been a couple of cloudy dreary type days. Chilly from no sun to take the bite off. At least it didn't get down to freezing last night. Got a call this morning that a heifer was out, one of the 4, that I have been trying to get to come up to a catch pen so they can get moved. Went up there, this one was sorta coming back to come in, then decided to be stupid. Called the friend that was at the barn feeding silage and he hadn't left yet so came up to this place....5 min away. She decided to be really stupid, went up around the little shed, back and forth around the lawn everywhere but where she needed to go, then came back and went across the road and out into a hay field.... this is right behind the PILOT service station/truck stop and right across from the interstate. She wound up following the fence to an open gate, then went across towards a smaller field where there are some cattle. I managed to get the gates open and get her in there with his cattle without them getting out. D#%*ED B@#*H.... she is high headed and I would never have put her at this little pasture.... the other 3 didn't get out, and don't know where she got out.... but I am going up there in the morning to feed them up at the pen, again, and hopefully in another day or 2 can get them moved. The guy who owns the place has been handfeeding them donuts and stuff down by the house, so they don't get it that they need to come up the hill when I call them, to get grain. He has agreed to stop feeding them so I can get them caught. He does not want to deal with the water freezing, and the grass is gone.
Stupid heifer will stay where she is until they catch up their cattle, and we can sort her out. Probably will have to give her a Lute shot as there is a big simmental bull in there and don't want her to try to have a calf out of him, too big, and could cause problems. I'd like to just get her up and sell her, but she isn't mine to sell....

So now, tomorrow it seems that I need to go spend some time at the GF house with my son, as the sister has "other things to do". No one asked me to work out a schedule so I could give her some time off.... hey, they are the ones who made all the decisions for him to be there and have all this "care and company".
Of course, this is also a week from he// with work, farms wanting to test. I will set up at a farm in the morning, to test late tomorrow afternoon after I get done down there.... won't get much else done now..... And I have to go back to this farm Wed morning (it's a 2x test), then go test a 200 cow farm early Wed afternoon... I will be lucky to get the chickens and all fed inbetween. I have decided to take a sq bale of hay up to the 3 heifers I am trying to catch, and put out some grain, and maybe I can get them loaded up on Thursday morning. I have another farm that wants to test Thurs aft/Fri morning (my other 2x herd).....it is a 240 cow farm..... GRRRRR... the following week should be slower, but it is also Thanksgiving.

There are things that I need to get caught up too. I was supposed to go to our yearly Va Poultry Breeders show this coming Sat., but there is so much that I need to do here, that I cannot justify being gone another full day..... from dawn to dusk..... I really wanted to go, but I just don't see my way clear to do so.

Just realized I have a followup Dr appt on Tues of Thanksgiving week (next week) and another chiropractor appt on Wed., day before Thanksgiving. I have felt so much better after going to him and am sleeping better. So I know I was way out of alignment. Did get a courtesy call from the PCP dr office that said my blood work looked good, everything was good. So I am not worried about "the episode" I had, because I truly believe that the chiropractor was right and my vertebrae were way out of alignment and it cause the nerve(s) to be "pinched" and cause the problem. SO GLAD, that I refused to take the "seizure" medicine when they couldn't really show where or why there was a seizure. One thing this new PCP dr I went to, that wanted this additional blood work said, is she cannot understand why they could diagnose a seizure when they didn't even do an EEG..... that tells me they were shooting in the dark..... and just prescribing drugs without any real tangible evidence to support their "diagnosis".

Got to get samples packed, get up and get going early in the morning..... Hope everyone has a couple good days.

 

[Baymule]

Too bad you can't get rid of the high headed idiot, she must belong to your son. A cow like that is one problem after another. Boo.

You are getting it from all sides! Work, cows, chickens, son, everything all at once.

 

[farmerjan]

A little update. The high headed one is a bought heifer, and yes, she belongs to my son, but really, with a bought one you just don't know what they will be like. I bought a cow that seemed pretty much okay at the sale, and 2 days after getting home and settled, became on over aggressive/possessive nut job. Stayed that way even out at pasture, and got sold late that year when her calf went. She had been exposed to the bull, and I did not want another calf that might wind up with a "nutcase" attitude.
Got the other 3 moved to the "home farm" on Thursday (yesterday). It was sunny and not too terribly cold. Wanted to do it before it rained and it got slick up there to try to get the trailer in. As soon as the owner quit feeding them, and they learned I was the one with some grain, they went into the little pen and weren't too bad when I shut them in it. One tried to run around it a couple of times, but I just stayed pretty quiet, and she decided if the others could go in the trailer, then she could too. Didn't even have to "push them". Put them with the other weaned heifers and just wait to see what we decide to do. A couple I don't like as well as some of the others....
Next to get the panels loaded back in the trailer, and take to the place where there are the 12 c/cf pairs or take to the small pasture and get the 4 old c/cf pairs. I think the 12 are going to run out of grass sooner. But the 4 will be needing supplementation soon since they are old. The 4 will be easier to catch, less panels, and then I could go to the other place and set up for the 12..... Got to start feeding them all some grain so they come when I call.....

Have had a crazy week. Tested everyday and I am really beat and ankle/knees are aching. Did 125 cows monday, a 2x herd of 120 cows on Tues eve/Wed a.m......Did a 200 cow herd Wed aft and they milk fast.... Set up and did a 230 cow herd Thurs/Fri.... that really had me aching. They milk slow, are not efficient, and if I had employees that spent as much time onthe D@#$*d CELL PHONE....they would no longer be my employees. Nice girls, but they can't stop talking or texting... No wonder it takes 5 hours to milk 230 cows with 3 people (in and out) in a double 12 and yet another girl who is a very good milker, can do 200 in a double 8 in 3 hours......
Begged off the farm tomorrow, and will do next sat. Have one scheduled for Monday, 100 cows but not too terribly hard to do. As far as tomorrow, I am not going to go to the poultry show either. It is supposed to rain in the afternoon. a real cold soaker, and I want to get stuff done outside and get in and stay in. I need a little time OFF the ankle and knees. I really want to go, but cannot justify driving 2+ hours and not getting home until late and having things I need to get caught up on here.
I will go up to my son's and feed a little extra to some of the birds.... I"ve been doing half one day and half the other just so that I am in and out there everyday to make it look more occupied. Might just get them all fed up tomorrow and take Sunday off as it is supposed to stay above freezing and I can fill the waterers. He was at the house for a few hours today, doing some cleaning up of junk/papers/accumulation.... we spent some quiet time inbetween, I did the chickens and then took him back. No big discussions..... kept my mouth shut.
Got to try to get the 3 ewes in that are out and there are 2 that got in the back lot that need to be out with the group in the front on the grass. They were like that when he got hurt so not my fault.... but I need to get them sorted back if I can.

I am falling asleep so am headed for the shower and bed.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Gosh, Miss @farmerjan! I don't see how you are able to do what you do! I am so much looking forward to you getting the surgery you need to ease your pain, and then be able to retire and enjoy life more. Someone like you who has worked hard all of your life deserves some time off to enjoy it before the old age problems set in.

 

[Mini Horses]

Hope you slept well.

As to DS -- see, the 24/7 care has dissolved once reality set in. It's just a waiting game. These youngins don't "get" the commitment angle. "Other things to do" ??? WHAT? Doesn't everyone? Or am I living in my own little world out here?
Yeah, mom is ALWAYS "mom". Give it time, it will all work out.

 

[Baymule]

I hope you took today off, you sure need some recliner time to prop up that knee and ankle.

 

[farmerjan]

I did take some "time off" as I was really aching. It was cloudy and then rained Sat late aft and most of the night. Got windy Sun morning but the sun came out. Got .8 inch.

Got to go up to the chickens and sheep at son's house in the morning, but I will be out to check cows and all anyway. Plus have to go "look for" the batwing bush hog as he can't remember where he unhooked it and one of the other guys is going to do some bush hogging for him. Yeah, call mom..... he was talking about coming back to his house, but then when I asked him on Friday, he said "they" talked and he guessed he was going to stay down there for now..... he doesn't need someone there all the time, but I did say that if he was here at his house, Rocky could come get him and he could go down to the shop with the guys and sit around and BS.... they aren't going to drive another 10-15 miles further south to go get him at her house.....
I am going to see if I can get the sheep moved around tomorrow, get the 2 in the back that aren't supposed to be there back out in the front with the others, maybe even get the 3 out loose, back in the sheep lot. Of course, they are eating for free out there, but they aren't getting bred this way..... the 2 in the back are with the other 2 rams, but there isn't much left in there for them to eat. Going to have to start rolling out a roll of hay for the cows, 2/3 and taking the smaller center back to the sheep to eat. That won't be very often if there are only the 2 in the back.

Got a followup dr appt on Tuesday, with the PCP. They already told me the blood work was good, which I honestly expected would be "normal", but she got an appt with a neurologist to do an EEG - the end of Dec I think.... so will find out about that then. I'm really not concerned about the "spell" that I had, especially after what my chiropractor said and how much better I have felt since going back and getting adjusted; I know that the "seizure" diagnosis was just a shot in the dark.... and a way for a dr to justify that they couldn't really find anything..... I'll do the EEG since it will be covered, and then unless they find that I have scrambled eggs for brains.... or maybe no brain, I am going to forget all this until the ankle replacement. Got to call them back, they left a message on Friday, about the scheduled date. Will wait to hear what my son's prognosis is with the hip and if it is knitting back together. They ought to be able to give him a little more of a general idea of how long and what to expect if it is healing the way it is supposed to be. I know that if all is progressing, it will be at least the first part of January before he will be doing much actual walking on it, at least.
Got a farm to do tomorrow afternoon, no set up, so will have to go get the meters one day, at the farm I was at Friday. The wash system takes a long time there, and it is only about 8 + miles from me so I go back and get them after they have taken them out of the parlor. I will need some of them for next Sat.

Might go do a couple of big loads of laundry tomorrow or Tuesday... need to check the weather. Actually, Tues would be good since I will be right next door at the dr. office. I don't do the laundry here anymore. The water has so much limestone in it that the clothes just don't get as clean as I want, and they just have a "feel" to them. Leaves a film on everything. It is actually easier to go to the laundromat and do a couple of big loads once a month since I have enough clothes to go that long. I bring them home to hang on the line so I am only there for about an hour and a half. Might be able to get them in the machines before going into the dr and then just go pick them up after.....Hmmmmm.. Would be nice to have all the barn jeans and sweatshirts clean for a few days. Maybe get all the sheets and blankets gathered up and do them too. I love the smell of the blankets and sheets right off the line.

Time quit for the night so I can go looking for the missing bush hog in the morning.....

 

[Mini Horses]

Can DS move around with crutches, just no weight on that leg/side?? Can he get in & out of a vehicle?

 

[Baymule]

Missing bush hog.... kinda big, so hopefully it will be easy to find, just got to go to the right field on the right lease. Laundromat! One of my least favorite things to do, but clean water can be a motivator. Even with a home washer/dryer, I wash when I run out of socks. Guess I need to buy some more. My washer holds a lot of clothes, just no point in washing a little load.

Who is taking your son for his dr visit? I hope he gets a good report and is healing up good.

Are your sheep pretty wild or will they come to a feed bucket?