Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Bruce]

The problem with mine is the replacement, and the fusion of the other joint, that will necessitate total "no weight bearing" on the ankle for the initial 8 weeks. If I understand it correctly, if it was just the ankle replacement, I would be up and doing rehab and all, in the same manner as people who have their knees replaced.

I wasn't aware of (or forgot) the additional joint fusion. My comment was mostly to say that after 3 weeks of rehab, Dad could have managed on his own and I was hoping that would give you somewhat of a timeframe for where you would be in your recovery at that time. Of course for him normal activity didn't include going out and dealing with farm animals. He lives in a retirement community where it isn't necessary to ever do stairs if you don't want to or can't. I don't know how long it would have taken to get back to "function as needed" if he was still on the farm with sheep. But that ended a couple of decades ago, he is 91.

As Mini said, you and your son have friends in the area, hopefully some of them can help out when you are out of the rehab place.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Dang, Miss @farmerjan, I wish I could come up and help! But you would get so tired of having to tell me, "STA, you fill the bucket at the top end, not the bottom end!"

 

[farmerjan]

Dang, Miss @farmerjan, I wish I could come up and help! But you would get so tired of having to tell me, "STA, you fill the bucket at the top end, not the bottom end!"

I KNOW that you would "get it" very quickly to fill the bucket at the top end!!!!!! But it sure makes me laugh Thank you.

 

[farmerjan]

@Bruce , thanks, I didn't really get it that you were trying to give me a "time frame". Now I do. But I do think that I will be able to get around with the knee crutch in the house and for the simple stuff here, like feeding the cats; and still not put the weight on the actual ankle joint. It will also help to keep my thigh muscles working because I will be able to put weight on them and use them for movement.
I have friends that will help I know. My son will be able to handle the farm animal feeding. What I don't want to do is for me to be too demanding if we should get any great amount of snow, due to the animals and the fact that VDOT works 12 hr shifts if there is snow, ice, etc... He will figure it out, my thoughts are to make it easier on him if we get into crappy weather because he will have all the animal feeding to do. It is good to hear that your dad was getting pretty "self-sufficient" at 3-4 weeks.
That is why I am hoping that the knee crutch will give me that same ability to get along while still NOT putting weight on the ankle with the fusion. Even if I was giving it more than 2 thoughts about doing only the replacement part, I have had more pain in the other joint that is going to be fused and less flexibility so it is not even a remote thought to not do it. Except that the dr did say they would assess it once they are in there. There is a possibility that it can be " cleaned out" like when they do an arthroscopy on the knee. Amazing that I can flex my good one, nearly turning my right ankle so the foot is almost turned on the side, like to look at the bottom of my sneaker; and on the left ankle I can barely move it without pain. He said it is "full of arthritis". We'll see when the time comes.

Had my yearly eye doctor appt. He said that my eyes (glasses prescription) haven't changed. My pressure is very good, no cornea problems, no glaucoma, very tiny start to cataract not changed from last years' notes, and whatever I am doing to keep on doing as my eyes look fantastic. That was great news, except then I had to deal with the dark glasses to counteract the dilation they do. Said for me to come back next year.

Today, Caleb came and they got the group of cows and small fall born calves, moved from pasture. Got the calves worked; tagged, banded and vaccinated, and the cows got a vacc shot and they are moved out to winter pasture. Bull will be going in with them to get them bred back for fall calves next year. Had 2 cows that didn't have a calf with them and I palpated them and neither has a calf in them. Both would be ready to pop, big fetus to feel, if they were still preg. Both will be going to the stockyard. One I think had had a calf, and must've lost it. Neither had any udder so not feeding a calf. One had some age on her, the other just isn't getting another chance. So a productive day.

Got the chickens fed ,and watered up there, and the sheep watered.
Have a farm to test tomorrow afternoon, 90 cows, the one I just got the new program on their computer. Then another on Saturday, 100+ cows. Got one scheduled for Mon eve/Tues morn 120 cows. So not too hard a schedule for the next few days. I'm with you @Mini Horses about liking the time "off" at home.

 

[Bruce]

I KNOW that you would "get it" very quickly to fill the bucket at the top end!!!!!! But it sure makes me laugh Thank you.

Yeah but STA would put the bucket on the ground wide side down for stability (cause he's cautious like that) then wonder how to get grain in it from underneath.

 

[HomeOnTheRange]

Just getting caught up... Here is a link to a dairy in our little village that sells raw milk.

De Smet Dairy

www.desmetdairy.com

Great place. You walk in to their little sales area where the cooler is, pick out what you want and then go to the little self pay area where there are instructions on how to pay via a card or there is a slot for cash. No sales people. All on the honor system.

 

[Mini Horses]

Smile, you're on candid camera.


I wish we could sell raw milk here in VA. Nope. Saw goat milk at $4.99 a quart in a grocery store. WOW my girls would be worth $40-50 a day!. Sure would pay for their feed.

This was in the "shelf stable" liquid section, along with the Parmalat types, almond milk and the likes.

 

[farmerjan]

@Mini Horses you could easily get away with selling your goat milk for use for "animal feed"..... good for "kids", lambs, baby calves, dogs, cats, chickens etc.....what they feed it to is not your problem if you specifically sell it for consumption by an animal or pet.
Use wide mouth qt and 1/2 gallon canning jars, charge a deposit, must come back clean.... then all you have to do is run them through a dishwasher to insure they are "sterilized". .

You realize I am sure that those "shelf-stable" products are "ultra-high temperature" pasteurized, in order to make them shelf stable? Stuff tastes "funny", I have tried the choc milk once.....ehhhh.....

If I had things the way I wanted, that is what I would do with the cows. Except that I have a stainless 300 gal milk "tank"/cooler that came off a dairy. I would tell people that they would have to bring their own container to get their "pet" milk to feed their calf, or whatever, with. This way, I wouldn't have to be responsible for anyone saying that their containers weren't "clean". Then I would keep the cows milk in the stainless milk tank, chilled to just above freezing, and tell them that milk will not be available before noon on ....say.... Monday and Thursday as the tank will be emptied and washed. "Close" to the every other day pickup by a milk company.... but this is only for pet and animal food, so don't have to meet any regulations. Of course, I would have to milk at least 4 a day to make it practical for the tank to get enough milk in it to run the cooling system, or it will actually ice up inside the tank. I have 4 that could be milked (now) when they freshen, and 5 more heifers that will be bred to calve..... So I could do it easily.

But seriously, at this point, once the ankle is fixed and all, I would like to have 2-3 milking, and the milk would be strained and put into 1/2 gal jars, or even 1 gallon jars, and into a refridge that would be self service for people to get their own pet milk and a spot for the money. I'd have eggs too as I do like my chickens and if I wasn't hurting I would go back to having more layers.

Then I could even start doing a couple of beefs at the USDA place and have beef for sale. Good way to utilize older cows as hamburger at a better return than the stockyards, and some younger beef just for the steaks and such. I don't want to have to deal with alot of people, so it would have to be self serve. The meat might be something that I would have to monitor. But nowadays, game cameras and such make that very doable.
I would consider doing a farmers market for a season, and see if I could get enough of a following for them to come to the farm so I didn't have to go to a farmers market. It is alot of work to carry all that stuff and set up and all. And then I could have some produce from my garden. I used to sell produce at the grist mill I used to work at and it was just for "surplus" but it went very well. That's all I want, just to market the surplus so that it gives me a little income without becoming an overwhelming "JOB".
Or else, I would get an enclosed trailer, set up with cooler, freezer, shelving and display bins for produce etc.... sell by the piece so that I don't have to deal with weights and measures ( the state BS) and such so everything could be loaded into it the night before and do one day a week. But that is alot of commitment... In fact, I know of a store now that would buy my surplus so I might just get into a bigger garden again. We had talked about it a couple of times.

I am looking for a portable dishwasher now, so that I can use if for my glass jars and such. Not going to put anything here that I cannot take with me.

 

[farmerjan]

Just getting caught up... Here is a link to a dairy in our little village that sells raw milk.

De Smet Dairy

www.desmetdairy.com

Great place. You walk in to their little sales area where the cooler is, pick out what you want and then go to the little self pay area where there are instructions on how to pay via a card or there is a slot for cash. No sales people. All on the honor system.

Love the website..... Wish we could do something like that here. Like @Mini Horses says, Va is a B$#@H about not allowing raw milk sales except for pet consumption. A little regulation to insure the quality of their milk, is not a bad thing... and shows less informed people that you do take the quality of the product seriously. I am all for simple bacteria and somatic cell count tests to be done on any farm that is going to market to the public. It's smart to cover your butt. Plus if it has the butterfat and protein tested for, then people who wanted to make cheese and such, will know that they are starting with.

 

[Bruce]

I am looking for a portable dishwasher now, so that I can use if for my glass jars and such. Not going to put anything here that I cannot take with me.

I don't know if it is true for all of them but at least some portable ones can be converted to cabinet mounts. You might want to ensure that feature on any you short list.