Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

We will do all we can to kill every coyote we can now. Told the friends that have the goats as they are just over the hill from there. They are down to 10 nannies but they are kidding now. Wanted them to be sure and keep an eye out.

Met the friends up at the house at 11. The owners have really been cleaning out the house. Moved the washer/dryer & stove out, cleaned the whole upstairs including the stuff in the storage/attic part. Got everything that was "smaller" down into the one front room downstairs. Glen said that the one ceiling will have to come down, where the water leak had taken down some of the old plaster, and that the other is a 50/50 as it is loose at least halfway into the room, so probably would be better to just take it all down too and do all new sheetrock. Okay, that's not the end of the world, I was hoping for fixing but not really surprised that it would be just as well to do the whole thing.
The tub/shower/surround needs to be completely replaced and won't know about the floor until it is pulled out. They sheetrocked up to it, rather than sheet rock then putting in the one piece surround, but he said it is a standard size so there will be some sheetrock to repair after a new one gets put in. Just for ball park figures, maybe 1-2,000 to do each ceiling tear down and re-sheetrock etc, and about 3-5,000 to do the bathroom complete. I am figuring it done and ready to use..... of course less if I do any/some/all the work myself..... So at max 10,000 for the work.
I also asked if I could put in a small bathroom upstairs in the "attic/storage" space, as it is fairly close to being over the other bathroom.... for plumbing purposes. Just for future references. I am thinking though if the bathroom is torn up to replace the shower/tub downstairs, it might be wise to put in the plumbing to the upstairs if I could to save more tearing stuff up later. No tub, but a small shower, sink and toilet. The room has plenty of room for it, but I was just curious if it was possible and he said it was very doable. Something to think about if the downstairs is "opened up" to replace the tub/shower. I would like to put back in a clawfoot tub like I have, since it has proven to be very easy to use with the seat I have for this ankle replacement. I thought it would be better to have the other kind of tub, but this is higher so makes sitting much easier. I would have to look at other types of shower/tubs that would be accommodating for "elderly" as with this ankle it has given me a whole different way of looking at stuff. There are units that have seats for handicap/elderly use.... I would probably do something like that. I like the clawfoot tub for the getting in and soaking though.....

The county has told the owners that they will only allow a smaller than 2 acre piece in the case of hardship.... in otherwords, if it could not be safely portioned off from a bigger piece of property. This means that this will have to be 2 acres since the whole piece is not some crazy configuration. If it was this piece on this side of the road, and the rest of the original property on the other side of the road they would allow it..... but it isn't . So that's okay, but it will just make it worth cost/appraise for more. . The surveyors are supposed to be coming this week, then they will have it appraised. They still won't give me any idea of what it might be worth. So, I stopped at Glen and Penny's a little bit later, and this is when he gave me a real rough ball park figure on the work, so I have some general ideas of some costs.... and I asked him what he thought it ought to be worth. He said with the house needing the work, in the neighborhood of 60,000..... which is less than I was thinking. Basically the value of the land, plus a little for the house..... so about 40,000 for the land @ 20,000 acre in this area, (might be more like 15,000 but you figure high) and 20-25,000 for the house due to it's age and needing work. So actually a little less than what I was thinking @maybe 75,000...... I am hoping that he is more right than me.

The owners had asked again if I was still interested and I said yes, but that I really needed a ball park amount so that I could figure out if I could afford it. They said that they needed to be fair to me but that they needed to make something off it too. So we left it that they will be letting me know after they get an appraisal, which is after the surveying. So there it sits.....

I really want to do this. A trailer and septic, and a well, at the farm would run me more than that.... I would have to have a 2 acre piece surveyed off the farm and then getting the land perked and all that will cost more than this house. So this would be the better deal right now. Plus, I am thinking that if I could get it, and a not too huge, amount of mortgage, then I could go and offer it as further collateral, for the farm if needed. So the selling/buying price of this place is even more important..... because if I can put down a decent amount and pay less payment than I am paying now, then I will have a little bit more money to use towards the farm.

We'll see, just need to know what the "asking price" will be. If they want too much then it is not worth it to me and I will just reassess things. But it made me feel good that he said he thought in the neighborhood of 60,000 due to the house's condition and age. It has been empty for 7 years.

 

[farmerjan]

I feel more inclined to get to work here sorting and stuff again. There for a few days I was feeling like I just couldn't get up the energy to do stuff. After today's trip, I feel like I have more hope again.
Plus I got my paper shredder to work, there was some thick paper/cardboard or something stuck and it wouldn't even make a noise. I was ready to chuck it out, but now can start to shred paper again. I feel better about not taking stuff to the dumpsters.....and making bedding than can be put into plastic bags for future use with some of the chickens.

Going to go in and stand long enough to do a sink full of dishes. Have a bunch of clothes sorted for washing and that is going to have to be done this week I guess. And drying since the clothes line thing is broken and I have no intention of replacing at this point in time. Going to pick up some more plastic totes to put some stuff in since I can get some more stuff packed. The cardboard boxes I used to get all the time are much fewer and farther between because they are not using as much stuff at the truck stop/pilot/wendys/dunkin donuts. DD boxes are real nice and heavy duty, but not near as many donuts being sold I guess since not as many traveling, so not as many available boxes. They are put in the cardboard recycling dumpster behind the truck stop and I go and get them all the time then just retape them back into shape.

 

[Xerocles]

Just for ball park figures, maybe 1-2,000 to do each ceiling tear down and re-sheetrock etc, and about 3-5,000 to do the bathroom complete.

Boy am I out of touch with reality! That'll teach me to get old. Almost swallowed my tongue at $1-2000 Per ROOM to sheetrock a bedroom ceiling! And 3-5000 for a bathroom remodel? Just last month I was raising he// because a guy charged me $100 to tear out and install a bathroom floor (with some joist reinforcement). What would a new kitchen cost? $50,000?

 

[farmerjan]

Things here tend to be pretty expensive. We are within an hours drive of several "college towns", and things cost plenty in those areas. That was figuring high end of redoing.... I would rather figure high and not have it cost so much.... these rooms are decent sized.... probably 12 x 12 or 14 x 14? They are bigger than 10x 10. That's tearing down the old plaster, cleaning it up as it all has to be carried downstairs & out, buying and putting up new sheetrock and doing the taping and finishing. The bathroom shower surround thing is total... tear out, buying new, putting in and fixing sheetrock around it since it was set in before the room was sheetrocked it will have to be repaired along the edges. I expect that I can probably get it done for about 1/2 to 2/3 of the rough ball park estimate.....but I wanted a rough estimate on the high side, so that there would be no surprises as far as costing more. If there is problems with the bathroom floor, then it would naturally cost more. But to budget, I always try to figure on the high side.

A kitchen remodel would be probably in the 20-25,000 range if it included appliances. But it was redone several years ago and I shouldn't have to do anything much except appliances. I have most of my own in storage, but the fridge is old..... and I want a gas stove not electric. Although my son has an electric one that I might use for now. I have the washer and dryer (electric) too. There was a propane heater for supplemental heat in the one room, but the tank was removed years ago. I think I would want all new gas lines run. This place would be ideal for an outdoor wood furnace to be tied into the baseboard hot water system for heat and then not need the supplemental gas heat. Save on hot water heater cost, and fuel oil furnace cost too. At least baseboard is cleaner than the cotton pickin hot air in this place.

 

[Bruce]

Seems like there must be some way to get to 2 acres on the place without them losing much of the orchard at all, it is already 1.5 acres??

 

[Baymule]

I wish we lived closer too! We slaughtered 13 CCX today, plus one mean rooster that won’t flog me again! They are on ice. We came in, got cold drinks, sat down and both took a nap. LOL We were tired. I’ll process them tomorrow. That’s usually how we do it, slaughter one day, then I cut and vacuum seal the next day. Hand picking is a lot of work!

 

[farmerjan]

There is no "defining area" (like 1.5 acres) to the house area, except where the big pines are between it and the christmas tree lot and parking area. The line will basically follow down where he wants it to go and the additional acreage to make it 2 acres instead of the roughly 1.7 they had "walked/taped" will come at the lower end out of a field there below the Christmas trees. I am hoping that the line will veer over gradually into the field to make it 2 acres instead of a dog leg or something at the end to give it a screwy shape. Straighter lines rather than alot of angles. I am fine with where he wants it to go up at the top since it is a natural division between the Christmas trees and the house and for it to follow down along the natural lay of the land there.

I plan to have it all fenced so that I can keep the chickens in and "allow them to free range" on as much of the property as possible when I want them out loose and not have them get into the road. I also want to be able to put a couple of calves or a few sheep or something, on it to do some grazing instead of always having to mow it all.... and/or possibly have a couple of pigs or a brood sow or two that I can put into the garden area during the winter time. If I wind up starting to get alot of the left behind cornish, I think I will continue to have them at my son's property since it is somewhat wooded, cooler with all the shade there in the summer. But that is to be determined. First will get it fenced, and that will somewhat determine what and where different animals will be. Plus the garden. I want them to walk with me to see exactly where the "old garden" used to be and there is an area that used to be part of the old railroad bed that will obviously not be good garden space, so I need to know where that is exactly. It is too hard for me to walk it with this boot right now. Plus I want to get my peach trees moved there in the fall, and determine where I want to have the "orchard area" which the chickens can basically have as free range area as they will not damage the fruit trees. I am thinking a few other peaches, plus a pear or two. Maybe an apple but there are alot of wild apples in the fields to collect off of.
And I do want to get another dog eventually, I miss my big white German Shepard that I had for nearly 8 years. A good fence will also prevent any incidences with a vehicle and a dog.

 

[farmerjan]

It's Monday eve. Nice day today. We had a couple of downpours last night and I dumped another .3 inch out of the rain gauge. Temps started at 57 and went up to about 80 today but there was a breeze so an overall nice day.

Tested this afternoon, and the sister of the owner who had her shoulder surgery the day after my ankle, helped in the barn. She has been there helping betty since she was so incapacitated from the restrictions with the shoulder surgery so it worked out great for her. Things went real well with the sister so testing was good. Got to get the samples packed to go out since we will be leaving by 11 tomorrow morning.
Need a shower and wash my hair, there were several cows that had to do "plops" as they came in the barn and went out so got splattered pretty good.
I have to go to the 200+ cow jersey herd tomorrow and my son is taking off work to go help. Have to leave here no later than 11 as they start to milk at 1p.m. and it is 125 miles. Won't get home til 7 at the earliest but more likely 8p.m. That 2 hour travel is a pain. Luckily there is less traffic on the roads so should be okay. But they are nice people. This is the farm where I normally stay overnight and test the next morning @ 2 a.m., but it has been working out better the last few times to test afternoon.... plus it wouldn't work with my son helping either. We'll see when I get mobile and no boot in the future. I try to accommodate them for testing and they are not testing but every 2 or 3 months with the milk prices being so bad again.
The farm with the computer problems will have to wait for me to get there wed morning because there aren't enough hours for me to go there tues and go to the other farm. Of course another farm called and wants to test, but the good thing is they do their own samples so I will call them and tell them I will bring the meters and all on Wed and leave them for them to do and I can go pick them up when they call me that they are done.
Never rains but it pours. Have another farm that I am waiting on to let me know when they want to test and one more to contact that I am sure will want to test next week. Everyone is getting into some field work, some already chopping rye or small grains to put in the silos for "haylage" and corn planting is right around the corner and then hay....
Guess I better get some stuff done so I can get some sleep and get things loaded for the morning to leave on time.

 

[farmerjan]

Wednesday eve. We have had some rain, showers and cloudy weather. Yesterday we went to the farm that is 125 miles away. Long day but went okay. My son hauled a bull for a neighbor to the stockyards on our way there and we dropped off a cow and calf at one of our pastures. He had taken some others up there, and miss matched a pair so had a cow and a calf at the barn that were both hollering for their respective "other". So, hopefully this will solve that problem. We try to keep all the same sex calves at these summer pastures so that when we go get them to bring them home, if we are just going to sell the calves then we have a load of all the same calves to go as a group or two.... Makes it easier that way. But last year we weaned off the calves and held them so it's not as big a deal. But he had taken a cow and a calf thinking it was hers, but then it wasn't so you have to move the right cow there for the calf that "didn't have it's mother" and take the calf that should've gone with the cow.... I usually go up and match them but he hadn't said anything so I didn't go up there to do it. It is hard to do with this "boot" but I could have done some. Oh well.
Got home from testing at 10 because we stopped at the stockyards to pick up the trailer. We had dropped off the bull and unhooked the trailer to go to the farm.

It was cooler today and partly cloudy, partly sun but breezy. Temps barely hit 60. Already down to our low this morning of 48, and getting colder. We are possibly going to have frost this weekend.... Fri and maybe Sat night I think. Our last frost date is May 10th so not a big surprise. I was looking at the peach trees that had bloomed so early, and I see the few little peaches there looking like they are drying up and falling off. I was afraid of that when we had those few nights in the low 30's. Such a shame because it was full of blossoms.....

Dropped meters and sample bottles off for a farm that does their own testing as "owner samplers". I will pick up the stuff tomorrow. The farm that had all the problems, got the computer program updated and I stopped there today and got the transfer with the jump drive. But then had a problem with the billing so had to do a download when I got home. Since it isn't too far from the owner sampler farm, I will go drop off the jump drive and import the info into their computer and be done.

Got another farm that I just sent another text to. They had contacted me then I sent them a few choices of dates and nothing..... GRRR .... Oh well. Have a couple more to call too. Seems to never end.

Put a call into the Dr/PA office to get a new appt for the ankle checkup. Need to get it going. I am hoping for some therapy soon as the ankle is losing a little of the swelling and it is moving more. I am "exercising" it when I have it up, moving it as much as it freely moves on it's own. Would sure like to get it working as far as it is can be so that progress is being made so I can walk on it normally. Had another friend I ran into the other day that offered to take me if I wanted some company. Really nice of her.... and might take her up on it. BUT, my car is finished and the mechanic said he wants to drive it for a couple days, to make sure there is no overheating or anything. He has only driven it a mile or so and said all sounds good.... OH, I can't wait.....

@Mike CHS the local processors here are booking into Jan and Feb..... totally nuts. While prices are good, I would sell them also. We just sent a few odd balls to the sale last week to get numbers down as we will have to bring home the fall cow/calf pairs pretty soon. Want to give the grass a little time to grow before we have them there.... And you never know about the grass situation. We are looking at the hay and it is short and already some is heading out so will need cutting fairly soon..... if the weather cooperates. Hopefully there will be a good second cutting if we get some rain. Short first cutting is not a good sign.

 

[Mike CHS]

We wanted to prolong sales at our place to better use the forage but I would rather take a profit now than a loss later.