Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Warm today, 86, with mostly sun all day. Not as humid but that is supposed to be coming in with the remnants of the storm that came out of the gulf. Allergies are getting to me today.... but gee, I wonder why since I was on the tractor for over 4 hours this afternoon raking hay..... Did the fields that were not tedded out, first to get any green stuff turned up to the sun to dry. Then got a flat tire on the rake, so had to get my son to bring another. Then raked for 1 1/2 hrs at his field of orchard grass that I had tedded, it was thick so glad that it had been tedded. Then the guy came who was going to do some welding on it, as there were some cracks in the frame, so ds took it back to the barn so they could work on it. Then I went to do the nurse cow and the calves, and came back to the barn and got it to go finish. There is a hydraulic cylinder that is leaking that raises the wheels up and down on both sides, but we added some fluid and I went up and got it finished. Got back to the barn and they took the cylinder off as my son is going back to the PT treatments that they were doing down in the Va tech sports medicine, for the headaches and stuff.... and he will go by Rural King to pick up a few things and see if they have that size cylinder. Seems it is always something..... got to get a spare wheel for this rake, we stuck one on to get the field done but it isn't the right hub diameter, and some other stuff that he wants to look at when he is there. The rake is over 20 yrs old, one that we got from the friend that passed away from cancer a few years ago... so things are going to start to get worn out.
He will bale all the hay tomorrow after he gets home from the dr then spread poultry litter that is piled at the one field that he couldn't do because it got wet that afternoon. There is a 30% chance of showers tomorrow afternoon/eve, then a greater chance on Wednesday.

I might have mentioned it in another thread but the cow did calve Saturday and my son was up there with some friends that wanted to see the cows. He wound up helping her, said it wasn't a hard pull but this saved her from struggling. She was up and cleaning it in less than 15 min. I did go get the other calf and she is a pushy thing. Great for getting her to go on the cow. So I am dealing with a nurse cow again. Really need an third calf on her, she has quite an udder. But for the next few days 2 should do okay. I got her and the calf into the barn sat eve, and left her in with them and then Sun , grained her and made sure both calves went on her. Then I kicked her out for the night. This morning she came right to the barn when I went up there and I got both calves on her to nurse her out pretty good. I fed her hay and left her in for the day. Then while I was waiting for the welding to get done on the rake, I went up and she wanted out so I let her out. The calves stay in. Tomorrow I have to haul a load of water up there to put in the water troughs since she will be staying in some. But expect her to come right to the barn and want in with the babies and for grain. She's not sold on the 2nd calf, but it is very aggressive so gets right on her to nurse which is just super. So am hoping that in a few days she will just take these 2 and then I can put a 3rd on her and she won't pay much attention. I won't let them out with her for a few weeks, to make sure that she is letting them nurse without a problem. And there are a few older calves there that might try nursing her if "her calves" are on her. These older ones are going to get weaned and the cows and heifers all preg checked. Got to tag 3 or 4 more there that are older, then there are 5 I think that have been born in the last 2 months. A couple of them are even coming in the creep gate so I am trying to feed some grain in the bunks inside everday so they want to come in. Like to get them all tagged if possible.

Time for a shower and wash off the pollen and dust.

 

[Mike CHS]

Based on what we had from the storm in the Gulf, I wouldn't expect you to get a lot of that.

 

[drstratton]

@drstratton thank you for the insight. I will ask about whether the tub is fully draining. It's not like I need it tomorrow, but once the house situation becomes final, and I hope I am not assuming too much since it seems like it will be a go, I want to get what I want and need and have it at the house so that when they do get a chance to get into it, I have everything there, ready and waiting. It's not that I take a soaking tub bath that much, but I do like one especially in the winter when it is cold out and I want to get warmed through. But you don't know about something if you have never had it, unless you ask around. I do see that they come with an access panel or not.... to me that is a no brainer. Of course it is a little bit extra, but sure beats taking out the darn thing if something doesn't work. And maybe I will see something different in the meantime that isn't too ridiculously overpriced.

You're very welcome! I hope that you can find exactly what you need! I'm so excited for you and continue to hope that everything works out!

 

[farmerjan]

Wed eve. It has been very sticky here yesterday and today with no real cool off at night . Didn't get below 70 the last 2 nights and tonight might if we get any of the rain they are saying is a possibility. It is going through in bands but breaking up some and we actually had about 10 sprinkles and that was it.

Got all the hay raked that was down, and rolled yesterday, because we were supposed to get all these thundershowers. It is still 78 at nearly 10 pm. Going to start cutting more tomorrow and even if we get a little rain, it isn't going to hurt because then we have another 3 day window it looks like. It is fast getting ahead of us, topping out with seed heads so over mature, but it has to get cut. Don't want to have to deal with the wet though as that just makes it crappy filler hay. So maybe we can get a bunch more done this weekend.

The owners of the house had to postpone today's meeting with the ins lady, but it is scheduled for tomorrow. PT was tough Monday, and today I have been very overall sore.... think some of it is being on the tractor Monday and then the heat yesterday and today. Not counting the itchy eyes and all with the allergies. I have been very lethargic today with this heat. I realize it is nothing like what you get in TX and the other "hot spots" but it is not much fun here with the humidity.

My cow is getting a little better about letting the calves go on her when she comes in the barn in the morning. I have been leaving her in for the day but will start turning her back out so she can get water out of the spring rather than what I haul and put in the troughs. Plus she can graze some during the day too. I know that she is not very thrilled with the hay in the barn. Some of the spring calves are coming in the barn already for the grain I put out for them. That is great. Need to get the other bigger ones tagged and worked so they can get weaned off and get these cows preg checked.

Nothing much new here except this heat wave. Normally we get this kind of heat in July and Aug..... Would like to get about a week or 10 day stretch of dry and get the rest of first cutting done, then get a good soaking rain for a day or two. The corn is starting to peek through, this heat really helps, but it will need a good rain. Would be really nice to get a good rain on the already cut hayfields as that would get 2nd cutting a good start back growing.

 

[farmerjan]

Oh, I see the surveyor did get the stakes and all in, see a few new "ribbons" so I will be able to tell where the actual lines are.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Glad ya got the hay done and ya get the rain ya wish for...After ya get the next batch done.... .....sorry the PT and the weather aren't agreeing" with ya, but it sounds like the ankle is getting stronger and hope the knees have eased up on ya........it has been a sauna down here, so know what ya are saying about the humidity....our lows have been the high 70s and highs in the upper 80s to 90s....even with the rain........I am sooo Thankful that things with the loan and house are moving forward fairly smoothly in light of all the "hoopla" going on........I know seeing the markers and ribbons certainly put a smile on your face.....

 

[Baymule]

It's surveyed!! Yay!!

Hang in there with the PT, it has it's hard days, but it sure will help you.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Miss @farmerjan,

I am glad you got the hay raked, and hope you are able get all of the grass cut, raked and baled. Shortly after joining the forum and learning about you and your cutting hay, I became interested in cutting and selling hay. A quick trip to the local farm equipment to price haying baling equipment (all new equipment) quickly convinced me that was not a way to make money. But I started watching a number of YouTube channels that baled hay. One of my favorite channels was "North Texas Hay". It reminded me of you as the woman was trying to bale hay with the help of her sons after losing her husband to a heart attack. They tried for around 6 months but then decided to sell out. That made me sad. But I imagined you and your son continuing on.

Yay for the survey! I hope the sale goes through soon. Sorry the PT is so hard on you, but it means progress. Soon you will be able to have your knees done and after recovering from that, you will be a new woman again!

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[farmerjan]

Just a quick note as I have to go back up to let the cow out in a little bit. Met with the ins lady at the house with the owners. They gave her some dates on what was done when. She also went to school with the sisters, they were a little ahead of her, but they all know everyone, so were catching up on local who's married, divorced, who's kids went to what school, all that. She took some pictures, said it looked good except that the underwriters are going to want more of the "weedy growth removed from around the back deck and it will need "painting"..... I said it might get stained but not painted.... she said that was good enough, that the pics will show that it has not been "kept up" and it hasn't since being empty for 6+ years..... She was not at all concerned about the inside and never went upstairs to see the 2 ceilings that need to be replaced. Said it looked pretty good to her and asked about the electrical up grade and the pipes are copper from what the owners remember when the kitchen was redone.

I measured the bath tub size and surround ( it's one piece which I like because it doesn't have all the curves and shelves and stuff that needs extra cleaning around) so I know what size I am looking at. Normal 60" long and 30" wide space. Also measured the space where the fridge was. It is smaller than I thought..... the fridges are all big nowadays.... this one is only 31" across the front; so a 30" will fit, and only 25 " deep to the front of the cabinets......it will have to stick out a bit to be able to get the door to open and shut..... I will have to do some looking because I don't think my fridge will fit in 30". Forgot to measure the height. Oh well....

And the bank mtg lady has been in touch with the owner, he was leaving from there today to go to the lawyers office with the plat and to draw up a sales contract.... Closing can be as soon as JULY 11th...... They were surprised that it could be that soon...... I was too. It can be later, but it cannot be any sooner than 30 days from the contract date.....

So things are going along. I am going to call the company that handles our 401k's and see what is the best way to go about this. Probably should have done it yesterday when the market was up.... it fell over 1800 pts today. Most of my money isn't affected..... but still..... I will see what they say.....

It would be nice to get it to go through sooner rather than later. I would like my payment date to be after the 21st, because then I will be sure my SS check is in my account and can do an automatic payment every month..... and I won't have to worry about the money being in there. Since my testing paycheck is so up and down according to what I test, sometimes it is 250 and sometimes it is 1,000..... just the way the farms fall.
I told them that they don't have to be in a rush to get the few plants they want to move, like the peonies that are family "heirlooms" and such..... I am not going to stop them from getting the plants. I want to get the old hay up there where the garden was, and get those potatoes on it and covered and see if I get anything out of them.

Then get started on the inside.... at least get the new tub/shower in so the house is liveable ( the tub has some worn out spots in the bottom so it probably has started to leak through) and the washing machine up there and the clothesline up so I can take stuff up there to wash and put away up there, instead of doing stuff here and then having to move it. Maybe stay there some too as I start to clean out and move this stuff. But the big thing is to get it to get the stuff started. I figure that I will "still be here" through Sept...... maybe Oct. Got to decide where I am going to move the peach trees so they don't get dug up here and then moved there and then change where they are there. Would like to wait until after the bulk of their growth, then prune them back to move. It will set them back enough, getting moved once. Plus I would like to maybe get a few other fruit trees and the sales are starting now on them..... just a thought.

They did ask that included in the sale contract, to give them right of first refusal if I decide to sell. That's fine. If the prices go way up, and it is worth alot more, and I do decide to sell, I would do exactly what they did, get an appraisal as they did..... then it can't be said I am trying to gouge them with the selling price. I can agree to that. Doesn't commit me to anything except give them first chance to buy it back if it comes to that. I also agreed to not cut down the holly tree, verbal.... It is in the front yard, corner, not where it will be any problem for me. They like to get cuttings off it. Since they will still have the christmas trees next door, it is not a problem. They are going to try to do a rooting of the rose bush, as they are afraid that trying to dig it up will be a problem, and I said to go for it. I am going to trim it back some, and it needs feeding but is pretty and smells nice too. It was something that their mom brought when they moved there when she got married, maybe???? Anyway, I said that would be great if they could get a graft to root for them. I have no intention to take it out. I like roses.

So, looks like everything is moving along. The ins lady said she will get back with me in a few days.

 

[farmerjan]

We got about 3 showers of all of a minute about 5:30 - 6 a.m. Some clouds at times today then bright sun. But calling for T-storms on Sunday so if he cuts anything it will have to be rolled on Sat. I have a farm to test on Sun aft and Tuesday already set up. They are all going to want the same week I am afraid....

Had a chicken die and I left it outside the pen in the area they were "allowed out into" and the next morning it was completely gone..... no feathers around or nothing. So really am thinking fox just carrying it off. So they are locked in the 5x10 run. Nothing trying to dig under anywhere....yet..... and I am going to set a trap up there and see if I can catch it. I am really hoping though that the land disturbance with the drive/road going in for the tower will encourage them to move elsewhere.... Kinda hate to kill a female if she is feeding kits..... they do eat alot of mice and stuff...... but they must be new as I never lost one to a predator last year like this. I would find an occasional dead one.... but not just disappearing like this bunch.

73 overnight, but only up to 84 today and some breeze so at least more bearable.