Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Unfortunately, don't look for prices to get any better this year. I don't see the supply increasing all that much and that will keep the prices elevated. Between the slow down last year with the whole covid crap.... mills not operating at capacity due to fewer workers, shut downs for the virus, and the slower incoming logs for processing for the same reasons..... AND adding in to that, all the people home from work, deciding that they ought to start this or that project that they had not had time for before but now had the time to do..... creating a HUGE increase in demand for lumber and all that. Less coming into the mills, less getting processed. less getting sent to the home improvement stores and even the lumber companies that deal mostly with builders.... equals less availability overall, and so the prices go up.

And you add in the wet in some places, it has slowed down the ability of some companies to get into the woods now. The drought is affecting the southwest and west, but the wet in so many of the places where the common trees are harvested has also slowed down things.

No, I doubt you will see much lowering of prices through this year... and with inflation starting to creep up, it will not go down much....

 

[farmerjan]

Cloudy and raining off and on most of the day. It was dry for several hours earlier... I dumped a total of .6 inch this morning... hit 82 and a peek of sun for about 20 minutes... Has been showers/light rain off and on since 2 or so.
I got the shims/wedges to fix that cabinet that I want to put the bath towels/linens into. So can get to that this evening. I went down to the other house and got some more stuff done.... another bunch of stuff in the car. Got all the rest of my records that were in the one room... pretty much done on the closed in back porch, some stuff to take to dumpster, and the other wood shelf thing to bring up. So only the rest of the stuff in the kitchen to do; the cupboards to be moved. And the fish tanks in the building. It has been raining pretty steady, light, but real wet, so waiting to unload the rest of the car.
Rain is supposed to taper off, not as much tomorrow and ending by Sunday night... might get some more during the day on Sunday.
I expect that DS will be cutting hay on Monday if the ground is not too soggy.
Looked at my calendar and the Wed herd is a morning test... but I decided to not put that other herd in like he wanted, and to do him the following week on Tues/Wed.... why kill myself next week. I will be needed in the hay fields too to do the raking. I am glad the herd on Wed is morning as I will get home about the time to get samples packed and then be available to get on the tractor.
Brought the vacuum back up to my house so I can do a few things, then will take it back down over the weekend.

Called my farmer friend for milk, will go pick it up tomorrow.

Going in to see what I can rustle up for supper, and then work on that linen "cabinet". Will take the vacuum and clean it out good too, and have to wipe down the outside. It used to stand next to the stove so has some sticky/grease splatters on the side.
Got the washed down/scrubbed wood set of shelves in the carport so it can dry out and come in the house. It is a real nice sturdy set of shelves and I cannot find the same brand anywhere and cannot find it on line.... I keep looking... I will use a wood oil to "feed the wood", once I get them in the house.

Got to get the grass mowed here at the new house....
Picked up some "miniature roses" marked way down at Lowe's... will put them along the front porch on the one side as it gets sun a good part of the day... Just for color... like I need more to do....

Back to feeding the horse once a day since Deb has gone back up to northern Va to work... just the old mare that I don't mind so much....don't know how long she will be back here.... could be worse.

 

[Bruce]

I guess you don't have enough winter cold. Up here no one logs in the summer, they wait for the ground to freeze.

 

[farmerjan]

Down here they log all year.... according to the weather...rain and mud, and snow making mud.... There are alot of pines in southern and eastern Va.... and there is alot of oak and other trees harvested here... and there are log backups at many mills from not being able to process any faster....
Several of the fence building guys cannot get treated posts for fencing... and realize they buy them by the bundle, which is like 50 posts to a bundle maybe... and they buy 5-10 bundles at a time... and they cannot get them either....mostly treated pine.....
And now the guys are trying to log all the ash as fast as they can before the trees are totally dead and then are not worth as much....
But also realize that pines that are grown on tree farms, and they only grow so fast... and the demand is up and it is not like a corn crop that you grow and harvest in one year.... so there will be a shortage of pines for lumber with the rate that the lumber is going out of the lumber yards too....because all these people have gone into warp speed mode to do home projects too.....
Prices are not going to go down, and availability is going to be less for several reasons.

 

[Mini Horses]

I've had same rains....go by, sprinkles. Downpours. Overcast. Last month so dry pastures drying up. This month, green and growing...but very wet! A real 360. That's what we get now. I feel it wasn't so roller coaster in years past.

Not working today. Relief! Looks like rain any minute, downpour last night. Think I'll go to the auction today. A social event. Not in the mood to wrangle bucklings to take to sell. Just go for fun and relaxation.

 

[Baymule]

With neighbor Robert having a saw mill now, I’m looking at my pine trees with new eyes. I want to build a cordwood house with timber frame structure. Actually post and beam, because I would never be able to make the mortise and tenon joints. There are some nice trees here, they will make my next house. DH is dug in here and doesn’t want to move, but I don’t see me living out the rest of my life here. Prices are stupid high and likely will remain so for awhile. I think we should sell while prices are high and use that money to move. I would gladly live in a barn while building a house. Son has 35 acres, his aunt has 17 acres next to it. She thinks it’s made of gold, but maybe we could parley on it……. So that’s where my mind is going, build a more sustainable house for heat and cold. I’ve lived with no AC before, but 1 hour in this mobile home with no AC sends us scrambling out the door. I’ve discussed it with DH, he knows it’s coming…… Before too long I’ll be stacking up beams and peeled log pieces to dry. Looking at one of those Harbor Freight portable garage things, only $200 to cover up my wood. Poor BJ, he likes things to stay the same, I’m happy to jump off in the deep end, then learn how to swim. LOL

 

[farmerjan]

Partial clearing this morning, forgot to check rain gauge to see what it did yesterday and last eve. Heading down the hill in a little bit. DS said that tomorrow he would help with the last of the cabinets/cupboards, and then maybe some small stuff left......and then it will mostly be cleaning.... got a call in to the lady I met and talked to the other day.... will be glad to be done although I still hate the traffic here...miss the quiet down there with next to no traffic and no other noise.... so may very well not be the last move for me either...
I'm not a jump off and learn to swim type of person, but want something more than I think this place will give me... The big thing is to get the knees done and then see how I feel, what I am able to get back to doing and what I cannot do?????

Time to get going.

 

[Baymule]

With your therapy, you will be able to do more than you can now, because you won’t be in such pain.

 

[Mini Horses]

You'll get used to more noise in a short time. When I first moved here they used the adjacent train track once a day....about 3 am! Wasn't long before I didn't even notice it.

 

[farmerjan]

@Mini Horses , I get what you are saying but I doubt it. I lived right across the road from a train that went through several times a day and got "used to it" but I could hear it and feel it coming and it was not sudden headlights and then different degrees of noise as it is here with the vehicles......I could tell you the time by when it went through....Here it is cars and trucks speeding past; some with radios blaring and some with mufflers or lack there of, loud enough to sound like a monster truck from the truck pulls....

In CT years ago, I lived near the interstate and it was a certain level of noise you always heard, but it was more muted. You get used to it to a certain extent, but I never got used to it to where I "didn't hear it".

The further off the road and beaten path the better I have always liked it. Don't want to hear "civilization" going by. But, for now it is what it is....

Made a trip with the truck and then a trip with the car, will get the car unloaded this evening in a little bit after the ibpro, that I just took, takes the edge off. Will unload the truck in the morning so I can take it back down to load junk. I will take the vacuum down in the morning too.
Just some stuff in the one cabinet over the sink, odds and ends stuff here and there to gather up inside. Some stuff outside to get together yet...but not major.... and need to clean out the fridge; most of that will go in the dumpster too....Do some basic cleaning of the cupboards.... there have been mice in them and need a good thorough washing out with soapy water and a scrub brush.... when they get here. Going to have DS leave them out on the deck so I can get some serious washing down and scrubbing with a brush, done.... then move them inside in a few days to make sure they dry good.....I can tip them on their side on a blanket and get them inside myself most likely once they are cleaned. The mice have taken over down there again....

Possible showers tomorrow then part clouds for 7 days.... sure we could get a possible shower but it doesn't look like there is much of any precip in the forecast for over a week.

Wound up with .4 inch in the rain gauge this morning, so about an inch in the last 5 days total....
Nothing like the downpours and all that @secuono has had across the mountains east of here.

Went and got my milk too, and they had about 1 inch or maybe a little bit more over there too.

Going to catch up with some posts then go out and get the car done... won't take but a little bit to get that stuff inside, it is mostly all kitchen stuff .....