Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Mini Horses]

Bought 3/21 at $269. Red Brand sheep/goat, 330'. . Sadly it's way up in price. I'd like a couple more rolls. Will recheck current prices but, think it's $399 here now. Was last month online....didn't ask in store.

DD works at Lowes and they carry Red Brand in field fence, so I'll ask her to see if they'll get the 4x4 on special order...don't expect any real price difference. She gets 10% discount and at these prices that could "pay" for several posts!

Killer prices. . Don't need to tell you about post $. It's all pretty painful!

I have a place I've considered hotwiring but goats are not very good with just that. So I've not taken time and material -- that I already have!! -- to do. I'm considering that a real strong box may work and it's cheaper than rolls of fence. Horses, they are real good with hot wire. Have several solar boxes, 2 need new batteries, but they do not have the jolt of plug ins. Plug ins...need a plug. Have an old plug in that still works and packs a decent punch. May try a small area...within a perimeter. If it works, can run at other open field, which would only be daytime graze, back to barn at night. . Considering time and effort issues for tryouts.

Animals create so many considerations to handle.

a couple chickens went into garden yesterday. Of course, straight to mulched tomatoes! They scratched into it. Found the brown paper, not worms, tried 4 places then left. . Lucky me. I have to put wire on that pole gate! Chore 1000!

 

[Baymule]

OK Brand 4" sheep and goat wire is $339 here at TSC, was @249. At the local hardware store in Groveton, I've got Mr. Benny working me up a price on 10-15 rolls. Not going to use the horse wire this go-round. Shorter rolls, cost more and harder to stretch. Better buy wire now, next week it will cost more. Pretty soon it will take a wheel barrow of money to buy a T-post.

 

[farmerjan]

RAIN and MORE RAIN..... WOW Better not cry too much, might flood the whole place. We needed some rain and got that nice 1 1/2 inches a couple days ago. BUT, we got a deluge last night and we were not even in the path of the worst of it. It stayed more just to the west of us and headed more north through the night. Started raining here around 11 and was still raining but not real hard... steady..... until after midnight. Then the overnight radar showed it stayed more east and just skirted the area until around 5 a.m. and it has hit us pretty hard since. Pouring down, then lets up and then more. There have been flood watches just north and west of us, and a tornado watch now to the east since we are getting more of the hard rain. Supposedly some winds and gusts, but we are so far not getting much of that.
I am very thankful I got in the garden what I have so far and that I got all the tomatoes in that I did yesterday. Going to look and see if there is another piece of fence panel around to take care of the last dozen if I can't find a home for them in the next day or 2.
Everything else in so far at least is "well watered in"....
It does look like it will taper off and head east by 10 or 11 so I should be able to load the truck with the meters etc, in the dry. It looks like it will keep heading more north than east but I think that @Mini Horses will get a good bit of it after 12-1 p.m.. Then we are supposed to get more late afternoon/eve and then exit out of here by mid day Saturday.

There are a few rumbles of thunder but not too bad. I think we will be pretty much out of that path.

So, I am going to go in and make sure I have enough bottles in the racks and go to feed the nurse cow. Then come back and get the truck loaded. Going to take a couple of contractor garbage bags and stop and get a couple bags of my preferred feed for the cow and then can mix it with the other; on my way to test.

Pouring again...like REALLY POURING DOWN.

Got a mouse last night. Yesterday I went to move some stuff and one popped out of a box, that I had a pkg of caramel corn in, and some non perishables, that I had picked up at Sharp Shopper last week. One of those promo $.99 things... thinking I might like it one day when craving something sweet. And yes, there was a hole in the bag.... DAM#@D little s.o.b. Well I put out a couple of sticky traps and there is one on them this morning. Have no idea if it is that one... put a couple pieces of the caramel corn in the middle of the one trap and put the other one between 2 boxes and that is the one I caught it on. Going to dispose of it and then see if there are any more. I caught one in the kitchen trap about a month ago and have not seen any real activity.... I leave the traps set in the kitchen and put fresh peanut butter on them every once in a while... Hadn't seen where anything had been around them.
The joys of an old house...

 

[farmerjan]

I'm going to see if the local TSC can get the OK Brand wire at a better price....That is alot better than the current @399...
@Baymule , don't forget that TSC will give an additional discount if you buy 10 or more rolls....

 

[Bruce]

@Baymule , don't forget that TSC will give an additional discount if you buy 10 or more rolls....

If she goes to the same one where she got the posts she might manage another 15% off

 

[Mini Horses]

That rain you're getting moves NE and we will most likely get tail end of it, just as the southern ones moves in mid to late afternoon, spending the night! Yes, heavy rains. I'm working betweens bands of light rains now to get 18 squash plants moved. Would love to get eggplant and peppers set, snap beans in but looks to be dim hopes.
Last area of retill won't happen now, maybe Sunday.

grass is loving it!

 

[farmerjan]

Not much more than a few sprinkles this afternoon.... until about 5 and then it POURED down like someone was dumping out a bucket, at the farm. The roads and everything looked soaked here at the house when I got home at nearly dark...
And of all things ... I have NO WATER in the faucets at the house. Checked the breaker box and flipped them to make sure the well pump hadn't kicked off... NOPE..... so no shower tonight. I just ate a ham sandwich... and drank some MT Dew that was in a bottle in the fridge.... not going to bother DS .... not a life or death thing tonight. I will deal with it in the morning. OF COURSE, it is a holiday weekend... luckily no animals depending on water..... if I can't figure it out, I will go take a shower at his house since he is never hardly using it... and wait for Tuesday to make some calls... Not paying outrageous weekend or holiday rates.... maybe DS will know what to try...

Makes life interesting....

 

[Mini Horses]

Oh, my....running water is kinda nice to have. Sounds like wiring. Any chance the rain got to wires between box & pump? Mine is all underground between actual pump at well and into house at electrical connect. I have a deep well with the pump that drops into the pipe. Not easy to work like the above ground type. Hope DS can find the problem! Maybe a bad breaker....

Our rain happened for a good part of yesterday. Slacked late day.....got feeding done ...then late night a heavy amount again. They say nothing until maybe Fri and heat returns to 80-90s. Should get garden done and yard will need mowing! Of course, heavy job work scheduled this week & next I'm over raining for a while!!!


Had a delicious steak last night!! Thank your herd.

 

[Baymule]

I’ll compare TSC price against the local hardware store. On an order, he will usually beat other prices, as it is an in-out order and not inventory sitting around.

Hope you can get your water issue figured out.

 

[farmerjan]

Getting ready to go out and get long hoses into the truck for this afternoons test. Just got off the phone with the farmer from last night. Had discrepancies and had to have him go look for a couple cows that he had entered into his computer, that transferred to mine with the jump drive transfer I do... and then couldn't get into the stupid program because there was a conflict in the billing date... OH I AM SOOOO SICK of this stupid electronic stuff sometimes. Finally got all that straight and then the conflicting info... this is partly because they are not testing every month so things that don't get entered in right away, get forgotten and all that... like a calving date that didn't get written down etc and so forth... It is very aggravating.....

Got that finally straightened out... texted Deb and said it would just be better to do the tree limb trimming tomorrow since I am tied up with this computer stuff... and it is sooo wet out there. Then talked to DS, he had been at Deb's to get a sq bale for 2 cows at the barn... she told him about the water... he called and I said I was not going to worry about it til tomorrow as I had to go to work in a little bit and have to go back by yesterday's farm first to get their computer straightened out and the stuff transferred back and then go to the other farm to test... that I was just not going to worry about the water until tomorrow... So I am going out to put the sample bottles in the truck, get the long hoses I have to use at today's farm on the truck... and head for the other farm first. I am going to take 10 minutes to go out and look at the garden first... got some wet paper bags that I want to put down along the one side of the tomatoes so they will kinda dry there and maybe just stay put.
We got .5 inch yesterday afternoon when I was gone to work... after the 1.2 inches that I dumped yesterday morning... hope it didn't "drown" the little tomato plants. Hope to see the potatoes coming up soon...

Time for the rat race again... Got at least 1 more farm to get scheduled for next week.....
Grass will be a foot tall by the time the lawn dries out to mow again....
Can I run away from home for a "ME" vacation like @Baymule said that @rachels.haven needs???? NO, I just don't want to HAVE to go to work when it is nice out....just like @Mini Horses ... always seems like they have to be worked when it is pretty out and we can be doing better things at home...