Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Got on to look at the weather and am taking a few to just make a few comments.
Yeah, too bad about the hay but you're right @Mini Horses ; at least we got most of it up. Probably only 4-6 bales worth that got wet again. DS called and he took some cows/calves to pasture...went by, switched the rake to the tedder, and was going to spread it out. They are calling for partly to mostly cloudy so no chance it will make today unless the sun comes out hot. It will stay spread out, if it stays dry this weekend, we will rake and bale it when we get home just to get it off the field. It will make filler hay if it is not moldy ...feed it alongside a better bale in the winter for them to pick through and eat.
Deb went with me this morning and did the cow herself to make sure she would come in for her. She hesitated but then her stomach (grain hog) won her over and she went in. I am going to go to the farm and get the brush off the truck, get a couple of sq bales for when I am gone and get a couple of 15 gal barrels and fill with water and go back up in a little bit. Get a few clothes packed.
DS is off today to get things caught up and we will decide to leave whenever it works out.
We have to get the meat into the freezer chests also to take. Half a beef for the guy that helped every day.... he wanted to buy a half, and we said sure we would sell him half...but I told DS I would donate the half beef if he paid for the processing and we would give it to them because of all he did for my parents. It is out of my belted heifer that never bred. Also taking a bunch to the other lady that went there daily to visit and help out ...unpaid... she was a neighbor and used to work at the P.O.....retired.... I am going to get some out of my freezers for her and take some chickens too for them. She said she had bought a raffle ticket for a half beef and hog but didn't win it. So, the least we can do is give them something as a thank you since they wouldn't take any money, for all the help and time. I get the being neighbors and all... but parents should have left them both something and didn't....years of them helping would have been nice for father to have remembered them in a small way at least..... and the rest of the "beneficiaries" don't feel like they owe them anything...well, DS and I both agree that they ought to get some sort of an appreciative thank you for the years that they did little things... not as "payment" but just as a thank you. So the meat will be used. appreciated, and we have it to share.....DS and I have gotten so far away from the materialistic attitudes of them up north.....we are so much more "country" and "southern" in our way of wanting to show our appreciation.

Gotta go get the truck unloaded.

 

[Mini Horses]

Have a safe trip, Jan. Long, dreaded but, safe. They will appreciate that meat.

@Baymule I have 2 rolls of premier fence one is damaged from goats who tore thru it! . They don't appreciate hot wire....maybe one or two. If they try to smell and touch nose but, few!! I have rolls and rolls of hot wire...I've watched them walk thru. It has set me on my butt to touch. . I've read that they have hollow hair shafts..? Maybe if from babes it would help.

My horses...whoa! Respect!

 

[Baymule]

@Mini Horses I only have one roll. I bought it to stretch from DS's house to side fence so sheep could have more graze. They touch it with their nose and run shaking head like they have been bee stung. It's working for me! LOL

@farmerjan I agree with you and your son. The neighbors that were so helpful to your parents should have been left a little something as a thank you. It is such a kind thing to do, taking them meat. Beef and chicken have gone way up in price and it will be a blessing to them.

 

[farmerjan]

Just a quick note.. we are back... trouble going up, LONG DAYS and heartbreaking waste... long drive home... problems both directions. Will elaborate later. Got to go do the cow... at least she did fine for Deb.... It is pretty much over... the house is emptied.... COMPLETELY... so much just thrown in dumpster... SO DISGUSTING that so much was just thrown away... partly this brother's fault too since he had to control things and got everyone so p.o.ed... so much just stupidity... lack of actual communication... it tore me up to see 60+ years of my parents life just tossed. Sister and fiance took very little after all the talk... I know that there were things that needed to get tossed... but so much could have been given away if brother wasn't such a know it all a$$....
I am sick at heart over it... but it is done... I looked at the heavens a couple of times and told my father I hoped he was happy with the stupid selfish senseless way he did the will and the way the family members that he gave primary beneficiary benefits to, had just thrown away their parents' lifetimes, into a dumpster......
Got so much to relate timewise but have things to do today... maybe tonight..... We didn't get home until Tues night... and when I turned on the water and water heater here, because I forgot to when I first came in... and laid down to read a little so it could heat the hot water... I woke up sometime during the night, turned off the light and that was it until 6:30 this morning. Then I could barely bend my knees to get in the shower... LITERALLY.... I couldn't stand up without holding on to the dresser I hurt so bad and was so sore and stiff.... But got a good hot shower with the water just directed on the knees with the hand held shower head... and loosened up... took a few ibuprophen and tylenol, and I can walk and move now....

Time to get back to my life.

 

[Baymule]

I'm so sorry that things turned out the way they did. What a gut wrenching thing you and DS had to do. At least it is done and you can move forward now. You can't change what is past, only do your best going forward.

You have got to be exhausted from the trip. I hope you get caught up on your rest tonight.

 

[murphysranch]

I'm sooooo sad for you and your son. You did what was needed. Hard.

 

[farmerjan]

I am done and in for the night... been going through some of the posts and stomach just started growling... I never ate any dinner...
Believe it or not, I actually went and tested a farm this afternoon. I was supposed to do them Sunday... but put the wrong date on the calendar I have hanging at the desk... the right date was on the work calendar I keep mostly in the truck etc., , but I put the wrong date on this one in the house... He was okay with it.. they are good people... so I called them when I got the message and I said I would let them know when I got home... they said fine,,, wed or thurs would be okay too... let them know last night I was back and they said wed would be good so I said I would.
Don't even know where to start.
Got the Hay tedded and raked and baled Fri late aft. It was pretty okay considering. So DS brought the tedder back to the farm and I drove the tractor and rake ..... BECAUSE he decided to mow some so it could dry while we were gone; he was going to get a friend to tedd it on Sunday... so we could get it raked and then baled Monday eve or tues morning....
Friend got it tedded out and said it was thick and pretty green. So we figured to have to tedd it again mon aft and then hopefully it would rake on tues as there was "weather" coming in tues aft....
We didn't get home monday we were still in NH....DS talked to a neighbor, who said he would go by and see about getting it raked and baled tues.... they called back and said it was too green after he got his baler clogged up with it and wasn't going to try to do any more... and then it rained. So, still on the ground...

Back to the timeline... DS blew a hose on the tractor mowing so quit there... because it was getting late and we really needed to leave. Finally left and went to pick up the trailer he was going to bring the backhoe home on. Well, NO LIGHTS on the drivers side... so took it to the barn so he could try to get lights working... finally ran a new wire across as there must be a short... but we had lights. So, instead of leaving at 6 or so... allowing us time to stop and get a little sleep... it was right at 10 p.m. He drove then I spelled him, and then he was going to take over when a warning message came up on the screen about truck was going into restricted "something" ( I can't remember the wording).... so DS read it, got out the manual...we could not find anything about it. He went on the internet... and it went into "limp mode"... because some of the sensors had detected a problem... all sorts of different answers online to others having had these type of problems... We turned it off and waited 15 minutes as was suggested... and when we started out it would go 40 downhill and 25 up hill... We saw a ford dealership so decided we would have to have it "diagnosed"... Now this was 3:30 A.M. so we pulled into a little restaurant parking next to the dealership and took some fitful catnaps... At daylight or so, he found out that the locked gates on the front were not the only way in... so went around back and found that you went in there for service... so we pulled down there and waited til someone came in... 8 a.m. service hours. BUT they were really nice... got us in when we explained the situation... and all the diagnostic tests... 2 hours and it turns out there is a hairline "seep" between the plastic and metal that they make the radiators out of.... that allowed an air bubble... that you really can't bleed off because you can only add coolant through the "overflow tank"... there are 2 temp sensors in the radiator and 2 in the engine... the temp was going from 190 to 200 and then spiking at 250 or more when a blast of "hot air" hit it... and after a couple of these readings... it shut down the normal engine running ...."so you don't damage the engine".... DS had added about a qt of water before we left... that is how slow it is seeping... but once it gets down a little, it gets air pockets that the mechanic said are nigh on IMPOSSIBLE to bleed out...

So he reset the computer stuff.... bypassed the 2 sensors in the radiator... said to watch the water levels every time we got fuel... and go about our trip. Said once we got home, to replace the radiator because they are next to impossible to repair due to the plastic/metal makeup... replace both sensors... and it would be fine. Bought several gallons of antifreeze and filled a couple of jugs of water to be on the safe side... and left. But we lost over 6 hours.... so we didn't get to NH until after 4 p.m. They had already done alot of stuff... emptied the craft room but luckily one of the friends had other friends there to take quite a bit of it instead of throwing it all away... my mom used to teach ceramics and other crafts to the 4-H club and others there for several years.

But they also cleaned out alot of the stuff from the bathrooms... and all the towels sheets etc., and such went in the dumpster...
We helped work on stuff... for several hours...
Then the guys were looking at the trailer and realized one of the "hubcaps" had come off the end of the axle... and it turns out it ruined the hub...couldn't buy one, so he had to get that redone by the son of the friend that gets the cattle... 1 1/2 hours further north...he has a machine shop.... but he was able to do it sun morning... did manage to get the new bearings and all needed for it...
The "trouble causing niece came up on Sunday to help and she worked on the kitchen cabinets... I had gone through and got out what I really wanted to try to save... but I thought she was going to box this stuff and take it to a salvation army or something... NOPE... all went in the dumpster... I had to go and work in the other room because I could not stand to see what was being tossed. She was there from about 10-5...
I got all the yarn and all, done in the other rooms and it went to the older lady that helped out, as she had several friends that knitted... thank goodness.
I had boxed and then bagged enough from the kitchen that I was trying to salvage, to fill up the back of the pickup I was going to drive home... to the top of the cab... there are pieces of plywood stuck in there to stack against...and the back seat... it is a supercab... so only a 3/4 back seat, not a full crew cab... but a bunch of room still....
They threw out over 500 books ... I saved a few but no way could I handle them all.. in the time "allotted" by my stupid brother for the cleanout....

Monday morning they moved alot of furniture to the Alan's shop, he helped put my mom into bed every night...he has a bigggg shop and they are storing it for their fall church rummage sale thing... I finished the cleanout and put stuff in totes to go to the dumpster... then vacuumed each room as I got it completely empty. Found someone needing a full size nearly new mattress and the couch... other stuff went in the dumpster...
Understand this is a 30 yd dumpster... and they used the backhoe to crush it down 4 different times... this also included stuff out of the garage/barn... They usually weigh in the 3-4 ton range when full... DS said this will weigh 6-8 ton... the estate will pay dearly for overweight.... Also filled 27 leaf/lawn sized gabage bags for the trash pickup on Tuesday....
The older friend took 4 trips with medical stuff... wheelchair, walkers, bath seats, all sort of stuff, for a lady that works with home health care and stuff; some blankets and bedding I salvaged from the beds we had slept on... for some people in the neighborhood that had lost their house to fire...There was some equipment that Alan and Heather were going to go back for to put in their shop for now... a wood lathe, grinder, other stuff...
The list just goes on and on.
Finally got the backhoe loaded and Alan had told DS that I was really tired and that he would gladly put the truck I was supposed to drive back, all loaded to the gills....in his shop (he rents out storage spots for people with equipment and such) and we could get it sometime later on... and we should drive down together... I wasn't as tired as DS was really... and he had a slight cold that got worse from all the stress and lack of sleep and all... I think Alan did it partly because he could see how tired we both were but also because of how worn down DS was... and I went along with being "really tired". It is a good thing.

We left after 8 Monday night... we were originally going to leave Sun night....
Short story... we wound up having 3 of the 8 tires blow out.... treads were peeling off and then they would blow out...this is a heavy trailer... double axle with dual tires on each. Turns out they had real good "tire tread" but the tires had been sitting for awhile...he doesn't use the trailer that much so you know how tires get when they do more sitting than running.... and the treads separated from the steel belts...when the 2nd one blew, DS accidently put his phone down when he was checking and filling them with air...using the flashlight part.... and forgot it and ran over it and crushed it... so now, no phone, NO INTERNET on the phone....
Again at 3:30 in the morning when the 3rd one blew and we had to get off the interstate and into a town we knew nothing about... parked in a post office lot that was big enough to accommodate the 30 ft long trailer.... then after sun came up, and all, unhooked from the trailer... found an Advance auto to get a breaker bar and extension. Then got searching for a tire place that would have that size...
We finally got everything "fixed" , and back on our way at noon.... he had bought 4 tires and put 3 on...
Got going and then got into PA and there were some sprinkles... so we had to shuffle things around to get stuff inside that shouldn't get wet... REMEMBER, we were supposed to get home Monday long before the rain got here....
One more tire had the tread peel off about 130+ miles from home... it kept it's air for quite awhile then slowly just deflated... but we got home with it that way... There was a lot of traffic and a backup on the interstate for aways... and then we just drove 50-55 the rest of the way... which made it longer/later...

It was a nightmare... and a heart breaking situation... but the house is empty and they can list it and I hope it sells fairly fast and all this is done.
DS is feeling really sick, he did not work today... and then on top of it his father got off on a tangent because DS hadn't gotten his chicks that his father hatched... before we left..... and then was feeling too sick to get them Tues eve... and his father went on a rant and they got into it really bad... DS said they almost got into a physical fight and his father kicked him off the property, and told him if he came back he would call the cops on him... My EX is EX for a very good reason....
DS is on his last nerve...

I should have shot him way back and done the time for murder or whatever when DS was little... really I should have....

Is that enough for the last 5 days?????

I barely looked at the garden when we got home as I had to do the cow... and never got to it today... Maybe tomorrow...
Hopefully should be able to tedd out the hay on Thurs... maybe twice... and then get it raked and baled before we get some more weather Friday eve... it won't be very good but will be "filler hay"....The part that was wheat was very weedy so he cut it to be "hay" and the grass part was pretty thick... got to get it off the field. He is going to plant sorghum-sudan in the wheat part... the rest of the wheat in the other field looks REAL GOOD.....going to combine that field, sell the wheat, bale the straw, and then plant back in soybeans...
I did take the truck to test and got 10 sq bales of straw from this farmer... for the garden... plus I will have to get going and get the old mulch hay left to get it covered... get the lawn mowed and get the grass for it too...
DID I say how GLAD WE WERE to get home after all this....????

 

[Alaskan]

I am done and in for the night... been going through some of the posts and stomach just started growling... I never ate any dinner...
Believe it or not, I actually went and tested a farm this afternoon. I was supposed to do them Sunday... but put the wrong date on the calendar I have hanging at the desk... the right date was on the work calendar I keep mostly in the truck etc., , but I put the wrong date on this one in the house... He was okay with it.. they are good people... so I called them when I got the message and I said I would let them know when I got home... they said fine,,, wed or thurs would be okay too... let them know last night I was back and they said wed would be good so I said I would.
Don't even know where to start.
Got the Hay tedded and raked and baled Fri late aft. It was pretty okay considering. So DS brought the tedder back to the farm and I drove the tractor and rake ..... BECAUSE he decided to mow some so it could dry while we were gone; he was going to get a friend to tedd it on Sunday... so we could get it raked and then baled Monday eve or tues morning....
Friend got it tedded out and said it was thick and pretty green. So we figured to have to tedd it again mon aft and then hopefully it would rake on tues as there was "weather" coming in tues aft....
We didn't get home monday we were still in NH....DS talked to a neighbor, who said he would go by and see about getting it raked and baled tues.... they called back and said it was too green after he got his baler clogged up with it and wasn't going to try to do any more... and then it rained. So, still on the ground...

Back to the timeline... DS blew a hose on the tractor mowing so quit there... because it was getting late and we really needed to leave. Finally left and went to pick up the trailer he was going to bring the backhoe home on. Well, NO LIGHTS on the drivers side... so took it to the barn so he could try to get lights working... finally ran a new wire across as there must be a short... but we had lights. So, instead of leaving at 6 or so... allowing us time to stop and get a little sleep... it was right at 10 p.m. He drove then I spelled him, and then he was going to take over when a warning message came up on the screen about truck was going into restricted "something" ( I can't remember the wording).... so DS read it, got out the manual...we could not find anything about it. He went on the internet... and it went into "limp mode"... because some of the sensors had detected a problem... all sorts of different answers online to others having had these type of problems... We turned it off and waited 15 minutes as was suggested... and when we started out it would go 40 downhill and 25 up hill... We saw a ford dealership so decided we would have to have it "diagnosed"... Now this was 3:30 A.M. so we pulled into a little restaurant parking next to the dealership and took some fitful catnaps... At daylight or so, he found out that the locked gates on the front were not the only way in... so went around back and found that you went in there for service... so we pulled down there and waited til someone came in... 8 a.m. service hours. BUT they were really nice... got us in when we explained the situation... and all the diagnostic tests... 2 hours and it turns out there is a hairline "seep" between the plastic and metal that they make the radiators out of.... that allowed an air bubble... that you really can't bleed off because you can only add coolant through the "overflow tank"... there are 2 temp sensors in the radiator and 2 in the engine... the temp was going from 190 to 200 and then spiking at 250 or more when a blast of "hot air" hit it... and after a couple of these readings... it shut down the normal engine running ...."so you don't damage the engine".... DS had added about a qt of water before we left... that is how slow it is seeping... but once it gets down a little, it gets air pockets that the mechanic said are nigh on IMPOSSIBLE to bleed out...

So he reset the computer stuff.... bypassed the 2 sensors in the radiator... said to watch the water levels every time we got fuel... and go about our trip. Said once we got home, to replace the radiator because they are next to impossible to repair due to the plastic/metal makeup... replace both sensors... and it would be fine. Bought several gallons of antifreeze and filled a couple of jugs of water to be on the safe side... and left. But we lost over 6 hours.... so we didn't get to NH until after 4 p.m. They had already done alot of stuff... emptied the craft room but luckily one of the friends had other friends there to take quite a bit of it instead of throwing it all away... my mom used to teach ceramics and other crafts to the 4-H club and others there for several years.

But they also cleaned out alot of the stuff from the bathrooms... and all the towels sheets etc., and such went in the dumpster...
We helped work on stuff... for several hours...
Then the guys were looking at the trailer and realized one of the "hubcaps" had come off the end of the axle... and it turns out it ruined the hub...couldn't buy one, so he had to get that redone by the son of the friend that gets the cattle... 1 1/2 hours further north...he has a machine shop.... but he was able to do it sun morning... did manage to get the new bearings and all needed for it...
The "trouble causing niece came up on Sunday to help and she worked on the kitchen cabinets... I had gone through and got out what I really wanted to try to save... but I thought she was going to box this stuff and take it to a salvation army or something... NOPE... all went in the dumpster... I had to go and work in the other room because I could not stand to see what was being tossed. She was there from about 10-5...
I got all the yarn and all, done in the other rooms and it went to the older lady that helped out, as she had several friends that knitted... thank goodness.
I had boxed and then bagged enough from the kitchen that I was trying to salvage, to fill up the back of the pickup I was going to drive home... to the top of the cab... there are pieces of plywood stuck in there to stack against...and the back seat... it is a supercab... so only a 3/4 back seat, not a full crew cab... but a bunch of room still....
They threw out over 500 books ... I saved a few but no way could I handle them all.. in the time "allotted" by my stupid brother for the cleanout....

Monday morning they moved alot of furniture to the Alan's shop, he helped put my mom into bed every night...he has a bigggg shop and they are storing it for their fall church rummage sale thing... I finished the cleanout and put stuff in totes to go to the dumpster... then vacuumed each room as I got it completely empty. Found someone needing a full size nearly new mattress and the couch... other stuff went in the dumpster...
Understand this is a 30 yd dumpster... and they used the backhoe to crush it down 4 different times... this also included stuff out of the garage/barn... They usually weigh in the 3-4 ton range when full... DS said this will weigh 6-8 ton... the estate will pay dearly for overweight.... Also filled 27 leaf/lawn sized gabage bags for the trash pickup on Tuesday....
The older friend took 4 trips with medical stuff... wheelchair, walkers, bath seats, all sort of stuff, for a lady that works with home health care and stuff; some blankets and bedding I salvaged from the beds we had slept on... for some people in the neighborhood that had lost their house to fire...There was some equipment that Alan and Heather were going to go back for to put in their shop for now... a wood lathe, grinder, other stuff...
The list just goes on and on.
Finally got the backhoe loaded and Alan had told DS that I was really tired and that he would gladly put the truck I was supposed to drive back, all loaded to the gills....in his shop (he rents out storage spots for people with equipment and such) and we could get it sometime later on... and we should drive down together... I wasn't as tired as DS was really... and he had a slight cold that got worse from all the stress and lack of sleep and all... I think Alan did it partly because he could see how tired we both were but also because of how worn down DS was... and I went along with being "really tired". It is a good thing.

We left after 8 Monday night... we were originally going to leave Sun night....
Short story... we wound up having 3 of the 8 tires blow out.... treads were peeling off and then they would blow out...this is a heavy trailer... double axle with dual tires on each. Turns out they had real good "tire tread" but the tires had been sitting for awhile...he doesn't use the trailer that much so you know how tires get when they do more sitting than running.... and the treads separated from the steel belts...when the 2nd one blew, DS accidently put his phone down when he was checking and filling them with air...using the flashlight part.... and forgot it and ran over it and crushed it... so now, no phone, NO INTERNET on the phone....
Again at 3:30 in the morning when the 3rd one blew and we had to get off the interstate and into a town we knew nothing about... parked in a post office lot that was big enough to accommodate the 30 ft long trailer.... then after sun came up, and all, unhooked from the trailer... found an Advance auto to get a breaker bar and extension. Then got searching for a tire place that would have that size...
We finally got everything "fixed" , and back on our way at noon.... he had bought 4 tires and put 3 on...
Got going and then got into PA and there were some sprinkles... so we had to shuffle things around to get stuff inside that shouldn't get wet... REMEMBER, we were supposed to get home Monday long before the rain got here....
One more tire had the tread peel off about 130+ miles from home... it kept it's air for quite awhile then slowly just deflated... but we got home with it that way... There was a lot of traffic and a backup on the interstate for aways... and then we just drove 50-55 the rest of the way... which made it longer/later...

It was a nightmare... and a heart breaking situation... but the house is empty and they can list it and I hope it sells fairly fast and all this is done.
DS is feeling really sick, he did not work today... and then on top of it his father got off on a tangent because DS hadn't gotten his chicks that his father hatched... before we left..... and then was feeling too sick to get them Tues eve... and his father went on a rant and they got into it really bad... DS said they almost got into a physical fight and his father kicked him off the property, and told him if he came back he would call the cops on him... My EX is EX for a very good reason....
DS is on his last nerve...

I should have shot him way back and done the time for murder or whatever when DS was little... really I should have....

Is that enough for the last 5 days?????

I barely looked at the garden when we got home as I had to do the cow... and never got to it today... Maybe tomorrow...
Hopefully should be able to tedd out the hay on Thurs... maybe twice... and then get it raked and baled before we get some more weather Friday eve... it won't be very good but will be "filler hay"....The part that was wheat was very weedy so he cut it to be "hay" and the grass part was pretty thick... got to get it off the field. He is going to plant sorghum-sudan in the wheat part... the rest of the wheat in the other field looks REAL GOOD.....going to combine that field, sell the wheat, bale the straw, and then plant back in soybeans...
I did take the truck to test and got 10 sq bales of straw from this farmer... for the garden... plus I will have to get going and get the old mulch hay left to get it covered... get the lawn mowed and get the grass for it too...
DID I say how GLAD WE WERE to get home after all this....????

Oh...

Only good... it is now over.

 

[Mini Horses]

That was a nightmare!

 

[Bruce]

but I thought she was going to box this stuff and take it to a salvation army or something... NOPE... all went in the dumpster

That is really sad! Would have been better to have people take what they want, open the doors and put out a sign "Take what you want, all free". I'm sure a lot of people would have been able to use what was thrown out.

I thought DD1 and BF had a tough trip up last week but it pales compared to yours! I'll post it in my journal instead of filling up yours.