Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Ridgetop]

We have a pair that nest in the barn in Yantis according to the tenant. I will check on a permit to remove them. Otherwise, SSS it will be. Since they nest in the barn they will not be shy about attacking my newborn lambs in the barn. I will also look for the nest and destroy it when I see it.

 

[murphysranch]

Remove all the soil from your violets. Then nuke it. Let it cool and then replant. Oh, also wash with tepid water the entire violet.

Should kill eggs and larve and adults.

I've loved African violets my whole life.

 

[farmerjan]

Thanks @murphysranch . I do not have a microwave so no nuking. I will wash all the plants; I have the sticky traps everywhere in the plants and been catching a bunch and they seem to have pretty much stopped the progression. I am repotting as I go also, some that needed it, and some that the soil looks crummy.
The Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus's are getting into full bloom and are really pretty. Got a bunch of leaflets that fell off/were knocked off, that are rooting. Will have a bunch to pot for new plants next year.

It is a very warm nice morning. We had misty sprinkly rain until mid afternoon Sunday. There was actually more in the rain gauge than I thought.... just shy of 1/2 inch (.5)... It stayed warm all day and night... only down to 62. Today is warm and part sun so far... supposed to be near record temps they say, then the cool down starts again. We might get down to the 40's again, and the temps are going to be 20 degrees lower during the days... Back to "normal"......
I am going out to wash out the buckets I have been wanting to get done. Got a couple filled with water to warm up in the sun shining on them.
Spent the later part of the afternoon cutting back all the snowball bush stems and pruned the rose bush.

Got a bunch of bags of trash to go to the dumpster, then will go by and see if there are any newly broken down cardboard boxes to bring home to get the kitchen stuff boxed up.

Hey, has anyone heard about using coffee to put into spaces to absorb odors??? Deb asked if I had tried that... said that she has used coffee in shallow dishes to absorb odors.... of course, don't see how it would get the smell out of the wood....unless I just spread some in the cabinets????

Sent out a couple of texts for testing, got one back and will be testing Wed eve-Thurs morning at the only farm I have left that has to test 2x. Luckily it is just up the road 10 miles... I will have to set up Wed morning and go back Wed eve at 4:30p.m.; back at 5:30 a.m. Thurs morning.

Got all the doors open... it is 74 right now.... NICE.... heading out to get some things done.

 

[farmerjan]

In for the night. Went out and the 2 brahma pullets were in the crate, the rooster went right in when I went in the shelter. Of course the buff hen is somewhere out in the tree...

It got up to 79 on the recording thermometer... Like WOW
Absolutely beautiful and wonderful......

BUT, we are supposed to get down to 40 tonight and then tomorrow maybe 60... so "fall" temps are back. We are maybe going to get some rain/showers on Thursday? and then temps PLUNGE to the 20's at night over the weekend ???.

I got all the plants in the house this evening too. They might go out in the sun tomorrow but doubt there will be many more nights they can stay out....
I also pruned the Lemon Verbena plant and am going to dry the leaves. It will come in for the winter also... I LOVE the smell of the leaves....

Got all the buckets washed and rinsed and on the back of the ranger upside down to drain and dry. Will stack them when they are dry.

DS texted me and asked if I got the rest of the rolls of hay moved.... I had forgotten about them with everything else that has gone on..... so I will do them tomorrow.

Got another mouse... think it might be the one that ran in here and out the other night. AT LEAST, they are not digging in the plant behind the sink right now....

DO NOT FORGET TO VOTE TOMORROW......

 

[farmerjan]

Boy, what a difference 24 hours makes. It got down to 42 and the wind is quite brisk... CHILLY out there. Going out to let the chickens out of the crate and hang a load of clothes that I should have done yesterday but forgot to run the final rinse.... I think I will go vote first and let it warm up a bit, then come back by and hang them and go get the truck and get the hay bales moved. That ought to take a couple hours. Luckily everything is within 5-6 miles of the house so not going out of my way to do anything.

Need to take the outback down as they said they could probably get to it this week... get the heater fan working and the plug for the cig lighter is loose and the phone charger does not come on... I have a little plug in flashlight that is handy to keep in the car too. Need heat and the fan to blow it for the winter.... plus have them look at the muffler and decide if I need a whole new system, pipes and all, or if they can just replace the muffler part at the end of the pipe and the tailpipe.

Gotta find a hooded sweatshirt to put on to go out there this morning. BRRRR... don't want winter. Guess I am getting old !!!

 

[Ridgetop]

In summer heat of 105+ degrees I long for cooler weather. When it comes I long for warmer weather. It misted and sprinkled all day yesterday. Rained hard last night and was still lightly raining this am. Went to the barn to check the ewes with lambs and found myself thinking how much I hate rain. This after wishing for rain to break the drought!!!

Just can't please me! LOL

 

[farmerjan]

I don't like the real hot but then we don't often get 100's here and only for a day or 2. I like our weather here for the most part overall... It was just quite a "waker-upper" with the drop overnight in temps. It is nice out there now if a little windy. Sun is out so no complaints.
Calling for some warmer temps with some of that trop storm coming in ? Nicole maybe? that is coming towards Fla then up the cost. Thurs and Fri for rain and warmer temps.
Just not wanting the real cold winter... at least not yet... But this coming weekend after that trop storm weather goes by, it is supposed to drop like a rock.... 20's at night??? BRRR

DS has his one truck apart so is driving the r&w truck I would haul hay with so not today. He took today off work, and is working on it and other stuff that he says he just never gets to....Hmm... wonder what that is about. But it is good that he is getting some things done while it is not raining or something is broke down and desperate for it. I think we are going to town to the stockyard for the "appreciation dinner" and a bred cow sale... not to buy... but to check out prices. Neither of us has any disposable income right now to spend on cows. In fact, I want to get those couple in at the nurse cow pasture and get them preg checked... might be worth seeing if the vet is coming in this direction and get him to swing by and check those 4-5... they have to be at least 4-5 months... I have to do some searching to see when the bull came out since it is not on my work calendar which is where I usually put it.... but I am thinking it might have been in July....
He did take the tractor to the guy so that they can get on it...sometime before the weather gets bad so we will have it to use this winter.

Going out to do a few more things in the sun... Bring the clothes in too as with the strong breeze they ought to be dry. Need to load the meters and hoses for tomorrow mornings set up too. Always something on the list...

 

[farmerjan]

Wednesday. Chilly start, down to 35 last night. Sun is out, it was breezy earlier but had died down. Up to low 60's.
Took some ground beef to Deb for tacos tomorrow night. She is working from here remote all week.
Went up and set up at farm for this afternoon and then went to get the truck to move round bales. There are corral panels on it that we were going to set up at pasture last night on our way to the dinner and cow sale and there is still quite a bit of grass there so not moving them out yet. So they are still on the truck. Maybe tomorrow????
Customer appreciation dinner at stockyards was good... prime rib sandwiches, sides of pot salad, mac salad, coleslaw or mac and cheese, drink, cookie... or hd or hamburg if preferred. Cow sale was good... they were pretty high... 2,000 range for the bred heifers and for the cows with calves... 18-2400 overall... some were smooth mouth which is old... bulls were cheap..... we didn't buy anything. Going to haul a load of calves for a neighbor on Friday to town....

Going to test here shortly, have to go back in the morning.
Texted 2 farms for next week... already scheduled for Friday morning...

Had to be in some this afternoon to do work computer stuff... trying to get all the farms over on this "new to me" computer before the other one kicks the bucket. Worked on trying to come up with a report one farmer wants of specific cows at a time frame of 125 to 200 days bred...can't seem to find the right controls in the data base items to make it do what I wanted. Called down to computer support but the girl I have worked with several times is not there today and she makes things make sense... maybe will be able to catch up with her tomorrow.

Missing a heifer at the pasture we were going to set up at. DS is going to have to walk way up the steep hill in the woods as my knees won't take it. Hoping someone did not shoot her... we lost one there, one year to hunters not knowing what they were shooting at....
Going to check on cows at another pasture since I did not move any hay, before I go to work. So, out the door I go now.

 

[rachels.haven]

Hey, @Mini Horses ... do you have a reference on the mag article on the black buzzards? I try to keep up with any and all stuff about them so that I can make sure I have info at my fingertips when people try to tell me I can't do this or I have to do that.

I got up and let the chickens out, the buff hen was in the shelter with the chickens still in the crates... I just "ignored her" and did what I had to so she doesn't feel threatened. At least she is coming in for feed and water.

Went to town since the farm had cancelled and got some "gorilla" duct type tape that 2 different guys said would be better than just duct tape. I also picked up a roll of extra wide that is like flex seal tape but not as expensive... Also ran through Walmart and got 2 more of the plastic "storage bins" that are fairly shallow to put plant pots in to make moving them in and out easier on nice sunny days; and a couple odd things.
I also bought some "kaiser" rolls... used to call them hard rolls when I was a kid but these did not have the poppy seeds that I remember... Now I am no dummy, nor am I a rocket scientist or Rhodes math scholar.... BUT.... they had 2 for .84... and I was looking around and they had a package of 6... for 3.29 as were most all the packages of "specialty breads".... Now I got to figuring... 2/.84 means 4/1.68 ; means 6/2.52 ; means 8/3.36... am I missing something here???? I mean really???? I was wanting 4 or maybe 6... So I just got 2 pkgs. of the 2/.84...

Stopped by the dairy and got the 2 gal bucket of milk I was going to get on the way home from testing...

We had light sprinklely showers when I got up and some more off and on. It tried to clear off some this afternoon with some sun peeking out but more clouds kept rolling in. The nicest thing is it was only down to 60 last night and I had put all the rest of the plants out... so they got some decent light and some light soft watering. We are supposed to get a little more tonight so that would be great.
I repotted 2 small spider plants that I got a couple weeks ago... yeah, like I don't have enough ??? but these are solid green in the middle and the white stripe is on the outside of the leaves... opposite of what the ones I have are. Couldn't resist them at the nursery and they were marked down as they were trying to get rid of stuff before getting in the "holiday plants.".... So they are in their own hanging pots... I watered them a bit to settle the dirt, and am hoping that the rain will be decent tonight and give them a thorough watering of natural moisture.

My Thanksgiving cactus's are blooming... a light pink, and an almost white with a little pink are really looking nice... have a darker pink/reddish one getting close. The one that is supposed to be a Christmas cactus looks like it has some decent buds coming... I had 2 that were salmon colored... but something got into them on the back porch under the table a few times and many leaflets got broken off... I did save a bunch and some are actually rooting and looks like some growth, but they will not flower for a year or two... hope there is some of the salmon/orange colored ones. I will spend a little extra to get a nice one this year if I find one.
I always try to rescue some of the ones from like Lowes or Walmart after the season for clearance prices... usually $1 or so each after the flowers have fallen off... The one this year that is coming along is the whitish with a little pink that was one of those bargain ones. They like alot of long dark nights and cooler for a month or more before they start to bloom... These are coming along nicely. I will wait until after the holidays and the fallen leaflets are well rooted and then transplant them into their own little pots so they can come on for next year.

A few of the african violets are putting up flower buds... @rachels.haven .... have you ever had or heard of "fungus gnats".???? Seems like I got them in mine and they have done a number on some of my nicest plants... leaves get limp and darker in the center where the stem attaches..die off... almost like crown rot with all the leaves just going limp and the plant just down to no leaves; and there were all these little tiny "flies" and I got the little sticky traps to try to catch them. There are a few that I lost which was really upsetting... I have never seen or heard of them before... but I guess they are common in houseplants... maybe not just in violets???? Had to have brought it in with a few of the odd new plants I picked up. I have found that the crowns are actually putting out some new leaves, so I am monitoring them and will try to salvage some of the plants with new cuttings off the crowns when they get a little bigger. I did stick some other leaves that were limp near the crown but seemed okay near the leaf part; into medium to try to start new plants from the leaf....

Carried some stuff up to the storage room upstairs, and looked in the 2 bedrooms that need the ceilings torn down. There was all sorts of noise up there and I came down and left the door open, to the storage room in the center...and then a little while later I heard some noise in the kitchen and there was a DAM#@D SQUIRREL in the kitchen trying to get out the window. I opened the back door and it finally ran across the floor and out the door. I think it came down the stairs as there were 2 empty boxes that were knocked over too.... So that is probably what I have heard upstairs a few times... GRRR. I was really P.O.ed... at least he did not break the couple of "tiles" that I have from years ago.... that are leaned up against the window sill on the counter. Maybe it will have scared him enough to convince him to stay out for a bit...??
Also caught another mouse and I am betting that is what got into the planter on the counter behind the sink the other day... I really want to get going in these upstairs bedrooms and get the ceilings down... get any "holes" plugged up so the critters can't get in that way and get it insulated, and the ceilings done....

Because of the wet, sprinkles, and all I did not work outside doing much around the yard. The maple tree has lost nearly all the leaves so I can rake them up and "bed down" the flower gardens along the porch and get them all situated pretty soon. I think that the possibility of showers is over b y noon tomorrow... so might be able to get some of the buckets washed out and all that sort of stuff. Got more plants to dump in the garden and some I want to plant along the split rail fence so see if they come back up next year.

Got a mouse in the kitchen in the trap today, and just now saw one that ran into the LR and I guess realized I was right there, and took off and ran the other way... . Added 2 more sticky traps with a little peanut butter in the middle, to the 3 snap traps I have out..... little basturds .

Hi! Fungus gnats usually are either harmless (and I hate them) or a symptom of rotting plant matter (and I still hate them). The old way to get rid of them is to water with mosquito dunk water, which I think is a readily available form of BT. Maybe trouble shoot and look for reasons they would be rotting somewhere or staying too wet while waging war on those pests? They don't hurt the plant supposedly but they get freaking everywhere!

 

[farmerjan]

Thanks @rachels.haven .... there are a few plants that probably were waterlogged when I got them.... you know cheap ones that I managed to rejuvinate....and then they were overcome by the too wet roots? The nursery/greenhouse that I like to go to, gets in some nice ones, but I swear they water them and then leave them sit in water... the pots drip when you pick them up so you know they are over saturated. They buy them in, don't grow them. Sometimes they have nice ones and sometimes they are just eh.... but they get in miniature ones and few other places do. Who knows but I didn't have all this leaf rotting going on until the little gnats appeared.... and since it seems like I have caught the majority of them, and continue to catch a few on those sticky things occasionally now...., but the plants seem so be much better... and some of the "dead crowns" are all of a sudden showing some new green leaves coming out, so I have not ditched them all yet. I have dumped any that looked rotted at the crown. I never remember my mom having that problem.... but she only had about 20 I guess... I am well past that now.

The missing heifer is in with the neighbors steers... she must have come in heat and went through/over the fence. It is mostly hi-tensile wire but it was not put up with a way to electrify it; so it is basically useless in my opinion.... and the owner has health problems, he is my age, and it was his mom's place, so there is no chance of any improvements being made to the fencing except what we do. Next year maybe we will just run some steers there... or if we have some old cows... we used to keep 3-6 old cows with their last calf and then they would all go to town when the grass got short. Didn't have any of the "one and dones" as we call them, we sold most all the old cows we had and I didn't buy any this year with the knees and all....
These heifers and their hormones.....

I went by and checked another place with 14 cows that are due to start calving very soon. They were with the bull that only got the 6 bred and then the rest were open... so we put 2 bulls in with them to get them bred fast... and they were all checked 60+ days preg when we rechecked them, so we put them at this other pasture for the summer... lots of grass... they are fat as ticks.... they look good. Then left for the farm.... but I had a tire that was almost flat... the owner of that pasture had an air compressor, so I blew up the tire and didn't hear any leak.... so when I got to the farm I noticed it was down a little so I ran home and switched vehicles... that farm is only 5-6 miles or so away... I will have to see if it is flatter in the morning after I get home from testing... and run down to the co-op and get them to pull it and see if they can find the leak. Probably picked up a nail or something again....

Then if I can get that straightened out, I want to drop it off at the mechanics nearby, and see about getting the heater fan working and the cig lighter tightened up and working... and tell me if they can do the muffler without me having to replace the whole thing....

Testing went okay... I got home at 7:45... brought all the spider plants in real quick, they were practically shivering hide)... I would not have normally left them out so long but the soft tire and all that kinda took more time than I had planned so I didn't get home to do them before milking time.... and then went out and locked in the 3 chickens.

Just ate a bowl of potato soup that I tried... .99 special at sharp shopper one day, I decided to try it... It was okay... not great... but that is a cheap supper when it is cold out.

Have to be back in the barn at 5:30... it will be cold... but next week starting on sun or mon, night times are supposed to be in the 20's and days only in the 40's..... .

Going in to take a good hot shower and hit the hay early....