Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

COLD COLD DAY. Like bone chilling cold. Windy enough to make it miserable too.....

Started out at 27 and felt like 20 or below. Been windy all day. Got out early for the PT... it is going a little better, he still hit a couple of sensitive spots but he says he sees more improvement.
Went by the farm and picked up the milk sample after going out to look at parlor for testing... not at all sure how the meters will work due to the way they are set up. Nothing to hang them from, that is straight and "solid", in as much as to keep them hanging straight. He is going to talk to some people that have that sort of parlor to see what they do. Brought his milk sample home and got the rest of the samples packed. Spent over an hour on the phone with the mgr getting things figured out for this herd... and her questioning me about sending in a report that I had sent in,... and she "oh my goodness, here it is.... I just don't know how I missed it....." GRRR.
There are several others in my age range that are wanting to cut back; one other tester that is 71 and I think she might be pushing to hit 50 years before she retires... I hinted around that I really am still thinking retiring... and she said she is going to ask around a bit to get a feel what others are thinking... and that come spring she might see about advertising for a tester and might be able to offer a full time position.... Would suit me to cut back to next to nothing or retire all together.... She said maybe I would want to keep a couple herds... but in the spring we could revisit it... talked about the tester that passed away suddenly at 62.... he was in the hospital, they were going to transport him to another hospital because he had 2 blood clots in his lungs... and had passed out at home... to a hospital that was supposed to be more equipped for that sort of thing.... and he said to them that he was really not feeling good, and went into cardiac arrest and they couldn't save him... Really sad.

Had to make the trip back to the 200 cow herd I had the computer problem with. Luckily, I got a really experienced person in computer support, and she was able to talk me through getting it off my computer, on a jump drive, and then she went online with the "team viewer" thing, on farmer's wife's phone with the hotspot.... and managed to get his straightened out... but it turns out it was nothing I was doing wrong, his microsoft windows thing is not working right and it is causing the problems... there was an error message and she said that his computer was not operating right... So, after all that, it was not my fault....I told him that I would just start doing it all on his computer and he would have to just use that hotspot and do the uploading so we didn't go through all this every month. Here I was thinking that in my "lack of computer skills" I was not doing something right. Got the milk weights into his computer....

Finally got back and got some of the meters out of the truck. I am not getting any turkeys tomorrow since I cannot put the meters and hoses in the cab very well... plus tray of bottles, and still drive.... I texted farmer and told her I would make a special trip, maybe next week... just to get them... plus it will be warmer to do so...I am not very thrilled going there tomorrow in the cold morning... ANOTHER REASON TO RETIRE.....
But I will get them done and out of the way. Got one for next Tuesday aft but it is supposed to be back up to the 30's-50's....

Went to the meeting about the fencing laws... learned a couple things that have been changed... there is supposed to be a revised "fencing law booklet" coming out by the end of the year... DS and I went, the neighbor was already at another place earlier that day so decided to not come all the way home and his wife was with him... GF did not go so there was still 4 "of us".... The room was full... at least 50 I would say...

I went and picked up DS at one of the places we rent... he is cutting the last field of hay. The other place we were going to cut, was sold and he had talked to them and they said fine to cut again.... BUT, they have already run electric wire and are running their 9 horses on it. Nothing to cut....We will not be making any hay there for us anymore... he wants DS to make hay for them....BUT.... they are going to have to "plant a better type of hay" for his horses... I sincerely doubt we will make it for them... maybe once next year... but I doubt much after that. It's quite a long way to go...and probably won't be worth the time or trouble... have to wait and see next year. I will be eternally grateful to just make this one last 9 acre field...getting too cold to be out there raking without a cab tractor.... It won't be ready until Sunday or Monday at least.

I'm going in to get into bed and get some sleep and leave tomorrow by 5 or shortly there after... Need to be there around 7 to set up... it's going to be cold....

My outback should be done before Thanksgiving... They just got the capacitor or something for the fan motor... and some part for the cig lighter... plus going to look at the muffler when they get it in the shop to fix the fan etc.....
Going to put the battery charger on father's truck with the bad battery... get it moved so the mechanic shop can come get the 4x4.... he said they haven't forgotten... maybe in a week or so... I figure as soon as they get the outback done...
DS said he was going to see about getting the forester bottom radiator hose on in the next day or 2...( not holding my breath)

Haven't heard a thing from GF sister about the Explorer... I am NOT happy that she has not answered my call or my text....2 days apart... I am ready to tell DS to take me over there and just get it back, since she has not moved it to the shop where I wanted to put it due to all the traffic from the pilot station near there....I told her that if she didn't have the time I was fine with it, and that I could get it cleaned out and all... a good vacuuming out, and put it there with the for sale sign... maybe I wouldn't get it on social media... but at least it would be out where it could be seen....but she really said and acted like she wanted to do it...... but it needs to be sold NOW with the winter weather coming up....

Time to quit and go to bed....

 

[Baymule]

We are at 32 degrees with high today of 59. That’s cold for us this time of year. I hope you stay warm today! Retirement or at least being able to cut back would be good for you. Maybe keep a few herds for the extra money they would bring? Fence money ya’ know.

 

[Mini Horses]

Maybe keep a few herds for the extra money they would bring? Fence money ya’ know.

Sometimes a commitment off farm is good....a smaller one. I'm cutting back on assigned stores 2023. We've talked about this very thing, pro/con, when we visit. We both want more of our "own" time and it's a balancing act with growing a little stable farm income at same time. Its socialization, too. We are both an "only"....you are now Bay. Different, as you are seeing. Plus, at my age, jobs are scarce. I hit double 7s in Jan.

Fence money????

 

[Baymule]

Yeah, fence money, y’all both better keep working FULL TIME! I may have to join you!

 

[farmerjan]

Yeah, I keep saying it.... with this cold I really REALLY want to NOT have to go out and set up and stand in a cold dirty barn....BUT.... yes, it is the getting out thing, socializing some, not getting so isolated stuck in the house/on the farm. I would go to the stockyard more often.... but there are pros to the testing... still, I would love if it were more of a "warm weather thing.....".
Not fully willing to give up all the income yet... but if I could cut back to 3-5 that would be nice... One a week instead of 2... average.... Oh well, nothing is going to change before spring... Gotta dig out my lined overalls....

Cold this morning... 22 on recording thermometer... only 40 at 1:30 p.m. windy so really is cold and nasty out there... Supposed to be colder the next 2 nights.... low 20's or teens... but then looking forward to the 50's early next week.....


Gotta get samples packed so they can go out. Let chickens out as soon as I got home...

Looks like DS got the hose on the radiator... will have to talk to him...but it isn't on the seat and the antifreeze jugs are moved from where I had them and the bucket is out from under it...

Going to try that strip on the storm door after the weather warms up next week as it will be more likely to stick.
DAM#@% mouse was back in the plant last night when I got home... dug that little hole right down into it... I got 2 more last week but this one (or more) are getting the pb off the traps without tripping them. Going to get some bigger "rat sized " sticky traps to see if I can catch more... .

 

[Baymule]

I can’t stand mice in the house. We’d get them in the mobile home in Lindale. I threw rat poison under the house to keep the numbers down.

 

[farmerjan]

Just heard the trap snap and caught another one .... one more down....

 

[Mini Horses]

Its cold out! They want to be warm

I have seen/caught 2 this past week. Haven't had that in over a year! Had a talk with kitties about it and less kibble if I found another.

 

[Ridgetop]

We had a couple show up in our house too. DDIL2 had placed the folded cardboard toddler slide and folding fabric play tent as screens in front of the bookcases in the family room to keep Robert from pulling books off the shelves and onto the floor. Removed one for Robert to play with and found a mouse or mice had chewed some book covers. DS2 set out a couple traps and caught 2. The following week while communing with nature one ran across the bathroom floor. More traps. Last week I removed the stuff to ack up the bottom shelves of books for Texas and there was another mouse. Luckily he/she was fresh so dumped him and rebaited traps. I need to replace them in bookshelves. I don't know how they are getting in the house but they can't stay. With 4 adults, 1 toddler, and a new infant due in 3 weeks we don't have room for them! LOL

 

[farmerjan]

Woke up to a full fledged cold.... runny nose, a little stuffed, a half sore throat... and didn't go to the poultry show like I really wanted to. Not worth running myself down and getting pneumonia...
Cold again this morning... 26*, and up to mid 40's with mostly sun but the wind is still blowing. It wasn't quite as "freezing a$$ cold" going out to let the chickens out of crate, but it was late when I got out there too. But the "brisk breeze" was enough for me.
I actually slept, dozed, off and on until 11. Have a very dull headache; at least not real achey, just feel tired out.... WHAT ; after all that sleep???? So I have indulged this morning/today and done very little.

Actually it is mid afternoon... 2 p.m. I did the dishes in the sink. Made up several 1/2 gallon jugs of lightly fertilized water for the violets.

Caught another mouse in the kitchen. The one yesterday evening, was in the LR so hope that maybe that is the one that I have seen running across the floor a couple of times.
There was one digging in the pot of Lemon Verbena I brought in for the winter. And it had been back in the other plant; that's the one they keep digging a burrow down into the pot. . I am at my wits end to stop that. I move the other plant to the kitchen floor at night and so they went into the lemon verbena pot.
Time to get everything off the kitchen counters and see if I can set enough traps that one of them will catch the miserable little SOB.... I have the boxes to pack up the stuff I had washed... probably will all need rewashing now... these are smaller than the big eyed deer mice I did have in here.... They are getting on my nerves ..... Have found several traps that they ate the peanut butter off and did not spring the trap. I am going to get a few other kinds of traps and see if I can't fool them into getting caught.

Think I am going to just sort through a pile of junk mail and fold some socks that still haven't gotten done, and watch a movie. Then maybe later work on getting some of the stuff in the kitchen boxed up for now. I don't often get feeling this washed out, and the best thing for me is to eat soup and laze around... Luckily, if this runs true to form, I will be feeling 10 times better in a day or 2, and be back to normal.