Farmerjan's journal - Weather

farmerjan

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Saturday noontime. The sun is out, it is very breezy but not as bad as they were saying... It was 38 on the recording thermometer and up to the mid 50's.... we got .8 inch of rain yesterday and last night. There were puddles everywhere on the way to test this morning....

I got up and went and tested. Stopped and got milk from the farm I get it from, on the way home and talked to him for a bit.... Called DS because farmer has 2 hol/ang heifers that are in the 800+ lb range and DS said he needs a couple of beeves to kill in June and doesn't think we have any big enough.... these heifers are free-martins as they won't breed... so I stopped at doug's farm and gave DS his number, so he can go look at them, and we talked for a bit.
It is SOOOOO muddy out.....

He talked about GF and he is going to sister's this evening to spend some time with them and the kids there... he keeps talking about how this is just so wrong... I just listen. I did ask if GF had ever been tested or diagnosed as bi-polar as the moods and all sound alot like that, and that it is a chemical imbalance in her system and that it can be controlled with medicine.... he said he didn't know....

Then he talked some more about the cattle/steers/selling and all that. Reminded him to get the plug on the trailer fixed on the big trailer since he somehow drug it apart so there is no plug on the end of the wire, for the trailer into the truck.... and that he needs to see about getting the steers moved home from the one pasture so they are at the barn to take next Friday....

He took a trailer load of scrap metal this morning and it is paying $9.00/100wt. right now.... cleaned up alot of crap metal laying around the barn so that is good.

Said he was going to do some things there and when I asked if he needed me he said no.... so I came on home. Brought the samples in the house, and poured the 2 gallons of milk into jars and they are in the fridge. Made a ham/cheese sandwich on rye and carried 2 small bags of garbage out to the truck, added to what is on there....got a few more things to take out and then will make a trip to the dumpsters tomorrow. I put the battery charger on it as the battery he gave me did not hold up in that real cold a few weeks ago....

Talked to Deb and she was getting ready to come out.... her plans for tonight got cancelled so figured she would come out to spend a day & 1/2 ... cleaning up brush and stuff... she is going to take me down to pick up the forester this evening, since DS cannot remember long enough to run me down... not asking again.

Got the 500 cow herd scheduled for Tuesday evening... that is the night DS said would work..... I will have to remind him....and if he suddenly can't do it... guess I will do it alone.... Geneva is not available in the evenings....

Got a load of barn clothes in the washer soaking....a gallon of tea out in the sun steeping. Too cold to put the plants out....

I am really tired, I did not sleep good last night.... might even take a nap so I am not too much of a grump this evening....
 

farmerjan

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I have been reading most posts and "liking them" etc... but it has been a long few days.

Wound up testing Sunday eve for the farm I cancelled, then they cancelled....he called and said they were all feeling better and they needed to get it done and I said it would work... DS was here earlier that day, and I just listened, again....
Farm had printer trouble and couldn't print shipping list for samples... I had to go to town Monday to get the muffler on the car... previously set appt..... so said I would come back to the farm to see if they got it fixed... or I was going to try to download it onto a jump drive to put into my computer to be able to print.
Got the muffler done, planned expense but still "hurt" after doing the tires and all a couple weeks ago... Another $380.... boy it has been an expensive 4 weeks.....called the farmer, he said his son got it working and since I also had to go drop off a few other reports at another farm I forgot to do, he came out and met me at the interstate where I get off to go to both farms... but in different directions, so that was appreciated.
Then I came home, packed samples from both farms and dropped them off.

Tues DS wanted me to go to the pasture where some of the steers are to get them to come down to the catch pen area.... so they can get caught up.... and he was "grousing" about having to go test and that there weren't enough days to get things done... yet he did next to nothing at the farm on Sunday.... I get there, the guy who was putting up new fence there had taken the catch pen apart and laid the gates/panels in a pile... and then the owner said that the lower part of the "electric fence" was not electrified.... because the put in new gates and he was going to bury the wire... like this couldn't have waited another week????? So I told DS all this and he got all worked up over not having enough afternoons to do xyz.... so I called Geneva and she actually said it would work for her to help test that afternoon... so I texted DS and told him that he didn't have to test with me so he could get this stuff done.... and then I put in a couple of posts in so I could run the electric from the one spot to the other temporarily... tie the electrified side to the non electric so the steers would stay in the field that I moved them to..... and DS was supposed to go set up the pen. I ran back by there with my fence tester to make sure the fence was on so they would not try to get out....and then went to test the 500+ cow herd.
They are up to 560 cows and Geneva couldn't get there 'til about 5, so I got it all set up and the first 2 groups went through since they are starting a little earlier due to the increased number of cows.... then she got there and we got it done... she was a lifesaver so I didn't have to listen to DS B&Complain..... Got home about 10:30-10:45 Tuesday night.

Today, DS needed me to go up to doug's farm to see if I could sort some of the cows out of the group of the cows/calves that were going to get sold. He got them into the barn lot, when he fed silage this morning. So after I got the samples packed I went up there and got them pretty much sorted out... and then he came by about 1:30-2 with a load of dirt and stuff that they are getting from doing the "ditching" along the sides of the roads... he has the "side of the farm that belongs to the widow of the brother" as a designated dump site... can't have his "side" of the farm because he is a "VDOT employee" and that is not allowed.... favoritism and all that happy horse sh!t...... so while there, he helped get the ones out that we were not going to take that I wasn't sure of turning out.... and put them out in the field and then we had everything there in the barn lot to be loaded.... I tripped and fell flat into the muck/mud so the whole front of me was plastered... so I went home to change and he had to go back to work and said he would be there as soon as he got out. There was one calf that had gotten in with one cow when I was sorting earlier... so I got him sorted off onto the other side of the barn so as to not take up time and his getting and and losing his temper...
Of course, he had to switch trailers since there were more cows than he had originally thought... even though I tried to tell him how many there were... and of course, he still hadn't fixed the plug.... so had to take time to do that so we were about a half hour later leaving.... but finally got on the road. Got to the sale about 5:30 and got everything unloaded and all.

Took a total of 14 ... I had 3 cull cows and the cow/calf pair.... he had his cow/calf pair and 2 old bred cows he was determined to sell which I think was stupid to do....the one is a PITA to get in but the other just limps some times... I would have calved them out and sold both them and the calves this fall.... and the 5 cull cows of his. The prices were pretty good... his cow/cf pair went for $1400+ and my pair went for $1550... mine was a better looking pair... but that was good . Saw quite a few bigger beefier black ones with calves bring in the 17-2200 range... they had been advertised... and some of the breds brought as much as 1800..... The cull cows most all brought in the 70's... for what they were it was good prices....

We got home about 10:30 this evening...

Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day, sun and clouds, so I will wash the clothes early and get them out to dry since there is a forecast of some possible "wintry mix" early Friday morning... changing to rain... but it looks like we will not get much... Colder though, in the upper 30"s ....YUCK....
Sunnier and blustery cold on Sat... and only into the low 50's maybe all week with nights in the upper 20's and 30's. Winter is having it's last swipe at us... hope it doesn't last too long.

This morning it was down to 27... warmed quickly in the sun, up to mid 50's.... but this is going to really hit the fruit trees I am afraid....

So that has been my last couple of days... not wanting to continue to listen to the upset with the GF since they had another "bout" on Sunday and he is just not wanting to accept that she is a class A, B#@*H..... he wants so much for her to "change her mind" and I am really kinda getting aggravated about it. He is willing to change his whole life and really I am just not wanting to listen to his constant upset about it. No sense in my talking it to death....

So, tomorrow I will see about getting a few things done here, run to the bank in the morning to deposit my cattle check.... and then get the "mud plastered" clothes hung and the other stuff on the line brought in that is dry but I didn't have time to get in today. Did get another gallon of tea made today though. Big plus....
 
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Baymule

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Yup, you have been on the run. Your son is obsessed with this woman. They say love is blind and he just refuses to see. You are smart in keeping quiet because he doesn’t want to know the truth. It’s screwing up his life and he doesn’t want to see that either. Not much you can do about it. Hang in there.
 

Mini Horses

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I knew you were overly busy, was concerned since you had been feeling icky, on meds, etc. Emotionally there is a roller coaster going full blast there. Hard to hold to quiet when you know DS doesn't want/can't accept the truth -- makes everything screwed. DS can't think much beyond GF woes, you see clearly and want :smack... It's affecting things! At least some cattle were moved and sold. Geneva was a big, big help.👍. Some days, going to "work" is a method of running away even if we don't want a job.:lol: It is here, for me.

Almost called you but, you might have been laying in the mud then....😵‍💫🙃.

Hope you have a couple days to be home.
 
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