Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Wed morning. Only down to 48 last night and already 60. Clothes in washing after soaking last night, and will hang out shortly.
Have to go up and get the tractor and head for the one place to rake the hay. DS said it is not real heavy and should be mostly/all dry. Has to be cut twice a year so either hay or bush hog. Said he is going to bush hog the rough spots he went around this time due to weeds etc, and also the other field next to it as there are alot of weeds and not very much grass.
Got the bottles in the trays to drop off at the owner sampler farm, and bottles for the farm late this aft/eve. I don't have to be there til 5 and will not get home until close to midnight. 1 1/2 hrs away, and that is the farm where the owner likes to talk so much...
The girl that was all gung ho to help me test the 500 cow herd, and wanted to get the milk tester job that the stupid gen mgr hired the other one that quit before she started...and didn't hire this one, just can't seem to fit it in her schedule now... helped one time. Guess $100 cash was not enough for a 8 hour stint with not killing yourself type of work... and DS can't seem to find the time to even get back to me about it like he promised last week... but then, he is tied up with her again.... she got to do all the seeding yesterday at doug's farm... seems like she is back to getting preference to do the good work when she wants to help... and she wants to hunt... so gets special status again....
I am going to see about doing the farm by myself... it will mean hustling, but with the good knees and ankle I think I can manage it... it needs to be tested...

Time to get out the door and get going. Need to get the meters and hoses in the car for later also.

 

[farmerjan]

It is technically Thursday... I got home at about 11:50 Wed night (tonight)... and I was hungry because there is nothing open around there at that hour, and since no "fast food" available, I just came on home with a package of cookies... then warmed up the other 1/2 of the steak and the rest of the sauteed onions left from last night... Locked in the chickens and am going to hit the shower.

Got the meters and hoses loaded and changed all the brackets on the meters..this morning. Went down to the farm, got the tractor and rake, fueled it up and went to rake the hay... It was very light and totally dry... took about 2 hours. Jim picked me up at my house, parked the tractor and rake across from the house along the edge of the field that was deep chisel plowed and DS did some harrowing the other night to get it smoothed out. It is so dry though that it is not working up as easily as it should..... I was on the way partway back since I will have to go down the road past my house to the other field that he hadn't finished mowing but was going to do today... It will dry easy so not a big deal but don't know if he cut anymore...
In the course of the conversation, I asked DS if he had asked his boss about a day that would work and he said, no, I forgot, when do they need to be tested... and I said LAST WEEK.... and he said okay, when do you want to do them and I will make it work.... I said this week was pretty much out... they don't like to do weekends... so we are doing them next Monday and going to do another afternoon since DS won't have to lose but about an hour of work in the afternoon... leaving early. So... that is scheduled. If for some reason he "whigs out" on me, I will do it alone....
Left for work, stopped at the farm and dropped off the bottles for the owner sampler herd, and got to the herd to test at 10 til 5....set up meters, they ran the sanitize cycle.... and then it was wait.... started milking at about 6:30 or so.... done around 9... had to wait for the meters to run all the wash cycles... and then finally got away from there at about 10:15 p.m.

I'm ready to go to bed.....

 

[farmerjan]

Already starting out as a nice morning, outside. It got down to 51 and already up to 55. Sun is coming up across the road in the field... supposed to be a few more clouds but the high, wispy kinds....
Cats of course had to get in my face to wake me up... daily thing.. it starts to get light and they are right there... wanting attention and being a PAIN.... and if I have the alarm set for any reason, it is their DUTY, to be the backup and make sure I am moving and giving them their due .... .

Another reason I did not want house cats... I am not very sociable first thing in the morning...let me get up, and "wake up" and in an hour I am good... Oh well....

Need to get the clothes hung that I didn't get to yesterday... running the rinse now. Haven't talked to DS so don't know the status on what he cut and didn't cut yesterday... may not do any raking today....probably tomorrow... I will unload the meters and hoses as the farm this afternoon does not use them and the one on Monday doesn't use them either. Need to get bottles for this farm into rack, and get the samples packed to ship and get some other things done. We are supposed to stay in this "Indian Summer" pattern until Monday.... so time to get a few more things done outside while the weather is nice.

Since I got to bed so late, and it took a little bit to slow down enough to go to sleep, I am a bit late getting up and did not get enough sleep... tonight should be closer to normal I hope.

Need to go by the mill too and get paid... it was pretty busy with everything shutting down and all, last Saturday, and when the owner said something about he could go in and pay me in a little bit, I said not to bother, I could come by this week and he could get finished doing what they needed to do. Since it is right near the field I have to rake, I will just go by there today or tomorrow or something... Not like they are going to disappear or "skip town" ....

Okay, time to get motivated.....

 

[Ridgetop]

Cats of course had to get in my face to wake me up... daily thing.. it starts to get light and they are right there... wanting attention and being a PAIN.... and if I have the alarm set for any reason, it is their DUTY, to be the backup and make sure I am moving and giving them their due .... .

Another reason I did not want house cats... I am not very sociable first thing in the morning...let me get up, and "wake up" and in an hour I am good... Oh well....

Just because they are outside cats doesn't mean that they would not wake you up. One year we got a new kitten for the barn. We went on vacation and DS1 stayed home to feed and work. It was summer and the kitten, deprived of other family members to pet it, climbed up on his window screen and hung there all night crying. A day or so of this all-night crying and he was not happy, so he saw another kid with a box of free kittens and got another one thinking a kitten friend would cure the problem. That night he woke up to the sound of 2 kittens hanging on the window screen with their claws both mewling piteously through his window.

 

[Baymule]

Just because they are outside cats doesn't mean that they would not wake you up. One year we got a new kitten for the barn. We went on vacation and DS1 stayed home to feed and work. It was summer and the kitten, deprived of other family members to pet it, climbed up on his window screen and hung there all night crying. A day or so of this all-night crying and he was not happy, so he saw another kid with a box of free kittens and got another one thinking a kitten friend would cure the problem. That night he woke up to the sound of 2 kittens hanging on the window screen with their claws both mewling piteously through his window.

Thanks for the laugh!!! That is so funny!!

 

[farmerjan]

I have never heard either of these 2 meow... no vocals at all except some serious purring...

 

[Baymule]

There’s worse ways to wake up, than kitty kisses.

 

[farmerjan]

Left for testing and dropped off samples at UPS. Since I was running a little early...on purpose, I stopped at the one Goodwill store and hit a bonanza. Got 7 pair of jeans to bring home and try on... can't do it at the stores anymore... but you now have 14 days to return if original tags still on... instead of the 7 days it used to be. A couple still have store tags on them, not all the Lee brand I like... but will see how they fit. The prices have gone up to 7.99/pr from the 4.99 and 5.99 they used to be... but still cheaper than any store...

Tested and came on home. I was going to go to the poultry, exotic, and small animal sale at the stockyards but it was after 7 when I left the herd.. it starts at 6:30 and I just decided to come on home.
Locked in chickens... brought everything in the house since the car is going in for the rotors tomorrow. Other than the rack & pinion steering leak, that is the only thing that makes sense that the car shimmies when braking... the front rotors did not get replaced when we did the brakes and calipers, as he said they looked good. Only been 2 months since they were done, so hoping that the rotors are the problem. I am going to have to have the r&p done but both jim and the guy that is going to do the rotors said it still felt tight when they tried manipulating the tires/turning/etc. so that it shouldn't be a "dire situation"... just one more thing....

Got splattered a couple times this eve so am going to wash my hair and put all the clothes in the wash. I will do another load of jeans and such before the nice weather disappears the first of the week to just get "caught up and ahead" of it. No testing until Monday aft.

Temps hit 80 on the recording thermometer today while I was at the farm... . Sure going to hit us hard next week when it only hits 50 during the day....

Need to eat something that will stick to my ribs, then set alarm to be up and at the co-op by 7:30 so that I can get a ride home from the guy that works there... he has to be there by 8 and said he could run me home before he starts work... it's only 3 miles but it was nice of JR to offer.
DS said he "stole" my red car to take down to the hay field so I would have something to drive home after raking... although by the time I get done with the 4 fields he cut... ) there would be him or someone else to give me a ride home... The tractor is parked across the road from Wed aft... so I will just drive it right down there.... I will have the ranger pu to run the packed samples up to the vineyard to send off before I go down the hill.

Okay, some food and shower and bed.

 

[farmerjan]

Up at 6:30, and took car to co-op at 7:30. JR brought me back home before he had to clock in at 8. It is WARM out, 58 overnight. Boy, I could like these temps for a lot longer time ..... but don't want the hot summer that they get further south. OH WELL... going to enjoy it as long as it lasts. Supposed to be in the 80's for the next 3 days...
Sun has come up over the hill across the road. Nice morning. Would love to have this for another month or so...

Had a bowl of cereal, and going out to let the chickens out and pack the samples. Just put another load of clothes in the washer to soak/wash. They will get finished and hung tomorrow.
Have to get the samples packed and run up to the vineyard to go out UPS.

Then will head down the hill after awhile. I will be raking hay for several hours. Need to pack one of the little cooler bags to take some water and something to eat later, in case I get hungry.

 

[farmerjan]

Saturday... Only got down to 61 last night... NICE....
Sun coming up across the road on the hill, will get here in a little bit. It hit 78 yesterday with more clouds than sun, but overall a very nice comfortable day.

Spent nearly 5 hours with the tractor and rake. Left with it, from where I had parked it across the road, after dropping off the samples at the vineyard. Went "down the hill" , it is about 3-4 miles to dennis' place. Raked the big OG field and DS got there just as I was finishing. He started sq baling and I went up and did the little piece he mows above d's barn that used to be part of the pasture... then went on up their hill which is steep, it is actually headed straight back up towards the ridge where I live and just came down on the road... and did the 4 acre rectangle field, and another part of the pasture where we cut some...he has all these stupid "deer plots" and planted all these trees and such... like they plant along the waterways with the tall cones of plastic to "keep the wildlife from eating them"... and about 1 in every 20 actually lives ..... then went up the next little stretch and raked the "top field" he had cut... probably about 6-8 acres.... and finally came on down about 5. DS had baled 2 full wagons of sq bales (one was being baled when I went up hill and another sitting there) and he and his truck and the first wagon were gone... so assume he took it up the hill on his way. Never heard a word from him so he must have had "plans" for last night again.

There is one more field down there to rake, across the creek, that I will do today and then head for the last 9 acre field about another 5 miles away. It is part of the rental place where we run 30-40 head of cows, with their calves, rotating the grazing pastures , and this 9 acres does not have fences or a water source, and this owner does not want cattle down there... there are no good fences anyway... The big problem is that DS kept saying he had to go move those hay bales.... and never did, and the bears like to "play with them".... roll them around and just tear them up... says there are another 4 that he is going to have to try to pick up with the tractor with the front end spears and move them directly to the pasture there for the cows since he will never get them loaded on the truck . All because he is too busy to take the time to get them moved and when I had suggested doing it, he said he would get to it and I was dismissed... so I didn't offer again... went through this last year... should be moved as soon as they are baled into a row along the one side of the hayfield... and the bears pretty much leave them alone or only try to roll around the end one... we used to take most of them out of there after baling and then just leave a few for feeding until the cows get moved out in the late fall/early winter.

So, anyway, I will head up there after 11 or so... he has plenty to bale at dennis' for now and won't finish up the baling until tomorrow he said... at least that was the "original" plan... who knows what the deal will be today...
The hay is very dry because of the lack of rain and the cold temps a week or so ago that barely frosted things but just stopped the growing season pretty much... It is not green and actively growing so not like there is much that really needs drying like in the summer. I turned up a few "greener" spots raking yesterday and that was hay he had finished cutting Wed eve and Thursday... the dry air and the warmer temps are finishing drying out what little moisture there is in the hay.

Sun has come over the top of the hill and shining now on my side.

The leaves on the trees have been really really pretty this year... and we have not had the storms or hurricanes or anything to take too many of them off the trees. Might change after the first of the week when we get the next front that might bring us some moisture and the drop in the daytime temps from the 70's + to the 40's and low 50's by Wed/Thurs... BRRRR...We could use some serious moisture....so am hoping this front does bring some but it looking like less and less...

Time to go outside...