Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Friday evening... Been a long day...

NATURALLY...... DS sends me a text early that he wants me to meet him at the barn at noon when he gets off work for a DR appt this aft.... to get the cows straightened out... that he admits he screwed up on the numbers/pairs yesterday...
Sent him one back and said I would not be here, had Chiropractor appt..... so he asked if I would have time to go up and look at who was there and figure out who SHOULD be where... he had gotten them all in the barn lot so right there to look at.
So, I went up after feeding bottles... the cow that jumped over the gates was supposed to go before he got so P.O.ed at her... but he took her calf... so she was going to have to go.... The 2 that were matched... were right, and one other one he took, had a calf at the barn but was not hollering and I said to leave it there...leave it weaned with the couple of calves he pulled off the 7 month bred cows that we moved out to the calving field for a rest before calving again....
I did manage to figure out that the one heifer calf we never did see go on a cow Wed... that lost it's tag... was on his cow yellow tag #2... not on my cow... these calves are old enough that they don't run right to their momma's after an hour separation like little babies do... The only reason I think is belongs on his cow is the teats looked like the they had been sucked and my cow's teats did not look like they had been sucked.
Plus , my one cow that had lost her calf, and is only a little over a month bred, has been feeding another calf... we both saw it go on her... so she is matched up with that calf (whose mother had died at pasture and we couldn't catch the calf out there... so it went on my cow, and she took it... talks to it and all)... Also the cow of mine that is a jerk, has a steer calf that had the tag torn out of it's ear....

So, he was going to take the one cow out to it's calf at pasture, take the cow we matched to the missing tag heifer calf to a different pasture with cows there that were about 2-3 months preg. Took my cow with the adopted calf up to the nurse cow pasture.... she is a little over 30 days bred, but if anything happens to it, which sometimes does when they are short bred and they get preg checked... there will be a bull in there to breed the heifers in a month so she will get covered... She is the granddaughter of my old "Smokey" cow and I hate to lose the family...
And he had a list of 4 opens to take to the stockyard if he decided to go there after his dr appt. Haven't talked to him so don't know if he did or didn't go.

Chiropractor appt went good... it hurt some but felt alot better after.... and then the deep tissue massage... she really worked on the shoulder but got an overall good massage and I feel a little more mellow... Tomorrow will tell after a nights sleep, but it didn't seem to hurt as much walking.

So TOMORROW is the Poultry Swap Day that I will meet @Mini Horses for our "girls day" of walking and talking and looking..... Hoping it is just overcast there in the eastern part of VA.....and we get some of the rain here in the western part of the state....Last call for any other Virginia or closeby members to send a PM and I will give you my phone# and we can get together... We have a good time walking and talking and looking.....and buying a few things here and there....

 

[Mini Horses]

Glad to hear the chiro & massage helped! See ya in the morning.

 

[Baymule]

Y’all go have a good time!

 

[farmerjan]

Sat, early evening... It is raining... I know right now that is a dirty word to many in the TX area... and I honestly would've taken some if it before you got so overwhelmed with it... but we are very thankful for what we are getting... and that it is coming down here in little showers, intermittently... perfect rain so far and has all soaked in. Several days of this forecast. The thing is, this is not the same system that you folks are getting in TX... it is from moist gulf moisture getting picked up with some Atlantic ocean moisture and wind currents are bringing it in and up.
It did pour down in the area at the Poultry Swap... there were some serious muddy spots... but we were very fortunate and had just a few misty short episodes... We basically got to see most all we wanted ... @Mini Horses got there about 8:15... texted me and I was about 10 minutes out... so by 8:30 we were walking... and there were TONS of people there already...
She was very restrained and did not spend a penny except for lunch... I however, did spend some,,, and got a couple things I wanted... some irises... and some day lilies to add to mine... but what I didn't expect... and am so glad to find... were some BLUEBERRY bushes and they were very reasonable... $17 a pot... and they are quite nice... growing and have blueberries on them... Got 1 each of 3 varieties... Patriot, Jersey, and Jubilee... 1 early and 2 mid season. I have seen them for A LOT more than that around here for smaller bushes and more dormant.... I had gotten a "foldup" type little "wagon" with the fabric liner that I had picked up at Harbor Freight because I wound up with a 1/2 off one item coupon from somewhere... so I bought one to use... It works pretty good, the back wheels don't always stay "locked" on each side where they should... they slide in to the center so you can fold it up and it is pretty compact.... but it was GREAT to put the pots of blueberry bushes and other stuff I splurged on. I had stopped at my favorite nursery here just the other day and they were getting $25 per pot of different irises... 1-2 large size rhizomes... but that was just too much for me... I got some smaller ones for something like $8 each, potted... and a couple of bare-rooted day lilies 3/$12 ... I was pleased... some I got last year are putting up some nice foliage and I hope will have flower stalks... they are later here than on the eastern side of the state.... My irises are just budding and a couple are flowering now... they are full flowering and even going past over there...

Picked up a couple tomato plants too that I didn't have... Roma's for sauce... a new variety called Super sauce... and a black cherry tomato to go with my yellow pear. I hope to put out a table with some fresh tomatoes this year.... maybe some squash and stuff... or have a table at the place down the road that does a "farmers market " thing every other week when they make and sell some of the bread they have gotten into doing... But there are always the chickens to scavenge any excess garden produce too...

We had a great visit.... talked all about our various family aggravations ...Saw lots of Great Pyr's for sale and and a couple of Pyr/Anatoli mixes..... Good amount of chickens but nothing to tempt me enough... wish I had bought those German Vorwerk chickens last fall that I had "debated" about... didn't see anything like them this spring... lots of chicks and partly grown birds... some real Nice looking Ayan Cerami black chickens... I can't get past the black skin and all... the whole bird is BLACK.... but they were nice looking examples of the breed...very good feathers, condition... not half a$$ed looking.... and some nice trios of White Wyandotte bantams that were reasonable at $40 for a trio... If they were the German Vorwecks I would have bought them in a heartbeat...
I should be getting the NH setting eggs soon from the breeder I know... really want to get them hatched out....

We ate some lunch... sat on some feed bags in the open front "feed" building where we have sat before... fielded dozens of people asking about the blueberry bushes... and ate a hamburger and just talked... Left about 1:30...or so... but I got the best part... @Mini Horses brought me some sweet potatoes in 3 colors... a white, a red, and an orange... from when she had gotten a whole bunch back a few months ago... I am going to get them to sprout and have some slips to plant when the weather gets warmer here... Really looking forward to that....

And hoping with this rain... I can burn the brush piles this week... so I can get it tilled... and then will go to town and plant....

It was a great day even with the cloudy, slightly damp weather... We are both looking forward to Sept already......

 

[Mini Horses]

And we did not take a picture great visit.

 

[Baymule]

No pictures???? AARRGH!

Sounds like a lovely day, great visit and good time. Glad yall got a get-away day together!

 

[farmerjan]

Looked at rain gauges when I locked in chickens... right at .3 inches in both... did not dump since it was still sprinkling... and supposed to get more tonight an into tomorrow... Will try to catch a dry spell to actually record amount and dump....
I am feeling the long walking now but the leg/hip pain was not that bad... more sore/achy that "pain".... it is definitely getting better...
Time for a cup of hot cocoa to chase the dampness... and some amaretto will put me to sleep !!!!!

 

[Mini Horses]

Hope you're getting the rains I am steady, strong. Two goats were out when I got home and wasn't coming back to me and into field So, grazed in yard -- ok -- rains began. They're on my front porch got wet first. Oh well! Sleep well!

 

[Mike CHS]

We had rain forecast all day today but I didn't believe them and went down to the state line for a load of feed. I got home dry.

 

[farmerjan]

Wet, damp, cool...53 to start... I am heading up to feed bottle calves...little late but they have grain and hay in their bunk and are starting to eat some of the grain it looks like. I have enough grain in bucket to feed in bunk in barn for calves that come in. Supposed to get a break in rain for a bit, so will go to feed bin and refill the 6 buckets in the car... nice to keep them in the back of the forester so they stay dry and cows can't get them when I go up there like on the back of the truck...
Will check rain gauge when I get back. Nothing special planned for today, so guess housework should make the top of the list....