Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Bruce]

the smell is much fainter.

Unless you drive over a fresh kill! I had a friend who reportedly barfed when that happened. Fortunately her DH was driving.

You don't have to hit it laying there....the odor just jumps right in. .

Sure does! One thing I miss in the Prime no "recirculate" button on the steering wheel. Previous Prius models had that. See a skunk in the road ahead, hit that button!!

but one guy at a gas station explained that they have to take into account what it will cost them to replace the gas in the tanks.

This is true however it doesn't seem to work the same when wholesale fuel goes the other way.

 

[Mini Horses]

up 40 cent a gallon overnight. No delivery, just greed.

Lousy 5.9% COLA wile everything else up 10-20%.

Never drops that fast when crude does.

 

[Bruce]

Went to get a bag of ProPac cat food at the Farm and Yard today. They've had trouble getting it but when I was there Tuesday they said they would call if they got any in. Called late yesterday afternoon. Two gas stations on opposite sides of the road. Shell was $3.999, Mobil $4.099

 

[farmerjan]

I am back. Went out and hung some clothes. Got the gas off the truck into the carport. Let the chickens out.
DS was doing some feeding then had to go to a funeral and then said he could use some help after. So he called and I went with him to help feed more hay. He is using up some 3 yr old hay that wasn't very good but had to get rolled off the field that year. It isn't so much as "feeding it" as putting it out in the field and letting them pick through as it is falling apart and rotting. Perfect for someone wanting to add organic matter to their fields etc. And basically that is what we are doing, is using it on some ground that has some dips and small gullies type of places. And after it gets this black and rotten looking they seem to want to eat it. We take 3-4 falling apart rolls on the truck and he takes a good roll on the tractor bale spear and then he spears these falling apart ones off the truck and we get the net wrap plastic off them and then he puts them where he wants them. He made 2 trips this morning then we made another one this afternoon. There are about 30 left. It was some sorghum-sudan that had gotten wet several times and was pretty crappy but it had to get rolled to get it off the field so it could regrow. We just left it there and it would have been loaded in the manure spreader and just put back on the field in another year or so. The net wrap does hold them together although it is a pain to use it.... So we are getting some use out of it.

So then we took tractor and truck and an empty silage cart down to the barn and he loaded it and fed silage there at the barn and then we took another full cart up on the hill to the cows with the fall calves, that are being bred now.
GF called and he had to go meet her somewhere for a little while... she had all the kids.... this is why things do not get accomplished like they should sometimes; he has to stop and go "do something" with her and the kids instead of finishing things out and then being able to quit and go home at an earlier hour. But not my deal.... he has to leave tomorrow morning to make that trip to NH to meet my brother there; and they are going to have an appraiser to come on Monday since there is no agreement between the other grand children about letting everyone come and pick out things that they want from the house and then selling or donating the rest to get it all cleaned out. So, he is leaving Sunday morning, 12 hr drive, be there Sun night, all day Monday, and leave early Tues to come back. He still has to change the oil and all in the truck he is taking. We were trying to get alot of feeding done so GF can just feed some hay on Monday with the truck.

She has been doing daily radiation... will do a total of 4 weeks, then is having a partial hysterectomy or something since that is where this type of cancer usually winds up.... then will be "out of commission" for 6 weeks he says. Guess then I will be able to start doing some farm stuff like I should be doing now.

We have a couple of new calves on the ground in the last week. Great weather for that so I am glad.

Going back down to the farm to get the live traps to set tonight. Found the 2 chickens they got last night. I am thinking coons but will see. He ran over my heavier live trap last year and the ones they have are not as nice or quite as big. But I will make sure that I lock in the chickens this evening before I go up the road to Deb's... then set them.
DS knows some lady that is losing the place she rents and has some chickens she wants to give away so I will take them.

So, I am going in to wash my hair since I was too tired last night to do it. Got the steaks out of the freezer to take to Deb's and some pkgs of cheese to cut up into some chunks for an "appetizer". We figure around 6... that should allow me to get the hens in the crate, and get the traps set. The wind has been blowing this afternoon so may go out and bring the clothes in too.

I have been looking for some sort of shelving to put these violets on and found a "bamboo' wood set that is 5 shelves high. Looked pretty nice in the picture so I had ordered it from overstock. It came and I just had to screw in the screws for each shelf.. It is pretty nice looking and decently sturdy too. The "wood" has a finish and looks like a light pine finish. I think I am going to like it. In order to accommodate it I have been moving some of the boxes around and vacuumed the floor and all. I am going to set it where I had a bunch of them "perched" on the boxes in front of the window, and see how I like it. Might get another one or 2 for a couple of other places. You have a couple of choices where to put the shelves, all predrilled holes and the wood screws are long and attached securely. Better than anything I have seen like in Lowe's or Walmart or anything. Will try to get the rest of the LR vacuumed while it is right here.

So, I just thought I would take a few minutes. DS said that the diesel that hit 5.15 dropped to 4.99 at the Pilot station....so that is "ONLY" a $.55 increase in price instead of $.70..... gee whiz.

Supposed to be warmer tomorrow so I think I might get the mower out and see if I can get some of this old stuff mowed and caught up in the lawn sweeper, for future mulch. I also have to call some farms for testing so maybe I can get them spread out a little better this month.

 

[farmerjan]

Home from Deb's... had a nice dinner, tiramisu for desert... not on the "ways to lose weight list" !!!! We sat around and talked and I came home about 9 or so.
Got the chickens in and the traps set before I went. I did not go out there because I don't want to change my "more or less" normal routine. Don't want to deal with any predators tonight anyway....

I got the violets moved over to the shelf unit. bottom shelf is too low for much light... either need to find a way to lift it up about a foot to get more light on the bottom shelf.... tomorrow.....Some of the plants look really nice. I am surprised that they have come along so well. Only lost that one of all the rescues. Getting some flower stalks on some of them already and the leaves are starting to grow more from the crowns and are dark and thick and healthy looking. Already have a couple of the new ones I ordered from the Violet Barn, with flower buds coming... They are nice and healthy. Even the one that had 3 broken leaves is looking good... 2 of the mini ones have cute little flowers opening up.
Going in to crash for the night.

 

[farmerjan]

Came in to eat since I wasn't hungry this morning and hadn't eaten all day.
Went out earlier, had a HUGE fat possum in the trap. Dispatched it. Let the chickens out.
Got some feed and went to the pasture with the 3 cows. Water had been turned off so had to turn it back on. The well and one trough is way up on the hill, the other 2 are at the bottom of the hills and so after turning it off, there is water in the lines still. They are freeze protected with the balls in the trough that the animals have to push down. The balls were down a little so, the water had been draining out of the upper trough/lines, so the cows still had water but I turned it on anyway in case. They had followed me on their side of the fence (I went into the middle-2nd field to go to the breaker box) and then when I came back they followed right along and all 3 came right in the pen. I had parked the car right alongside the catch pen so they didn't think anything of it being "different". The thought is that when I get them in that it will deter the one from putting her head down and trying to go under the panels. So.... I stood there and talked to them a little and the one that is more skittish went out after eating a bunch of grain... but then came back in a few minutes later. Of course DS left this morning to go to NH, so couldn't come get them... and I would not leave them in and go get the trailer; don't want the skittish one trying to go under or do something dumb. So this is fine, the next few days they will just keep getting fed some in there and then when DS gets back... I will get them in, stay there and babysit them until he gets there with the trailer. No upsets, no kids, nothing out of the ordinary. I think I could have closed the gates behind them but wasn't going to do anything to make them feel penned in.

Came back by Deb's and got the drawer she made for the cabinet finally and the other door panel that needed to be glued back together. I will get the door on the cupboard in the kitchen and then can finish getting the "spices and baking stuff" put in there. Still looking at and thinking about the kitchen sink/counter top and all.... we talked about a couple other possibilities.... She was getting things put together to go back to her other house and work for the week. She is alot more enthusiastic about coming out and working now that the weather isn't so cold and it is light later. She is talking more about working remote again from here for work.
We also talked about the costs of fertilizer and what hay is going to cost...
DS talked to a buddy of his on the way driving today. He has 20 acres he makes hay on. Fertilized it to the recommended amount...$2200 for 20 acres... that's $110 PER ACRE. Okay so just doing round figures... he gets 2-4 rolls per acre..so average it at 3. That is nearly $40 per roll for just the fertilizer.... if you figure it costs about $30 per acre just to run the equipment...3 trips across the field.... mow, rake, bale.... at LAST YEARS COSTS.... and take and double that with the huge increase in fuel costs this year of nearly 100% increase so far.... (2.50 for off road diesel last year to 4.40 right now).... So let's figure $50 per acre to run the equipment for 3 passes across the field... that makes it $110 plus $50 = $160 per acre just to make the hay.. divided by 3 rolls....that is about $55 PER ROLL in just costs to make it... not counting the value of the hay/grass that was planted... And that is doing the labor FOR NOTHING....... we are looking at hay costing $70 / roll minimum this year. A 1,200 lb roll will yield about 24 sq bales @ 50 lbs each... if you add in the time and effort to make sq bales.. they will be costing $8-10 a sq bale here out of the field... and if it goes in the barn and we have to handle them then they will go up at least $1 a bale....
DS has been getting $5 and $6 a sq bale now here... it will basically double.

So, not to scare or make anyone mad... but please be expecting the costs of your hay and your animals to double on average.

Got to go up to the barn and measure some openings for DS as he comes right by a place that he had priced some of those "clear" plastic sheets they use on steel buildings for like skylights... to let the natural light into a building... one side of the barn where we feed the calves inside gets all the rain and snow blown into it and we have got to put up something to stop it... it gets like soup in there after a snow and it melts into the wood chips and manure from the calves.... plus the wind can be fierce and it makes it cold to work in there... to put up solid plywood or something will make it too dark .... there is wood up about 5 ft and then open from there up to where the roof trusses sit on the beams... so he wants to stop and see what their prices are up there as he said they were cheaper last year when he was checking out prices for stuff but it was too far to go to just get a few at the time....
So I am going to head to the barn, see if I can get the measurements and get a couple of salt blocks to go put out at the pastures and go put feed in the pen at the nurse cow field for the calves to come in the creep feeder.

Wind has blown like a screaming banshee all day. Not cold but had to wear a hood on the sweatshirt to keep from getting ear aches from the wind. Not a good day to do as much outside as the warmer temps suggested. It hit 74 and was really decent out except the wind wanting to blow you away....

 

[farmerjan]

Got the measurements for DS and came home. The 3 hens were roosting on a box on the front porch... they didn't feel safe in the greenhouse/shelter. DUH.... It wasn't quite dark so the leghorn got skittish and then the other 2 followed and they went out there and right in the crate. I shut it and set the 2 traps again. At least they are protected in the crate.
Texted DS with the measurements for the barn. Also put the 2 salt blocks in the barn for the calves. I went to the nurse cow pasture and put out a salt block and put feed inside in the feed bunk in the barn and got the creep gate and all opened up for the smaller calves to go in. Hopefully they will start going in again, now that it is all set up, and the bigger ones are gone so these can go in and get something to eat. The couple of younger ones should learn pretty quick by following the slightly older ones. I will also take a sq bale of hay up there so they can also eat some hay without getting jostled by the big cows.

Saw the first daffodils in bloom today... all this warm weather. Mine have the buds swelling, but not blooming yet.

Just ate some leftovers from last night that Deb sent home with me. I am craving "something"... thinking maybe a little ice cream might satisfy that without going hog wild....
With the forecast rain a couple days this week it will be a good time to work in the house. Not so awful cold so won't have to have the heat up too high... but too wet to be outside. I did not get the mowing done... the wind was blowing too much and the mower battery was down and I had to put it on charge. Can't complain, with it just sitting.

Sure am glad that I hung the laundry and it dried the other day. Today it would have wound up in the next county.

Going to do some picking up and then go do some exercises adn quit early.

 

[Baymule]

It will take a little time for the cows to forget that screaming toddler. Real smart of you to slowly bring them in again.

Caught a big possum, good. Hope that was your chicken "getter" and you won't have any more trouble.

I'm seriously considering buying some last year's hay, if I can find any. With no pasture to speak of here and no idea of when I'll find a farm, I think it would be a wise investment.

 

[farmerjan]

Going out to the chickens in a few minutes. The possum is not what took the 2 other chickens across the road and all... I am thinking a coon or family of them and possible a fox or 2. This is going to be a long drawn out situation... and DS is not helping to even get the coops I have in boxes from a couple years ago, here. They are on a trailer that I want to bring here and it is behind some other stuff so I cannot get it out on my own... and I cannot carry the boxes over stuff to get them on the truck. Knees aren't that agile and the boxes are big and cumbersome. They got slid on the trailer when I got them and the forks on the skid loader unloaded them onto this trailer... before I even bought this house. I was thinking ahead.... I am just P.O. at him, since I have asked for a year to please move the stuff enough to get the trailer out and then he can have that space to park stuff and my trailer will be here and I can start putting them together...
Another fight for another day.....

Wind is picking up... Some sun and clouds but going to get cloudier. We are under a high wind warning in this area... 20-40 mph with gusts in the 50 mph.... rain and all. This is from that storm that hit @Cecilia's-herd area... moving east... It is nice out there now with a strong "breeze" with some little gusts...but we are supposed to get severe rain and wind later.

Going out to do chores and get some things "battened down" for the expected wind.

 

[Cecilia's-herd]

Please stay safe! Dang storm ruined everything .