Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[SageHill]

Fingers crossed on the fence corner rework. BOULDERS are always helpful!

 

[farmerjan]

Wed night. Had a good and fairly productive day.

CHILLY CHILLY temps this morning... 31 to start; recording thermometer shows it got up to 58 during the day and temps are back to 40 now at 8 pm. Mostly sunny today so it was pretty comfortable.

Got most of the leaves and grass bagged... Found 2 more feed bags and stuffed them as full as I could. Then had a "contractors" type garbage bag and filled it up as much as I could, so I could tie the tabs at the top. Got all 10 of the ones I had standing there, moved into the carport for now... not where I want them but they are under cover from the rain. What little was left is no more than a couple handfuls...
Put the mower in the back side of the carport where I keep it, and put the tarp overtop to keep it dry if it blows when raining.

Filled the 2 barrels, went up to the nurse cow and put her grain in... fed grain in the other section of the barn that I opened up for the calves. Dumped the water in 2 troughs... fed the holstein calf the bottle and then put the cow out loose for the next 24 hours... I knew it would be late when I got home. Calves can stay in the barn or go out in the lot in front of that section in the sun.
I will go up in the morning, with a bottle to feed the holstein... and let the cow in. I will let her stay in with the calves; put more hay in the bunk and she will have water even if it doesn't rain much. Let her stay in with them during the cold rain. The other calves can come in the other side if the weather gets real crummy.

Came on home and got changed to go... DS said he would be at the house a little before 11. We left, went by and dropped off the tire... and headed to Blacksburg to the Dr... Traffic was HORRIBLE.... heavy traffic and construction so just congested. We got there 10 minutes before his appt time... we had left 2 hrs ahead of the appt in case... Normally takes about 1 1/2 at most. But we usually go at 6-6:30 in the morning.

Things went about as expected... he is going back in a month.... as usual.... still said he could not return to work. His short term disability runs out 11/22... the paperwork is in the works for the long term disability... which will be paid through workman's comp.... He has another referral to a different specialist... waiting on them to get that set up... and he is now seeing an ophthalmologist dr for the eye problems.... possibility causing the headaches or making them worse...
Conflicting thoughts from a couple of the drs.... on the botox for the headaches... and for some of the other things...

He has had a rough week.... headaches, and somewhat nauseous, fuzziness/vision... the past several days. The stress of trying to get things working with the fencing and the cows and all is not helping. Plus the never ending phone calls and being put on hold, and leaving messages and all that BS stuff.... He spends an average 2 hrs a day with talking to one person, then directed to another... leaving messages, all the electronic stupid stuff of..."choose from this menu, press this number for this", getting a voice mail....all that run around crap....

We stopped at the local cattle auction... sale is on Wed... not much there... then went to Rural King... I got feed... DS was getting more stuff he needs for the fencing... most stuff cheaper than he can get here... so they can get back to work on it tomorrow... unless it rains alot... he got some chicken feed... came home with the back of the explorer pretty full. Stopped and filled it up as gas is $.15 to .30 /gal cheaper... then stopped and ate something since we were both hungry.

Got home at 7:00... he was going to put the tractor and manure spreader in the barn, feed a couple rolls of hay, and put the round baler under cover too... wanted to do the feeding so he wouldn't have to be slipping around in any mud if it rains much. It is supposed to be wet and raw and very chilly out there tomorrow.

I went out and got the jeans off the line that I didn't get to it this morning. They are in the house.

In the morning, I will have to switch meters and hoses to the forester... put the license plates on it... I will leave the feed in the explorer for a few days for now. I need to get some metal trash cans to put it in.... will check on some prices before I buy any....
Go up to the farm and do the jersey and all that....

DS called and the tire is fixed... they found 1 "hole" from that board & nail.... so I will see about getting it back tomorrow...need to get it inspected also... might see if they have time tomorrow when I go down there... have a couple of bags of trash to drop off at the dumpster while I am right near there.
Go by the mechanic's shop that is near there also, and see about setting up appt for outback...replace the wheel bearing....thinking I should do both since they are the same "age"....

I am tired... going to bed here shortly.

 

[farmerjan]

Thursday night.... CHILLY .....WET .... day. Started at 34... only got up to 40... Cloudy early... Rain started at about 8, and it has rained all day. Not real hard although we had a couple of good solid periods of actual raining... but it was a lighter rain and showery type all day long... Cold and raw out there.
I am sooooooo THANKFUL for the moisture. I have no idea of how much... will check and empty rain gauges in the morning. This is supposed to pass by tonight, and be partly cloudy early then partly sunny by noon time and warmer in the 50-60 range.
Looks like @Mini Horses actually will have gotten more than us as it was 2 "lows" that made this rain; one from the south and one from the west. I think they "met" closer to the south and east of us. Not complaining, we got a fair amount of rain out of it but not the "yellows" on the precip map that they were getting east of here.

Busy day... glad it is finally over. Got home a little bit ago, made some ramen noodles to have something warm that was easy.
Got up, got the bottles ready for today and brought in the boxes of bottles for tomorrow's herd but they did not get put in the trays yet. Got the little bit of trash from the house in the forester along with the 2 feed bags full. Made the bottle and headed up to the nurse cow pasture. Cow was very glad to come in. I fed her grain, put some in the bunk in the other side, if the calves come in; gave her about 2/3 bale of hay that was "opened" up, in the bunk. Fed the calf the bottle, then he went right back on the cow.

It was raining already when I went up there. Came out and they were done for the day... calves will both nurse her off and on and the holstein does not act "starved" so he is getting some. He is looking pretty good and the jersey is rounding out a little. She might be making more milk since she is getting a fair amount of grain so she can come into more milk if possible...

Left and went down to the dumpster and then swung by the co-op... there were 2 cars there so I went to mechanic's shop 1/2 mile down the road. Told him what DS said, they know him so know he has a pretty good idea of what he is talking about.
They said to call Tuesday, they had a backlog and the lot was full... should be able to get it in next week... I said fine... gave me a very "round estimate" if it is the wheel bearing...of about $2-250... said parts are about $125-150 and then labor... should only take 1-2 hours... but they will know once they get it up on lift and look at it... Also considered if it is the CV joint... as there is a "click-click" when turning it one way.. on the right front... but that has been there for 2 years and they said back then to drive it until something happened... because they could not find anything loose or anything back then... he went out with me in the car and I turned it so he could hear it... but DS had not been able to find anything, then they could not find anything.... so I have been driving it like he said... that is not what is wrong with it this time, as it is the left front wheel. I asked about replacing both, if they thought it needed it... since they are the same "age"... and they will go over it and check it all out... CV joint is about $150 parts....plus labor.... and this car is definitely worth fixing....He said it would only take a couple hours to do it most likely... but will know more once it is put up on lift and checked out to make sure exactly what it is...
I'm good with that... I was thinking $3-500 .... so well within my "possible cost" idea...
So next week... and that will give me time to get things out of the car I need for work. But it won't be tied up very long unless they run into problems.

Went back to the co-op. There was a guy going in to get his battery checked for winter... so I only had to wait 10-15 min... then got it in to get the inspection done. Had one bulb out, and everything else checked out. Left the "spare" tire/wheel we put on in the driveway... got the air checked in all the tires, picked up the tire they plugged... and they put the license plates on since I didn't have any of the screws to put them on with...

Left there. Came back by the house. Got the bottles for testing... changed the brackets on the meters I needed, loaded hoses, took the calf bottle in to get washed.. and left. Had to go back by the farm that I put their "set of reports" in their computer as one was not right. My mistake... I punched in the wrong number for a database item... didn't take long and got it fixed. Left and headed to test. Of course this all took longer than "you" plan for, so didn't have time to go by Walmart to return some stuff... but it will keep. Maybe tomorrow.... Traffic was heavy and it rained all the way to the farm. Got there about 5:10... got set up and they actually got started milking on time about 6... done about 7:30 then the computer work... then waited for the meters to wash and all... left there about 8:45 or so... got home about 10:20.... Rained all the way. lots of truck traffic and it was a LOOOONG trip home...and traffic was really moving... so not fun with the heavy fast speeds either.....

I will bring in the samples in the morning. It was still raining decently so no way did I need to get wetter. It is supposed to pretty much move out east overnight... so will get them in the morning and get them packed. I have to take out the bottles for the herd tomorrow anyway. Plus get another 8-9 meters, change their brackets, and put in the car and a few more hoses maybe.

Will go up to the cow/calves in the morning and let her out for the day and they can stay in after she eats grain and I feed the bottle and the jersey usually nurses when she is eating also... Then I will leave to go to test.

Sun is supposed to be out for the next couple of days too... Back up in the 60's so nice. Possible rain coming in again middle of next week.
A lot of the leaves came down off the trees that still had some, I expect the same here with the maple... might dry out in a couple days to be able to sweep some early in the week.

I'm tired... past time to go to bed.

 

[Mini Horses]

now you can dig potatoes over weekend.

 

[farmerjan]

Up to 40 degrees. Might hit low 50's today. Cloudy and foggy... Supposed to be mostly cloudy all day, but very breezy. We'll see...
We had a bit over an inch of rain... glanced at the rain gauge, looked like it was 1.1 or maybe 1.2.... Will look closer and dump when I go back out. It is getting "brighter" out there, but l doubt we will get much sun today.

Samples in the house and packed ready to go. Need to get the rest of the meters in the car, brackets changed and make sure I have enough hoses. Got the bottles all in the racks ready to put in the car.

Have to go up to do the calf and feed the cow... Might leave her in with the calves today since it is still pretty wet... she can eat hay and the calves will be able to nurse some too.

Although I got home earlier than some times from there, I was tired and not feeling like getting going but .......

Yeah, potatoes will be calling my name....

 

[Ridgetop]

Makes me remember the old joke about the young farmer who went off to war leving his wife to handle the farm. She wrote that she was having trouble digging the field to plant the ptatoes. He wrote back that she shouldn't dig that field since that "is where the guns are buried". Naturally the army reads all letters home from servicemen in wartime. Severa weeks later she wrote to her husband that the army had come ut and dug up the field - what should she do? He wrote back "Now plant the potatoes". Love that joke.

 

[farmerjan]

Variation on that joke.... father wrote to son in prison that he wasn't able to dig the field to plant this years potatoes... son wrote back and said, don't dig in the that field, that is where I buried the money from the bank job.... a week later the father wrote and said that a whole bunch of guys showed up and dug up the field everywhere... Son wrote back and said it was the best I could do to help you this year.

 

[Ridgetop]

Love it!

 

[Mini Horses]

I got just a touch over 2" soaked right in. The first couple hrs of light drizzle helped to allow later to soak. Of course, overcast/chilly most all day. Sun just coming out at 3:30-4: it'll be dark soon . But clear & warmer over weekend.

 

[farmerjan]

Dumped the rain gauge earlier... We had barely 1.2 inches... first measurable rain in 45 days which is UNHEARD of in this area. It soaked in pretty good... The sun was trying to come out a little, inbetween clouds when I left to go to work.

Got everything in the car, changed the rest of the brackets on the meters, and left to go to work. Dropped the samples from last night at UPS... traffic was terrible, no real "problems" just alot of congestion everywhere.

Tested... they are up to 202 in the parlor; everything went okay and then wash cycles ran and I finally got loaded to come home about 7 or so.
Have had a half-a$$ed headache all day... so was glad to be done. Their herd is AVERAGING 92 lbs ... per cow... per day.... 70 were over 100 lbs for the single day production... the computer takes the milk weights I put in... and takes the milking times from this morning and this aft and figures the milk production for the day........ That's alot of milk.

It was a "dirty" afternoon. The cows must be getting the top limit of protein as their manure was loose and I got splattered all over. Everything is going to have to go in the wash as I stink.

I'm going in to get a shower and see if I can get enough water pressure to wash my hair... it is filthy too.

Will bring in the samples tomorrow... I expect we will go move some of the heifers tomorrow out of the 2 places they need to be moved from.
First day of rifle deer season too... I hope they get some of the abundance. There were 3 new dead ones on the road in the last 2 days within 5 miles of here...

Going in to get the shower and quit for the night.