Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Tuesday morning... only 55 overnight... sun is mostly out, going to be decently warm today but breezy. Nice weather to be out and I have NO energy, stamina to do much out there... GRRRR

The headaches while coughing have calmed down, the coughing is not quite as bad... but I am like a limp noodle for any energy. Still blowing nose, terribly short of breath, and stuff like that....

Possible showers for last night... might have gotten a sprinkle...

Have got to haul some water this morning... I did not get it yesterday, so cow got put back out.

Got the samples packed and dropped off and took meters to the farm down the road for her to use them. Did very little else.

Weather is supposed to change drastically by end of the week... nights down in the low 20's.... days may be in the 40's....

DS finally brought the trailer with the "chicken houses" that I got several years ago from TSC when a friend worked there... they had a damaged one that I got for like $100... then had a couple of ones that all the "matching boxes" did not have all the "boxes"... like this one was supposed to have 3 boxes and only had 2... a couple had like the "run part" and not the coop part... got them for less than the cost of the wire used to make them..... anyway... been after him to get them here since I moved here nearly 3 years ago... and I have NO ENERGY to go out and try to figure them out. The boxes have been covered but the outside of the boxes have faded, the cardboard is falling apart on a couple... and cannot tell what I have... so am going to wind up having to open them and try to figure out each box and putting them together a "box at a time".... except maybe when I start to get them apart/off the trailer... the flat "fronts" etc will have some numbers/pictures on them. I think I have maybe $300 in them all, and they were originally about $12-1500 worth if totally complete "coops...(I think there are 1 or 2 that were supposed to be mostly complete and a couple that were mismatched boxes). No, they aren't as nice, or as heavy built as homemade stuff... but I got them with the idea of "summer coops/breeding pens" for separating chickens and such. The one thing was the coop parts can be closed for the night...to keep out predators.... that was my biggest incentive for getting them plus the price was pretty cheap.
I did recover them with a new tarp that I got when I took the samples to UPS... ran into Walmart next door and got some throat lozenges, and 2 tarps...
Would have been nice to have them, to get them all out and apart and figured out, with all the nice weather we had for so long...

I have to see if I can get the water loaded on the truck and take some up to the pen for the cow... and see if the weaned holstein wants to come back in.... Might try to leave him out for another day or 2 while it is fairly warm, and then put him in when it gets colder over the weekend.

Going to see about getting out and getting the water run in the barrels for taking up to the cow pen...It is already up to 68 this morning... Need to take advantage of the warmer day if I can push myself a little bit. Might feel better if I get outside in the warmer day, and just "putt along"....

 

[canesisters]

I'm sorry you're still feeling so bad.
I'm into week 2 of this crap, but finally feeling better. At least the sinus headaches & continuous coughing seems to have passed. Hang in there.
I can't wait to see what you do with those coops. I hope to see some of those beautiful golden birds in them.

 

[Baymule]

Week 2 for @canesisters ! I hope you are about done with it. A little bourbon and honey sure helps with a cough. A hot toddy knocks me out and I can sleep when I’m sick.

Jan do you have the makings for a hot toddy, do you can sleep?

Glad you finally got the coops home, just in time for winter. Blah.

 

[farmerjan]

Wed morning... 34, partly cloudy, don't know if we are supposed to get any sun, haven't looked at the forecast.

Yeah, I figure this is going to be a week-2 week type cold. Not a quickie one. I get one every couple of years... mostly it's a couple days and back at it... Oh well....
Except for the first night, I haven't had much trouble sleeping... Taking the generic of Mucinex with cough suppressant.... keeping it loose enough so it doesn't "go down on my chest", as my mother used to say... so it is loose enough to blow my nose but not so crummy... Have gone this route a few times so not bothered by it except it saps your energy.

Got the water hauled yesterday... 2 / 15 gal barrels and had 3 / 5 gal buckets with lids right there handy so filled them too.... at least it was warm out to do that.
Supposed to be rainy tomorrow, Thursday.... then COLD....

Got up awhile ago... going to eat some hot cereal I think, and take it easy for a bit....

 

[Ridgetop]

and I have NO ENERGY to go out and try to figure them out.

You need to get over that cold first. No need to figure them out until you are feeling better. Haying is over so you have little more time. Can you put sone together in the carport? or at least figure the pieces out in the carport where you are under cover and have light at night? Do the complete ones little at a time. You can probably scavenge enough parts from the incomplete ones to make a couple more which is what you were thinking when you bought them. If they are wood, use boat varnish on them to try to make them water proof and slow down the deterioration.

At least when you get your beautiful new show birds you will have a home for them! Yay for DS bringig them over. Sure wish he could figure out how to retire or go on disability and still farm.

 

[farmerjan]

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone...

Started out grey, cloudy, and cold.... 41 overnight... Wind got up and it was really chilly out there all day. Only got up to 53 but never felt like that even... Wind is really b lowing... weather report says gusts up to 30 mph... it sure feels like it.

Not feeling as badly "wiped out" as yesterday. But definitely not doing anything outside .

Went up and fed, then turned the jersey out. Holstein drank 1/2 bottle. Little jersey bull calf is putting his head in the feed trough and eating some grain and saw him starting on some hay. Holstein looks fairly well filled out... he must be nursing off the cow alot to not really want the bottle. I kept back a little grain for the weaned holstein, after she was out. Put some more hay in the bunk for them. They had water from when I hauled it, the other day, so are set for that.

Bull was following around one of the heifers... so they are showing heats... sure hope he settles them.

Did a sink full of dishes... need to figure out something to put in the oven. Might make some brownies or something.... not really craving sweets. Don't have any milk... I was supposed to go pick it up the other day and I was feeling just too rough...told him that I was sorry that I didn't come... he said no big deal... just let him know and he will save me some more... I really would like some pudding... Guess I will text him tomorrow and see about getting it Sat or Sunday...when it suits him....

Anyone ever made a Mississippi Pot Roast? One of my farmers told me about it and said it was out of this world... make in the slow cooker... I got the packages of ranch dressing and au jus to use. Going to go out and find a roast in the freezer... maybe tomorrow... to thaw and try it. You can use onion soup packet.... Looks like it wouldn't work because you do not add any water... but every place I looked it up on the internet , had rave reviews...
I need to utilize the slow cooker more... It won't warm the house like the stove... but it looks pretty good.

Remembered the hose from filling the barrels, and went out to unhook it... but I actually did unhook it the other day after using it... didn't realize I had done that with feeling so crummy.

Boy, I am soooo glad I made the effort to get all those bags of leaves/grass done while it was warmer... There are a bunch of leaves off the tree... I would like to try to get them swept and raked up and into a "compost" spot to use in the garden next year. Not going to happen in the next week or 2 either.

@Ridgetop ; the carport is packed full of stuff that came home from my parents place in NH....other stuff I had stored from the other house when I moved.... as well as my mower and all sorts of other stuff crammed in there... no working inside it... no lights in there either... it is one of those metal/steel ones you see advertised; it has full sides but both ends were open... put up some stuff on one end to partially close it in...
I have no idea which boxes go together for the "complete" chicken house (s).... so will just start taking one box down, working on one box at a time and putting together what is in them... nuts/bolts/screws are going to be the interesting things...might not be in each box, as they might have been all put in one box of the set of 2 or 3 boxes.... Just hope as I take the boxes "off" the top.... that maybe there will be enough readable info to match them up.... DS loaded them on this trailer a couple years ago... so I have no idea if he kept the sets "together".... and you cannot read anything on the outside of the sides of them... so hoping that once I slide the top box off... that the flat part will have some pictures and some numbers that I might be able to match them up. Just wish to he// he had brought them up here when it was warmer a month or 2 ago, so I could have played around with them when it was warmer out... I just could not get to them very easily...where he had the tractor in front of them (that did not run)... and big bridge beams he got from work.... and these boxes are big.... like 4x8 or so, 6-12 inches thick... and heavy.....not like I could lift them up and over and slide on a truck with the tractor that was in the way too....
On top of it... it is too cold to use the varnish right now either... a month ago would have been perfect....I sometimes get sooo tired of "begging" for some things to get done.

Head is starting to ache so time to take some tylenol/Ibprofen to stop that... Haven't taken anything all day except for the ech/golden seal and "vitamin/min" stuff...

Going to sort through a pile of junk mail and do some paper shredding again... eat something, and do little else tonight.

 

[fuzzi]

Sat night. 42 out now... actually hit 62 on recording thermometer. I guess it was mostly sun and some clouds here, it was that way over on the eastern part of the state when I went to the Va Poultry Breeders Show... The winds were alot lighter so not near as cold as the past 2 days have been.
There was about 1 tenth inch.... .1 ; in the rain gauge from the cold and wet we got Thursday. Not really much overall...

I still have this cold... but it is more bearable today, with the use of echinacea, goldenseal, vit C, elderberry, and taking 1 tylenol and 1 ibuprofen for the dull ache...Mostly it is a pita cough that is all loose so just annoying... I imagine it will take the week to run it's course... which is about what a cold does. As long as i don't get a sore throat from it... I can deal with it.

I did not get up super early like I would normally do, to go... since I was not showing any birds... and had a chance to walk around and look. Actually turned out to be a good day. I had offered by text several weeks ago to help but nothing ever was made firm, so I didn't offer again even though they had asked for volunteers. So, I got to visit with several "older members" of the club that were showing as well as a couple other long time breeders...
OF COURSE, Douglas... who has the nice Buff Leghorns I was going to get... looked at me and said...oh no, I FORGOT.... he has been like the superintendent of the show and said he worked late last night getting the last of the cages set up and the coop tags on them for the birds... and just forgot when he went home and was back this morning at 6 or so to open up the show for people to start coming in... He said, I promise I will get you a good trio or 2 pair... we will get together soon to do it... I gave him my phone # too...
But that might be a good thing... Because another member of the club; who is also a poultry judge like Douglas... has NH bantams like I have been looking around for... he has a TON of extra roosters but next to no hens... said he got 3 to 1 males to females hatched this past year... but would probably be able to let me get a dozen or 2 of eggs in the spring... and he sometimes goes to the poultry swap (Gilmans) that @Mini Horses and @canesisters and I went to this fall... OR... he could send some with Douglas (he had the pretty buff leghorns there that were the "culls" but they were still really nice)... In the meantime... if I get the adult birds from Douglas in the next month or so... I am going to get a couple of his NH bantam males as he said he would give me a couple to just not have to kill them or keep feeding them... So all was not lost there...
AND there was a pair of NH large fowl there in the show... found the man who had them and he has a trio of 2-3 yr olds that he wants to sell... In MD... and I got his # and will hopefully make a trip to get them in about 2 weeks... The male and female he showed were pretty nice... and the birds he wants to sell are the parents... Don't know how many others he has... but he said that he would hold them and I offered to pay him now but he said, no, what if something kills one or something else... AS we ALL KNOW, can too easily happen. He said he was going to take them to the "Poultry Congress show" which is held in Springfield Mass, at the BIG E..... in January... That show has been held then for as long as I can remember showing... He also said that he has some Alzheimers and forgets things alot (probably late 70's-early 80's ?) so I wrote down my number for him, also.... He rode with another judge that was there judging chickens... and that judge knows who I am, so I am pretty sure, that the older man will be able to remember who I am, and I will be able to get them.
Then in the process of things, another long time breeder, known him for years... who has some of the BEST Cornish chickens in the country... both large fowl and bantams, had bought some Rhode Island Red bantams as he want to fool with making a few more colors in the cornish... and there was a NH bantam cockerel in the bunch... he said I don't want him as he wanted the RIReds.... so he gave him to me. He is too young yet to tell how good his color is going to be... so I wound up coming home with just 1 single little cockerel... there were no females of anything I would consider to bring home for him for company.... so for now he will be the sole "chicken"... at least until I get the standard ones... and then we will see if the big rooster will bother him... being how he is not mature... he might be able to mix in without causing any sense of dominant behavior in the big one. The big hens might bother him... but we will see.

I really didn't want to bring home a single young bantam rooster... but it is only one chicken... so not going to break me... He might turn out to be mediocre and he might turn out to be decent... We'll see when he moults out these juvenile feathers and gets his next set... his hackles and saddle feathers are just starting to come in and his wings are what are still mostly the juvenile feathers.

Spent $20 for tickets for chances on different things they had for the "silent" auction... and won a 50lb bag of feed... so not "out" anything...got a free young rooster..... $5 for hot dog and drink at lunch... and the gas for the 275 mile round trip so I basically had a nice day for next to nothing....

Finally left about 4:30.... they were picking champions for the show, but I had had enough.... so left. Filled up with gas at 2.87 which is about 10 cents cheaper than here at home... and got home about 7-7:30...
Traffic was very heavy on the interstate.... surprising for a Saturday... but there is just more traffic on the roads all the time it seems.

I will not set the alarm tomorrow morning... for anything... as I work on fighting off this annoying cold...
I have to test tomorrow afternoon, and another farm on Monday afternoon... neither needs meters... YAY.

I left the jersey in with the calves Friday late aft... and put extra hay in the bunk... so she should have been okay... calves won't starve but they will probably be hungry tomorrow morning... I will take a 1/2 bottle extra for the jersey calf in case he wants some... and will have to take a barrel or 2 of water up for the bigger holstein that is in there too... May as well do it tomorrow and maybe more on Mon or Tuesday... while it is warmer... supposed to get mid to low 20's next weekend... I hate to haul water in the cold... the fore warnings of winter coming... It is supposed to be 60's and 40's the next couple days... then 40's and 20's for a few days... So, I will get some in the troughs... easier to break a little ice than to haul it and have to deal with dumping the 15 gal barrels and getting wet in the cold...

I'm ready to get a shower and quit for the night.

Although it was not near as cold today as the last 2 days... it was still really, really NICE to have the flannel lined jeans.... legs were comfortable all day.... They will be a "staple" for the better part of the winter now...

I did stop yesterday, on my way home from dropping off the samples to go out UPS... my car was done... Turns out it was BOTH front wheel bearings... and both lower front ball joints... $700 for parts and labor...right about 1/2 parts and 1/2 labor.... Got the key and hope to get DS to run me down to get it tomorrow.... So that ought to be good to go for a long time... There is about 240,000 miles on it and nothing in the front end has been touched up to now... except replacing the engine... nothing structural... I have NO complaints...except the "ouch" to the bank account....

I need to go to a chicken show...

 

[Baymule]

Hang in there Jan, get your rest and take good care of yourself.

 

[farmerjan]

Friday... cold this morning... 31 to start... going to be cloudy/some sun... maybe hit 40's... nights are going to get down in the low 20's for the next week and days in the 30's and maybe 40 ????

Sleep pretty good but still pretty crummy....

Going to eat some hot cereal....

Ought to be busy next door at the Christmas tree lot... they have gotten to where they are only open this weekend and sell out of the trees that are available.