Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Got home awhile ago... I got things done, loaded in the car and went to work. Of course, did not get going as fast as planned... never seem to get away when I really want.
Got to the farm and got everything carried in and set up Owner was milking as the "milker" I usually work with was off. Things went smoothly and got done in good time. Computer entries all went fast, and I was loaded and out of there by 6 ish. Went down to the other farm and dropped the sample bottles... he is planning to test next week so that is fine. Then stopped and topped off the gas since it is cheaper right around there and with my little discount card, get $.05 per gallon off right at the pump. So I decided to go to the stockyard to the sale which was 15 miles north.
DS had decided to take the 2 open cull cows there too... so made the 2nd trip up with the trailer... they sell baby calves and cull cows on Wed... plus the special bred cow sale once a month; 2nd Wed; and a special dairy replacement cow sale once a month; 4th Wed;....
The 2 cull cows looked real good and they had a bunch of FATS (fed out fat kill cattle) so it worked out good. Prices were good for the 2 culls... one only weighed 850 lbs... she was "little" ..... she raised a real nice calf but was open. The other was a 3rd calf one that had been checked preg... never calved and was checked open the other day. Lost the calf somewhere along the way... not feeding her either... She weighed like 1100 maybe ( I haven't gotten the weight tickets yet to make copies to file. ) The short one brought a little over $1.00 lb which was sorta expected due to her "light weight" ... They like cull cattle to weigh in the 1100-1500 range most times. The other one brought like $125 or 1.30 I think... Decent cull price.
Then at 7:30 they do the "Bred cow sale"... There were some cows from a farm selling out... with some really small calves... That brought in the $3-3500 range... some brought in the 25-2800 range that were not as good. Ours were "our culls" remember... the 3 nut cases... They had bigger calves.... 300lb steer on the hereford... 500 lb nutty heifer on the one cow and a 400 lb steer on the other cow. They brought between 3100 and 3400 per pair. Figuring if he split them and culled the cows and sold the calves separate, they would have brought in the 2600-2900 range... so they did a little better than splitting... I thought that was good and the idiots were gone... DS said you would think that they would have done a little better, due to alot bigger calves, than the ones with smaller calves... comparing the calf sizes... but said that they did okay.

None were mine, not getting anything out of them... this whole group he bought from that friend last summer... and left on the friends' leased pasture until his lease ended in like Aug or something... so has had them maybe 6 months... 4 calves weaned off earlier... some more weaned now... he did okay with the prices.
It is late, I didn't realize it was midnight... carried the samples in and will pack in the morning, so I can take them with me to the funeral and drop off at UPS afterwards.

 

[Ridgetop]

At least the crazies are gone and you got ok prices for them.

 

[farmerjan]

Friday. Been a couple days since I posted on my journal.

Yesterday was cold to start, mostly sun and warmer in the afternoon. Mid 40's. Went to the funeral, actually met and took my ex husband since DS was a pall bearer and busy with the family. My ex had gone there to eat a couple times with DS and wanted to pay his respects... and DS couldn't deal with taking him, so I offered. He uses a walker and is not very mobile. I can deal with him for a few hours if I need to. I actually feel sorry for him being so "stove up" but he is so negative about life in general and has few friends.
So, on the way home, we were coming up the road and I asked if he needed anything at the store since we were going to go right by Walmart and he said he was going to need some flea and tick spray for his dog... and so I offered to stop and go in and get it for him.. also did he need any groceries etc... he said no that he was good for groc and all but hadn't been able to get the spray he normally gets... so I went in, got it for him, then brought him back to his car where we met up... he is north and east of me and so I would have had to back track to pick him up to go... so this worked out good. And I was not going to ride with him... he is a very poor driver.... always has been one of those off and on the gas and the brake....
Got home in time to go to the cows and got them done...

It was not nearly as cold last night... only got down to 29. It was windy overnight, but then it died down.

This morning it started at 29, it was cloudy early but warmed up fairly quickly. The sun came out by 10 or 11... and it warmed up really nice all day.... Actually hit 50 and when the recorder was in the sun and it actually got up to 59 in the sun.... We had a fair amount of thawing and the snow actually got "softer" on top in some places. The stuff that is packed will thaw slowly... but about half of the stuff in the fields pretty much melted... there is some bare ground in the places that get more southern faced exposure...

We are supposed to get down to mid 20's tonight. Then some possible "wintry mix" in the morning changing over to rain. Not supposed to get alot of rain. I do hope that we get some though, so that it will melt some more of this snow. BUT... there is a chance of possible snow on Sunday and then turning bitter cold.
Tried to get the farm scheduled for next Tues, to switch and let me test them today while it was warmer... but it didn't suit them, so we cancelled/postponed next Tues. I am not going out to test in that cold.
Bad thing is, have a scheduled vet preg check on Wed for Nelson's cows... they want to be able to sell anything that is a "cull" , at the Friday sale. Going to be a miserable cold vet check.

I put a load of clothes , jeans etc., in to soak last night, washed and hung them out this morning as the sun came out good and bright. Wanted to get the flannel lined jeans washed for the next cold spell, and it was decent enough to wear the regular jeans. I'm getting to be a "wuss" on the cold too... but I was comfortable in the regular jeans today.
Did the NH cockerel, and filled the bird feeder as the birds have really been working on it... And with next week's cold forecast, they are going to need it. It is more comfortable to fill it when your fingers aren't numb. I will need to pick up more birdseed next time out.

Deb came out last night (Thurs) and worked remote today, and then has 3 days off since Monday is MLK holiday.... We are going to Sharp Shopper in the morning, since they bring the bread in on Tues and Sat mornings.. she has never been and I can use a loaf of bread, plus like to keep a watch for the coffee/mocha iced drink they haven't had in awhile... Also will go to Aldi's while out, she likes to shop there and I seldom go, so good excuse to go. Then she wants to make soup for supper tomorrow night so that will be nice.

I finally got the stove unhooked and out of the house. Got the new one out of the box, started getting the legs on, and here comes DS. I had mentioned it again yesterday that I could use a little help with it. So, he got the other 2 legs on it ( I had done the first 2 already) and then "broke out" the piece of metal so that the blower could be put on the back of it. The blower is not on a thermostat, but the fan can be on either low or high to help distribute the heat. Plus it can be turned off... so I will see how I like it.
On top of that, as he is helping with it, he says "this looks exactly like the one I put in Brenda's house last year", and she doesn't like it now, so is taking it out...Yeah, he said, it is exactly the same...
Too bad I didn't know that... probably could have bought it cheap... wouldn't want her throwaways, but I'm not that stupid... I would save money if I could.......I bet she sells it for alot less than I paid for this new... Oh well... He had to get a different fitting than what the other/old stove used, and since he had to go pick up the daughter from school, he said he would go by and get what he needed.... Texted while I was at the pasture and said he got the stuff, and picked M up from school, and he could come back and do it tonight or tomorrow... I said to suit himself... It was apparent he didn't want to come back to do it tonight... He is probably spending time down there this evening.
Put the cow out since DS put new rolls of hay in there... she can go to the water trough and eat all the hay she wants too. Calves can come and go out loose, through the creep gate.

She even showed up at the funeral yesterday... why I don't know since she didn't spend time with them. And then, she offered to go feed at the barn afterwards, when he was still with the family, and then he went to do the rest. Getting herself right back in the situation. And he is all for it...
I did see a booster seat in the back of the Explorer that wasn't there a couple weeks ago when I got the rest of the feed out... so now he is using it for more than just going to the dr appts... That is going to stop. He can use her car if she is going places with him again... with any of the kids. I am not providing my vehicle for his general use... going to the dr appts was one thing... but.....
I give up... and I figure it doesn't matter on my end...until it all comes apart again... I will not help pick up the pieces again.

So, clothes are in the house and mostly dry through. I am going to do some shredding as there is another pile of junk mail.
I made a chiropractor appt for next Tuesday, when I was scheduled to test; before they changed their mind. Would have been perfect to save some gas and travel. Now, the testing is cancelled, but I am going to go anyway, because the numbness in outside of the hand is worse... The leg/sciatic nerve is not as bad. I need to get back to regular visits though. I felt better when I was going every 2-3 weeks....even with the shoulder too. Been 2 months almost since I last went.

I'm going to get up and go get Deb about 8:15 in the morning... time to work on some junk mail and get these clothes folded etc.

 

[farmerjan]

Sat night. Been a nice day overall... Got up to a skiff of snow and starting to sprinkle. Temps went from a low of 33 all the way up to 51 today... We had some light misty stuff and it cleared off for a bit this afternoon. A little sun showing through and that's when it warmed up more.

Picked Deb up and we went to Sharp Shopper. Got some stuff, she found a bunch of stuff... of course still didn't have the New England Iced Coffee I like... but did get bread today. Then we went just up the road and went to Aldi.... I did alot of looking... Deb got some stuff there... she shops there quite a bit... I got some vacuum packed freeze dried tortellini that looked good... there are some things I would go back for... Maybe spend more time looking too. Then we stopped at Food Lion because Deb was looking for corned beef... she wanted a Reuben sandwich... no one seemed to have it... since we were right there we went just down the road to the Cheese Shop... it is a Mennonite run store... deli... makes tons and tons of deli sandwiches daily, does all sorts of bulk foods.... and they had the corned beef... so we got it, and then one of my former farmers had his donut trailer outside... so we went over and bought a 1/2 dozen donuts and I talked to them a few minutes... Then we came on home... Deb wanted me to come for lunch... I have never had a reuben that I can remember... so I dropped her off, came home, put away the things I got, did the rooster.... and went for a sandwich... It was good, I like sauerkraut so it was perfect... I used to serve them years ago waitressing but never ate one...
So then, she was going to make a soup for supper and wanted me to come back to eat... so I said are you sure you want to feed me AGAIN... and she said yes... So, we agreed on 6 and I came on home to get some things done here.
DS actually showed up and finally got the stove hooked up... he had ex's daughter with him... gotten thick as thieves again...
At least the stove is hooked up, and working, and they left.

Then I went to Deb's at 6 ... she made a kale and sausage cream type soup... I am not a big fan of kale but it wasn't bad... had potatoes... Ate a bowl full and brought home some for lunch tomorrow... It was good enough that I will eat some.

Came home and here I am. Probably going to just go to bed early. Forecast is still for 1-3 inches snow tomorrow but still can't figure out how that is going to happen because forecast is still in the 40's...???