Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Baymule]

Your day of the “don’ts” sounds like me sometimes. Plenty to do, don’t want to do any of it. Plenty to cook, don’t want to cook and don’t want anything I have anyway.

Last storm here knocked the power out. No problem, I put on my LED headlamp so I could read. It flickered and went out. It needed charging. Well THAT wasn’t going to happen! It’s charged now though

 

[farmerjan]

Your day of the “don’ts” sounds like me sometimes. Plenty to do, don’t want to do any of it. Plenty to cook, don’t want to cook and don’t want anything I have anyway.

Last storm here knocked the power out. No problem, I put on my LED headlamp so I could read. It flickered and went out. It needed charging. Well THAT wasn’t going to happen! It’s charged now though

Yeah, some days..........just "don't"......

Down to 44 last night. It is mostly cloudy right now but supposed to clear off and be mostly sunny in a couple hours. Will go out and let the chickens out and feed them and check the rain gauge to see what we got... if it held water... Said it was going to be somewhat windy today but for right now it is quiet out there. I will rehang the one wind chime on the porch but will have to get some "cord" to fix and then hang the other ones that the chime tubes broke off of. Next time I will try to remember to take them down before it gets to "gale force" winds...

I am going to Lowe's to check out some prices... found the butcher block counter tops on line, for what I think is a good price but I want to check out what Lowe's has... also a sink that I think will work in here so I can get the stupid little "butterfly" sink out of the corner, and get one that has some size... the prices might not be that great but I think they are ..so I want to compare them. Then I could order them and have them here for when things can start to happen... I have pretty much decided which way to face it, will take out the cabinet next to the stove... and should be able to slide the portable dishwasher in there and still have room to comfortably stand and do the dishes. I have been drawing it on paper a couple times to figure out the more "user friendly" way to do it... I just hate what is in there and do not want to go through another year with it... The guy that was recommended to me has jobs lined up for a few months, so it is not a big rush... but like he said, you never know when he might have a "slack spot", waiting for something that is ordered to come in, or whatever...., and be able to start on a project or 2 that I have in mind... going to be a little bit piece meal which will work with the under stairs storage I want, and the sink and counter tops... and the tearing down of the upstairs ceilings will be a bigger project but that can be done "along" since I am not using those rooms anyway.. It will be alot better to do these things when the house can be "opened up" and not trying to keep the heat inside and doors closed all the time... Except for getting the kitchen sink and all that done in a timely manner, the other things are not critical for having back "to use" immediately... Plus everything is always in "disarray" around here, it won't be such a big deal... just don't want to be without the kitchen sink for very long...

Time to get out the door... I am going to do one load of clothes today, and hang them, as it is supposed to be nice tomorrow and Wed.... jeans and sweatshirts and such that need some warmer sunny drying time. Everything else is caught up. There will be some picking up of branches and such to do now after all that wind... maybe get a brush pile burned late one afternoon the end of the week... when I am going to be home for the evening. We are still under the burning ban before 4 pm... want to see if we have any possible showers coming in and do it then.
Time to make sure the batteries are charged and get the riding mower out and the cart and get the yard cleaned up and the electric netting ready for the garden... shoot it will be grass mowing time here long before the garden is ready to be put in... Last frost here is usually around the 1st-10th of May... Need to get motivated...
The guys brought back the post driver and the other equipment to the farm, so they are supposed to start on getting the posts driven there for the rest of the fencing... and then come here and drive them here and a couple in the corner of the fence where the "misrouted" trucks keep taking out the fence around the corner at grants here "behind me"... where we are always fixing the fence... DS is going to make 2 - 45 degree angles and move the fence back about 10 ft from the actual corner... and get a couple of HUGE boulders to put on the outside of the fence, so if any more tractor trailers come up this road... they will tear up their trailers and not our fence anymore and leave without us knowing the corner of the fence is down again... Owner said that was fine with him too... so I actually might get the fence this year... around the perimeter... I want to mow the line between me and next door so they have a straight line of sight for driving the posts... everything else is bordering the 2 roads. Then, when the owners of the Christmas tree farm (used to own my house too) are ready to quit it... as they are talking... I will approach them with buying another 1-2 acres that adjoins me... that they don't use because it tends to be wetter and can't grow the trees or park on it most years.. it grows grass and will make the property more "squared off" since there is a jut of land down below the rock ledge that is mine, sorta like a dog leg... it would just make another straight line all the way down and encompass that dog leg and make another straight fence down to the edge of the dirt road... I am not going to try to fenc around that rockledge piece now... I am thinking an additional "lot" for grazing... and the couple of big pine trees up near the road need to come down also, because they are past their prime... one came down on the fence last time, he had to drag it off and clean it up.... and they are losing limbs and such all the time... another looks like it is dead... the ones just down further have all died from the wetter ground over the years and he never replanted since they die in the wetter ground...

Y'all have a good day.

 

[rachels.haven]

It's here...
View attachment 116057

Hey, I'm on that map to the left of Baltimore. We got a little wind and it tinkled over night. Nothing compared to the Midwest and deep south.

 

[Ridgetop]

I have pretty much decided which way to face it, will take out the cabinet next to the stove... and should be able to slide the portable dishwasher in there and still have room to comfortably stand and do the dishes.

Make sure to allow room to clear door handles when opening the dishwasher.

and the couple of big pine trees up near the road need to come down also, because they are past their prime...

Fuel for winter?

 

[fuzzi]

Your day of the “don’ts” sounds like me sometimes. Plenty to do, don’t want to do any of it. Plenty to cook, don’t want to cook and don’t want anything I have anyway.

Last storm here knocked the power out. No problem, I put on my LED headlamp so I could read. It flickered and went out. It needed charging. Well THAT wasn’t going to happen! It’s charged now though

I bought two headlamps, but decided on the type that use batteries. I wear them when I go outside after dark.

 

[Mini Horses]

Several of both...I use mostly recharge ones. Batteries were gone to soon & $$$. In winter I'm often feeding, ckg water & goats/kids in the dark. Use mine a LOT.

 

[fuzzi]

Hey, I'm on that map to the left of Baltimore. We got a little wind and it tinkled over night. Nothing compared to the Midwest and deep south.

We got 1.5" of rain, lots of wind, no damage that I can see.

 

[Finnie]

I bought two headlamps, but decided on the type that use batteries. I wear them when I go outside after dark.

Several of both...I use mostly recharge ones. Batteries were gone to soon & $$$. In winter I'm often feeding, ckg water & goats/kids in the dark. Use mine a LOT.

It might be because you use yours more than I use mine, but I had the opposite problem. My rechargeable one kept having shorter and shorter amounts of time between charges so I decided I prefer the battery one.

Also, with the rechargeable one, when it needs a charge, it just turns off. I can usually turn it back on a couple of times before it goes off for good. So then I am out there in the dark. At least with the battery one, it goes dimmer over time, but at least I can still see. I can usually milk it for several days before I decide I really want the fresh batteries in it. I guess since I’m not using mine quite as much, the cost of the batteries doesn’t seem that noticeable.

 

[Ridgetop]

Also, with the rechargeable one, when it needs a charge, it just turns off. I can usually turn it back on a couple of times before it goes off for good. So then I am out there in the dark.

Maybe keep a spare in the barn?

 

[farmerjan]

Wed evening... Temps were 45 overnight and up to 79 in the sun... It got warm.... probably about 70 not in direct sunlight. The wind has come up this evening... pretty gusty...

@Ridgetop ... no pine does not get burned except maybe outside in open pits... way too much "pitch" (sap) and too much solidification.... on the walls of the pipes or such... causes chimney fires in a heartbeat.. Bad for anything with smoke being funneled anywhere. Good for starter pieces in small amounts... it also cracks and pops and can cause a spark to kick out and catch on fire....

We tested the 500+ cow herd Monday night . Long night. They have a new guy and he is slower... The guy I deal with is "retiring" next week. He is 64, his mother passed away a month or 2 ago, he has sheep and beef cows and poultry and such... and said it is just time. He has about 15 in the herd there milking, GOOD cows... and they will be going to the monthly Dairy replacement cattle sale next Wed.... When the cows leave, he is done... I don't blame him at all... He injured his knee and had surgery a year or so ago.... and it has affected him some too... But he made sure he had both my phone # and DS's #... said he hopes to keep in contact...

Had to test Tuesday aft and I was pushed to get going and get things done... but got there and it went okay. That farmer lost his mother a couple months ago and he and his brother are going to split things up in the near future as all the legal stuff gets sorted out. He keeps saying he is going to cut the dairy cows about in half... We'll see...

Got up and got the samples finished packed for the 500 cow herd, that I did not get all done before having to leave to go test Tuesday... so got all them and the 120 cow herd ready to ship. DS said we would leave at noon because they said they could take him a little earlier than his appt... had a cancellation... BUT... this dr never runs on time and his appt was for 3... we were there before 2:30 for the cancelled appt... and they didn't see him until 3:45.... about typical... We had made good time going down, dropped the samples at UPS, and then had stopped at a local place to eat where we have gone before... good thing....he was hungry, and it wound up being late when they took him in.... DS got several injections in the spine in the C2 through C7 neck/spinal area... it makes him dizzy so good thing I went to drive... then we went to Rural King later and got some feed, as I am down to about 6 bags from that ton I bought awhile back... some hydraulic oil, and other stuff that was on sale.... loaded it all in the back of the explorer... it was full... and came home. Got here at 7 or so... DS got the bale truck, and I opened gates and he went and fed hay to grants and to snyder's pastures there by me. He was feeling better after an hour or so after the injections...
Then he took the r&w bale truck down to get an oil/hydraulic pump (?) replaced on it that has been leaking... it is a B$@#H to get to, about a 5-6 hour job... and he said he just was not going to fight it... since he got the new radiator in the other truck that the cow messed up a couple months ago, he now has that one to use and could "tie up" the red&white truck for a few days... I went and picked him up and dropped him back at the barn to get the other truck to take home.

GF has to go to Roanoke tomorrow about the disc that we had dropped off for her nearly 2 months ago, at a dr, she had seen there. It is halfway, so they are going to go together instead of me going...go from her dr down to the Hosp that does this CT scan.... He asked if I wanted to go or she could go, or she could go with "us" , and I said if he and she wanted to do it and it worked for them, then that was fine. They will take her car since the explorer is full. I will see about getting my feed unloaded up at the barn tomorrow... put out a salt block for them... The protein tubs might be getting pretty low too.... might get another one or 2 to get them through to green grass... That is the appt for the CT scan, but no dye or anything, so shouldn't be a big deal... but it is not until 4:30... so they can make an afternoon/eve of it. Fine with me, not going to fight it or get into it any more... doesn't mean I have to go play nice all the time... benign "neglect/ignoring" and distance works for me...

Checked out the prices of the butcher block counter tops and Lowe's is actually cheaper than what I found on line... so will get them there. Also asked DS about what kind of sink to put in, top mount or undermount... and he said that the top mount would probably be better than to have the edges of the butcher block counter tops exposed on the ends to water all the time... so the sink I was looking at will not work... and I saw a bigger sized one at Lowe's when I looked at the counter tops... SOOOOOO... probably will go with that... Wish I could find a "butcher block" pattern in something "waterproof" to use right around the sink area... can't seem to find anything in all the books/patterns they have...

Got the clothes out, so plan to bring them in tomorrow morning... not calling for clouds to come in until late morning/noontime... showers in the afternoon... but not calling for alot.

DS talked to a different guy about the heifers... he is interested... should know something tomorrow eve... if not, they are going to the sale Friday. Then all the odd ball stuff might be going Sat. 3/29.... to the Sat stockyard sale.

This coming Sat there is a poultry show in eastern VA at the "Meadowlands Park"... that is where Secretariat was born and raised... and it is now the site of the Va State Fair.... seems that the original Va Poultry Breeders club that I have been a member of for years ( 1973 ?) had some of the members get unhappy with some stuff going on, and this group splintered off... DS mentioned that his father wanted to go and he was going to have to drive him... I did not know about the show .... and DS said he was going to have to rearrange some things... I said if it was a problem, I would take his father if he needed me to,,, and I could go to the show also. I would not be showing naturally, but might be a place to find some purebred stuff too... So DS said that it might be one of the last shows his father goes to... never know... so he would go but I was welcome to come along... so I think I am going. This way I only have to suffer through the ride there and back because at the show I can look and wander and not be obligated to stick around with my ex... no sense in taking 2 vehicles and wasting gas... I'm getting "benevolent and tolerant" in my "PRIME"....

2 of the 4 "free roosters" are chasing my NH rooster around... so my charity is being tested... will see about getting rid of them somewhere along the way. My ex goes to some of these "poulty swaps" they have at the TSC stores... so might get him to take them sometime he is going...

Since I am not going with DS tomorrow... if it is not raining, I think I will take apart the #1 box with the "coop" part in it, and get it together, see what I can scabble together with the extra pieces of the other set.... then I want to get the rest of the 2nd pen together... then he could help me with the roof panels (maybe??) put on it... and maybe I can get him to get the "skids" on the bottoms...

I'm tired, going to bed in a few minutes...