Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

Latestarter: We do have a live-in 5th wheel trailer. It is not a stock or horse trailer with living quarters. DH wants to take it on our trip to VA because we can do the trip cheaper. We plan on the trip to VA and back taking 4 weeks. DH wants to do some sightseeing on the way, and we have friends to visit in DFW and Austin. With the 5th wheel we stay in a campground with hookups if we are going to be in one spot for a few days. We unhitch and use our truck to sightsee. While traveling we stop at truck stops to sleep in our trailer which saves on motels. Also no bedbugs, and it saves dragging a suitcase and dog crate in and out each time. Once we pick up the puppy, we will probably drive straight home via Austin to show Eric the new Anatolian puppy. We can fit a large wire crate in the trailer for the puppy to sleep in at night. It will be more comfortable for all of us. Our diesel gets about 12 mpg on the open road towing the 5th wheel.
For the trip to Yelm (outside Olympia, WA) we are pulling our 16' stock trailer with all our tools inside to do whatever work we need to do to get the little house ready to rent. We definitely need to fence off the acreage and the barns so any tenants don't just dump stuff there. The zoning was changed so no livestock is allowed. We will also be using it to take old furniture to Goodwill, and also to bring some of the furniture back home. I think my DD also left some boxes for us to bring home for her when she went up two weeks ago. She helped my sister clean out a storage unit and got the stuff my mom left my niece that my sister had not given her. She found a lot of stuff that my mom had packed for her so took it to my brother' house. I think we have to pick it up and bring it home for her. I don't think there was room for it in her car with the 3 kids. This will probably be our last visit there.

Goatgurl: Thanks! We have had a very entertaining life - I am glad you are enjoying our Tales From The Dark Side. I prefer to remember our adventures as fun and funny. If you can't laugh at yourself, you shouldn't laugh at anyone else either. One of my brothers lives north of Seattle. The winters are not so bad, mostly rain only colder. Of course, the summers are mostly rain too, just warmer. You never seem dry out in Seattle. LOL

 

[Ridgetop]

Latestarter: Al the new appliances are supposedly "Low Energy" but I have found that where my old dishwasher used to wash and dry a load in 30 minutes, it now takes 90 minutes and the dishes are not entirely dry. The same with the new washer and dryer - used to be 30 minutes for a wash cycle and 45 minutes for a dry. Now I am lucky to get the clothes washed I 45 - 120 minutes and the dry is at east an hour. This stacking Maytag set are at least shorter wash and dry times than my last set which were Bosch. I hated them. How does running the appliances twice as long save energy?

 

[Mike CHS]

We converted our dryer to a side vent and although it was a pain in the rear we didn't have take anything off except for a couple of panels.

 

[Bruce]

Sounds like a better design than having to take the drum out. Clearly whoever designed that one didn't think about the poor schmucks that have to disassemble the machine to change the venting. They should be forced to do two for every one a homeowner has to do.

or a livestock insert in the bed (sheep/goats/piglets/puppy crate)

Just no full grown pigs, they jump out.

we'll see how they feel when winter get there.

Winter? That is a calendar season up near the coast in WA.

 

[Ridgetop]

Bruce: When I lived there all it did was rain around Seattle. You had to go inland and up in the mountains to find snow. I agree about the poor dryer design. They are making them look good instead of being user friendly.

Mike: What brand was your dryer?

 

[Ridgetop]

In which Devil pg makes his last appearance . . . .

The next morning we all turned up at the Fairgrounds early. DH had started to take vacation time during the Fair so he could be on hand with the other dads to help with the various chores that need an abundance of large strong men. While DS1 fed and cleaned stalls, DD milked the goats, strained and made calf bottles. The rest of the milk went into our ice chest to chill. We had brought sandwiches and drinks since this would be a long day. WEIGH IN!

All large animals destined for the market auction had to go through the scale with their purchase paperwork. Steers, including veal calves, had to have transport paperwork for the brand inspector, while sheep and hogs just needed sales receipts showing date of ownership. 60 days of ownership for all species except steers, they required 180 days of ownership. Tags and ear numbers were checked against the paperwork, and a new auction tag was placed in the animal’s ear. These days most fairs require DNA samples from the animals several months in advance. If there is a complaint about an animal that has been judged, the earlier sample can be checked against the animal actually showing on the grounds to verify it is the same animal. Sometime, depending on the Fair, a large amount of money is at stake. At our Fair, each child was allowed to enter 2 of every species, and sell one, unless they won Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion in the same species. One year a child who had entered two, lost one to a dog attack within weeks of Fair. Luckily, she had her second lamb entered to fall back on.

The noise level on the Fairgrounds was deafening. Between the bawling of cattle, bleating of sheep, and squealing of hogs, parents yelled instructions to their children, children yelled at their friends, and a mad, glad time was had by all. Most of the 4-H and Grange fathers had taken time off work to help out at the Fairgrounds. The Junior Livestock Auction is run by a volunteer group of parents and their help is always needed. Early that morning, all water buckets had been upended in order to get a true weight on the animals. A couple of dads manned the ear taggers at the scale. Others worked in the barns helping children and parents get to the scales. Occasionally an animal escaped and was pursued madly through the crowded walkways. It was a typical Junior Livestock Weigh In. As the animals were run through the scale, the children waited breathlessly to find out the weights on their animals. Had they fed correctly? Too much? Too little? Coming out of the scale the knowledgeable older kids compared weights and sized up their competition. Younger kids just handed over the weight slips to their parents. Since the auction sale prices would be per lb., everyone wanted a heavy weight on their animal.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, the temperatures climbed. First the lambs went through, then the calves and steers. Sometimes, an animal would shoot through too quickly and have to be run through again. This caused groans from those next in line.

Finally, it was time to weigh hogs. The various FFA schools each had their own pig carts, Grange shared 2 carts, and we had 1. Luckily, we didn’t have to use any of them to weigh the hogs. First the men set a long run of fencing between the scale and the pig barns. Then, pen by pen, the men with their pig boards ran the hogs to the scale and back again. The owners walked along the outside of the run with their paperwork, that they handed in to the weighmaster at the scale. DH was handling his pig board with aplomb. Having been bloodied in the Devil Pig wars, handling these pigs was like handling guinea pigs! From my position on the sidelines, I could judge Devil Pig's progress through the alleyway. Hideous squealing, occasional wobbling of the fence panels, and anxious cries to "Hold him - hold him - watch that fence panel!" signaled his location. Once I thought I saw his evil face and a hoof appear over the side wall, but a father with quick reactions blocked him with his pig board.

Finally weigh in was over, andall the hogs returned to their stalls. DH came back to the tack room for a cold drink and a sandwich. As I looked over the weights of our hogs, I noticed that Devil Pig had not made weight by a couple pounds. Too bad, but the kids had their show hogs, none of which were DP. Mentioning to DH that we would have lean pork from Devil Pig, he casually told me that he thought he would take Devil Pig back home for another month to put more weight on him! Laughing at his little joke, I suddenly realized he was serious! Shocked and horrified, I could hardly say anything at first. Buoyed by the easy experience of herding Devil Pig through a long sturdy alley assisted by 20 other fathers with pig boards, DH seemed to have forgotten the horror that was Devil Pig. As he casually spoke of putting another 50 to 100 lbs. of feed into him to "finish him off", all I could think of was that Devil Pig would have another chance at finishing us off.

With a high pitched, shaking voice, I told DH that Devil Pig was only leaving this Fairgrounds on the slaughter truck. There was nothing wrong with lean pork, I said. DH could choose, I said, it was Devil Pig or me! I would throw my body under the wheels of our pickup truck if he tried to take Devil Pig home, leaving him with 4 small orphans to care for! To this day, I am not sure whether it was the thought of having to care for 4 small children on his own, or having a hysterical wife on his hands at the Fairgrounds that changed his mind. Suffice it to say, Devil Pig took his last ride in the slaughter truck and our marriage has lasted 47 years.

Devil Pig is long gone, but his name lives in infamy. Was he just a misunderstood juvenile porker, a sociopath, or truly possessed by the devil? Could he have been saved with psychotherapy and love? I just relate the facts, draw from them what you will. Those of us who were there know what we saw . . . .

 

[Bruce]

You were overly dramatic telling DH what would happen if he tried to take DP home ... the kids wouldn't be orphans, they would still have a father!

In any case, you made your opinion abundantly clear. Was DP lean and tasty?

 

[Ridgetop]

Why yes he was! And DH was very sweet as I burst into tears, he is very comforting in bad situations. We have had many more hogs, but none like Devil Pig. Live and learn! We did!

 

[goatgurl]

poor misunderstood devil pig. i'm sure with love and therapy he could have become a useful member of pigdom.

 

[Ridgetop]

Had I had access to an animal psychic at the time possibly we could have held an intervention. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with lean pork.

Subsequent pig tales will show how far we have come in our journey. First lesson learned, never have 7 hogs in one pen. In fact, never have 7 hogs ever again! Later hog raising episodes were much more fun with only one or two pigs. Of course, those hog keeping tales were normal, not the stuff of which legend is made!