Bruce
Herd Master
I think it is the latter
Presumably one could get the same results with the proper fertilizer.
Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along
- Thread starter Ridgetop
- Start date
Presumably one could get the same results with the proper fertilizer.- Thread starter
- #1,152
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Yup, just don't use any blood meal - too much nitrogen producing too much green growth.
Baymule
Herd Master
Our tomato vines are 10-12 feet tall and still growing. They have made so any tomatoes that I am seriously tempted to hide in bushes and throw tomatoes at passing cars. Well, maybe not, I can’t run anymore. I would get caught and a crazy white haired grandma throwing tomatoes at cars would certainly make the evening news. Sigh...... I guess a better idea is to put some more in the freezer for that elusive “someday” when I will have more time to fool with them.
I feel sorry for your grandkids. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Or a kid in revolt against parents that will not realize their ambitions are doing more harm than good. And medication? Horrors. She needs a whallop with a stupid stick and a handful of pills for herself. There, I said it. You knew I would, I just can’t keep my big mouth shut, it’s part of my charming personality.
I feel sorry for your grandkids. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Or a kid in revolt against parents that will not realize their ambitions are doing more harm than good. And medication? Horrors. She needs a whallop with a stupid stick and a handful of pills for herself. There, I said it. You knew I would, I just can’t keep my big mouth shut, it’s part of my charming personality.
- Thread starter
- #1,154
Ridgetop
Herd Master
DD1 is so convinced of her rightness that she told me yesterday that I had told her that DS2 was diagnosed with ADHD (NEVER - his LD is aphasia) and DS3 diagnosed with ADD (again NOT TRUE!) while DS1 was never tested at all!??? Where she got this I have no idea. She was 12or 13 at the time of the testings and I certainly did not discuss these things with her. DH concurs and said DD1 is "nuts". I do remember when I would explain some of the behavior issues and inability to do certain school work without additional help, she insisted that there was nothing wrong with any of the DSs and they should "just try harder". She also insisted that we were "spoiling" DS2 who was the worst of the 3. Both my brothers have dyslexia, diagnosed when they entered kindergarten at age 5 in Bellevue WA which routinely tested all its incoming kindergartners for LDs back in the late 60's-early 70's. DD1 also argued with me about that demanding to know when and where they were tested!
I told her back then that she would never make a good teacher if she was not open to learning about LDs but DD1 is like my sister and DH's sister. They know everything. Oh well. No use even talking to her.
I told her back then that she would never make a good teacher if she was not open to learning about LDs but DD1 is like my sister and DH's sister. They know everything. Oh well. No use even talking to her.
- Thread starter
- #1,155
Ridgetop
Herd Master
You might have to buy a second freezer! Or open a tomato stand. Actually, have your DS and your DD and her husband put out the news to all their friends that their folks have homegrown tomatoes for sale. You might find people that want to can and no longer have gardens that would buy boxes of them. Put an ad in Craigslist. Lots of people during Covid want to put up their own food but haven’t got the space to plant. If you got enough people replying, you could pack up the boxes and meet several buyers at once somewhere off the farm. You could probably sell them in 10-20 lb. lots for canning. I would buy some, but shipping is prohibitive! LOL
DD2 and FDIL may have to abandon plans for their fabulous wedding reception. The restaurant where it is scheduled has notified them that they may have to cut their contracted number of guests to less than 80. They booked for 200. The restaurant also said they may not be able to serve any food regardless depending on current quarantine rules. So much for thinking we had a date far enough in the future to avoid the Covid restrictions.
FDIL said they will still have the large church wedding but possibly only a small family reception if unable to have the large restaurant bash. Hopefully, since the restaurant will be cancelling the number of people they were booked for DD2 and FDIL can get back their deposits. We can have a “small” reception at our home – we can fit about 50-60 people on the patio and inside comfortably and rent additional tables and chairs. We culd accommodate more but need to leave the driveway clear to park cars on the field. We will just have a reception luncheon in the afternoon after the church wedding. No dancing or DJ I suppose which will make DS2 and FDIL sad, but you gotta roll with what life sends you. The invitations have not gone out yet, so we can print cards to go inside stating that the restaurant reception has been cancelled until after the Covid quarantine. We will do cards for the immediate family’s invitations with the address of the house and directions for the family reception which will follow the church wedding.
Since FDIL is from a large Filipino family, her immediate family numbers in the 40’s. Most of our older relatives are now dead so our immediate family numbers only about 20 or so. Many of the guests are out of town, many of the Filipino relatives were flying in from the Philipines and out of state. Probably not able to now. However, since DS2 and Kathleen, both in their mid 30’s want to start a family as soon as they are married, we may have to have the large reception for a baptism instead. It is too bad, both DS2 and FDIL were really looking forward to having a big wedding bash. At least if the restaurant cancels, they should get their huge deposits back. And they had all the fun of planning it.
Here is the best part:
DD1 HAS FORBIDDEN US TO ATTEND OUR SON’S WEDDING FOR FEAR OF EXPOSURE TO COVID!
DH and I laughed merrily when he told me her restriction! Then we proceeded to diss her with multiple remembrances of her past misdeeds and annoying remarks throughout the years. It cheered us up. We don’t pay any attention to her restrictions anyway. She is incredibly bossy and know it all. That is why although she is our eldest child DS1 is our Executor. She is furious that he and then DS2 have end of life decision power. DH and I certainly don’t intend to remain plugged in as vegetables with her at the plug! LOL
DD1 is the one who consistently declares that we are not allowed to move to Texas. I have no idea where she got the idea that we listen to her prohibitions or rules! We never have and never will. Luckily, during the Covid quarantine she has hardly called us and doesn’t come to visit us often, We are not “allowed” to have the children inside our house and we can’t go in hers because of possibility of infection! We ignore her, of course. This behavior has prompted DH to decide that moving to Texas will not be a problem since she doesn’t visit us or even call us when we are not babysitting the grandchildren although we live 1.5 miles away! On the other hand, our grandchildren’s distress at our eventual move is genuine grief. Maybe they can come for summers and we can attempt to reverse their parents’ bad decisions on child rearing. LOL We do love her, but she is very annoying.
As soon as DS2 and FDIL get married, DD2 and STBFSIL will be toddling down to the courthouse to get married as well. No big wedding for DD2 because she just discovered she is 2 months pregnant. She has had health issues over the past year which resulted in not having her monthly cycle. Her doctor said she probably could not get pregnant so like the idiots they are, they stopped using birth control. Neither of them has much common sense as I have mentioned before. DD2 actually thought she was in the midst of a terrible gastric attack (she has had stomach problems since she was a child – part of her FAS birth defects along with seizures) and went to the doctor where a routine pregnancy test gave her the news. While she would normally be thrilled with the thought of having a baby, she is so sick that she has been in the hospital twice in the past week since finding out she was pregnant due to constant vomiting. Since I am an exceptional mother, I am supportive of her. I only think it serves her right in the privacy of my own mind and on these posts! LOL DH is not happy with STBFSIL or his baby girl, while DD1 is livid that her little sister has been “so stupid”. Everyone else seems content to let them live as they please. After all, she has been living with STBFSIL (Doofus) for over 2 years now. It was only a matter of time. We kept telling them to get married, but they had the joint custody issues and were worried that if they got married the baby mama would ask for more child support based on Kassy’s additional income. Since we are a community property state that happens a lot. The joint custody seems settled now so they will get married as soon as DS2 and FDIL tie the knot. And as soon as DD2 can stand up without puking.
First ER trip was an allergic reaction to the nausea medications her doctor had given her last week when she found out she was pregnant. Stroke like symptoms resulting in complete rigidity of one side of the body and then her jaw and throat clenched. Benedryl in the ER resolved those symptoms but even switching to another anti-nausea med did not help. DD2 went to the ER last night vomiting blood. The ER says she has probably torn her stomach from the constancy and violence of her vomiting. I haven’t told her, but I wonder if she will last out the pregnancy. Hopeful the nausea will diminish in another month or so.
Anyway, I will send out an announcement of their marriage to relatives when they get married after DS2’s and FDIL’s wedding. I am not going to steal DS2’s and FDIL’s thunder with a marriage announcement right before their long-planned wedding. DD2 will have to wait and have a courthouse wedding which she had always said she was happy with, followed by a small reception at home. It will be small since Doofus has almost no relatives with whom he is on good terms, and DD2 has only our family. DD1 and I wanted her to have the white dress, attendants, and walk down the aisle on DH’s arm. Not happening though so get over it DD1!
On to happier things. NOT the garden. That is still a source of pain to me. DH’s single baby corn continues to grow however.
Tomorrow we weigh the lambs again. I will paint mark the ram lambs. On Wednesday we take the ram lambs to the auction. Then we turn the ewes out with the chosen ram for breeding. 3 of them will go to Axtel while the new ewe I bought from Paul Lewis will go to good ol’ Lewis for breeding.
Axtell had some unusual scurs when I bought him. They didn’t look like scurs, rather like rounded bony protuberances on his skull. They were rather large too. The other day while checking on that pen of sheep, I noticed that one was missing! He looks normal now – on one side - and the bone scar is small. Interesting. I plan to watch his lambs carefully this year because I don’t think I am going to keep him in my flock. His last lambs grew very slowly and were small. His bloodlines are very good, but I think he is more inclined to produce slow growing show stock while I need fast growing market animals. Moyboy’s lambs grew well so he can stay. I have 3 ewes similar in lines to Axtell so I can dispense with him and replace him with another Lewis ram. I think I will put together a starter herd for sale since I want to separate out the bloodlines that definitely work for me. All my sheep are nice and have excellent bloodlines, but some of them I have a greater liking for due to their progeny and rate of growth. And of course, there is 8040, the Knee Fixer, who must remain no matter what. Luckily, she is one who produces large growthy lambs.
Remember my complaints about DH and his reluctance to bring in winter hay at cheap prices? Now he has decided that he will roof over the space between the 2 Connexes and enclose the 2 exposed sides. That will be the new hayshed. ????? I thought I had suggested that before.
Men, they have to come to it in their own time and believe it is their own idea. I kept quiet and admired him for his foresight in placing the Connexes close enough together to make it an easy to shelter space. So clever of him! I thought that is what DH planned, but DS1 says DH originally planned it for a tractor shed. Since our old tractor has sat out its entire lifetime and we need hay storage, DH has decided to make it into a hay shed! He is actually a mastermind, just has to wrap his head around the many projects floating around on this property. He is still involved in his retaining wall behind the workshop. I think he has plans to turn the new flat area into a vegetable garden. Or maybe just a small cornfield. He is enthralled with his baby corn. I hope it survives. He told DS1 that he needs a water line there. DH mentioned he would need it to:
I just let DH putter along doing whatever he wants since eventually we will have to move all this stuff to TEXAS! I have been going through the Connexes again though. They have a lot of gaps on the shelves where we removed stuff for DD2 when she got her apartment. I am also going through stuff and finding more stuff to give to the different children or Salvation Army. This will empty more space in the Connexes which DH said he wanted to use for hay storage. Since they have no air vents though, now he is considering ordering another one WITH air vents. On the other hand, we could transfer all the shelves with building supplies that are in the old block wall milk shed into the airless Connexes and store several tons of hay in the milkshed instead. It has plenty of air flow. The choices are endless, only teetering on the cusp of how much work we want to put in. However, storing 3-4 tons of hay in the old milk shed, as well as 2 tons in the barn, and building a 20’ x 20’ hay shed between the Connexes would give us enough storage space for a winter’s worth of hay without buying another Connex.
Since every republican and conservative in the world is apparently planning to move to Texas, we may be stuck with southeast Oklahoma due to property prices and taxes. No offense to OK since we have not checked it out like we have TX. We hope to sell our Yelm property and maybe our Ft. Worth rental to buy our ranch without selling this place. That way we could move all our farm equipment, fencing, etc. to the new place and have it ready for the sheep and dogs when we make our move. Oh, and rabbits. In the meantime, DS2 and FDIL would live here and pay the expenses while we get our new place fixed up. DS2 would like to buy this place but I really don’t want him tied to Los Angeles or California. And he would have to sink everything into a down payment even with us carrying a second. DH likes the idea, but I am not in favor. I still have hopes that the 2 younger boys may decide to move to Texas with us. DS3 and DIL love Texas and have investment property there already. DS2 has investment property there too but has never been. I am hoping that both sons and their spouses will vacation there and DS2 will fall in love with the state like we have.
We can dream . . . .
Well, back to sorting and disposing of items.
DD2 and FDIL may have to abandon plans for their fabulous wedding reception. The restaurant where it is scheduled has notified them that they may have to cut their contracted number of guests to less than 80. They booked for 200. The restaurant also said they may not be able to serve any food regardless depending on current quarantine rules. So much for thinking we had a date far enough in the future to avoid the Covid restrictions.
FDIL said they will still have the large church wedding but possibly only a small family reception if unable to have the large restaurant bash. Hopefully, since the restaurant will be cancelling the number of people they were booked for DD2 and FDIL can get back their deposits. We can have a “small” reception at our home – we can fit about 50-60 people on the patio and inside comfortably and rent additional tables and chairs. We culd accommodate more but need to leave the driveway clear to park cars on the field. We will just have a reception luncheon in the afternoon after the church wedding. No dancing or DJ I suppose which will make DS2 and FDIL sad, but you gotta roll with what life sends you. The invitations have not gone out yet, so we can print cards to go inside stating that the restaurant reception has been cancelled until after the Covid quarantine. We will do cards for the immediate family’s invitations with the address of the house and directions for the family reception which will follow the church wedding.
Since FDIL is from a large Filipino family, her immediate family numbers in the 40’s. Most of our older relatives are now dead so our immediate family numbers only about 20 or so. Many of the guests are out of town, many of the Filipino relatives were flying in from the Philipines and out of state. Probably not able to now. However, since DS2 and Kathleen, both in their mid 30’s want to start a family as soon as they are married, we may have to have the large reception for a baptism instead. It is too bad, both DS2 and FDIL were really looking forward to having a big wedding bash. At least if the restaurant cancels, they should get their huge deposits back. And they had all the fun of planning it.
Here is the best part:
DD1 HAS FORBIDDEN US TO ATTEND OUR SON’S WEDDING FOR FEAR OF EXPOSURE TO COVID!
DH and I laughed merrily when he told me her restriction! Then we proceeded to diss her with multiple remembrances of her past misdeeds and annoying remarks throughout the years. It cheered us up. We don’t pay any attention to her restrictions anyway. She is incredibly bossy and know it all. That is why although she is our eldest child DS1 is our Executor. She is furious that he and then DS2 have end of life decision power. DH and I certainly don’t intend to remain plugged in as vegetables with her at the plug! LOL
DD1 is the one who consistently declares that we are not allowed to move to Texas. I have no idea where she got the idea that we listen to her prohibitions or rules! We never have and never will. Luckily, during the Covid quarantine she has hardly called us and doesn’t come to visit us often, We are not “allowed” to have the children inside our house and we can’t go in hers because of possibility of infection! We ignore her, of course. This behavior has prompted DH to decide that moving to Texas will not be a problem since she doesn’t visit us or even call us when we are not babysitting the grandchildren although we live 1.5 miles away! On the other hand, our grandchildren’s distress at our eventual move is genuine grief. Maybe they can come for summers and we can attempt to reverse their parents’ bad decisions on child rearing. LOL We do love her, but she is very annoying.
As soon as DS2 and FDIL get married, DD2 and STBFSIL will be toddling down to the courthouse to get married as well. No big wedding for DD2 because she just discovered she is 2 months pregnant. She has had health issues over the past year which resulted in not having her monthly cycle. Her doctor said she probably could not get pregnant so like the idiots they are, they stopped using birth control. Neither of them has much common sense as I have mentioned before. DD2 actually thought she was in the midst of a terrible gastric attack (she has had stomach problems since she was a child – part of her FAS birth defects along with seizures) and went to the doctor where a routine pregnancy test gave her the news. While she would normally be thrilled with the thought of having a baby, she is so sick that she has been in the hospital twice in the past week since finding out she was pregnant due to constant vomiting. Since I am an exceptional mother, I am supportive of her. I only think it serves her right in the privacy of my own mind and on these posts! LOL DH is not happy with STBFSIL or his baby girl, while DD1 is livid that her little sister has been “so stupid”. Everyone else seems content to let them live as they please. After all, she has been living with STBFSIL (Doofus) for over 2 years now. It was only a matter of time. We kept telling them to get married, but they had the joint custody issues and were worried that if they got married the baby mama would ask for more child support based on Kassy’s additional income. Since we are a community property state that happens a lot. The joint custody seems settled now so they will get married as soon as DS2 and FDIL tie the knot. And as soon as DD2 can stand up without puking.
First ER trip was an allergic reaction to the nausea medications her doctor had given her last week when she found out she was pregnant. Stroke like symptoms resulting in complete rigidity of one side of the body and then her jaw and throat clenched. Benedryl in the ER resolved those symptoms but even switching to another anti-nausea med did not help. DD2 went to the ER last night vomiting blood. The ER says she has probably torn her stomach from the constancy and violence of her vomiting. I haven’t told her, but I wonder if she will last out the pregnancy. Hopeful the nausea will diminish in another month or so.
Anyway, I will send out an announcement of their marriage to relatives when they get married after DS2’s and FDIL’s wedding. I am not going to steal DS2’s and FDIL’s thunder with a marriage announcement right before their long-planned wedding. DD2 will have to wait and have a courthouse wedding which she had always said she was happy with, followed by a small reception at home. It will be small since Doofus has almost no relatives with whom he is on good terms, and DD2 has only our family. DD1 and I wanted her to have the white dress, attendants, and walk down the aisle on DH’s arm. Not happening though so get over it DD1!
On to happier things. NOT the garden. That is still a source of pain to me. DH’s single baby corn continues to grow however.
Tomorrow we weigh the lambs again. I will paint mark the ram lambs. On Wednesday we take the ram lambs to the auction. Then we turn the ewes out with the chosen ram for breeding. 3 of them will go to Axtel while the new ewe I bought from Paul Lewis will go to good ol’ Lewis for breeding.
Axtell had some unusual scurs when I bought him. They didn’t look like scurs, rather like rounded bony protuberances on his skull. They were rather large too. The other day while checking on that pen of sheep, I noticed that one was missing! He looks normal now – on one side - and the bone scar is small. Interesting. I plan to watch his lambs carefully this year because I don’t think I am going to keep him in my flock. His last lambs grew very slowly and were small. His bloodlines are very good, but I think he is more inclined to produce slow growing show stock while I need fast growing market animals. Moyboy’s lambs grew well so he can stay. I have 3 ewes similar in lines to Axtell so I can dispense with him and replace him with another Lewis ram. I think I will put together a starter herd for sale since I want to separate out the bloodlines that definitely work for me. All my sheep are nice and have excellent bloodlines, but some of them I have a greater liking for due to their progeny and rate of growth. And of course, there is 8040, the Knee Fixer, who must remain no matter what. Luckily, she is one who produces large growthy lambs.
Remember my complaints about DH and his reluctance to bring in winter hay at cheap prices? Now he has decided that he will roof over the space between the 2 Connexes and enclose the 2 exposed sides. That will be the new hayshed. ????? I thought I had suggested that before.
Men, they have to come to it in their own time and believe it is their own idea. I kept quiet and admired him for his foresight in placing the Connexes close enough together to make it an easy to shelter space. So clever of him! I thought that is what DH planned, but DS1 says DH originally planned it for a tractor shed. Since our old tractor has sat out its entire lifetime and we need hay storage, DH has decided to make it into a hay shed! He is actually a mastermind, just has to wrap his head around the many projects floating around on this property. He is still involved in his retaining wall behind the workshop. I think he has plans to turn the new flat area into a vegetable garden. Or maybe just a small cornfield. He is enthralled with his baby corn. I hope it survives. He told DS1 that he needs a water line there. DH mentioned he would need it to:
- Water his garden
- For his rabbits, because
I just let DH putter along doing whatever he wants since eventually we will have to move all this stuff to TEXAS! I have been going through the Connexes again though. They have a lot of gaps on the shelves where we removed stuff for DD2 when she got her apartment. I am also going through stuff and finding more stuff to give to the different children or Salvation Army. This will empty more space in the Connexes which DH said he wanted to use for hay storage. Since they have no air vents though, now he is considering ordering another one WITH air vents. On the other hand, we could transfer all the shelves with building supplies that are in the old block wall milk shed into the airless Connexes and store several tons of hay in the milkshed instead. It has plenty of air flow. The choices are endless, only teetering on the cusp of how much work we want to put in. However, storing 3-4 tons of hay in the old milk shed, as well as 2 tons in the barn, and building a 20’ x 20’ hay shed between the Connexes would give us enough storage space for a winter’s worth of hay without buying another Connex.
Since every republican and conservative in the world is apparently planning to move to Texas, we may be stuck with southeast Oklahoma due to property prices and taxes. No offense to OK since we have not checked it out like we have TX. We hope to sell our Yelm property and maybe our Ft. Worth rental to buy our ranch without selling this place. That way we could move all our farm equipment, fencing, etc. to the new place and have it ready for the sheep and dogs when we make our move. Oh, and rabbits. In the meantime, DS2 and FDIL would live here and pay the expenses while we get our new place fixed up. DS2 would like to buy this place but I really don’t want him tied to Los Angeles or California. And he would have to sink everything into a down payment even with us carrying a second. DH likes the idea, but I am not in favor. I still have hopes that the 2 younger boys may decide to move to Texas with us. DS3 and DIL love Texas and have investment property there already. DS2 has investment property there too but has never been. I am hoping that both sons and their spouses will vacation there and DS2 will fall in love with the state like we have.
We can dream . . . .
Well, back to sorting and disposing of items.
farmerjan
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If things keep going sideways, you might have to just pick up and leave for Texas sooner rather than later.... CA is getting so nutty that everytime I hear something else, I just wonder what dope they are smoking this time. Now they want to "OUTLAW" .... like make it ILLEGAL to homeschool your kids?????
I know that I could never take the Texas heat.... but it sounds like that is really where you need to be headed and HEADED THERE YESTERDAY...... Sell out and get out while you still can. Plans can be changed, and you might not be able to get sold out to move if the state gets too insane.
If you read my journal, you know I am in the process of buying a house on 2 acres at a very reasonable price for this area. Needs some work, but not a huge amount. But VA is about going nuts too, and looking at TN just over the border from VA is starting to seem smarter. At least the TN gov, and the whole area , seems to believe in the independent, self made self sufficient person there to take care of themselves and to allow others to do so. Have often thought that the mountains in NC were pretty too. Good thing is, the VA gov can only serve one term.... and maybe we will get back some sensible people in office. Problem is we are getting all the IDIOTS from DC and many from up in NY, NJ, and liberal nuts from New England down here. I am a New England Yankee and not ashamed of it.... But I have nothing in common with the liberal nutcases up there. We were from working, farming, blue collar, red necked, real people. Don't know what happened to that old stock.... maybe they have just died out like the DODO bird....
I know that I could never take the Texas heat.... but it sounds like that is really where you need to be headed and HEADED THERE YESTERDAY...... Sell out and get out while you still can. Plans can be changed, and you might not be able to get sold out to move if the state gets too insane.
If you read my journal, you know I am in the process of buying a house on 2 acres at a very reasonable price for this area. Needs some work, but not a huge amount. But VA is about going nuts too, and looking at TN just over the border from VA is starting to seem smarter. At least the TN gov, and the whole area , seems to believe in the independent, self made self sufficient person there to take care of themselves and to allow others to do so. Have often thought that the mountains in NC were pretty too. Good thing is, the VA gov can only serve one term.... and maybe we will get back some sensible people in office. Problem is we are getting all the IDIOTS from DC and many from up in NY, NJ, and liberal nuts from New England down here. I am a New England Yankee and not ashamed of it.... But I have nothing in common with the liberal nutcases up there. We were from working, farming, blue collar, red necked, real people. Don't know what happened to that old stock.... maybe they have just died out like the DODO bird....
Senile_Texas_Aggie
Herd Master
- Thread starter
- #1,158
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Farmerjan: I thought you were planning to buy across the state line already due to the liberal changes in VA. I have been reading your posts and thought that was one reason (aside from a horrible landlord) that was driving the move.
First, my apologies to everyone for my rant about DD1.
Second, my apologies for anything else I said that was inappropriate.
Third, I am beginning to feel the burden of this quarantine!
Fourth, I am now beginning to worry about the health risks of wearing masks – increased dental disease and mask breath.
It is making me depressed and is taking away all desire to do ANYTHING! All I want to do lately is sit and watch television, although NOT THE NEWS! I still have to finish DGD1’s bedroom but will not be going over there for at least another week – see rant about DD1 referred to in the first point above.
Instead I am concentrating on BBC detective shows with a smattering of British sit coms. Luckily from my years in Europe, 2 years in an Irish boarding school, and decades of reading British authors, I speak British. When DH listens with me I often have to translate. Lately he has learned terms such as “boot”, “bonnet”, “flat”, etc. although some of the more obscure idioms are still a mystery for him. And when it comes to those British mysteries that are set in areas of heavy scent and dialect, such as Scotland, Northumberland, and the Shetland Isles, he is lost again. Not to mention the Hercules Poirot mysteries with the little Belgian detective set in a completely different time period. Between his bad hearing and the myriad accents, foreign languages are hard for him. However, he refuses to have the subtitles run underneath preferring to absorb true British in immersion mode.
Today we will sort out the lambs and weigh them. I will mark the 2 rams for convenience and they and their mamas will stay in the jug overnight. Last time we loaded them in the trailer and their mothers screamed all night keeping me awake. DH with his hearing problems snored blissfully through the cacophony. We need to replace a crayon on Axtell. Then we must put a harness and crayon on Lewis. Lewis will get the lovely Lewis ewe I just bought, while the other 3 ewes will go down to Axtell. Moyboy will be removed from the flock in another week and the field flock separated for 4 weeks from any other rams. Then I will turn in Lewis with everyone as a catch-up ram. Any ewes not bred by Moyboy during his several months with them will be covered by Lewis after the 4 week separation. If there are very many misses, which I doubt, Moyboy will be for the auction block.
I need to call the auction barn today and find out what prices are currently. I have several standing orders for freezer lambs but would prefer to fill them this winter. The lambs grow faster on less feed when they can forage. I need $$ now for winter hay purchases. We can fit another 2-3 tons in our current shed and barn.
DH has been chastised for feeding the field sheep before releasing them to the field to graze.
He “felt sorry for them” having to eat the dry brush, apparently forgetting why we had them in the first place! Both DS1 and I pointed out that they did not need to be fed extra. DS1 gives them 2 flakes at night for 12 sheep after they graze all day. They have a condition score of 3+. When DH told us that they kept coming up to him and crying we just stared at him, then explain that was because they knew a soft touch when they saw one. Since they now are congregating around Josie and her feeder in the mornings, we figure that DH has stopped feeding them in the morning. DH was complaining that the sheep did not seem to be eating the remaining forage on the hill and thought maybe it was too dry for them! 
It is a good thing sheep don’t drive or he would loan them the car! The big softie!
DD2 will be coming over today for several hours with her stepdaughter. She has asked us to help watch Maysie while she rests because she is either exhausted and falling asleep or throwing up. How well I remember those days! I was working as a legal secretary. One day I went to the bathroom and woke up with my head on the toilet paper roll drooling. I had been in there asleep for half an hour. After that I made sure to have someone come after me and make sure I woke up! Ah the good old days of pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing. Have I mentioned I really enjoy old age? Except for the aches and pains. Oh yes, and eventual approaching death.
First, my apologies to everyone for my rant about DD1.
Second, my apologies for anything else I said that was inappropriate.
Third, I am beginning to feel the burden of this quarantine!
Fourth, I am now beginning to worry about the health risks of wearing masks – increased dental disease and mask breath.
It is making me depressed and is taking away all desire to do ANYTHING! All I want to do lately is sit and watch television, although NOT THE NEWS! I still have to finish DGD1’s bedroom but will not be going over there for at least another week – see rant about DD1 referred to in the first point above.
Instead I am concentrating on BBC detective shows with a smattering of British sit coms. Luckily from my years in Europe, 2 years in an Irish boarding school, and decades of reading British authors, I speak British. When DH listens with me I often have to translate. Lately he has learned terms such as “boot”, “bonnet”, “flat”, etc. although some of the more obscure idioms are still a mystery for him. And when it comes to those British mysteries that are set in areas of heavy scent and dialect, such as Scotland, Northumberland, and the Shetland Isles, he is lost again. Not to mention the Hercules Poirot mysteries with the little Belgian detective set in a completely different time period. Between his bad hearing and the myriad accents, foreign languages are hard for him. However, he refuses to have the subtitles run underneath preferring to absorb true British in immersion mode.
Today we will sort out the lambs and weigh them. I will mark the 2 rams for convenience and they and their mamas will stay in the jug overnight. Last time we loaded them in the trailer and their mothers screamed all night keeping me awake. DH with his hearing problems snored blissfully through the cacophony. We need to replace a crayon on Axtell. Then we must put a harness and crayon on Lewis. Lewis will get the lovely Lewis ewe I just bought, while the other 3 ewes will go down to Axtell. Moyboy will be removed from the flock in another week and the field flock separated for 4 weeks from any other rams. Then I will turn in Lewis with everyone as a catch-up ram. Any ewes not bred by Moyboy during his several months with them will be covered by Lewis after the 4 week separation. If there are very many misses, which I doubt, Moyboy will be for the auction block.
I need to call the auction barn today and find out what prices are currently. I have several standing orders for freezer lambs but would prefer to fill them this winter. The lambs grow faster on less feed when they can forage. I need $$ now for winter hay purchases. We can fit another 2-3 tons in our current shed and barn.
DH has been chastised for feeding the field sheep before releasing them to the field to graze.
He “felt sorry for them” having to eat the dry brush, apparently forgetting why we had them in the first place! Both DS1 and I pointed out that they did not need to be fed extra. DS1 gives them 2 flakes at night for 12 sheep after they graze all day. They have a condition score of 3+. When DH told us that they kept coming up to him and crying we just stared at him, then explain that was because they knew a soft touch when they saw one. Since they now are congregating around Josie and her feeder in the mornings, we figure that DH has stopped feeding them in the morning. DH was complaining that the sheep did not seem to be eating the remaining forage on the hill and thought maybe it was too dry for them! It is a good thing sheep don’t drive or he would loan them the car! The big softie!DD2 will be coming over today for several hours with her stepdaughter. She has asked us to help watch Maysie while she rests because she is either exhausted and falling asleep or throwing up. How well I remember those days! I was working as a legal secretary. One day I went to the bathroom and woke up with my head on the toilet paper roll drooling. I had been in there asleep for half an hour. After that I made sure to have someone come after me and make sure I woke up! Ah the good old days of pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing. Have I mentioned I really enjoy old age? Except for the aches and pains. Oh yes, and eventual approaching death.
Bruce
Herd Master
That might make working the land with her son just a WEE bit difficult.
farmerjan
Herd Master
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Moving across the state line is a very good possibility in the future. Especially if things with this gf continue.... but this house was too good an opportunity to pass up at the price, to get me out of the rental..... and with the ankle replacement doing so good, and the knees looking like they are desperately needing to be done, being here for another couple of years might be better. I am still not happy with the liberal BS that is coming from Richmond.
Talking to the friend about the wood stove the other day, and listening to some of the comments he made about how things are "trending" has made me think about it again. The thing is, we are still somewhat rural here, and the access to the interstate makes it very attractive to outsiders.... especially the idiots from DC and other "cities". So this place will still be "saleable" even if things get a little crazy.... and the real "boondocks" will be "closed" to liberal nut cases, but will be more accessible to people who demonstrate a belief in self-sufficiency, independence, and "God, guns, and glory". It will also give me alot more equity for a move to more land and privacy.
West Va has invited a couple of counties bordering it to "secede" and join WVA. Several counties down in the most sw tip of Va have said they ought to secede to Tenn and the gov there said "come on"... I don't see it happening.... yet things that are happening now I never thought would.... so I don't rule anything out.
I just had to get out of the rental and the stupider stuff the landlord keeps coming up with..... and being able to save 150 a month or more difference between a rent payment and an equity building payment of a mortgage, is a no brainer. But if I am going to do the knee replacements within the next year or 2 then I need to be where I can have friends, and family (son) to help out for a few months.
Talking to the friend about the wood stove the other day, and listening to some of the comments he made about how things are "trending" has made me think about it again. The thing is, we are still somewhat rural here, and the access to the interstate makes it very attractive to outsiders.... especially the idiots from DC and other "cities". So this place will still be "saleable" even if things get a little crazy.... and the real "boondocks" will be "closed" to liberal nut cases, but will be more accessible to people who demonstrate a belief in self-sufficiency, independence, and "God, guns, and glory". It will also give me alot more equity for a move to more land and privacy.
West Va has invited a couple of counties bordering it to "secede" and join WVA. Several counties down in the most sw tip of Va have said they ought to secede to Tenn and the gov there said "come on"... I don't see it happening.... yet things that are happening now I never thought would.... so I don't rule anything out.
I just had to get out of the rental and the stupider stuff the landlord keeps coming up with..... and being able to save 150 a month or more difference between a rent payment and an equity building payment of a mortgage, is a no brainer. But if I am going to do the knee replacements within the next year or 2 then I need to be where I can have friends, and family (son) to help out for a few months.
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