Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along
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Ridgetop
Herd Master
I unpacked all my moving boxes 30 years ago. The trouble is that I then used them to repack all the stuff that I store for my children (and myself). 2 Connex storage containers full. Oh, wait the old milkshed too. Almost forgot the workshop and its loft. And the loft in the barn. 
Hmmm. I think I need an intervention again. Bring wine.
Up to 10 ground squirrels now. DS1 checked with Amazon and the Ratinator won't arrive until September 1.
DS2 and FDIL will be home for Labor Day weekend and DS2's birthday. They are hoping to have the reception at The Odyssey after all with fewer people. It will be a lot cheaper since they originally booked 200 and now the restaurant has to hold it on the patio so only 80 people. However it will be much easier for us than doing it here. DS2 said that if we have it at our house that he would have to pay for the DJ and the cake. At the Odyssey those are both included, as well as the linens, china, flatware, and crystal which are included in the venue charge. I think it may come out to just a bit more than if we have to put it on ourselves with renting all the stuff and making the food, so not worth the effort of putting it on ourselves.
Particularly since I just realized we will be in the middle of lambing then and the dogs will be on high alert. Better not to have too many strangers around then. A lot of guests have told DS2 and FDIL they won't be coming due to virus so might not even have to change invitations to announcements.
Lots to do tomorrow. Now that the heat has broken I want to get the back patio cleaned off. All the tools and stuff from making our trough planters is still laying around. I need to pick it all up, toss some of the stuff out, and store the rest. Those trough planters have been a disappointment. We will plant in them this winter though to see if cool weather planting will make a difference. DS1 and I have made plans to dig out the rest of the area and level it off. Then we will build more planters with 2" x 12" boards with wire bottoms since the plants in those thrived, except for those pesky ground squirrels. however I plan to surround the entire area with an electric fence DH suggested wire but i pointed out that the ground squirrels could climb those wire fences. The electric garden fence has smaller holes and will zap them. Hopefully it might kill them, but if necessary we have our trusty Squirrelinator. Did you know that ground squirrels are very hard to kill with less than a .22 or shotgun? Apparently though, rats are even harder to kill than rabbits and ground squirrels! DS1 read that when researching air pistols.
Brought Rika and Bubba in tonight for family time. the doors were left open since the temps had gone down. They went out around 10:00 pm after something, probably coyotes. They circled the house and pastures for about an hour giving warnings, but it is quiet now. Such good puppies!
Hmmm. I think I need an intervention again. Bring wine.Up to 10 ground squirrels now. DS1 checked with Amazon and the Ratinator won't arrive until September 1.
DS2 and FDIL will be home for Labor Day weekend and DS2's birthday. They are hoping to have the reception at The Odyssey after all with fewer people. It will be a lot cheaper since they originally booked 200 and now the restaurant has to hold it on the patio so only 80 people. However it will be much easier for us than doing it here. DS2 said that if we have it at our house that he would have to pay for the DJ and the cake. At the Odyssey those are both included, as well as the linens, china, flatware, and crystal which are included in the venue charge. I think it may come out to just a bit more than if we have to put it on ourselves with renting all the stuff and making the food, so not worth the effort of putting it on ourselves.
Particularly since I just realized we will be in the middle of lambing then and the dogs will be on high alert. Better not to have too many strangers around then. A lot of guests have told DS2 and FDIL they won't be coming due to virus so might not even have to change invitations to announcements. Lots to do tomorrow. Now that the heat has broken I want to get the back patio cleaned off. All the tools and stuff from making our trough planters is still laying around. I need to pick it all up, toss some of the stuff out, and store the rest. Those trough planters have been a disappointment. We will plant in them this winter though to see if cool weather planting will make a difference. DS1 and I have made plans to dig out the rest of the area and level it off. Then we will build more planters with 2" x 12" boards with wire bottoms since the plants in those thrived, except for those pesky ground squirrels. however I plan to surround the entire area with an electric fence DH suggested wire but i pointed out that the ground squirrels could climb those wire fences. The electric garden fence has smaller holes and will zap them. Hopefully it might kill them, but if necessary we have our trusty Squirrelinator. Did you know that ground squirrels are very hard to kill with less than a .22 or shotgun? Apparently though, rats are even harder to kill than rabbits and ground squirrels! DS1 read that when researching air pistols.
Brought Rika and Bubba in tonight for family time. the doors were left open since the temps had gone down. They went out around 10:00 pm after something, probably coyotes. They circled the house and pastures for about an hour giving warnings, but it is quiet now. Such good puppies!
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- #1,193
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Bad news and good news!
Bad News:
We just received the tax bill from Yelm WA. Our property has been reassessed again. Last year the assessment went up $27,000 and this year $35,000. This will add another $1000 annually on to our tax bill on my aunt's little house. It is being rented out but the tenant has not paid rent since March. The costs on keeping the house without a mortgage are about $500-600 a month. The tenant was only paying $1000 a month. His rent was $200 below market rent. He has now made up some back rent so he is paid through April - still 4 months in arrears. However, the governor has extended the eviction ban through October and will probably keep extending it through the end of the year. The tenant only has to offer to pay a token payment and we have to accept it. There is no dead line by when it must be caught up! We have been sympathetic up to now but now the lease is up and the tenant wants to stay in the house! Of course he won't be paying rent.
We called the management/realty company and we can only put him out if we sell the property. We can't afford to keep the property and let him keep living there for free since we have taxes, insurance, flood control, etc. to pay on the property, The situation has already cost us over $2400.00.
Good News:
Property values are up and climbing so we called the realty company and asked for a valuation to sell. Last time I checked on property values they were down. Now they are going up fast and property is selling fast. If we can get a decent price we will sell and buy a small ranch property in Texas on a 1031 Exchange. We will try to rent that property out until these weddings are over and babies born, and then move back late spring. I have been talking to DH about selling the Yelm property and rolling it into a ranch property. If necessary we can also sell our rental house in Fort Worth to come up with more $$ although our equity is not as high.
If we can find a ranch to buy and rent out the ranch house, we will bring our 5th wheel back and park it on the property. We can live in it while building barns, fencing, etc. Then we can put all our stuff in storage while we relocate with the sheep and dogs. Once there we can renovate the new ranch house.
Maybe we will get to Texas
after all.
Bad News:
We just received the tax bill from Yelm WA. Our property has been reassessed again. Last year the assessment went up $27,000 and this year $35,000. This will add another $1000 annually on to our tax bill on my aunt's little house. It is being rented out but the tenant has not paid rent since March. The costs on keeping the house without a mortgage are about $500-600 a month. The tenant was only paying $1000 a month. His rent was $200 below market rent. He has now made up some back rent so he is paid through April - still 4 months in arrears. However, the governor has extended the eviction ban through October and will probably keep extending it through the end of the year. The tenant only has to offer to pay a token payment and we have to accept it. There is no dead line by when it must be caught up! We have been sympathetic up to now but now the lease is up and the tenant wants to stay in the house! Of course he won't be paying rent.
We called the management/realty company and we can only put him out if we sell the property. We can't afford to keep the property and let him keep living there for free since we have taxes, insurance, flood control, etc. to pay on the property, The situation has already cost us over $2400.00.
Good News:
Property values are up and climbing so we called the realty company and asked for a valuation to sell. Last time I checked on property values they were down. Now they are going up fast and property is selling fast. If we can get a decent price we will sell and buy a small ranch property in Texas on a 1031 Exchange. We will try to rent that property out until these weddings are over and babies born, and then move back late spring. I have been talking to DH about selling the Yelm property and rolling it into a ranch property. If necessary we can also sell our rental house in Fort Worth to come up with more $$ although our equity is not as high.
If we can find a ranch to buy and rent out the ranch house, we will bring our 5th wheel back and park it on the property. We can live in it while building barns, fencing, etc. Then we can put all our stuff in storage while we relocate with the sheep and dogs. Once there we can renovate the new ranch house.
Maybe we will get to Texas
after all.
Bruce
Herd Master
I heard today that real estate sales are way up, seller's market.
- Thread starter
- #1,195
Ridgetop
Herd Master
And prices i Texas have been rising there for the past couple years which may make it harder for us to find a ranch that we can afford. If so, we may have to buy in southern Oklahoma. DH's sister and BIL moved to Idaho which a lot of people like. Who knows what God will send. Are we still young enough to relocate and get a ranch up and running? If we had more water here and a different California government, we would stay since we have our fencing, barn and sheds, and up set up done. On the other hand we don't want to spend money to do any more building if we are moving. We are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. I.e. the liberals and the Pacific! LOL All the west coast states are super liberal. "Go east, old folks" to misquote Horace Greeley. And then there are the plague of ground squirrels . . . . 
Gotta take more vitamins . . . and Prozac!
DH's sister and BIL moved to Idaho which a lot of people like. Who knows what God will send. Are we still young enough to relocate and get a ranch up and running? If we had more water here and a different California government, we would stay since we have our fencing, barn and sheds, and up set up done. On the other hand we don't want to spend money to do any more building if we are moving. We are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. I.e. the liberals and the Pacific! LOL All the west coast states are super liberal. "Go east, old folks" to misquote Horace Greeley. And then there are the plague of ground squirrels . . . . Gotta take more vitamins . . . and Prozac!
- Thread starter
- #1,196
Ridgetop
Herd Master
It has been unusually cool here for the past several days, 75-80 degrees, dropping to the high 60's at night. What a relief. We have opened the windows and turned off the AC.
DH is bringing in another load of hay today. FDIL is home for a week andDS2 will be coming home on Friday fr the holiday weekend. We can get to work on deciding about where to have the reception. I told FDIL that if we can have 80 people at the Odyssey, that it would be better to do it there. More people allowed and less work for us than having it here. Aldo they include a lot of stuff that we would have to pay extra for having it here. Maybe we can start addressing the invitations at that time. And the announcements for those unlucky enough not to get a seat. Many people have said they can't or won't come anyway.
Tomorrow the Ratinator shows up. DS1 thinks we may have gotten most of the larger ground squirrels. The bait gets completely consumed but no varmints are caught in the trap. Either we are down to small baby ground squirrels or RATS! We move on to STEP 2 in Varmint Eradication. Little dudes beware!
No, no, don't beware! Go into the nice safe trap. We won't hurt you. BWAA HA HA!
DH is bringing in another load of hay today. FDIL is home for a week andDS2 will be coming home on Friday fr the holiday weekend. We can get to work on deciding about where to have the reception. I told FDIL that if we can have 80 people at the Odyssey, that it would be better to do it there. More people allowed and less work for us than having it here. Aldo they include a lot of stuff that we would have to pay extra for having it here. Maybe we can start addressing the invitations at that time. And the announcements for those unlucky enough not to get a seat. Many people have said they can't or won't come anyway.
Tomorrow the Ratinator shows up.
DS1 thinks we may have gotten most of the larger ground squirrels. The bait gets completely consumed but no varmints are caught in the trap. Either we are down to small baby ground squirrels or RATS! We move on to STEP 2 in Varmint Eradication. Little dudes beware! No, no, don't beware! Go into the nice safe trap. We won't hurt you. BWAA HA HA!
- Thread starter
- #1,197
Ridgetop
Herd Master
The Ratinator arrived today!
Can't wait to see how many we can catch!
Can't wait to see how many we can catch!
Baymule
Herd Master
We need a picture of this fabulous contraption.
- Thread starter
- #1,199
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Ratinator 10 - rats 0!
THE RATINATOR!
Here is picture of box and information 
Successful catch!
THE SQUIRRELINATOR!
BWAA HAA HAA! 
THERE IS ALSO A CHIPMUNK VERSION AND SKUNK VERSION. 
DS1 warned us to stand back when he got the cage to dispose of them because of the fleas that might carry disease.
My DIL says they have the Squirrelinator for their ground squirrel problem in Nipomo and love it. We will give the Squirrelinator a rest until the ground squirrels have forgotten about it. We will now use the Ratinator for rats and mice and also the baby ground squirrels that managed to squeeze out of the Squirrelinator. In the immmortal words from 'Karate Kid' "NO MERCY!" Yes, I know the evil karate instructor said it, but the sentiment I have towards these pests is the same. "NO MERCY"
IN JUST A FEW DAYS, THE TOTAL CATCH WAS 11 GROUND SQUIRRELS AND 10 RATS! ALMOST ENOUGH FOR A FUR COAT. DH said he had no idea that there were that many of the creatures around! DS1 and I just stared at him in disbelief. If you go into the barn at night, or just look in through the windows from the driveway, they are running all around! You can hear them in the crawl space and attic every day and night too. Very loud. Ratinator trap will go into the attic and crawlspace next!
Is it too late to save the tomatoes? Still no ripe ones - all DH's corn has been chewed up - new crookneck squash plants making a valiant attempt to bloom and set more fruit. Will the tomatoes and squash survive? Will our villains munt another attack? Will our trusty superheroes, Squirrelinator and his sidekick Ratinator, withstand the assault? Tune in next week for the next episode of Superheroes Squirrelinator and Ratinator vs their Dastardly Foes!
THE RATINATOR!
Here is picture of box and information Successful catch!THE SQUIRRELINATOR!
BWAA HAA HAA! THERE IS ALSO A CHIPMUNK VERSION AND SKUNK VERSION. DS1 warned us to stand back when he got the cage to dispose of them because of the fleas that might carry disease.
My DIL says they have the Squirrelinator for their ground squirrel problem in Nipomo and love it. We will give the Squirrelinator a rest until the ground squirrels have forgotten about it. We will now use the Ratinator for rats and mice and also the baby ground squirrels that managed to squeeze out of the Squirrelinator. In the immmortal words from 'Karate Kid' "NO MERCY!" Yes, I know the evil karate instructor said it, but the sentiment I have towards these pests is the same. "NO MERCY"
IN JUST A FEW DAYS, THE TOTAL CATCH WAS 11 GROUND SQUIRRELS AND 10 RATS! ALMOST ENOUGH FOR A FUR COAT. DH said he had no idea that there were that many of the creatures around! DS1 and I just stared at him in disbelief. If you go into the barn at night, or just look in through the windows from the driveway, they are running all around! You can hear them in the crawl space and attic every day and night too. Very loud. Ratinator trap will go into the attic and crawlspace next!
Is it too late to save the tomatoes? Still no ripe ones - all DH's corn has been chewed up - new crookneck squash plants making a valiant attempt to bloom and set more fruit. Will the tomatoes and squash survive? Will our villains munt another attack? Will our trusty superheroes, Squirrelinator and his sidekick Ratinator, withstand the assault? Tune in next week for the next episode of Superheroes Squirrelinator and Ratinator vs their Dastardly Foes!
farmerjan
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Glad to read that it is working so well already.... they do carry more diseases and are the worst vermin.
