Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

Baymule: I always respect your opinion.

I agree that Angel would produce excellent guardian dogs. And we would love to have puppies from Angel and Bubba, but I can get wonderful dogs from my friend who bred Rika Bubba, and Angel's mother. The price I pay for them has nothing to do with their registration papers, but everything to do with their guarding background. My friend, Erick, knows all their generations of ability, x-rays and tests them for medical/genetic problems, gives them early training, and is my backup and go-to guy for behavior problems. That is what I pay for. (Although he would help anyone with behavior problems in Anatolians or other guardian breeds.)

The main thing for me now is that raising a litter of good guardian puppies is EXPENSIVE. By the time I have Angel x-rayed, feed her during pregnancy, feed her during lactation, feed the growing litter, it will cost me as much as the check I will write to Erick! And with his experience he can judge how the puppies will turn out, what their guardian abilities will be, choose the right puppy for me, and begin the puppy's training himself.

AND THE HARDEST PART OF BREEDING DOGS IS FINDING GOOD BUYERS FOR MY PUPPIES! In good livestock homes. With people that actually know how to train livestock guardian dogs properly, understand all their peculiar behaviors, and not punish them for behaviors that the owners don't understand. Here in Southern California there are not so many people wanting LGDs so you have to weed out the people that want a pet from those wanting a working dog. And most people don't listen to your instructions on care and training. They think Anatolians are just big sweet dogs that can be trained like any other dog. Then they come back and complain or the dog bites someone and is put down because the owners were not willing to learn about this breed and their total protectiveness. I guess I am just over protective of any puppy I sell. I have a policy to take back any dog I breed. Here in So CA I can only have a certain number of dogs on the property which makes keeping extra puppies and any returned dogs difficult.

Oh yes, and while it is not that important since we have a small place and 2 other trained Anatolians, she will be out of commission during a month of her late pregnancy and early lactation. Plus I will have to keep Rika away from Angel's whelping box area to avoid any fights. Bubba is less important in this regard since most Anatolian bitches will allow male Anatolians to "babysit" older pups. Surprisingly, male Anatolians like puppies and are very gentle with them, allowing them to crawl all over them, play with them. etc. In fact, male Anatolians are gentler and more patient with puppies than the pups own mothers! LOL She would whelp in the barn and my lambing jugs will be full around the time she would need a whelping area.

When we move to Texas, I promised Erick that I will do occasional breeding. He will take the pups at 3 months to place them He has a waiting list for pups and the huge weight of responsibility for proper placement will be off my shoulders.

Back to the Yelm property. Yesterday evening at 7:27 pm we cancelled with that horrible buyer and this morning at 9:18 am received a full price offer, no inspection (of course it has already passed 2 inspections), and a closing date of May 24. Another buyer is coming out tomorrow to look as well. Our agent, Jerry is asking if they want to come out and possibly submit a backup offer. We will accept this offer - "A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush" after all. While a bidding war would be nice (pure unadulterated greed on my part showing here!) I am happy with the full price offer and being able to finish the business. Hope it goes through.

DS1 left Thursday for Reno to enjoy a visit with his college buddy. DS2 and DDIL2 are both gone. We did have to pick up the grandkids from school on Thursday and Friday and keep them until around 6pm. They did their homework, then went and played. The house has been very quiet without everyone here. No huge meals to prepare and cleanup after. I have realized we can get by with a much smaller house when we move to Texas. Although we will miss our kids and grandkids, we won't need a huge house for entertaining everyone (or for housing everyone). I mentioned that to DH and he was not too happy about a smaller house, but he doesn't clean so . . . . A nice large living room, sizeable kitchen with a large dining area, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and laundry room would be plenty. The 3rd bedroom would be used as an office. We could install a Murphy bed if necessary for guests. The house is so quiet and peaceful with everyone gone. I really didn't realize how much noise and confusion there was here all the time! Right now we have 5 bedrooms - all occupied, a 20 x 20 family room, large kitchen with eating area, and another formal living room and dining room which is seldom used but has all my valuable fragile heirloom stuff in it, the large laundry/utility room with 2 freezers, large refrigerator, and storage. I would like to give lots of those items to my children now but they don't seem to be that interested. I wanted to give my DD1 some antique needlepoint pictures and the framed Dresden 3D picture that my grandmother had in her room all my life but she declined. "Not her style". 7 year old DGD1 loved them and they went up in her room If they break, at least DGD1 loves them now and is enjoying them. I told DH that we could store a bunch of our stuff if necessary until DS2 and DDIL2 have their own place. Some of my lovely things I will take to the consignment store in Palm Springs. Most of the paintings, and a lot of my favorite items will come with me to Texas eventually.

Heading out to plant my tomatoes. Asked DH, without much hope, if he knew where the tomato cages were and HE DID! I will go out and get them in the ground this weekend so when (IF) we actually get rain on Monday they will get a nice soaking. I have to space them properly since sometimes I put them too close and then I have a hard time getting into the bushes for picking. I was able to get my favorites this year - Better Boy. Also got a couple Big Boy and 2 other beefsteak type that I put in the cart before finding the Better Boys. Mostly got Crookneck squash sets. Only one set of zuchini plants. The Crookneck come on earlier then finish sooner. They are our favorites. If we have to go to Texas for the month of June, I suppose we will miss most of the Crookneck squash, but the tomatoes and zuchini will go on through August and September. DDIL2 will pick them and water. If she can't, DH asked Miguel to do it and he will.

Just remembered - stopped my planting work to look on line for a garden electric fence! Forgot all about it when I saw the offer on Yelm.

 

[farmerjan]

So glad that you are done with the idiots on the Yelm property... and have another offer in hand. Sure, let them show it to the backup people.... Maybe have a bidding war if you don't commit to the full price offer yet.... but I understand the bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush. Sure hope one of them goes through.... and to be done.

I get the puppy thing, and with you going to be moving, you are better off to get one from Eric, then if all goes well, be able to raise a few for him to sell in the future... That sounds more practical at this point.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a closing...

 

[Ridgetop]

Thanks, Farmerjan!
Hopefully you will finally get finished moving soon!

 

[Baymule]

I didn’t think about the tribulations of finding qualified buyers for the puppies in your location. I see your point. I got called out for saying city idiots on another thread, but it’s the truth. You certainly have more than your share of those. I guess if they don’t live in a city, they are dumb rednecks. LOL LOL Either sub group of humans wouldn’t know what to do with an Anatolian. And you are limited to the number of dogs you can have? On 5 acres? Gheesh.

I spay and neuter because I don’t want to raise puppies. But then, my dogs are nowhere near the dogs you have. I recognize that and don’t add to the backyard breeders churning out puppies.

I have great respect for Eric, have never met the man, but would like to someday. If he has offered to take puppies and place them for you, that’s a deal.

How wonderful to get rid of the first set of buyers with their outlandish demands. Now you have a real buyer that knows how to buy a house and knows the value of the house and property. @farmerjan you said IDIOTS! Ummmm I’m telling on you! Nah! Nah! Nah! Nah!

Speaking of calling names, a certain failed presidential candidate called me (as a certain group of people) deplorable along with a string of other names. Recently the very President himself called Texans (that would be me again) yes, he called us Neanderthals. Do I complain, whine or mumbly mouth about name calling? No. Why? Because......

I am PROUD TO BE A DEPLORABLE NEANDERTHAL

 

[Ridgetop]

ME TOO! and I have a coffee mug that says so!

 

[Ridgetop]

Well yesterday I managed to get out and plant 3 tomatoes and 3 hills of crookneck. First I had to climb into the raised planter bed and shovel the pile of dirt around to even it out. Luckily DH had thoughtfully moved the mounting block over next to the raised bed. Then I had to keep getting out of the planter, to get all the items I forgot to bring with me. A trowel, bone meal, wooden matches, and of course the plants. I can't keep these items handy because of the dogs, particularly Angel who likes to eat strange items. Although, I admit, eating a bag of blood meal and another of bone meal is within the realms of probability since that is what they are made of. Eating the plants is not good though, and something had eaten one of the squash plants. I put 3 matches into the planting hole on my tomatoes. A long time ago I was told to do it this way, so I still do although I think the bone meal that I use gives them enough phosphorus. It is a lucky charm. The matches were tricky to find since zo could not remember exactly where I had hidden them. DH likes to chew the end of matches so we hide the wooden matches from him to avoid having to pick up chewed matches all over the house. After a fruitless hunt throughout all the kitchen cabinets, I finally found them in the dining room buffet. ??? Once I got the tomatoes planted, I had to get the "collars" - pieces of plastic bender board that I put around them to help hold the water around the plants. So out of the raised planter bed, down the mounting block and off to find the "collars" in the garden shed. Next I had to bring over the tomato cages. These are large rolls of 6" x 6" concrete wire that I have made into 4' high tomato cages. I still have 3 that Daddy made me years ago that are heavier wire and 5' high. Since these tomatoes were going into the raised planter bed I decided that the 4' cages would do. I still have another 3 tomatoes to plant in the narrow bed along with the 2 zuchini plants so I decided to keep the taller cages for those. After bringing them from the field and over to the raised bed in the front lawn area, I needed to find the stakes that I use to anchor them into the ground. I use plastic edging stakes and tent stakes. Having found those, I returned to the raised bed and climbed up again, knelt down to push in the stakes around the bottom of the cages, only to stagger to my feet and climb out of the planter to get a hammer since the ground was hard to push the stakes into.

Still with me? This planting of 3 tomatoes took about 2 hours. Most of the extra time was due to having to kneel down, get up, and climb in and out of the raised planter bed. On the mounting block.

Next I planted the 3 hills of squash. I already had the collars out of the shed but, of course, had to get down from the planter bed to bring them over to the squash hills. This time I brought all 3 at once. Then climbed back in. But wait, after placing the collars around the plants I decided to make cages around the squash hills. If the dogs decided to leap into the raised bed, over the guard railings, to dig up the plants they would be foiled.

Back to the area where DH had stored the tomato cages and get the pieces of wire caging we had used for the ill-fated horse trough gardens. For this, I needed the cage pliers and cage clips or hog rings. We had used them last spring when making the cages for the horse troughs, but where had they gone? Another hour was spent looking for them. I never found them, although I am sure that I boxed them up and put them in a secure place! I did find an old roll of green garden wire which I decided to use to attach the ends of the panels together. In order to made these pieces of wire fit around the squash, I had to fold the wire panels in half. Cutting them apart would have made them too small and I would have had to attach the panels together anyway. Laying the panel flat on the lawn I tried to bend it in half. Not happening. OK, I was not beaten, tired, but not beaten. Lifting the 2" x 12" board that DH had placed on top of the raised bed wall (he used it to wheel the wheelbarrows full of soil up and into the bed) I slid the panel under it. Kneeling on the board I pulled the panel up and over the board forming a nice straight fold. Much easier with the board holding the wire panel down. Three more times and I had the sides of 3 triangular cages for the squash hills. Now I just needed 3 more sides. I had to cut apart some panels for those, so another trip down the stairs to the tool shed for the bolt cutters. Then I decided I might need some pliers and a small wire cutter so went back into the laundry room for those. After cutting the panels apart I could finally crawl up into the raised bed and wire the sides of the cages together. Yes, I said CRAWL. Remember I am . By now I was no longer feeling in the "prime of life". LOL

I wired the cages together and situated them. But not done yet. Now I had to water the plants in with Vitamin B. Like an idiot I toted the large watering can from the other side of the patio filled with water and Vita B to the raised bed, climbed in, and watered plant #1. I repeated this 6 times. 1 can each, climbing in and out each time to refill the watering can. After doing all that work, I realized that I had a water source in the raised bed. Can anyone say "STUPID!"? I connected it up and gave the entire bed a good watering. Although it was supposed to rain today, you can never trust the blackest clouds that float over the Valley.

Next I should have planted the 2 lantanas, 2 lavenders, and the small 6 packs of marigolds too, but while putting away my equipment and tools I noticed that I was staggering and unable to walk in a straight line. Unfortunately it was not due to imbibing adult beverages. I also noticed that my bad knee kept trying to collapse. I decided to stop for the day and take a shower instead. I was shocked to see that it was now 6:00 pm! I had taken 7 hours to do that little bit of planting! Of course, most of the time was wandering around fetching tools and climbing in and out of a 3' high raised planter.

This morning DS1 and I took Angel to her "procedure". She jumped into the car but Bubba kept trying to shove her aside and get in himself! If anyone has a ginormous male dog that wont load in the car, just take him to the vet and have his sperm collected about 8 times. DS1 says when we say "vet" Bubba hears "sex worker"!

When we returned, I went right out and took down the protective garden fence around the flower bed where the lavender was to go. l I had originally bought the lantana for the front hillside, but decided to put it in that flower bed too. It is under an eave so doesn't get much water without irrigation and I have to put in drought tolerant plants. There were already a couple small Spanish lavenders and a rosemary hanging on. I stuck the lantanas and lavenders in the vacant spots and then planted most of the marigolds in front. Next, I decided to plant the large gallon sweet mint in a planter and put the last 5 marigolds around it. Then I put the fencing back and once again, watered everything with the watering can and Vita B solution. Since the hose is right next to this bed it was not a problem. Once everything was watered in with the Vita B, I set the sprinkler on very low and watered in the entire bed.


Now for the disappointing part. I went to water the tomatoes again and ONE OF THE LARGEST TOMATO PLANTS HAD BEEN NIBBLED! AAARGH!!! This evening when he feeds he is going to set up the Squirrelinator in the raised bed. Tomatoes are a member of the Deadly Nightshade family which is why their leaves, stems and raw green tomatoes are poisonous. I am hoping that somewhere a ground squirrel is in his nest clutching his furry tummy and writhing in fatal torment. DS1 says don't bet on it.

DS1 is on his way to pick up Angel. He is also picking up a bale of shavings to spread in the jug to make a nice clean surface for her with her incision. The vet is sending home some mild tranquilizers to give her if she tries too hard to get out of the barn. Hopefully she will be ok. If necessary, we can put 1 or 2 of the lambs from the creep into the jugs next to her to keep her calm.

I spoke to my friend/2nd mother yesterday as I was recuperating from my labors. She will be 90 in May. I complained that I was exhausted after only planting 6 sets of plants. I said I could remember going with the truck, filling the bed with plants, and having them all in by suppertime. I blamed the Covid pandemic for making me so weak. She laughed hysterically and said "No, you are just older. And it goes down hill from here!" Sooo uplifting!

On Yelm:
Today escrow should have opened. The buyer has asked for a 30 day escrow. God willing, by the end of May we should be heading for Texas.

 

[Baymule]

That’s a LOT of work for 3 tomato plants and 3 hills of squash. Sore, tired muscles, to add insult to injury, a tomato plant is attacked by a squirrel. Hopefully you get the rewards of your labors, better get that squirrelinator set up!

what’s that B vitamins for?

YES! Close on Yelm!

 

[Ridgetop]

Vitamin B is just a liquid plant starter. Encourages root growth, and gives the plant a boost after being transplanted. My mom used to swear by it and she could break a dry twig off a dead tree, stick it in the ground, and in the morning a 6 foot tree would be standing there! Amazing what she could do with cuttings in a garden. I used to have the "thumb of death" but much better now.

And yes, it was TOO MUCH work. But you now how it is, spring comes and the urge to plant something is strong. I need to stay away from nurseries and the garden department in the spring! Tried to buy the electric garden net again this year and the first opportunity to order will be May 28. Out of stock till then. Can't order now - have to get on a list and be notified of when it comes in to order. I forgot to order it last winter, or maybe I was telling myself I wasn't going to plant anything.

I was at Hobby Lobby and the artificial lavender plants looked so real I was tempted to buy some and just stick them in the garden bed. They were half price which was about the same price as the live plants I bought to feed the ground squirrels. LOL

 

[HomeOnTheRange]

Congrats on Yelm!! I might have missed it, but where in Texas are you looking/moving? The Bay area?

I wish I could write like you and others on BYH. I get a reply out and I run out of words... Been lurking here for over 4 years now and keep telling myself I should start a journal at some point... Really like yours @Ridgetop

 

[farmerjan]

Not hard to just keep a running one sided conversation..... @Ridgetop is real good at it, and I tend to run on at the mouth sometimes.... The worst part is a couple of times I have accidently erased part or all of it when I hit the wrong key or something... so I often will post it and then try to write more so I don't lose a whole page.....