Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Baymule]

You always go through this clothing thing for your DH, it’s like a game with no rules! Haha! So easy to gain weight, so hard to lose it!
There is no such thing for y’all to take a simple trip. LOL

 

[Ridgetop]

I know. Next rime we shop and I see dress pants several sizes too big, I will just buy then and put them away. He has several pairs of good suspenders. Shirts are less of a problem since XXXXL are easier to come by. He has a wardrobe of "just for cruising" and "just for vacations" clothing because everything he has develops coffee stains food stains, grease stains or tears from working. Years ago, after returning from church, he went out and worked on the car in his best shirt and pants!!! At the time he only had 1 church suit. This is not a man who particularly cares what he wears and for special occasions expects me to magically produce properly fitting clothing. It is a good thing I love him dearly because otherwise . . . ?

However, he is a loving husband, wonderful father, adoring grandfather, good friend, and all around great guy so I just pretreat all his clothes before washing and hide his good stuff where he can't find it for daily use.

Now I just need to convince him to let me trim his hair and beard since he looks like an old trapper emerging from a winter snowed in up in the Rockies.

The trailer is hitched but there is a small problem. Apparently DH had the hitch replaced with one that will let the trailer ride level instead of on a slant. The truck is 4W drive so the trailer always tilted up in front. This was fine with me when hauling animals since the urine ran out the back instead of pooling and causing damage to the floorboards. Now that it is "fixed", the safety chin is too short to allow the truck and trailer to make any turns. I need to find several clevises to lengthen the safety chain. DH asked me where they are so I have to go into the milk shed and unpack the rabbit equipment where I put them. Luckily, I know where I stored them when I reorganized the tool shed. I also have to find the chains we use on the trailer to lock it. Last time DH tossed them into the barn where they disappeared under the hay bales. I swear if anything happens to me DH is in trouble. After 50 years of marriage he finally stopped asking me where his underwear lives! If he makes me really mad, I can move it to a different drawer and completely throw him!

So I have my list of what to pack and with the trailer in the driveway we can load. I asked DS1 to change the crayon on Axtell since I noticed yesterday that the 2 yearling ewes are coming into season. When we get back we will remove Axtell, wait 2 weeks, then put Lewis in the breeding pen with the next lot of ewes. DS1 will also turn out the weaned lambs in the barn. Their mommas have dried off. He wants to give the creep pen a good cleaning while we are gone.

Gotta get going. DH already came in and told me I had no time to be on the computer since "we" need to load.
Also promised to go play bridge with Lois at noon. Then have a haircut at 3:00 pm. Lots to do.

 

[Ridgetop]

Sorry Larsen! We will be taking the 395 to Bishop and then Reno I think. I leave that up to DH and just reax and enjoy the ride. He won't let me drive since he enjoys driving so we put on Country music and if we can find it the Oldies channel and sing along as we drive. We keep the windows closed to avoid causing accidents!

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Sorry Larsen! We will be taking the 395 to Bishop and then Reno I think. I leave that up to DH and just reax and enjoy the ride. He won't let me drive since he enjoys driving so we put on Country music and if we can find it the Oldies channel and sing along as we drive. We keep the windows closed to avoid causing accidents!

Bummer! I hope you get the chains figured out and have a safe drive.

The chains should always be properly attached, it can save lives or at the very least help mitigate a bad situation. My brother was pulling a camp trailer home from Donner, going up and over the pass on 80 headed west when the trailer came off the hitch. He was able to get as far over as he could and get the truck and trailer stopped so he could fix it, the only thing keeping that trailer still attached to the truck was the safety chains. It was scary, probably more so for him and dad in the truck than for mom and I in the van driving behind, but no one got injured and he didn't damage the trailer. This was maybe 10+ years ago before they widened a bunch of the area, so we were basically stopped halfway in the slow lane as there was no shoulder.

 

[Ridgetop]

We got the chains fixed. All ok.

 

[Ridgetop]

Left early Friday am and made really good time to Big Pine so we stopped to visit with friends for a couple hours. Got into the livestock showgrounds and dropped our trailer before heading over to the hotel.

NO MASKS NEEDED IF VACCINATED!!!

Checked in, unpacked, ate cold lasagna and salad - brought from home expecting a microwave but no MW. Probably in order to discourage people from eating inexpensive take out in hotel rooms instead of eating in the high priced resort restaurants. Then made sandwiches for Saturday. There is a fridge in the room so unpacked the ice chest just leaving bottled water in ice chest.

Saturday went over and looked at entries and what breeders had come to the show. Then back to the stands to watch the show. Temperature dropped, thunder and lightening, rain and wind for a couple hours. DH had gone to 7/11 to get coffee since the coffee person had not shown up to make the exhibitors' coffee. Lots of donuts - no coffee! Went over and got m y bidder number early - no line. Very small white Dorper entry but I picked out some animals to bid on. I know, I know . . . . I said I wouldn't bid but .

Made notes on the animals being shown and picked out some nice black head Dorpers for my friend that I wanted to bid on. Talked to some breeders abut their bloodlines (I don't know black head lines) and did some other visiting. DS1's friend came by with his wife and picked up the pumpkin pie I brought to them. They really enjoyed the show and seeing how it was run and what the judge was looking for. When the show ended we went back to the hotel for 2 hours before heading over to the meeting and dinner at a Basque restaurant. Then home to bed.

Up early Sunday morning and $^*@*! The room safe that I had locked my wallet and checkbooks into would not open!!! I had checked it before putting my stuff in it but now not opening. I called the front desk ad told them to send someone pronto but they did not know how long it would take! GRRRR! Luckily I had my drivers' license and a credit card out and with me so after 10 minutes we left since I could use my credit card. Attended the Seminar and DH left during the exhibitor meeting to get more coffee.

The sale was good, white Dorpers went extremely high. I bid on a few to increase the prices for my Utah friends. I was outbid until I started the bidding on a very nice young ram and ended up with a terrific ram at the minimum bid of $400! OOPS! Oh well, he is very nice and will bring in a bottom line of different genetics.

Black head rams were up next and I had my list ready. Naturally the Grand Champion went high but the Reserve Champion bidding stumbled a bit so I put in a bid for my friend. It was not one of the rams I planned to bid on, and I really figured I couldn't get any of the champions or reserves since her budget was $600 maximum. I ended up getting him for what i thought was a bid of $600. When I went to pay, I found out that I got him for $500!!! OMG! Gorgeous little fellow - I hadn't been able to take my eyes off him the day before in the show ring. When the other 2 I was really interested in (8th and 11th in line) they went for $1100 and $1000! SCORE!!!

I talked to the breeder and told him that I never expected to get that ram for that price for my friend. He said that he had forgotten to put a reserve on that ram and would have taken him home. He is out of a top ewe that the breeder paid $3500 for and a top producing ram. Debra is thrilled. Then after the show ended she called and asked me to get her a couple of ewes too! WHAT? I had asked if she wanted any ewes and she said she couldn't afford any, then right after the auction ended her friend said he would go halves on them. Too bad they didn't decide on that before the auction. I could have gotten them a couple of nice ones. So ran back to the barn to see if anyone had ewes that didn't sell but no luck. A couple ewes that didn't sell I didn't want tongue) and any others were gone. Then while loading my white Dorper ram in Patton's trailer (they are taking him with them to their place in northern California till I come back south and pick him up) Jane Patton said that one of their black head ewes did not sell. A bit high priced for Debra at $800, but with the $100 she saved on the ram and the ewe's bloodlines totally worth it. I told Jane I would take the ewe and she gave me the papers then went to find Wes to load the ewe into our trailer. Wes came over and said that the black head had sold and that they only had a white ewe left. So I gave him back the papers.

Oh well. I will give Debra the sign in for info on the upcoming on line sale in June. She will have to pay transport, but Juan Casas will have some of his good black heads in the sale along with Wes Patton and a couple other very good breeders. Hopefully she will be able to find something nice. At least she has a terrific ram - that is half her flock there!

Back to the hotel around 12:30 pm and realized that we could have left right after the sale and made it to Winnemucca! Came back and DH is taking a nap while the ram is in our trailer with water in the parking lot. Tomorrow I will give him half a flake of hay in the am. We will have to stop and buy some alfalfa since Debra has none up there and needs to transfer him onto pellet and timothy.

We also have to find a best Buy before leaving Reno since I forgot my computer cable to charge the computer! DUH!!! Don't know how managed I that but will need to buy one since the battery will not last for another week. Like DS1 said, might as well have a spare but really dumb of me.

 

[Baymule]

Sounds like y'all are having a great time. New ram huh? Wasn't going to buy anything.......

 

[Ridgetop]

I rebooted and fixed my computer all by myself! Hope it stays fixed.

I will have to be careful not to bid on anything. LOL

Dorper sale! Not bid or buy? Who are you kidding? Do you really expect us to believe that? LOL LOL Then you’ll have to take your new sheep home before you go to Yelm, but it will be worth it.

MY FAMOUS LAST WORDS! Baymule - you know me so well! Next time I will have to duct tape my arm to my side. No, I would probably use my superhuman bidding strength to rip free and wave my paddle madly around!

My new ram went home to northern CA with a breeder friend and we will pick him up on the way home. Hope we will have room in the trailer since we will also have the ducklings that DS1's college roommate and friend for 20+ years gave us. He wouldn't take "no" for an answer so these ducklings have gone from Reno through Idaho and are now in WA. Not sure what breed they are, he and his wife incubated the eggs. They are a large breed. The black one looks to be developing the curly tail feathers which would mean it's a male. They are still too young to sex physically. We picked up extra feed at TSC in Yelm, and a heavy china dish for water.


We had some adventures in Idaho. My friend said there was no alfalfa available anywhere in her area. Her new ram was fed on alfalfa and she needed some to transfer him to the new feed. All the barns were empty although the first cutting had started on several ranches. Too early for this season's hay. Stopped for gas and asked the man at the next pump if he had any idea where we could buy some alfalfa.

SCORE! He and his wife had sold their house and had 5 bales left they didn't want! We followed them out of town and bought them for our friend. The wife gave me a collapsible travel dog pen for the ducklings. Then when we were on the road DH told me that there were 5 rolls of woven fencing the owner was leaving behind! If I had known I would have offered to buy them too! Oh well.

When we arrived in Mesa, Idaho, Debra asked if the ram was tame. NO! However, halter trained for the show. She had originally planned to put him in a pen in the barn but changed her mind and decided to put him into a wire pen outside with Debra's goat buck. This pen was larger - about 15' x 30'. td her the smaller pen might be better but her ram, her decision. Big mistake since it gave him running room! I remembered why we put all our newcomers into jugs in the barn for the first week or so. LOL I haltered him and Debra wanted to take him out herself, but since "tame" ram to her and "tame" ram to me are different animals, I insisted on holding the rope and doing it myself. Good thing since I was prepared. He didn't want to leave the trailer at first, then made a bolt for the great outdoors! What a rodeo!!! He twisted and turned, Debra tried to help grab him and finally Marv was able to get hold of the rope too. With the 3 of us hanging on we put him in the pen. WOW! He bounced on all four legs all over like a bucking horse, then ran straight into the far fence, turned and ran back where he leapt into that fence. He hit every fence in every part and the wire fencing bent out in each location. Debra had gone in the pen and had to jump to get out of the way. Then he decided to use the goat house as a runway to bounce off the fencing in more places!!! More 4 legged stiff hopping - no rider was getting his 8 seconds in that ram! Debra came out of the pen since she was just upsetting him. However, next the ram tried to squeeze between the goat house and the fence and got himself wedged in. Scrambling around he got a leg through the wire fence and stuck there. OOPS! Not good. I had visions of the Reserve Champion ram with a broken leg 15 minutes after delivery!!! Debra went back in and tried to push him backwards but with his leg stuck it didn't work so she came around and pulled the leg free. Then she pulled the goat house away from the side if the pen to free him. Was he grateful? Did he do a Disney and immediately love on her? NO! this is real life. He continued his frenzied running, hopping, and charging into fences. I restrained myself from dropping to my knees to give thanks to 'God that we have calm White Dorpers instead of those crazy black head Dorpers. I did give a silent prayer of thanks though.

Luckily by the time we left the next morning he had calmed down considerably and even came up to the fence for DH to pet him. He came up to me at the fence later too, but I was in no mood to pet him, having twisted my bad knee and gotten blisters on 2 fingers from rope burn. However, I cut him some slack considering he had come off his ranch, been taken to a show for 3 days, loaded back into a strange trailer alone (except for a box of cheeping ducklings in the adjacent compartment) for 36 hours, and then traveling to a new location where he was unloaded by 3 shouting people (during the rodeo) and shoved into pen with a large hairy Nubian buck.

Our friend met us when we arrived and threw herself into my arms sobbing. She had just gotten a call from her doctor telling her they wanted her to come in for a biopsy. She was almost hysterical because they could fit her in for 2 weeks. Later she got more information that this result was fairly routine and the risk of cancer very small. Hopefully she will get god news when they do the test.

Next day DH, the ducklings - apparently named Gizmo and scrooge McDuck - and I left for Coeur D'Alene and DH's sister's new place. It was a lovely Craftsman style, although a 2 story house. The MBR was on the lower level though so that was good. They have an acre but it looked much smaller since the lot was shallow and you could see the back fence line close to the house. Lots of trees and privacy They said they planned to be snowbirds January through March. Deer everywhere! 25 mph in the neighborhood due to the risk of deer. The saying in that neighborhood is "you have either hit a deer or are waiting to hit one!" Apparently the deer know that they are safe in the neighborhoods so tend to gather there. They park their fawns in flowerbeds during the day. LOL

We spent 2 days with them and saw another mutual old friend from ears ago, then headed for Yelm. Lovely time and are considering a trip in tandem with our RVs to Montana and the Dakotas. They are anxious to visit us in Texas too.

I had asked to go the southern route along the Columbia River since I had never been that way before and the Dalles are supposed to be lovely. But DH's computer sent us the "faster way" straight across to Seattle where we hit rush hour traffic and were delayed. We stopped in Lacey to grocery shop at Walmart and for DH to gas the truck since it was getting late. Finally, got to the property where I had a bad moment when I couldn't get the door key to work in the house lock! But since I have at east 15 different keys in that bunch I finally found the right one. Look at the grass that greeted us!

Such beautiful grass for my forbidden sheep!!!

My poor disadvantaged sheep have to live on dirt and stones! No rain for 2 years! No forage for 2 years!

Hooked up the TV and DVD player DH had ordered for us. The TV we had wrapped up and locked in the pump shed before leaving in February. I did it myself!!! Yay!
DH aired up the inflatable mattress. I brought in and put away the groceries, and unpacked the coffee maker, and the supplies I had previously packed in the large rolling duffel after our last trip knowing we would be coming back up. AT WHICH TIME I DISCOVERED THAT I HAD APPARENTLY PACKED SOME OF THE ITEMS IN ANOTHER BIN WHICH HAD BEEN LEFT BEHIND!!!

So no sheets, no pillow cases, only half the towels, no bath mat, and missing many of the kitchen items I needed to cook! We did have the air mattress, several sleeping bags and 2 pillows, our camping chairs, card table, 2 folding chairs, our Texas camping recliners, and the COFFEE POT (BUT ONLY ENOUGH COFFEE FOR 4 POTS ). We went out yesterday to do errands and shopping for the missing supplies. DH also bought another Stihl weed whacker to cut the grass in the front yard, back yard, around the house, and down the roadway to the barns. I gave some of the clippings to the ducklings who were thrilled. Doing the dishes I discovered that the water in the house was running rather brown so had to evacuate the pipes for 2 hours to clear them. One of the errands was to the Goodwill where I got a frying pan, a heavy china crock for the ducklings' water, a bath mat, 2 coffee mugs, and a small measuring cup. On to the Dollar Store where I bought a covered salad bowl, steak knives, paper cups, and a couple other items which were obviously in the forgotten bin. I did not get the heavy glass drinking glasses since at the time I thought we wouldn't be here long enough to use them. We did have placemats, some paper plates, some plastic cutlery, napkins, 2 bath towels and 2 dish towels, 1 large scrub towel and a couple of sponges for the sink. My cleaning stuff was left behind, along with the other cleaning rags and dish towels. Luckily the paper towels and TOILET PAPER ROLLS were in the duffel bag. Whew!

Seem to be ok for now. My sister texted she wants the fridge after all, so we planned to bring it to her the day before we leave. She also will get our remaining firewood.

THAT WAS YESTERDAY - this morning our agent called us to say that they are in the process of getting the appraiser but doesn't think they can close on the 24th because THE BUYER IS IN THE HOSITAL IN A DIABETIC COMA!!!
I am beginning to think this property is cursed!!! Jerry is putting the property back on the market this weekend to see if we can get another offer. We still have the other buyer under contract but since he is in a coma it doesn't look too good. I hope he survives since whether he buys it or not I hate to think he might not make it! Texas is receding farther into the distance . . . .

Might be here longer than we thought but can't stay because we need to pick up our ram and take him home. Now considering leaving more stuff behind since we will have to return. AGAIN!

Got to get more weed eater string. And maybe more gas. Do men not consider that they will need more of these things than they first get? Just very very optimistic I suppose. DH will finish trimming the yard grass, then we will decide about when we need to return. We will need to return so we will leave some stuff here for when we come back. I will need to buy some locking tubs to store it in. Coffee pot can stay, cookware, TV, DVD player, string trimmer, brooms, etc. We will remove some of the items we planned to bring home and if 'sister does not have furniture ready, no harm no foul. If we come back around the time of the next sale the end of June, we can bring Debra her ewes, then head east along the Oregon border and see the Dalles.

Sigh . . .

 

[Baymule]

Your poor sheep. At least rock dust is full of minerals. No wonder you like east Texas so much. The only green you see at home is maybe green paint.

That beautiful GRASS! What a shame.

 

[farmerjan]

I think that you and I @Ridgetop are twins.... Murphy's law hits us both to the N th degree!!!!!!

So sorry for the prospective buyer, no matter if he can buy it or not, not going to wish that sort of health problem on anyone.... except maybe the witch that lives next to son's property where the tower is.,... she is starting again, now about his stuff around the barn.....because of the restrictive covenants..... her I would wish something horrific to happen to and not feel any guilt. Just one nightmare after another..... thinking an old indian torture; like staked out on an ant hill..... too bad we don't have fire ants here for that purpose......
Okay, shut up self....
Hope you have a nice couple of days to just catch up and then a safe trip home.