Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

DH wanted to move these because they are brand new. I suggested we sell them and buy new here and he said he would move them. If we can't move them full that will change his mind. No need to do anything about them yet though and DS3 will want them anyway. He already has several. He has roofed across between them to make hay barns.

DH wants 2 to do the same thing to make a covered parking space. I would just as soon empty them and get rid of a lot of our stuff. But buying one to put on the property to lock stuff in that we bring from CA would be a good idea. I will have DH make some calls to price them.

On the way back from Quitman the other day, DH stopped to look at metal buildings. Then he stopped to look at manufactured homes. The metal buildings were not too bad, but the manufactured homes were really cheap. Terrible cabinets with the insides just unfinished chipboard. $95,000 for a 4/2 home that the salesman kept saying was spacious at 1400 sf. On the way home DH discussed buy one for each of our children! I just said no and that I would not live in one. If I want to spend $100,000 I will add onto that cute little brick house we are buying. Or put in a pool. Not swimming in the pond. I don't swim in anything I can't see clear to the bottom. BTW Shark Week is now on for 6 weeks! Just saying.

Tomorrow am we eave early to drive up for the chimney inspection. Still waiting for the septic quote. And the roof inspection. Saturday off to Emory goat auction with Bay and BJ. And for more proof of my hypothesis that auction barns have good cafes.

 

[Ridgetop]

So continuing the ranch purchase saga - another inspection this am. This was of the chimney. The seller said that a handy man who worked on a roof leak 15 years ago had told her that she had a crack in her chimney. She immediately stopped using the fireplace due to fear of a fire. The earlier farmhouse had burned down and she did not want a repeat. The chimney inspector is a Dallas firefighter who has a chimney cleaning and inspection side business - as a firefighter he knows his business. After a close inspection of the chimney he said he couldn't find the crack and asked Miz Joyce about it. Turns out the handyman mistook the separation of some over flow mortar from the chimney. In other words the mortar was not cleaned off the stack in the attack and some of the excess cracked away. No crack in the chimney at all and in fact no need to have the chimney cleaned since no creosote deposits so only needed to pay for the inspection. The inspector gave us some information about fireplaces and chimneys and then dated the house exactly! He said that in the 60's inferior bricks were experimented with to save building costs. This house was built in 1972 and he said that the bricks were top quality. So good news there.

Miz Joyce gave me the name of another septic company that she used. She thought they might be able to replace the lateral lines. I called but no joy! That company said they no longer did any work on laterals either and have switched to only do aerobic installations. They said that everyone is going only aerobic in the area due to the wet winters which cause some problems in water percolation. The leach line systems only last about 8 years in this area. The main problem with leach line systems in this area is that roots grow into the lines. During the winter wet season the grass and bushes don't really cause a problem, but when the ground dries out come spring and summer heat the roots look for water and grow into the pipes. So all the new septic systems are aerobic. Also installation is a little cheaper. Trying to have this new company come out and give an estimate. The fellow who does the estimates can't come out until Monday. I still have not gotten an estimate from the first company so if I can get an estimate from this company I will go with them. BUT - there is always a 'but" - they are running months behind on installations too! Apparently with the wet winter a lot of leach line septics are failing. So earliest they can install will be end of September/beginning of October. That time line is better than November - which the first company told me they were booked up through - and this new company may possibly be a little cheaper. Excellent reviews and 25 years in business. Like the name too - Two Chicks Septic! I guess we will be putting in a new septic system.


Only plus (sort of) is that it will be deductible against the rental since we have to rent the property for 2 years. Everything we do before moving in (in 2 years) will be deductible since this is a commercial piece of income property. So all repairs deductible. If we can afford those repairs for the deductions!

Tomorrow we are off to Emory - 2 hour drive - to meet Bay and BJ at the sheep and goat auction. We will meet for breakfast around 8:00. (What sort of people drive to a sheep auction at 6 am? BYHers! ) Looking forward to a wonderful day with Bay and BJ. Good news is that Emory is only 30 minutes or less from the new ranch!

DH has lost 16 lbs. since leaving for Texas! He is pleased. For a while he felt like I was starving him. I have lost 6 lbs. Not noticeable on either of us but I notice that my jeans are a tad looser. DH says his knee is feeling better too so hope we can keep this up. Maybe we should continue living in our trailer with no access to food with calories when we go home!

 

[farmerjan]

Hope that you guys have a great time at the auction... and their food is as good.

Losing weight is wonderful..... really helps the joints... I have been told that for every pound you lose, it is like taking 4 lbs of pressure off the joints....YAY !!!!! I am trying really hard to watch and not eat alot of starches and stuff to try to take a bit off my knees too....
Plus, you guys are doing more walking and things there just from looking at the property and all....

Not good news about the septic... but the thing is at least they are all telling you the same basic thing.... not like you are getting totally different opinions.... and more confusing.... hopefully this guy will give you a better price and be able to get to it sooner too.

GREAT NEWS on the chimney.....

When is your planned date to head back to CA ????? I am really glad that your DH really likes this place... and the flat ground should make doing stuff out and around there much more enjoyable... yes, you will miss the family members... but you really are entitled to have some peace and quiet and not so much drama in your life....

 

[Ridgetop]

Going back no later than second week in August. Should go back earlier - have 4 ewes due first 2 weeks of August, but all are 2nd and 3rd timers so no worries.

Just need to get everything lined out for purchase, loan on property, refi on other rental house, and line out any repairs on the ranch.

DDs and DDILs are starting to do things together instead of waiting for us to arrange family get togethers. I think this will be good for the children - get them used to depending on each other instead of always on us. Plus I am looking forward to some "us time". Once here we will have to find someone that can do house sitting and livestock feeding. This would not be a problem except for Bubba, the stranger hating Anatolian. If we get a 4th Anatolian, we can introduce them to the potential house sitter. And of necessary bring Bubba with us to California when we come visit as long as we haven't sold our house in CA. We'll work it out.

 

[Baymule]

We had breakfast at the auction cafe, watched the sheep and goat auction and enjoyed ourselves. @Ridgetop was tempted by a nice paint horse, but much to her DH’s relief, hadn’t become a registered buyer. LOL Then we came back to our house to visit and had lasagna for a late lunch. We sure enjoyed our day!

 

[Ridgetop]

We had a wonderful visit with Bay and BJ.

The auction was fun. I was seriously tempted by the little paint and if I was already living here in Texas would have had a bid card and bid on it. It was a really nice horse! Calm, responded to leg aids beautifully, and it was a small horse. I prefer horses 14hh to 14.2hh that is easier for me to mount up. The bids did not reach the owner's reserve of $1,000. I was tempted but I would have wanted to see it work in a large arena, also pick up feet and watch it get tacked up, etc. And a vet check. But it was a really nice little paint. I might have been able to lead it back to Rusk to the trailer park and hobble it in the little grass clearing near the trailer. LOL But didn't think I could load it in the 5th wheel to get it home. There was also a nice dark brown mule in the sale too as well as a cute chocolate pony that was supposed to be a child's schooling pony and it drove too. Another lot was a nice llama which brought $600-800. DH had the foresight to make sure I did not have a bidding card before the auction started! LOL

The sheep and goats were not impressive although they brought decent prices. A couple registered Boer bucks - large and in good condition went for $400, while a group of Blackbelly rams with good horns also brought high prices. Probably for a game ranch or game ranch breeder. The prices the sheep and lambs and goats brought were very good for the time of year.

Bay's new registered Katahdin ewes are very pretty, long and elegant. In fact, her flock is very uniform and she has a really nice set of youngsters. The two unregistered bucks she kept are also very nice. A lot of length like Ringo. She has a great flock and they are so friendly! Sentry decided I had an acquisitive eye on his sheep and after a warning growl kept a close eye on me in case I tried to steal one of his ewes!

Paris was very friendly - she has obviously decided she is retired! LOL

 

[Baymule]

We sure enjoyed our day! Thanks for the nice compliments on my sheep. I know I’m on the right track when you admired the same young sheep that I do.

 

[Ridgetop]

Did not mention the fantastic lasagna we had for our dinner at Bay and BJ's. The noodles were made with a recipe that Bay came up with to use her extra zucchini. Best lasagna I ever had. I hope I remember how she said to make them when I get home. Also had the sweet pickles she made that were fabulous. Super crunchy and crisp. Need that recipe too. Best sweet pickles ever! Luckily I still have some pickling lime at home. Can't get it in my area and I are checking with several tax lawyers to make sure that we can had to order it on line.

Going ahead with our refi on the rental house, and the loan for the additional price of the ranch. Tomorrow the option runs out on our inspection discovery. We have decided to go ahead with the purchase even if we have to replace the septic ourselves. Another septic examination and bid will be coming up hopefully tomorrow. The first bidder never send in a bid, neither did the electrician. This second septic company doesn't make repairs on leach lines either and only installs the new aerobic systems. I guess we will go with them since they can install in September. DH and I agreed that installing the new system will be smarter since with a repair, (and our luck) it would probably go bad again with the tenant in residence! With the long wait in being able to do repairs, we would have a tenant problem!

The fencing will wait until our next trip to Texas. DH has decided to take some savings to pay for that and fence the entire acreage at once with 7' game fencing. We will have to figure out a plan for the front yard fence though since we need to leave enough area to be able to pull into the driveway off the highway without opening the game fence gates. So probably a secondary fence if necessary across the front of the house - wrought iron? - with automatic gates or just leave the front of the house open for now. We will have to measure and need to have enough room for a circle drive among the large trees. This would give us enough room to pull in off the highway with parking for visitors. There is plenty of room to turn around the trailer near the barn and park. We will have to measure and plan where to park the 5th wheel since it needs to be near enough to the house that we can load it for trips and also hook to house water and electric for visitors. Will also put in a high carport for the 5th wheel. All that can wait for us to measure and decide location during our visits over the next 2 years.

The2 hour drive to Yantis and Sulphur Springs from Rusk is getting really old. However I have found another KOA in Mt. Pleasant which is just a short distance from Sulphur Springs. And it has a pool too. Will make our reservations there from now on. We are here for a month and if we leave sooner it will raise our daily fee. So we will just wait it out. Thought we would be buying in this area which is why I booked us in here.

DH is looking at plan of lot and trying to decide size of pastures for our sheep. He started at 5 acres which I told him was a little large for the number of sheep we will be pasturing together. They won't do a good clearance but if the pastures are smaller but more numerous, we can move the sheep more often. On the other hand, maybe we could do the larger permanent pastures and then use electro net and chargers to keep the sheep eating certain portions of them evenly. All in the future . . . .

 

[Baymule]

I know you want the high wire fence so the dogs can come socialize, but leave room for the circle drive , visitors and turn around room at the carport. May I suggest, standing in the front yard, facing the house,fencing up to the right back corner of the house. Then fence up to the left back corner, not including the carport.

Zucchini noodles.
1 baseball bat size zucchini
6 eggs, beaten
1cup grated mozzarella

Quarter and deseed zucchini. Grate it. By handfuls, squeeze the water out or your lasagna will be watery. You should get 2 1/2 cups, packed.

Combine zucchini, eggs and mozzarella.

cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper . Spread zucchini egg mixture about 1/4” thick. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes or until golden. Then follow your favorite recipe for lasagna. I used tomato sauce I canned, hamburger from a steer I raised, onions, eggs, even diced up yellow squash and layered that in the lasagna. Only bought the cottage cheese and mozzarella. Maybe that’s why it was so good, practically all fresh from the farm!

The noodles before I cut them in strips.

 

[Margali]

If it's s highway msnaged bt TXDOT you may have issue getting circle drive. They limit the number of driveways on a ~400ft section.

My FIL in Johnson County has 1acre homestead and 15acre pasture that is behind and adjacent to homestead. Previous owner added highway gate direct into pasture. They were required to block off half of circle drive. FIL found out the distance rule when he tried to start using circle drive. His only option is to make loop inside front fence w1 driveway.