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Ridgetop
Herd Master
Been super busy emptying the Connexes and sorting out boxes. Didn't have to lift the wood stove after all. I did insist on taking all the parts off and out of it before the boys moved it. Then I wrapped it in heavy plastic to protect it. The boys moved another 8' heavy duty shelving unit down t the milk shed, and moved some of the heavy stuff down there too. 2 new medicine cabinets destined for TX, several new, and one antique, light fixture, etc.
DH took a load of stuff to Salvation Army - 2 lovely old wing chairs that were grandmother's that I had intended to reupholster, a Duncan Phyffe folding table that I loved that my uncle gave my grandmother with his first paycheck, and a bunch of junk. The armchairs and table wrenched at my heart but the chairs had gotten loose in the joints from being stored for years in the Connexes, and the mahogany veneer was breaking off the table. I decided to be strong and just send them off. I am a bit too old to refinish the mahogany table veneer, and like DS1 said - I have too much furniture and am trying to downsize anyway. Besides when I go to Palm Springs there are always good buys at the consignment shops.
I brought in another dozen boxes of stuff to sort through. Several boxes of antique toys and collectibles, DH's cribbage board collection, a collection of lovely carved and handmade wooden boxes from specialty woods, and boxes of china ornaments, painted plates, etc. Sorted all those boxes out and wrapped up a lot of the items for the children.
Next several boxes of old documents to shred. Old meaning back to 1973!!! Old statements and cancelled checks from banks that are no longer in business, bills, etc. Took 2 days to sort through those and shred them. Then another couple of boxes of old documents pertaining to purchase and sale of our old house (including the bill of sale when my grandparents bought it from the original builder 100 years ago!), purchase of the new house (where we live now) as well as earthquake and renovations documents and bills. I kept a lot of those things just in case we have to prove we raised our basis in the house. DH says the tax laws have changed but they could also change again and we might need those items. Packed them in plastic Banker's Boxes to store in the sheds. Have another Banker's Box of old IRS returns to go through dating from 70's/80's too. Asked DH to do that but might have to do it myself if he "doesn't have time" or more truthfully inclination.
However the one Connex is now almost empty while the other is now 3/4 empty. The 3/4 empty one has lots of empty shelves which means that I can transfer more stuff from the almost empty one. The almost empty one has 16' of shelving mostly with Christmas decos and the Christmas tree. DS1 said the in November he will bring in all the Christmas stuff as normal, at which point he and DS2 can move those 2 8' shelves over into the 3/4 full Connex, since it has room for them. That will leave one additional 8' and one 4' shelf to relocate to the milk shed and the Rubbermaid shed.
Voila! One empty 24' Connex with doors on each end for hay storage. Hay has gone up in price, but DH plans to bring in as much as he can afford this year, and next year if it comes down we will be ready to stockpile during the summer when it is cheaper. It is expected to be a La Nina year - no rain again - although we have gotten a couple days of light showers.
OOPS! Just found the pile of Salvation Army stuff in the house that was supposed to go. Loaded the truck and forgot to load all that stuff! Oh well, there will be another load from various areas next week.
Th ram buyer that has been calling saying he will come out to pick up a registered ram lamb did not show up again last weekend. The ram lamb is 3 months old and over 100 lbs now so I need to make a reservation at the butcher for him and a couple of smaller ones. I should actually take the smaller ones to the auction since my freezers are full. I am considering getting another big chest one and putting it in the milk shed, Priced them at Lowes and they run $750-850. Next appliance sale will be Black Friday. Need to consider if I really need it or not. However, it is a good place to store extra bags of flour so it doesn't hatch weevils.
DD2 and DDIL2 both listened when I told them diapers might become hard to get. DH is suddenly saying that there is a limit of ne on toilet paper again. I did get some powdered milk but couldn't get the large boxes of individual packs to make 1-2 quarts at a time. It was either 3 packs in a box - yield 6 quarts - or a large bag that would make 5-10 gallons. I may get the larger pack and if I have to open it then pack it in Ziplock bags and store it in the freezer. DH couldn't find any at Costco either.
Pulled Smalley out of the breeding pen last week. In another week I will put Lewis in with the ewes as a catch up, and sort out some other ewes that are ready to breed. However, doing that I will have ewes lambing in March which means summer sale of lambs for less money. I considered holding off on some of the younger ewes but that will mean hold them until they are 18 months old before breeding.
Bad for them and bad for me. Better to breed them and get less money at a summer sale price than have them sit open for an extra 6 months. I have about 6 due during November which will be prime for spring high $$ sale.
DH wants to get the new countertops in the kitchen done. The tile is 30 years old and the grout is failing. Have a new cooktop already to install. When we move to TX, DS2 and DDIL2 will probably rent our house from us. That takes the burden off having to sell and means that if we have health issues and need to move back near the children we can. Our house payment is so low (2.25% interest) that DD2 will pay about the same renting our house as renting a 2-3 BR apartment. He has so much of his stuff stored here that by the time he rented a house or apartment and a storage unit he would be paying more than the cost of the payment here! In the meantime we will do the countertops, have done repairs to the driveway, and will install more faux grass on the barn side of the house where the sorry attempt at a garden was. Any shrubs I plant from now n will be gopher and ground squirrel resistant. Or fake!
Have my Christmas shopping for the grandchildren done. All the hype about not getting any toys for Christmas kicked e into high gear. Just the babies to shop for and Annabel needs clothes so. I am giving some of my good crystal and beautiful items to my children along with some money. Not much though because we are short with the ranch purchase.
The ranch finally closed on October 13. We may not be back there as early as we thought since we both have appointments with the orthopedic surgeons November 9. My knee has started buckling and when working in the tight confines of the Connex I had a lot of trouble when I would twist around and the knee would give way. Main problem is that the knee is causing the hip to go out too. DH's has fallen several times when his "GOOD" knee has given way. He is worried about walking with the baby in his arms in case he falls. We have known that knee needed replacement for a long time.
We have to be at DS3's house for Thanksgiving. So a trip to TX might be either a quick trip out or we will have to go out after Christmas for a longer trip. The late closing on the ranch has messed up our timeline. On the good side, the tenant is already moving into the house. The cattle tenant was going to work on the Honey Locusts that were coming up. Two weeks ago he texted that he was shredding. He usually sprays the pastures and I told him that we would pay to fertilize so need to hear about that.
Couldn't sleep so got up to catch upon my emails and BYH. Off to bed now.
DH took a load of stuff to Salvation Army - 2 lovely old wing chairs that were grandmother's that I had intended to reupholster, a Duncan Phyffe folding table that I loved that my uncle gave my grandmother with his first paycheck, and a bunch of junk. The armchairs and table wrenched at my heart but the chairs had gotten loose in the joints from being stored for years in the Connexes, and the mahogany veneer was breaking off the table. I decided to be strong and just send them off. I am a bit too old to refinish the mahogany table veneer, and like DS1 said - I have too much furniture and am trying to downsize anyway. Besides when I go to Palm Springs there are always good buys at the consignment shops.
I brought in another dozen boxes of stuff to sort through. Several boxes of antique toys and collectibles, DH's cribbage board collection, a collection of lovely carved and handmade wooden boxes from specialty woods, and boxes of china ornaments, painted plates, etc. Sorted all those boxes out and wrapped up a lot of the items for the children.
Next several boxes of old documents to shred. Old meaning back to 1973!!! Old statements and cancelled checks from banks that are no longer in business, bills, etc. Took 2 days to sort through those and shred them. Then another couple of boxes of old documents pertaining to purchase and sale of our old house (including the bill of sale when my grandparents bought it from the original builder 100 years ago!), purchase of the new house (where we live now) as well as earthquake and renovations documents and bills. I kept a lot of those things just in case we have to prove we raised our basis in the house. DH says the tax laws have changed but they could also change again and we might need those items. Packed them in plastic Banker's Boxes to store in the sheds. Have another Banker's Box of old IRS returns to go through dating from 70's/80's too. Asked DH to do that but might have to do it myself if he "doesn't have time" or more truthfully inclination.
However the one Connex is now almost empty while the other is now 3/4 empty. The 3/4 empty one has lots of empty shelves which means that I can transfer more stuff from the almost empty one. The almost empty one has 16' of shelving mostly with Christmas decos and the Christmas tree. DS1 said the in November he will bring in all the Christmas stuff as normal, at which point he and DS2 can move those 2 8' shelves over into the 3/4 full Connex, since it has room for them. That will leave one additional 8' and one 4' shelf to relocate to the milk shed and the Rubbermaid shed.
Voila! One empty 24' Connex with doors on each end for hay storage. Hay has gone up in price, but DH plans to bring in as much as he can afford this year, and next year if it comes down we will be ready to stockpile during the summer when it is cheaper. It is expected to be a La Nina year - no rain again - although we have gotten a couple days of light showers.
OOPS! Just found the pile of Salvation Army stuff in the house that was supposed to go. Loaded the truck and forgot to load all that stuff! Oh well, there will be another load from various areas next week.
Th ram buyer that has been calling saying he will come out to pick up a registered ram lamb did not show up again last weekend. The ram lamb is 3 months old and over 100 lbs now so I need to make a reservation at the butcher for him and a couple of smaller ones. I should actually take the smaller ones to the auction since my freezers are full. I am considering getting another big chest one and putting it in the milk shed, Priced them at Lowes and they run $750-850. Next appliance sale will be Black Friday. Need to consider if I really need it or not. However, it is a good place to store extra bags of flour so it doesn't hatch weevils.
DD2 and DDIL2 both listened when I told them diapers might become hard to get. DH is suddenly saying that there is a limit of ne on toilet paper again. I did get some powdered milk but couldn't get the large boxes of individual packs to make 1-2 quarts at a time. It was either 3 packs in a box - yield 6 quarts - or a large bag that would make 5-10 gallons. I may get the larger pack and if I have to open it then pack it in Ziplock bags and store it in the freezer. DH couldn't find any at Costco either.
Pulled Smalley out of the breeding pen last week. In another week I will put Lewis in with the ewes as a catch up, and sort out some other ewes that are ready to breed. However, doing that I will have ewes lambing in March which means summer sale of lambs for less money. I considered holding off on some of the younger ewes but that will mean hold them until they are 18 months old before breeding.
Bad for them and bad for me. Better to breed them and get less money at a summer sale price than have them sit open for an extra 6 months. I have about 6 due during November which will be prime for spring high $$ sale.DH wants to get the new countertops in the kitchen done. The tile is 30 years old and the grout is failing. Have a new cooktop already to install. When we move to TX, DS2 and DDIL2 will probably rent our house from us. That takes the burden off having to sell and means that if we have health issues and need to move back near the children we can. Our house payment is so low (2.25% interest) that DD2 will pay about the same renting our house as renting a 2-3 BR apartment. He has so much of his stuff stored here that by the time he rented a house or apartment and a storage unit he would be paying more than the cost of the payment here! In the meantime we will do the countertops, have done repairs to the driveway, and will install more faux grass on the barn side of the house where the sorry attempt at a garden was. Any shrubs I plant from now n will be gopher and ground squirrel resistant. Or fake!
Have my Christmas shopping for the grandchildren done. All the hype about not getting any toys for Christmas kicked e into high gear. Just the babies to shop for and Annabel needs clothes so. I am giving some of my good crystal and beautiful items to my children along with some money. Not much though because we are short with the ranch purchase.
The ranch finally closed on October 13. We may not be back there as early as we thought since we both have appointments with the orthopedic surgeons November 9. My knee has started buckling and when working in the tight confines of the Connex I had a lot of trouble when I would twist around and the knee would give way. Main problem is that the knee is causing the hip to go out too. DH's has fallen several times when his "GOOD" knee has given way. He is worried about walking with the baby in his arms in case he falls. We have known that knee needed replacement for a long time.
We have to be at DS3's house for Thanksgiving. So a trip to TX might be either a quick trip out or we will have to go out after Christmas for a longer trip. The late closing on the ranch has messed up our timeline. On the good side, the tenant is already moving into the house. The cattle tenant was going to work on the Honey Locusts that were coming up. Two weeks ago he texted that he was shredding. He usually sprays the pastures and I told him that we would pay to fertilize so need to hear about that.
Couldn't sleep so got up to catch upon my emails and BYH. Off to bed now.
Public hangings anyone?
It was sunny today and will be for the rest of the week. Apparently it was a freak storm that blew through. Hopefully we will get a few more freak storms this winter. LOL
So much sorting of bill categories for each property, and each different trip. Total of 4 trips last year. 2 to Texas and 2 to Yelm. All the bills from cleaning up the Yelm property and repairs after the tenant left. Then all the costs from selling the property. Then all the costs of purchasing the new property. I am glad I am starting now since it will probably take the rest of the year to finish all this.
