Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Mike CHS]

Our dryer is also pretty quick with a full load.

 

[Ridgetop]

Must be our super energy efficient dryer that just takes so long!

Finished the pantry shelf. Only used the support on the side since the rear of the cabinet has water damage that has pretty much destroyed the thin layer of plywood veneer that is there. Wondered why the screw just pushed into the back of the cabinet instead of biting into anything! I put 2 baskets in there to hold lightweight objects, but they are going to be awkward - I will have to remove each of them to find what I want. I think I have a pullout wire basket in the shed bought for some project and not used. I will look for it and then I can mount it in that shelf. I put wire pullout baskets in the 2 lower shelves already. Next, I pulled off the tiny quarter round that was acting as the door stop for the bathroom door. Then removed all the tiny brads. I am not happy with it since it is so small, I don't think it will hold up and I will be doing this repair again in a few months. Looked for some larger quarter round in the shed but only found base shoe which would have worked and was already finished in the right color oak, but it was too flat. Then I held a piece up on the doorframe the door almost went over the top of it! Got a piece of oak door stop at Lowes this morning. Came home and cut it to measure (the bathroom door on the trailer is only 74.5 inches high so duck if you visit us). Then had to sand it and stain it. Tomorrow I will put a coat of Varathane on it and install. That should compete the repairs, I hope. After I install the pullout wire basket, of course. Emptied the cabinets and brought half of the kitchen towels inside since I really don't need 25 kitchen towels in a trailer.

After my ceaseless vigilance watching P1 and 18003 as they try to waddle around in the jugs, the 2 ewes that were penned together (since they did not look ready yet) lambed. Singles for each first timer. P4 had a ram lamb, while 0R9 had a ewe lamb. P4 took care of everything easily and in silence while OR9 was a total butthead.

I knew she was lambing from her grunts and moans, but she kept stopping and trying to clean off 8219's twins in the next pen. I pulled P1 out of the jug and gave OR9 an additional half hour with the water bubble hanging out but no progress so DS1 came down with me to help. Just as I went into the pen, she managed to push out the lamb, but the sac did not break open and stupid OR9 left it laying as she again tried to claim 8219's lambs through the bars! I went in to break open the sac and the lamb did not try to breathe so I picked it up by its hind legs to swing it. Just then OR9 freaked at the sight and ran past me hitting the lamb with her head as she did and knocking the lamb flying from my grasp. The poor thing landed with a thump and lay there lifelessly. I dumped some cold water over it and it shuddered, so I went to work on it. I had to use the snot sucker to get mucous out of the nostrils before it actually took a good breath and raised its head. Stupid OR9 was still huddled in the corner of the jug talking to 8219's lambs! I iodined the cord, rubbed the lamb a bit with a towel, then stuck it over next to OR9. She suddenly realized that she actually had a new lamb OF HER OWN and started licking it. So dumb.

Then DS1 caught 18003 so I could do a quick pelvic and she is not ready to lamb yet. She can barely walk, and her belly is hanging only 8" above the ground! When she lays down she has to lay on her side and looks dead. Both DS1 and I are constantly checking to make sure she is breathing.

P1, on the other hand, is huge but perky. DS1 put a panel across the creep gate so P1 can go in the creep for now.

I have 2 others written on my calendar to lamb in 2 weeks but they are not on the field so . . . ? If they are in the breeding pen, they can lamb there since we don't have anywhere to put them in the barn. LOL We need to put up more jugs, but where?

 

[Ridgetop]

OK OR9 has another strike against her for stupidity. She hardly looked pregnant and after lambing one ewe lamb which I had to rescue, she looked like she was done. An hour later I checked on her and another lamb was laying in the pen TOTALLY ENCASED IN THE SAC WITH LAMB 1 LAYING ON TOP OF IT. The lamb in the sac was still warm but of course had suffocated. Since P1 had been removed she couldn't help (if she would) and since they were in jugs the dogs couldn't get to the lamb. Rika probably would have cleaned it off and saved it but instead we lost the lamb. It was a nice little ewe lamb too. So total now is 4 ewe lambs, 1 ram lamb alive and healthy, and 1 each sex dead lambs. And of course, neither 18003 nor P1 show any sign of lambing yet. P1 has a second due date of September 2, but 18003 only marked once. However, she may have rebred without marking since the crayon fell out. She is obviously bred! You can see the lambs moving around inside so hopefully they are positioning themselves properly for birth. Or since they are sheep, repositioning so I have to pull them out from a bad position.

DS1 is finishing the new pen for the ram lamb and wethers. Once he is moved from the breeding pen we can turn those bred ewes out onto the field. Once that pen is empty the 5 ewes in the lamb pen can go in there and we will add one or two from the field, along with Lewis.

This will be so much easier once we are established in Texas with proper pens and a good chute. If we ever get there.

 

[Finnie]

Sorry about the dead ewe lamb.

 

[farmerjan]

Sadly, some of them just don't have a maternal instinct... some will develop it and some just never get it. Sad you lost the 2nd lamb, but it may have been born dead too.... still her not even showing any signs of mothering....

see how she does with raising this one.. if an indifferent mother than maybe needs to go????
We will normally give a cow a 2nd chance.... sometimes being a new mother as a heifer has them all "discombobulated"....
little or no milk now means a permanent trip off the farm.... I would rather a little over protective than not caring... fine line there....

 

[Baymule]

Aww that’s too bad about the dead lamb. So frustrating! Hope 18003 and P1 give better results.

 

[Ridgetop]

Sadly, some of them just don't have a maternal instinct... some will develop it and some just never get it. Sad you lost the 2nd lamb, but it may have been born dead too.... still her not even showing any signs of mothering....

see how she does with raising this one.. if an indifferent mother than maybe needs to go????
We will normally give a cow a 2nd chance.... sometimes being a new mother as a heifer has them all "discombobulated"....
little or no milk now means a permanent trip off the farm.... I would rather a little over protective than not caring... fine line there....

She is a first-time mom so she will get another chance. Seems to be doing well with the surviving lamb. Probably just stupid. She is a SHEEP after all.

DS1 is swearing he will never go to Tractor Supply again. Yesterday he, DSIL1, and DH went to TS to look at dog kennels for DSIL1 and pick up 4 more large shallow tubs for the sheep water and hay. More about the kennel later. Having bought the tubs DS1 asked the clerk to send someone to bring them out since he got the only one inside the store. The others were behind the locked gates. DH backed up to the gates to make it easy to load them. After waiting 20 minutes in the parking lot, DS1 went back inside to find out what was taking so long. They were the only customers at this point. DS1 also noticed that the clerk had charged $20 more each for the 4 tubs! When he got to the checkout the clerk and another "associate" were chatting. DS1 said he needed another 3 tubs brought out at which point the "associate" rudely said "You have to pay for them first", in a nasty tone. DS1 waved he receipt at him and the clerk said "They already paid". The associate went to the back of the store. DS1 pointed out the error and the clerk returned the tubs and rerang them. At this point the manager arrived and said "You could have just returned the difference instead of reringing the entire receipt. DS1 went back to the truck to get the credit card for the new total. The "associate" still had not appeared to open the gates and give them the other 3 tubs. DS1 asked the clerk if the guy had gone to get the tubs and the clerk assured him he had. Finally DS1 returned to find DSIL1 loading the tubs while the "associate" stood watching. DS1 was furious.

So the dog kennel - we have been dog sitting DD1's family dog, a Labrador Retriever, since he was 10 weeks old. This was ok when he was small because of the coyotes in the area that would jump over the fences and eat him. We told them they needed to do some more work on their fence, but DD1 was worried about coyotes while he was a pup. I told DD1 to get a kennel with a top to protect him. She refused because she didn't want him confined to a kennel all day. (I don't believe she is my daughter, but she looks like DH's mom so she must be.) Now Sirius (yes, big Harry Potter fans) is over a year old, and mildly interested in the sheep. To protect him from our LGDs we shut and tie the gate between the front patio and the rear yard. After the first 3 months of dog duty, we told DD1 that she would have to pick up the piles after her dog. She passed this job on to DGD1 (8) whom we babysit after school every day. Elizabeth is very good about this.

After summer vacation, during which we babysat the dog while they went on vacation, they again brought the dog over when school started. We told them that they needed to keep the dog in their back yard. DSIL1 works from home Monday and Friday and likes having Sirius with him. On Tuesday they kept the dog in the house. But not in the entire house. Instead, they locked him in a bathroom. Granted, this is a large bathroom, but it has a glass door to the pool deck. The room got hot, and the dog got bored. DS1 picked up DGD1 and on the way home detoured by the house to let the dog out.

The room was hot, humid, and smelly because the dog had peed. In addition, the dog had chewed the molding of the door to a bedroom, then ripped it off the wall completely destroying it. He also chewed the door jamb, and some of the drywall. DS1 brought the dog home with him and took pix of the damages. This was the reason for finally deciding to get a kennel in the yard for when they are gone. DSIL1 went with DS1 and DH to check out the kennels at TS. They were $50 more than at Lowes, and the top was extra $$. So after Tractor Supply the men went to Lowes to get the kennel there. Then they went to DSIL's and helped him put it up.

Today DS1 finished the pen for the young ram and the wethers. He wants to do something with the tubs for the pen - he is installing a ring bolt so he can chain them to a stake and they won't get pushed down the hillside. Then this evening we will move sheep around. A big job since we have to:
Separate the little ram out from the bred ewes and move him back to the new pen,
Move the sheep from the breeding pen onto the field,
Separate P9 from the sheep on the field and move her into the breeding pen,
Check P5 to see how close she is to lambing since she got left in the breeding pen,
Separate the ewes in the lamb pen from their lambs and move them to the breeding pen,
Separate the wethers in the lamb pen and put them in the new pen with the little ram, Leave the ewe lambs in the lamb pen for a week before moving them to the field, and
Finally harness up Lewis and put him in with the ewes that need to be bred.
Whew! Might not get that all done in one day. We like to do it either early in the am or in the pm when it is not so hot.

Today I remembered my dental appointment just in time to get there. I thought it was just to put the permanent crown on, but the dentist said that she had to do more work on the root canal! Now I am on antibiotics for a week and will have a temporary crown on our trip to TX. She also said that when the Novocain wears off my jaw will "be tender". That is dentist speak for hurt badly!

I finished up a lot in the trailer today. I replaced the smoke detector, replaced the clock batteries (they have needed to be replaced for about 5 years) and sorted out the books and DVDs we keep in the trailer. Brought 4 bags of books back inside the house, and also cleaned out some other stuff that we don't need in there. Made room for DS1's
sodas, and clothes when he joins us in Texas on the 18th. Still got lots to do to finish up the trailer and remove all the tools and repair debris. Also need to clean the AC vents. Then I need to get out the items I am bringing to TX to store in the tack shed, wrap them in moving shrink wrap, and pile them next to the trailer to be loaded. Also the large heavy duty shelf unit that needs to be take apart and loaded.

DH has been watching the weather channel looking for hurricanes in Texas. He is worried about crossing the desert in the heat. His plan is to leave on Saturday night after the birthday party and drive all night long until it starts to get hot. He said then we could get in the trailer and sleep during the heat of the day. During the day the trailer is hotter than it gets at night! After I pointed this out to him, he was very testy. I told him that we could leave at 2 or 3 am like we did a month ago and travel until evening. He suggested we run the generator during the day while we sleep in the AC. Propane is expensive and driving all night gives me a major headache. We need to keep discussing this.

Since I am being so unreasonable his new plan is that we will go the "northern route" because it will be "cooler". I told him that once we were in northern TX or OK it would be just as hot as the southern route which is faster. He insisted due to higher elevation it would be much cooler. We are still "discussing" our route. We have a week to decide.

 

[Baymule]

North Texas is hot. West Texas is hot. South Texas is hot. East Texas is hot plus humidity. Take the shortest route. Duh

 

[farmerjan]

Reading your posts @Ridgetop , makes me kinda glad I am "single"... no one to disagree with where and how to go somewhere....

 

[Mike CHS]

Reading your posts @Ridgetop , makes me kinda glad I am "single"... no one to disagree with where and how to go somewhere....

All of that made me feel grateful that Teresa married me and eliminated all of that.