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Ridgetop
Herd Master
DS3 said he would drive down this weekend to pick up the horse. 3 hours each way plus gas plus the charge for bringing the horse here in the first place! Personally, I would just sell the horse but DDIL1 was trying to do the right thing but the former owner. I'm going to tell DS3 if he wants to pay bord for the horse here and leave him till after the wedding in Texas I will let him stay. I'm also going to call around and see if anyone is looking for a horse to ride temporarily. I would really like to find some horse mad teenager who would put miles on the mustang. Tiffany Bailey (who brought the horses down) said that kids are not riding anymore. She thinks it is the cost of the hay, I think it is cell phones. What is the world coming to when kids don't want to ride horses?
While settling in the new horses, I took a look at Cleopatra, one of the young ewes I am bringing to Baymule. OMG! She is the prettiest ewe out there! Super long, clean fronted, wide, good straight legs, thick butt, very feminine! This is definitely a grade 5 ewe! Her black eye rings have disappeared leaving only a little black mark near the outside of each eye. I immediately regretted promising her to Bay. Bad Ridgetop! So selfish and greedy No biscuit!
But Cleo is a perfect ewe to do what Bay wants with her flock. The other ewe lambs will be as nice, but at almost 10 months old Cleopatra is drop dead beautiful. Hopefully Bay will love her and make her into a pet. 
She also will shed clean. And she has a name unlike the others that only have numbers. LOL DGD1 named her Cleopatra because of the black eyeliner markings around her eyes. This eweling will have the greatest propensity to throw color which is why I can't keep her in my flock of White Dorpers. As soon as I can put a flock tag in her she will get registered since the amount of black is less than the undesirable &.
I finished taking apart another rabbit cage. I took the top off this one and released 2 of the sides so they folded in on the bottom making a square. They didn't fold entirely flat since they are used cages with the normal wear and tear on the wire. I will do the same with the last one and remove the clips from 2 sides of the first one so it will fit into a square with the others. These are 36 ' 30 babysaver wire hanging cages. I used to have over 50 of these and 50 smaller ones 24 x 24 which I used as sorting cages after I sold off my Holland Lops. Since many of them didn't weren't baby saver wire cages, I sold those off. I still have at least 4 brand new ones still in the shipping pack from 20 years ago. Not to mention the 8 triple carry cages, judging cage, etc. still in the loft of the barn. Those don't collapse so will be moved later. I will burn them off in Texas when I hang them, and spray them with galvanizing compound. That will extend their life. In the meantime, pieces of drywall give the rabbits a comfortable place to sit if the wire gets rusty and sharp. The galvanizing paint helps and I sometimes also will do a light sanding on the inside of the cage if the wire looks sharp. With old cages that develop a lot of rust in the bottom wire, I replace the bottom panel when it gets bad. I have a roll of 30" wire in the shed to take back with the rabbit equipment. After getting out the cages and working on them I thought about just selling off the sheep and going back to rabbits. But I can wait to only do rabbits when we both get a bit older. A 12 lb. rabbit doe and 5 lb. fryers will be easier to work with after we outgrow our PRIME. LOL
DDIL2 bought Robert a baby doll to play with so he will be able to feed it and hug it while she is working with baby Nick. He was thrilled and fed them and shoved the pacifier in its mouth. He likes to trundle it around in his little shopping cart. DS2 put the baby doll in Robert's new Big Wheel and Robert's baby care took a back set. Robert went over and kicked the doll off his trike and sat n it himself while his "baby" sprawled face down on the carpet. Mre baby training needed. Howeer, Robert is doing well with the baby. When Nick is in the swing Robert will kiss him and push the swing to make it move. If Nick cries he runs to him then comes to get us. The other day Nick was sleeping and we were all talking and Robert shhhhed us to be quiet. He says Mam and Dad and has a couple other semi words. Pretty good for 22 months. Yesterday he said "hosh" meaning horse and wanted to go out and see them. It was dark so he had a tantrum about being told he couldn't go. Main problem is that he won't sleep in his bed so does naps on the couch instead. At night he is hard to put to bed and continually gets up until he falls asleep on the couch. This is the result of not training him to a crib when he was 4-6 months old and his mother continuing to sleep with him on a mattress on the floor. I think they started doing that when he would not sleep through the night and DS2 had 4-5 am work times.
DS2 answered a call off the books and has gone back to work. The job will only last until March 7 and he already told the foreman he will drag up a week before the job closes since he will be going to Texas for the wedding. The company lost the contract, or it was ending, and another company will have the contract next. DS2 says he will hire on with another job when he comes back from Tx. He is also on a diet since he gained weight on paternity leave. DDIL2 has lost any weight she gained. Only DS2 is still carrying "baby weight". LOL
DH has lost a total of 10 lbs. since Christmas. His secret? Don't eat bread, snack crackers, ice cream, mayonnaise sandwiches (yes, that is a thing, 1/2" of mayo between 2 slices of bread
), candy, snacks, etc. that he usually munches non-stop while he watches FOX news. Which he does about 5 hours a day. He tried on the suit jacket to his other suit and was pleased when it fit him really well. The pants were another story. It was amusing to hear him lecture DS2 on healthy eating so DS2 could lose weight. I am serving small portions at dinner and tell everyone it is because of the price of food. I have lost another lb. and am down 8 lbs. now. My goal is to lose enough weight by the end of March to wear my beautiful green chiffon pantsuit to the baptism the end of March. It fits, but the pants are very tight. I would like to be able to zip them easily and be able to sit down in them without them splitting open! 
A few more pounds should do it. I long for the days when I could drop 5 lbs. in just a few days. I weighed myself every day and could eat anything without gaining. I didn't gain more than 12 lbs. from the day I married to the day I started chemo then my body went to he// in a hand basket. However, being alive to fight increasing weight is worth the trade off.
I cleaned out and rearranged the closets the other day. I gathered all the out of season clothes and packed them away until summer. I have some new stuff that I bought just as Covid closed in, as well as the bridge clothes that I wore to the club. After this trip I will bring some clothes back and leave them at the ranch.
I really need to get a washer and dryer installed there too. That will be time (and $$) saving when we are working there. There is already a fridge that the owner left and the tenants were using. Stove and dishwasher are in place as well so camping out in the house while working on fences will not be difficult. The existing fridge is not very large though so eventually we will buy a larger one when I do the kitchen reno. Minimal reno, just removing the peninsula (just a counter top with no storage under it). I will also take down part of the overhead cabinets at that end of the kitchen counters which will make room for a large fridge. Removing the peninsula will make room for an island. I will remove the overhead cabinets in the laundry room that are currently over an upright freezer and put them in the kitchen over the new fridge. The old fridge is sitting in a wall cubby made for it and that will become a pantry by adding a door. Minimal reno as I said. We will do that during the winter months when we can't work on the fencing. I am really looking forward to bringing the house up to date. I like doing things on a tight budget and repurposing stuff.
While settling in the new horses, I took a look at Cleopatra, one of the young ewes I am bringing to Baymule. OMG! She is the prettiest ewe out there! Super long, clean fronted, wide, good straight legs, thick butt, very feminine! This is definitely a grade 5 ewe! Her black eye rings have disappeared leaving only a little black mark near the outside of each eye. I immediately regretted promising her to Bay. Bad Ridgetop! So selfish and greedy No biscuit!
But Cleo is a perfect ewe to do what Bay wants with her flock. The other ewe lambs will be as nice, but at almost 10 months old Cleopatra is drop dead beautiful. Hopefully Bay will love her and make her into a pet. She also will shed clean. And she has a name unlike the others that only have numbers. LOL DGD1 named her Cleopatra because of the black eyeliner markings around her eyes. This eweling will have the greatest propensity to throw color which is why I can't keep her in my flock of White Dorpers. As soon as I can put a flock tag in her she will get registered since the amount of black is less than the undesirable &.I finished taking apart another rabbit cage. I took the top off this one and released 2 of the sides so they folded in on the bottom making a square. They didn't fold entirely flat since they are used cages with the normal wear and tear on the wire. I will do the same with the last one and remove the clips from 2 sides of the first one so it will fit into a square with the others. These are 36 ' 30 babysaver wire hanging cages. I used to have over 50 of these and 50 smaller ones 24 x 24 which I used as sorting cages after I sold off my Holland Lops. Since many of them didn't weren't baby saver wire cages, I sold those off. I still have at least 4 brand new ones still in the shipping pack from 20 years ago. Not to mention the 8 triple carry cages, judging cage, etc. still in the loft of the barn. Those don't collapse so will be moved later. I will burn them off in Texas when I hang them, and spray them with galvanizing compound. That will extend their life. In the meantime, pieces of drywall give the rabbits a comfortable place to sit if the wire gets rusty and sharp. The galvanizing paint helps and I sometimes also will do a light sanding on the inside of the cage if the wire looks sharp. With old cages that develop a lot of rust in the bottom wire, I replace the bottom panel when it gets bad. I have a roll of 30" wire in the shed to take back with the rabbit equipment. After getting out the cages and working on them I thought about just selling off the sheep and going back to rabbits. But I can wait to only do rabbits when we both get a bit older. A 12 lb. rabbit doe and 5 lb. fryers will be easier to work with after we outgrow our PRIME. LOL
DDIL2 bought Robert a baby doll to play with so he will be able to feed it and hug it while she is working with baby Nick. He was thrilled and fed them and shoved the pacifier in its mouth. He likes to trundle it around in his little shopping cart. DS2 put the baby doll in Robert's new Big Wheel and Robert's baby care took a back set. Robert went over and kicked the doll off his trike and sat n it himself while his "baby" sprawled face down on the carpet. Mre baby training needed. Howeer, Robert is doing well with the baby. When Nick is in the swing Robert will kiss him and push the swing to make it move. If Nick cries he runs to him then comes to get us. The other day Nick was sleeping and we were all talking and Robert shhhhed us to be quiet. He says Mam and Dad and has a couple other semi words. Pretty good for 22 months. Yesterday he said "hosh" meaning horse and wanted to go out and see them. It was dark so he had a tantrum about being told he couldn't go. Main problem is that he won't sleep in his bed so does naps on the couch instead. At night he is hard to put to bed and continually gets up until he falls asleep on the couch. This is the result of not training him to a crib when he was 4-6 months old and his mother continuing to sleep with him on a mattress on the floor. I think they started doing that when he would not sleep through the night and DS2 had 4-5 am work times.
DS2 answered a call off the books and has gone back to work. The job will only last until March 7 and he already told the foreman he will drag up a week before the job closes since he will be going to Texas for the wedding. The company lost the contract, or it was ending, and another company will have the contract next. DS2 says he will hire on with another job when he comes back from Tx. He is also on a diet since he gained weight on paternity leave. DDIL2 has lost any weight she gained. Only DS2 is still carrying "baby weight". LOL
DH has lost a total of 10 lbs. since Christmas. His secret? Don't eat bread, snack crackers, ice cream, mayonnaise sandwiches (yes, that is a thing, 1/2" of mayo between 2 slices of bread
), candy, snacks, etc. that he usually munches non-stop while he watches FOX news. Which he does about 5 hours a day. He tried on the suit jacket to his other suit and was pleased when it fit him really well. The pants were another story. It was amusing to hear him lecture DS2 on healthy eating so DS2 could lose weight. I am serving small portions at dinner and tell everyone it is because of the price of food. I have lost another lb. and am down 8 lbs. now. My goal is to lose enough weight by the end of March to wear my beautiful green chiffon pantsuit to the baptism the end of March. It fits, but the pants are very tight. I would like to be able to zip them easily and be able to sit down in them without them splitting open! A few more pounds should do it. I long for the days when I could drop 5 lbs. in just a few days. I weighed myself every day and could eat anything without gaining. I didn't gain more than 12 lbs. from the day I married to the day I started chemo then my body went to he// in a hand basket. However, being alive to fight increasing weight is worth the trade off. I cleaned out and rearranged the closets the other day. I gathered all the out of season clothes and packed them away until summer. I have some new stuff that I bought just as Covid closed in, as well as the bridge clothes that I wore to the club. After this trip I will bring some clothes back and leave them at the ranch.
I really need to get a washer and dryer installed there too. That will be time (and $$) saving when we are working there. There is already a fridge that the owner left and the tenants were using. Stove and dishwasher are in place as well so camping out in the house while working on fences will not be difficult. The existing fridge is not very large though so eventually we will buy a larger one when I do the kitchen reno. Minimal reno, just removing the peninsula (just a counter top with no storage under it). I will also take down part of the overhead cabinets at that end of the kitchen counters which will make room for a large fridge. Removing the peninsula will make room for an island. I will remove the overhead cabinets in the laundry room that are currently over an upright freezer and put them in the kitchen over the new fridge. The old fridge is sitting in a wall cubby made for it and that will become a pantry by adding a door. Minimal reno as I said. We will do that during the winter months when we can't work on the fencing. I am really looking forward to bringing the house up to date. I like doing things on a tight budget and repurposing stuff.
I used to do the goats at least once a month on the milk stand but these guys are bigger, heavier, and won't stand still for me like our milkers used to do.
