SageHill
Herd Master
No no no - that IS right - it is my favorite way to see snow - framed by palm trees!
Having grown up in the midwest IL/IA I've shoveled more than enough of the white stuff, defrosted frozen pipes, and cringed at yellow snow.
Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along
- Thread starter Ridgetop
- Start date
Having grown up in the midwest IL/IA I've shoveled more than enough of the white stuff, defrosted frozen pipes, and cringed at yellow snow.
SageHill
Herd Master
That's the way it is here. Please don't let the LA guys talk to our guys!!! We're just a small spot in the county - a one fire station place where everyone pretty much knows all (except for that one subdivision where lots are less than 3,000 sq ft! That's the LOT not the house
Baymule
Herd Master
That’s not enough room for a house, garage and a yard for the dog!That's the way it is here. Please don't let the LA guys talk to our guys!!! We're just a small spot in the county - a one fire station place where everyone pretty much knows all (except for that one subdivision where lots are less than 3,000 sq ft! That's the LOT not the house
SageHill
Herd Master
You'd be surprised! Just enough room for a stacked up house, but definitely no room for even a tomato plant! And -- <GASP> -- the prices they are paying are about 75% of what our ranch is. - and there are no town things - like a grocery store (well there is a tiny one), Starburnt, etc. But the DID put a Mc D's in the subdivision (the only fast food place here).
I guess being able to stick your arm out the window to borrow a cup of sugar is pricey!!
- and there are no town things - like a grocery store (well there is a tiny one), Starburnt, etc. But the DID put a Mc D's in the subdivision (the only fast food place here).I guess being able to stick your arm out the window to borrow a cup of sugar is pricey!!
- Thread starter
- #2,695
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Those mini subdivisions are a problem since people will move in because they "love country living" and then realize that they have to drive for miles to the store, movies, shopping, etc. They will realize that real country living is not like it is in stories. They will demand more facilities and when those arrive so will more subdivisions . . . .
Speaking of people who don't understand "country living" or ranching - DH, DS2, and DDIL2 were watching a show called "Farmer Gets a Wife". Supposedly 4 young farmers/ranchers (early 30's)can choose a wife from 8 contestants. They eliminate and choose the girls until they end up with one. Our whole family was laughing at the girls who showed up for their "farm date" in miniskirts, low cut dresses, and 4" stiletto heels! Most of the girls never saw a farm, some were afraid of "large animals", and wore the most ridiculous fashions. One girl's dress was so short that when she was sitting on the straw bale (Uncomfortable? I didn't even like to think about it!) the show made her put a blanket over her lap to cover her crotch. Another one stepped on the straw bale to sit down and got her stiletto heel stuck in the bale.
Someone should tell those poor boys that they are just going to end up paying alimony out the wazoo! And with the current agriculture prices they might lose the farm!
STILL working on my farm taxes.
This misery is DH's fault since he insisted that we shouldn't file this year. Luckily, I have all the receipts, but it takes time to go back and sort them out and categorize them for the forms. I am at the point finally where I can start entering the amounts on the forms. Guess I better get back to it. DD1tried to get me to work on the mission with DGD1 tonight but I told her I couldn't. She offered to make dinner again, but I was almost finished with it so . . . . I told her that if she brought DGD1 over this weekend I would work on it the entire weekend. The teachers are going on strike next week - just in time to walk picket lines in a huge storm. DD1 wants to have the 3v days of the planned strike off to work with DGD1 on her Science Fair project. It never ends. So glad that I am in my Prime and no longer have to worry about any school projects except the ones I like doing!
Speaking of people who don't understand "country living" or ranching - DH, DS2, and DDIL2 were watching a show called "Farmer Gets a Wife". Supposedly 4 young farmers/ranchers (early 30's)can choose a wife from 8 contestants. They eliminate and choose the girls until they end up with one. Our whole family was laughing at the girls who showed up for their "farm date" in miniskirts, low cut dresses, and 4" stiletto heels! Most of the girls never saw a farm, some were afraid of "large animals", and wore the most ridiculous fashions. One girl's dress was so short that when she was sitting on the straw bale (Uncomfortable? I didn't even like to think about it!) the show made her put a blanket over her lap to cover her crotch. Another one stepped on the straw bale to sit down and got her stiletto heel stuck in the bale.
Someone should tell those poor boys that they are just going to end up paying alimony out the wazoo! And with the current agriculture prices they might lose the farm!
STILL working on my farm taxes.
This misery is DH's fault since he insisted that we shouldn't file this year. Luckily, I have all the receipts, but it takes time to go back and sort them out and categorize them for the forms. I am at the point finally where I can start entering the amounts on the forms. Guess I better get back to it. DD1tried to get me to work on the mission with DGD1 tonight but I told her I couldn't. She offered to make dinner again, but I was almost finished with it so . . . . I told her that if she brought DGD1 over this weekend I would work on it the entire weekend. The teachers are going on strike next week - just in time to walk picket lines in a huge storm. DD1 wants to have the 3v days of the planned strike off to work with DGD1 on her Science Fair project. It never ends. So glad that I am in my Prime and no longer have to worry about any school projects except the ones I like doing!
SageHill
Herd Master
BINGO! aaaaannnnnndddd that's exactly what's happening. Saw my first McD's 'decorations' (trash) in the TSC parking lot last week. About a month after opening.
Bruce
Herd Master
I'm surprised it took that long.
Gee, makes the 4,300 sq ft lot my old house was on look like like open range!(except for that one subdivision where lots are less than 3,000 sq ft! That's the LOT not the house
- Thread starter
- #2,698
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Finished my Schedule F tax breakdown and sent it off to the preparer. Some things I was not sure about where to put them, but I think I got it ok. She can call me if there is a problem. The expenses were horrendous, 90% was feed cost - hay. 
Alfalfa is ruinously expensive and it is the cheapest hay here. When the kids did 4-H they had to do a complete accounting every year of their project with depreciation on equipment. The market kids had it easy but the kids (mine) in breeding projects had to account for everything. Since we did a huge dairy project, as well as showing, being on test, etc., there was a lot of bookkeeping. Luckily DH taught me how to do it so I could teach the kids. My inventory list is 2 whole pages single spaced, and I had to do a beginning livestock inventory and ending livestock inventory. It got complicated as I tried to reconstitute the list from January 1, 2022, with the animals that were here then (some sold or died during the year). I finally got it done and made a start on the 2023 inventories too. I sent them off to the preparer this afternoon and hope it will be alright. I did not claim anything for the dogs since she did not understand the need for LGDs. City woman. But maybe once I am in Texas and the expenses are less, I will deduct a portion of their food and any vet bills. I will have to see how this goes. The massive expenses are frightening, but the overall value of the inventory certainly shows that even if I sell everything for a pittance, it would cover the costs. I don't know if the IRS rakes that into account, but I listed every piece of equipment we have, along with the stock trailer and both tractors. I hope we don't get audited since I will never hear the end of it from DH if so, but the start up instructions for a farm return allows a massive loss for the first couple years. It sounded like they expected farmers to have a huge loss. Not surprising the way agriculture is going. I am surprised that farmers and ranchers break even with all the problems they face.
OUR TRUCK IS BACK!!!
Darling Twinkles is home.
Yes, I did kiss her, and I am not ashamed to say so. I also did a walk round first to make sure it was actually our truck and not a ringer. So now we can finally make another trip to Texas with the flatbed trailer and bring the tractor back to work on the fencing. We will take both trucks, the flatbed, and the stock trailer in order to bring back some more fence panels, etc. as well as the tractor. DH has to put 500 miles on the new engine first, then get an oil change before we can put a heavy load on it for a long trip.
DGD1 came over again today and we got the mission buildings glued together and painted with the paint that has a sandy texture. Luckily I was able to find an almost full can of it in the shed, along with a full can of brick color spray paint. That means that the cans I bought for the mission can go back - almost $30 worth, which DD1 did not want to pay for anyway. My children are spoiled by the fact that I usually have stuff to make anything and everything in one of the closets or sheds. I am like Mary Poppins with her magic bag. Anyway DGD1 was able to fulfill her wish of being able to use spray paint and a hot glue gun. According to her, she has been hoping for the opportunity "forever", stated with great drama. So glad to have been able to fulfill one of her life milestones. What is a grandma for if not that? LOL After we painted the buildings, we got some boxes and wet them down to peel off one layer of the brown paper exposing the corrugations. Tomorrow after they are dry, we will cut them to fit the buildings and then spray them with the brick color paint. Another day of spray paint and hot glue gun nirvana for DGD1. Leaving everything to dry we then hiked into the field to find some dead branches for twigs to glue together for livestock fencing, and log piles. Larger pieces of branches were cut into tree trunks and she spent another happy 30 minutes gluing moss onto them to fashion trees. She told me that these trees are the wild ones since they are large. Tomorrow she can take the miniature apple trees we bought and paint the tiny red "apples" orange. I explained that the friars only had oranges. We also have some stuff to make grapevines and purple grapes to espalier up the walls of the mission buildings. She also scavenged her 15-year-old brother's 4th grade mission (yes, he still has it - he is somewhat OCD) and was able to find a couple of Indians for her Indian village. She wants to make Indian huts - not tipis but brush huts since Ridgetop family members are nothing if not completely true to historic detail. Sigh . . . . Now I have to figure out to how a 9-year-old can make a couple brush and grass huts. Maybe we can use the cap from the now empty can of sand spray paint and glue twig and grass on it. It has been so wet that the twigs we found were green and bendy - so maybe we can make them work.
Anyway, now the 3 grueling days of taxes are over, I can relax and fold the 2 loads of laundry sitting on my bed waiting for me, not to mention the 3rd load in the dryer. I did the sheets and towels yesterday. My back is killing me from hunching over the computer working on the taxes so I told the family that although I managed to get the corned beef in the Instapot, I will have to do the St. Paddy's Day dinner tomorrow. I just don't have it in me to peel potatoes tonight. Even though I am in my Prime.
Alfalfa is ruinously expensive and it is the cheapest hay here. When the kids did 4-H they had to do a complete accounting every year of their project with depreciation on equipment. The market kids had it easy but the kids (mine) in breeding projects had to account for everything. Since we did a huge dairy project, as well as showing, being on test, etc., there was a lot of bookkeeping. Luckily DH taught me how to do it so I could teach the kids. My inventory list is 2 whole pages single spaced, and I had to do a beginning livestock inventory and ending livestock inventory. It got complicated as I tried to reconstitute the list from January 1, 2022, with the animals that were here then (some sold or died during the year). I finally got it done and made a start on the 2023 inventories too. I sent them off to the preparer this afternoon and hope it will be alright. I did not claim anything for the dogs since she did not understand the need for LGDs. City woman. But maybe once I am in Texas and the expenses are less, I will deduct a portion of their food and any vet bills. I will have to see how this goes. The massive expenses are frightening, but the overall value of the inventory certainly shows that even if I sell everything for a pittance, it would cover the costs. I don't know if the IRS rakes that into account, but I listed every piece of equipment we have, along with the stock trailer and both tractors. I hope we don't get audited since I will never hear the end of it from DH if so, but the start up instructions for a farm return allows a massive loss for the first couple years. It sounded like they expected farmers to have a huge loss. Not surprising the way agriculture is going. I am surprised that farmers and ranchers break even with all the problems they face.OUR TRUCK IS BACK!!!
Darling Twinkles is home.
Yes, I did kiss her, and I am not ashamed to say so. I also did a walk round first to make sure it was actually our truck and not a ringer. So now we can finally make another trip to Texas with the flatbed trailer and bring the tractor back to work on the fencing. We will take both trucks, the flatbed, and the stock trailer in order to bring back some more fence panels, etc. as well as the tractor. DH has to put 500 miles on the new engine first, then get an oil change before we can put a heavy load on it for a long trip.DGD1 came over again today and we got the mission buildings glued together and painted with the paint that has a sandy texture. Luckily I was able to find an almost full can of it in the shed, along with a full can of brick color spray paint. That means that the cans I bought for the mission can go back - almost $30 worth, which DD1 did not want to pay for anyway. My children are spoiled by the fact that I usually have stuff to make anything and everything in one of the closets or sheds. I am like Mary Poppins with her magic bag. Anyway DGD1 was able to fulfill her wish of being able to use spray paint and a hot glue gun. According to her, she has been hoping for the opportunity "forever", stated with great drama. So glad to have been able to fulfill one of her life milestones. What is a grandma for if not that? LOL After we painted the buildings, we got some boxes and wet them down to peel off one layer of the brown paper exposing the corrugations. Tomorrow after they are dry, we will cut them to fit the buildings and then spray them with the brick color paint. Another day of spray paint and hot glue gun nirvana for DGD1. Leaving everything to dry we then hiked into the field to find some dead branches for twigs to glue together for livestock fencing, and log piles. Larger pieces of branches were cut into tree trunks and she spent another happy 30 minutes gluing moss onto them to fashion trees. She told me that these trees are the wild ones since they are large. Tomorrow she can take the miniature apple trees we bought and paint the tiny red "apples" orange. I explained that the friars only had oranges. We also have some stuff to make grapevines and purple grapes to espalier up the walls of the mission buildings. She also scavenged her 15-year-old brother's 4th grade mission (yes, he still has it - he is somewhat OCD) and was able to find a couple of Indians for her Indian village. She wants to make Indian huts - not tipis but brush huts since Ridgetop family members are nothing if not completely true to historic detail. Sigh . . . . Now I have to figure out to how a 9-year-old can make a couple brush and grass huts. Maybe we can use the cap from the now empty can of sand spray paint and glue twig and grass on it. It has been so wet that the twigs we found were green and bendy - so maybe we can make them work.
Anyway, now the 3 grueling days of taxes are over, I can relax and fold the 2 loads of laundry sitting on my bed waiting for me, not to mention the 3rd load in the dryer. I did the sheets and towels yesterday. My back is killing me from hunching over the computer working on the taxes so I told the family that although I managed to get the corned beef in the Instapot, I will have to do the St. Paddy's Day dinner tomorrow. I just don't have it in me to peel potatoes tonight. Even though I am in my Prime.
Baymule
Herd Master
Picture of the mission?
Yesterday evening all 3 dogs wanted in with me when I went in the pen of the Texas Five. The girls were fine with the dogs, it’s ME that is the horrible monster. But it’s starting to dawn on them the horrible monster brings food. I sat on a bucket, dragged their feed pan to me and laid my monster hand in it. This contaminated the feed, but sheep are pragmatic if nothing else, they cautiously ate, ready to run at the flick of a finger.
I found that I could touch the side of their faces and they would tolerate it for a few moments. If I try to touch them on top of their head, shoulder or anywhere except close to their mouth, they bolt and run. Predator.
Yesterday this mean ol’ Texas Momma gave them NO ALFALFA! Nope, only Bahia hay and they gladly ate it. I’m corrupting them. Their feed is alfalfa pellets, BOSS and the pellets my underprivileged sheep get.
Buford desperately wanted their feed but I told him no. He grinned, wiggled and tried to tell me how HE needed that feed worse that the TF girls did, but I’m a mean ol’ dog mommy, reminding him that he already ate. He sniffed the girls, licking them and being friendly.
I may put the pressure on the Texas Five and crouch over their feed daily. With longer evening hours, I have more time outside.
Yesterday evening all 3 dogs wanted in with me when I went in the pen of the Texas Five. The girls were fine with the dogs, it’s ME that is the horrible monster. But it’s starting to dawn on them the horrible monster brings food. I sat on a bucket, dragged their feed pan to me and laid my monster hand in it. This contaminated the feed, but sheep are pragmatic if nothing else, they cautiously ate, ready to run at the flick of a finger.
I found that I could touch the side of their faces and they would tolerate it for a few moments. If I try to touch them on top of their head, shoulder or anywhere except close to their mouth, they bolt and run. Predator.
Yesterday this mean ol’ Texas Momma gave them NO ALFALFA! Nope, only Bahia hay and they gladly ate it. I’m corrupting them. Their feed is alfalfa pellets, BOSS and the pellets my underprivileged sheep get.
Buford desperately wanted their feed but I told him no. He grinned, wiggled and tried to tell me how HE needed that feed worse that the TF girls did, but I’m a mean ol’ dog mommy, reminding him that he already ate. He sniffed the girls, licking them and being friendly.
I may put the pressure on the Texas Five and crouch over their feed daily. With longer evening hours, I have more time outside.
frustratedearthmother
Herd Master
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The T5 need to get with the program, lol!
