Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

Our hay never lasts long since we tend to add about 4-6 ewe lambs every lambing which happens every 4-6 months. However, with all this green forage we have stopped feeding in the morning so the ewes are encouraged to graze. We still have to feed the rams, and the nursing ewes with new lambs, but the others are getting half rations. With 22 ewes & lambs on the big field, that equates to a savings of at least 10 flakes or one full bale of alfalfa daily. With the 5 pregnant ewes on half rations, that is 3 flakes daily so another 2 full bales a week. Let the rain keep coming!

I need to check ear tags this evening when we feed since I have a discrepancy on my bred ewe board. I show 11 ewes that were exposed to the ram. 3 have lambed, and there are 5 left in the pen. 3 are missing. Where are they? Need to do an ear tag check before we have lambs on the field. Or rather in the gully - NOOOO! Checked ear tags, then DS1 brought a list that he insisted was correct - NOT. He still had BL17 on there that had dead lambs and turned septic and died in November. I found Bl13 and BL16. A purple tag and orange tag - couldn't see numbers. I am missing 2 green tag ewes that show being marked on 11/24 and 11/24-2/10. Both missing so must be in large field. Might lamb there or not. BL14 is on the list but missing from the lambing pen. No date for her breeding, but a due date of 4/18??? This is what happens when yoi go away for several weeks and leave DD2 to watch sheep. SHE left husband to go feed and of course, no one noticed any marks on ewes. Probably because it was dark when he fed and because they skipped feeding a couple times. I would fire them but they are family. Family can suck.

Today I removed boxes from the living room in case we need to use it for the party on Sunday. Some were empty so I collapsed them and saved them for moving, some were plastic tubs, also empty, which I put in my bedroom to pack for Texas trip end of April/first of May. I need one more box in which to pack 12quart jars that are currently dumped in a box and will break if I try to transport them that way. Then all the canning jars that are going to Texas at the moment are ready to go and the remaining pressure canner can also go.

Next I went to the milk shed and packed all the 30" and 36" privacy panels for the rabbit cages in a carton that I made. They were sitting against the freezer and every time someone went into the milk shed they were in the way. Now they are ready to go. I still have to take several cardboard boxes and make a carton to fit the new rabbit cages that are still collapsed from when I ordered them years ago. The carton they were shipped in has been gnawed by rats and ground squirrels, is in bad shape and needs to be repaired (?) or simply the cages need to be repacked in another carton. I could buy a mirror box, but I think I can cobble a box together out of several Chewy boxes taped together. Since they will probably get chewed by rats stored in Texas in the barn, I don't see any reason to buy a new cardboard shipping box.

I am considering planting some tomato plants in the raised planter in the front yard. The ground squirrels don't eat the tomato plants (poisonous) but will probably eat all the tomatoes. We will have to use the Squirrelinator this summer. I won't plant anything else, although I saw that 2 of my Society Garlic and Rosemary plants survived the ground squirrels and gophers in the round raised bed. I need to plant them this Saturday since it is supposed to be dry until Monday then more rain is coming. I have stopped feeling sorry for the sheep the rain. They are wearing leather and don't seem to mind since they are more than happy to lay down on the wet ground at any time.

Today Robert insisted on going in the barn to see the Baaas. He is learning to talk - horses are "hoshes". He loves the "hoshe" cartoon with Spirit, it's owner, and her friends who all gallop around bareback on horses without any halters or bridles. It is his favorite show. Anyway, we went into the brn to see the baas and I let him into a pen where the ewe and her lamb were laying quietly. I stayed back and he walked over and the ewe allowed hm to come up and pet the lamb. We were in the pen for a while, and he followed the ewe and lamb round petting them. Then he kissed the lamb on its head - so adorable! After kissing it he made a disgusted face and tried to spit out the sheep hair taste - even more adorable! LOL

This morning I went with Kathleen to check out the preschool for Robert. Only 10 children in the 2-year-old class and she got the last spot for him. Since both DS2, DS3, DGS1, DGS2, DGS3, DGS4, DGD1, and DGD2 all went to the preschool, and I taught there for 6 years, DS1 told her even if there was no spot they would have to find one since Robert would be a "legacy student". LOL He enjoyed himself and didn't want to leave so it looks like he may do ok in September. 8 Ridgetop clan members and a Ridgetop teacher at the school. Annabel won't go there although older sister Maysie did, because the drive from Maysie's school will be too far for DD2. More Christmas programs and fundraisers. Will it never end? Preschool is more expensive than private school these days. $400 monthly for M-W-F 9:00-12:00!!! Carl's friend at work said that was cheap that he is paying $1000/5 days 9-2pm. Thank heaven I don't have any more children. Although I never put mine in preschool until they were 4 years old. I hated doing the school drop and p/u. If it had been available then I might have done homeschooling just to avoid leaving the house. LOL

 

[Ridgetop]

Today everyone is working on getting ready for the party. DDIL's mom and sister came to help set up the patio. DS2 finished the blocks he had building his retaining wall. Now he's going to Costco for party stuff and on the way back will pick up another 100 blocks. Why he decided to pull out the telephone pole retaining wall and rebuild it NOW, I don't know. Must be genetic. Every time we planned a large party DH would immediately decide that he HAD to trim all the trees over the patio, or all the shrubbery surrounding the patio etc. on the DAY BEFORE THE PARTY!!! Almost all large partis were held on our large patio so this meant that he was not available for any party set up and everything I had already set up got covered in tree limbs, leaves, etc. Then everyone was called off party prep to clean up his mess. At least the retaining wall is below the patio, but it IS holding up part of the slope under the patio. Go figure!

Since the party is the province of the parents, DS2 and DDIL2, I simply am cleaning my bedroom and bathroom for guests. In addition, DS1 and I finished trimming the hooves on the last 2 rams. Really easy since their tiny stall is very wet. Made the hooves flexible and easy to cut instead of hard like concrete. Vaxed the rams, and gave 8111 6 cc penicillin since she didn't look too perky. Checked her lamb and she had a full stomach though. Then DS1 noticed that we had anew lamb in the creep pen. BL14 dropped a single ewe lamb with no drama. Good girl. BL14 is out of the really nice Axtell ewe I lost when she couldn't lamb in August. BL14 is a grade 5 and so was her mom, 18003. Iodined the cord and moved her into one of the jugs. Two more ewes in that pen are getting large udders so won't be long. Once another ewe lambs, we will dock, tag, and move the 5 lactating ewes and their lambs into the creep pen. That will leave the final 3 ewes the jugs. One of the ewes doesn't have any udder so may be open.

 

[SageHill]

Now he's going to Costco for party stuff and on the way back will pick up another 100 blocks. Why he decided to pull out the telephone pole retaining wall and rebuild it NOW, I don't know. Must be genetic.

Nah - not so much genetic but a 'typical guy' sort of thing. Happens here too.

 

[Ridgetop]

Made tacos for dinner - made the filling early, the made a large tossed salad for tomorrow. DS2 and DH got home just as I finished so I went ahead and chopped celery and green onions to fix up the purchased potato salad. Add them with pickle relish and some seasonings and everyone exp=claims over the fantastic homemade potato salad. I tell everyone it is my grandmother's recipe - she is the one that started doing that years ago. She told me it was not necessary to kill myself making potato salad from scratch, just jazz it up and no one would know the difference. She was right because everyone raved over her "homemade" potato salad too.

Tomorrow is the big day. DS2 doing gifts for the priest and had me make fancy labels for the beef jerky he made - four flavors - Spicy Garlic, Jalapeno, Mango Habanero, and Teriyaki. He loves making jerky on his Trager. Lots of effort for something that is eaten so quickly. Jerky is not cheap to make either, but he enjoys doing it. DDIL2's mom is coming over tomorrow to help get ready. She is also doing a lot of cooking for the parties. I am not doing much since I have retired from that sort of thing. LOL I plan to be a guest. Please no tricky lambings tomorrow!

DS1 picked up 3 bags of DriStall for the jug that hosted the rams for the past month. I kept wanting to rake out the stalls and clean them, but he keeps saying he plans to do a "deep clean". If we could get the little tractor into the barn, it would be so easy, but since we have to do everything by hand - pickax and shoveling - it is a big deal. If we were going to stay here, I would consider building another barn on the field so we could clean it with the tractor.

 

[Baymule]

My mom hosted Thanksgiving one year and the food was delicious. That should have been our first clue, my mom was a lousy cook. Finally she proudly proclaimed that she bought the whole meal at the grocery store and warmed it up.

For your potato salad, go for it! Just bag and hide the cartons it comes in!

 

[Ridgetop]

If it tastes good, and you don't have to spend hours slaving over it, what is the difference? I will tell you - a much better natured mom who didn't spend all day on her feet cooking and now can't wait for the guests to go home so she can put her feet up!

DDIL2's family brought a whole bunch of great Filipino food including a rolled pork belly, DS2 tragered 5 tri-tip roasts, and 5 racks of ribs, there were while trays of asian noodles, salads, and other vegetable side dishes. 30-40 people arrived, ate the Filipino dishes that were already out and waiting, then came back for seconds and polished off the ribs and tri-tip. Guests went home with goody bags of food as is traditional. Children had a good time. It was good to have a large party on the patio again. When we renovated the house and patio this is what we planned for. We entertained a lot in the old house and did even more here when the kids were young. I think the house was happy to host a big party again!

The weather held up until the cake and candles, when it clouded up and got chilly. However, the rain held off until during the night and our rainy season continues. More forage growth and less hay fed is a good thing for the bank account. With luck the hay will hold out until June when prices will drop.

DH and I went to bed at 9:30 and read for a bit. We were asleep by 10:30 when DS1 came in and said BL14 had lambed and he moved her into a jug. Went down this morning. Twin ram lambs. Normal sized lambs so no trouble. DS1 and I spent some time this morning taunting the ones that had their lambs pulled by telling them how superior BL14 was. Now we have a total of 4 ewe lambs, 3 ram lambs, 2 dead ram lambs, and 3 more ewes to lamb out. Ram lambs = auction = +$$$ Ewe lambs = flock replacements = -$$$ (hay)

 

[Baymule]

Sounds like a great party! Best of all, you didn’t have to do all the work! You got this figured out, pass the torch (BBQ Pit) to the next generation!

 

[Ridgetop]

Rain stopped this morning, but the wind picked up to a real blow. Also, very cold outside. DSIL1 asked to bring dog over for babysitting this am and he immediately focused on the overflowing trash can of food debris from last night. Caught him in time before he did anything about it. Bagged the trash and he has been in and out all day.

I had trouble walking on either hip yesterday but was puzzled by why. Then realized that I had bruises on both hips from the older ram, Smalley. He kicked in the chair while hoof trimming and caught me on the right hip, sending me into the metal panel on the left side. Those got better but today and last night ai realized my back on the right side was in agony. Obviously, I twisted when kicked and pulled a muscle in my right lower back. Oy vey! These sheep.

After cleaning up the trash from outside, packing up the plastic boxes with the leftover paper goods and picnic/BBQ supplies, and doing the dishes this am, I tried laying on a heating pad until T.O.R. came on. Had on the alarm but turned on the programming early. However, I got the Breakfast Show instead??? Went online and asked for current Braidwood time and it is currently 8:23 am on Tuesday. So I have again screwed up the times. On the other hand, at least I did not miss it - I am an hour and a half early which is doable since I wil just leave the show on until Frank comes on. And go back to the heating pad and another appication of Arnica. Thanks to Baymule for mentioning this stuff. Bought it in Texas, have been using it and it works. Also doesn't smell like Ben-Gay so no old lady smell!

 

[Ridgetop]

This afternoon I talked to DS1 about moving the new mamas and lambs around. We decided to do it after OR10 lambed and he said he would probably move BL13 out onto the main field since she is not showing any udder development. I went out afterwards and looked in the barn and OR10 had a lamb on the ground! Went back in and told DS1 who said he would come move them. I said to wait till she passed her afterbirth. Went back down to iodine the cord and she actually had twins - ram and ewe lambs on the ground, no problem, no fuss. DS1 went down later and moved the ewes with lambs around. He decided to keep BL13 in the barn since she is really big although no udder development to speak of yet. But these sheep can be tricky. She marked every 3 weeks last June and July and should have lambed in November but didn't. We kept her in with the ram since then so she could lamb any time between now and mid-July (according to when we pulled the ram out). Could still lamb any time since DD2 and DSIL2 did not write down any breeding marks while we were in Texas last September/October. You just can't get good help! P5 marked on 2/10 and has a due date of July 5. No udder and she is back out on the field. These are the 2 that have different dates and will have to be watched. I prefer them to be all within a month from start to finish of lambing in one bunch. We breed all year round, but I prefer having one bunch in a one-month span, then a couple months later another bunch lambing, etc.

However, we now have 4 rams to sell, and 5 ewes to go into the flock. I would like to sell some ewe lambs to make room for some new breeding stock at the sale this year. I also will need a new registered ram soon. I may sell a couple of the older homebred ewes this year. I sold 3 homebred ewes last year and 2 purchased ewes along with a purchased ram - nt counting the Texas 5.

I think i will go down in the tool shed and give it a good cleaning since it is a mess again. I did get the grandsons t get up in the loft and move some of the baby equipment up there that was just sitting on the floor. A nice wood portacrib, and some other baby stuff. Eventually I will have to advertise in Craigslist. No point until the Covid scare recedes a bit.

 

[Ridgetop]

Got a call to play bridge today. Found out two more friends had passed on. Bill (affectionately known as "Moose") is gone. I thought he would live forever. He was 95. Both his wife, son, and daughter already gone. Missed his big voice echoing with his bid of 7 No Trump! And making it against all odds. He was a lineman with Burbank DWP.

Anyway, that put off my plan to clean out the tool shed and put all the tools that are still in the travel tool boxes away until tomorrow. I need to clean out everything and put everything away so I can find it when we pack everything to go to Texas to work on fencing. I am going to order the wire and T-posts before we go on a raincheck, and we will pick up in Sulphur Springs.

DH is planning to go to Nipomo and pick up the blue tractor and implements and bring them back here ready to leave for TX. We have to go to Vacaville (northern CA) April 20 for a Dorper Judging course. Since we will be going north I suggested that we go to Nipomo and drop the trailer, then pick it and the tractor up on the way back on Monday April 24. DH doesn't like that idea since Nipomo is west on the coast while the fastest way to Vacaville is inland due north on the I-5. I suggested we go to Nipomo and pick up the tractor on the way to Texas the following week, but DH said that the fastest way to TX is to come back south to LA and go from here.

Sometimes I wonder if we have made a mistake planning to move to TX. Oh well, probably just worried abut moving everything back since the drive seems to get longer each time. However, I will be happy to get out of this place since t is getting crowded with 2 babies here. Baby stuff takes up SO MUCH SPACE! And while the crying doesn't bother me so much, DH was never around it much when our kids were small because he was always at work so it bothers him when both are fussing and he can't watch TV in his recliner. He is starting to learn some of the kiddy songs on Robert's cartoon shows though.

We will be bringing the new puppy back with us after this next trip to Texas. She needs to be introduced to the 2 bitches here before she is much older, or they will not accept her. Without Bubba as a defender and playmate she will need to learn boundaries from them. Rika won't be bothered with her at her age (10 years old), so she will have to learn from Angel. I need to put up some sort of separate fencing for the sheep and the new puppy to keep her contained where I can supervise her interacting with the sheep. I will put the ram and some ewes to be bred with her. They are old enough to resent any attempt to play with them on her part. Then we will have to walk her around the property lines each day so she can be out with the other dogs and the sheep for interaction during the day.

I will have to see if I can pick up any more antibiotics while in Texas before the end of May as well. I wonder if I can freeze the Penicillin or LA 200 I bought. Anybody know if it stays effective after freezing?