Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

Also saw a website for some welded 20' fence panels from 7 Peaks called "continuous fence". Expensive, and only about 48" tall, but we can extend them higher and add wire. Much easier to install for us but probably too expensive. However, I can get an estimate over the internet so am asking for that.

Tonight Rika refused to come in for her dinner. DH had DS1 go out to see what was wrong since she kept coming in a little bit then returning to the spot she was watching. As soon as we walked out onto the field, she started running towards us and back again. It was just like the times she came to get us and bring us to new lambs or injured ewes. I asked DS1 if he had counted the ewes as they came in and he said they all seemed to be there. So DS1 and I walked over to the end of the field she wanted to show us. It had gotten dark and we could barely see the ground. DS1 was ahead of me - he started laughing and praising Rika. When I got there, he pointed to a dark shape on a lighter patch of ground. Rika had killed a ground squirrel and wanted to show it to us. As soon as we admired her kill, she turned tail and ran off for her supper! Angel got one a couple weeks ago. Apparently, Rika and Angel are beginning a war on ground squirrels. I told Rika that her Auntie Baymule had been viciously attacked by a squirrel while in her car. She promised to kill all the squirrels she finds. LOL

Went out today to unload the trailer and clean it a bit. A couple of the kitchen drawers were out of the cabinets. They have "locks" to keep them in place while traveling. These "lock" are just metal lips on the drawer guides. A couple of them don't work very well and we have a couple drawers that have to be removed when we travel. Then I saw that one of the drawer guides was also broken from the supports. I removed all the guides and added extra screws to the plastic holders that held the drawer guides. Then I checked the drawer guide "locks". A couple of the prongs were broken so I took those out and replaced them with the drawer guides I had salvaged from the dining banquette. The drawer "locks" are working now, but DS1 suggested that I install baby locks on them to make sure that they stay closed while traveling. I am going to see it that will work. Baby locks are a pain in the a$$ but it is worth to go into the trailer and find the drawers all over the floor. Not to mention my fear that the drawers may break.

Next, since I removed the table from the trailer, I need to get some sort of table to use. I decided to find some folding legs to attach to the tabletop (which was in perfect condition) I had removed from the trailer. There were some on Amazon, but they were around $50! DS1 suggested we look for folding tables and we found some that were around $50. Same price ad about the same size 48" long x 24" wide. The legs are also adjustable height so I can lower it for use as a computer table. Some of the tables folded in half to 24" x 24" for storage. Some just folded flat. We found the one we wanted BUT out of stock and discontinued! Since different stores have them, I guess we will go looking at them before ordering online and compare prices and styles. DS1 also suggested that I look at the folding tables we have and possibly cannibalize one of them. One of the folding banquet tables has areas of broken edges. If they fit, I can take those legs and use them for free. I will have to measure to see if they will fit the tabletop.

I also remembered I had not replaced the trim molding to finish covering the seam where I removed the banquette. I had gotten a couple more strips of oak wood molding from Baymule's pile at her DS' house and brought them back in the trailer 6 months ago. DS had put the pieces behind the couch so I will cut and install the piece tomorrow.

Although we will not use the trailer for a while, I want it to be ready to go. I like keeping my things repaired. Also, DS3 wants to have a family campout at a lake near his house this year and we will be bringing our trailer. DS3 will be bringing his trailer too. The grandchildren (except the 3 littlest ones) will share tents. DD1, DSIL1, DD2 and DSIL2 will use tent as well. The 3 smallest grandchildren can either sleep in the tents with their parents or in the trailers. I am voting for the tents! LOL

My knee has been hurting a lot lately. It hurts really badly after I kneel down or keep the knee bent. I think it is because I have not been exercising properly and I have let the muscles get weak. I need to start pushing the exercises or I will not be able to work on the fencing in TX.

 

[Baymule]

Yes! Exercise that knee! Get out and walk daily, use step counter on your phone.

SQUIRRELS!!!!

Good girl Rika! And Angel too! There will be squirrels in their new home too for them to play with.

 

[Ridgetop]

Finished the trim in the trailer with the wood batten I brought back from Texas. Now I am trying to decide how to do the cabinet door un the bed frame so I can access storage from the side instead of lifting the mattress and platform. I can do this but then have to rest the platform on top of my head while I use my hands and arms to retrieve stuff. I have a 12" by 28" wooden door that I can stain. I figure if I frame in an opening in the side of the bed platform, I can attach the door and access storage space for shoes. I thought of using the mini barn door cabinet hardware and then slide the door back and forth. Nicer than a hinge, but can't seem to find the hardware in the right dimensions. So now I will look for other shoe storage ideas that I can use. Trailers don't have enough storage.

DS1 and I spent hours yesterday on the computer looking for the table I wanted for the trailer, only to find it was either out of stock or had been discontinued! Today DS1 found it at Costco for $44! That is $30 less than we found anything on Amazon or any of the stores that reported it as unavailable. It was the really stable one with the easy adjust legs. He bought it and brought it home and it is perfect. It will seat 2 people comfortably on each side for eating and can also be used for a computer desk.

DS2 saw it and liked the fact that the leg height extended tall enough to use as a temporary workbench and collapses short enough for a children's craft table. It will also be perfect for a work surface when remodeling in Texas. We had DS1 go back and pick up a couple more of them. LOL

DS2 pulled out the power pole retaining wall on one side of the patio 2 weeks ago. He has been building a stone retaining wall. It is almost finished. DH brought home a truck load of dirt to backfill and he and DS1 put that in. Once he finishes another course of stone blocks, has the rest of the dirt filled in and levelled he plans to use paving stones to make a solid surface to extend the patio. He is going to install wrought iron look 4' fencing from Lowes to prevent anyone from falling off the drop - about 12'. I put the same fencing in a 6' height around the old pool. It goes in easy and looks great. Eventually he plans to continue the retaining wall around the lower area which used to hold the doughboy pool. That wall won't have to be as high. I wish all my boys would come to Texas to put up fence for me. They are good workers and very capable. DH taught them well.

DS1 also found some giant plastic heavy duty storage containers/boxes at Lowes. They were regularly $16 each, marked down to $11, and with the military discount they ended up being $8.50! Score! I used the ones I already had to pack linens and clothing for storage and shipping to Texas. Also used a few of these to store equipment and construction tools, etc. in the shed. They are very sturdy and have holes in the lids and edges to use zip ties to close them semi-permanently for longer term storage.

This Thursday we will be leaving for northern California for a 4-day seminar on judging Dorpers in Vacaville. DH is allowed to sit in, no charge, since he will not be taking the tests. I am really happy about that since his hearing is not good enough to hear everything, and some of the South African instructors have heavy Dutch accents that make it even harder for him. DS1 is going with us, since his friend, Leen, bought a shooting preserve business there. We will drop him off on Thursday and pick him up on Monday on the way back.I have to memorize parts of my Dorper handbook before the seminar. Yes, there will be tests! Since we did not get the truck back from the body shop yet - apparently there was a rip in the driver's seat and DH had it repaired which took an extra week - we could not pick up the tractor. So we are taking the long way to northern California by way of Nipomo to drop off the flatbed trailer on the way. Then on the way back we will detour over to the coast and pick up the flatbed and the tractor. The flatbed is a gooseneck and DS2's truck is not set up yet for a gooseneck or 5th wheel hitch. That leaves poor Twinkles to do the heavy work.

We plan to leave for Texas on Wednesday the 26th April HOPEFULLY. We have to be back by May 17 for a doctor appointment. I have to move another appointment so we can leave the first of June for another trip to Texas and fence building. Our tenants texted and said they have had several "hiccups" in their building but will definitely be moving this weekend regardless and the house will be empty for us. We hope to be bringing most of our corral panels and equipment with us both times. Once we have most of the fencing in the sheep and dogs can come out and we will just continue fencing more pastures. I guess we will have to bring furniture at some point too. LOL

 

[Baymule]

SCORE! On finding the tables! They sound perfect! SCORE on finding the tubs on sale! Can never have too many of those. I’m starting a collection of those. The clear ones, I can see through and know what’s in them. I just have a few, but they sure make life easier.

A 4 day judging seminar! That will be great! Are you going to be a judge? With all those years of knowledge you already have, you will be the BEST!

Another trip to Texas! Y’all have a lot of stuff to move. Look at it this way, at least it’s not by mule team and wagon.

 

[Ridgetop]

No, not judging! LOL I just hope to learn enough to choose really good sheep while they are lambs instead of waiting until they are adults and I have a lot more $$$ invested in raising them. LOL It is always interesting to learn and I like to see if I am heading the right way in my breeding program. The trip and seminar costs will be tax deductible, will give DH and I a chance to escape for a few days by ourselves, we have 2 days of free stay points at Best Western, need to put 500 miles on the new truck engine before our Texas trip, and have to go north to pick up the tractor anyway. Win-win road trip. I will pick up a lot of good information and hope to learn to judge young stock early.

DS1 is having the grandsons over today to help clean out the barn jugs. He will take down the panels and dig out the areas. Then he'll put in Dri-Stall and cover it with a layer of sand. When we get back from Texas, he wants to move the ewes with small lambs into the other small pen below the milking shed to clean up those weeds while he digs out the inside creep pen.

I got the estimate from 7 Peaks on their continuous fence. 3200 feet of fence with round metal fence posts and all hardware to install is $28,000. We would have to install wire over the metal panels, but these are welded metal pipe panels. I am going to write and ask for another estimate for taller panels with woven wire on them already.

I like the welded fence idea, but the raising of the fence and adding wire would substantially increase the cost. One of the sheep people I have been talking to said to put the woven wire right over any barbed wire fencing in good condition. He said that too many people remove the old wire and posts which takes a lot more work, while leaving the good fence under the new woven wire fence makes the new fence stronger. He also said that fence people like to remove the old fence since they can charge extra for doing it and keep all the old wire and posts as trash. I can see where leaving the barbed wire on the outside of the new fence might help deter predators or hogs. If the fence posts are sturdy, it saves a lot of work for us. When we go back this time, we will walk the first fence line and see how good that fence is. If some of the posts are bad, we can replace them as we string the fence. If it is sturdy fencing we can string the first row of wire over it, then add taller posts to the fence line and string a secondary row of wire on the taller posts for the dogs. Discussed this with DS1 and DH who informed me they had no plans to remove the old fence and always planned to simply cover the old fence with the new wire!
When I got all the estimates on putting in new fencing they said nothing about this to me, Instead I am sure that DH told the fence guy to remove the old fence but save the T-posts! This proves what women have known for generations - men don't really listen when women speak. At any rate, knowing their plans would have saved me many sleepless nights worrying about the fencing. When I talked about pounding in T-posts and digging holes for other posts, DH said it was going to be a lot of work - never anything about not pounding in new T-posts! At any rate this makes me much happier about the fencing ahead of us. Pounding in 3200 running feet of T-posts was worrying me.

Having cleared that up with the men, I said we only would have to pound in the taller T-posts to attach another section of fencing wire above the lower fencing wire to raise the fence to 6-7'. No, they both said, they plan to just use hose clamps to attach another taller T-post to the shorter T-post. Just like they did here on this place. But I said, those posts are 6" oil pipe in concrete. They are very sturdy, will T-posts be sturdy enough to clamp on more posts and hang more wire? They assured me that they would be fine. However, with the post hole digger on the tractor we can intersperse heavier duty posts along the fence line to help carry the weight. If we sink them in concrete, they should be ok. Our dogs are not fence climbers or jumpers, so . . . .

Either way, we really need to start with the fencing or else abandon the idea of moving to Texas, just redo the interior of the house, do some landscaping and sell.

 

[Ridgetop]

Trying to get the power and water for the Yantis place switched to our names as of May 1. Called Ambit electric company - first they could do nothing because I did not have an EDI #, told me to call Oncor who is the energy supplier. Oncar gave me the EDI # for the address. Called Ambit back but they said the number was for an address with the same street number on Texas Hwy 154 S but in Sulphur Springs with a different zip code. Told me to call the tenant for the EDI # on the bill. She is on her way back to Yantis from Alba because they are moving this week. She will call me when she gets to the farm and give me all the ID numbers on the various utility bills. Then I get to call Ambit back again. Yippee!

 

[Ridgetop]

Got all the information Ambit wanted and called back to arrange a date for power turn on. Then Ambit said they could not change the account to our name until previous occupant cancelled service. I have to wait until it is turned off. Then I can apply for service over the internet. Deposit? I need to give them my social security number so they can run a credit check to tell me how much the deposit will be! I can do everything on line but they did not tell me how I could do the deposit. So my SS # will be floating around the internet along with a credit card number or bank info! Trying to decide if I want to move now after 4 hours trying to set this up!!!

 

[Baymule]

Isn’t that on Wood County Electric Co-op? MUCH easier to deal with! That’s who we used in Lindale. The ranch is in Wood County, it should be available to you.

Instead of clamping another T-post on top of another, ask the men folk about buying rebar, cutting to length, I think Lowes will cut it for you, and using that instead. Cheaper, and less weight on the original T-posts.might go up faster too.

 

[Ridgetop]

Now on to fencing questions -

As you all know (because I repeat myself endlessly) we need a 6' fence around the perimeter due to TX Hwy 154 running across the front of the property. I know location is bad, but we have to work with it. I am unable to get 6' woven wire fencing anywhere. Both Red Brand and OK have stated that they are not manufacturing it at this time and don't know when it will be back. So here is what we have decided to do:

Assuming the posts are sturdy - which we will check when we go to Texas in another week, DH and DS1 say we will put 47" woven sheep and goat on the posts OVER the existing barbed wire. Then they will use hose clamps to attach longer T-posts to existing posts, and add additional taller T-posts where needed for more stability. Every 100 feet we will put in a heavier post (boss) in concrete. Then add another roll of field fence on top.

News Flash! Cancel above!

Change of direction on fencing!!! Found Sta-Tuff brand woven fencing online and they are making rolls of 6' high woven wire fencing! I talked to one of the Sta-Tuff sales people that knows fencing and he advised that they make 2 types of 76" woven wire. It is high tensile, and he advised the fixed knot style. The fixed knot will not allow push through by livestock on the wire spacing. There are 2 types - one has 6" spacing on the vertical wires and the other has 12" spacing. The bottom horizontal wires are 3" spacing and overall the bottom 36" of the fence has no openings larger than 4"/5" x 12" (or 6"). He recommended the 12" spacing. By installing it correctly with the correct tension he said it would be fine and predators could not get through it. We will have to sink our brace posts deeper with 6' fencing, but that would be necessary with overlapping the wire like we originally thought we would have to do.

The wire is available at the Northeastern Texas Farmers Coop in Sulphur Springs and also at McCoys in Mt. Pleasant. It can be ordered since it is made in Missouri. The price is $580 for a 330' roll of the 6" spacing and $434.00 for the 12" spacing. Howard assured me that the 12" verticals would be just as good for the purpose. So the price to purchase 48" sheep and goat and then 39" field fence to make the 6'fence I need comes to $519+ for 330 feet after 10% discount buying 10 rolls of each. With $434 for 330 feet of 6' wire the price comes out to a difference of about $106 less for 330 feet of 76" high fence wire. Plus we will do one wire install instead of 2 installs to make the 6' woven wire fence. We will still have to put in some taller posts, some heavy-duty end line posts, and H braces but would have had to do that anyway.

So happy to have found an American made wire in that height. Waiting for a call back now from the coop to get current pricing (prices I got were the suggest retail prices from manufacturer) and order information. Possible to get discount for bulk order of 10 or more rolls, also by joining coop for $25 we will get 2.5% discount on base price with cash or check payment.

Now all I have to order are the tall posts for the fence, and some 10' wood posts for the extra bracing and kickers.
Fencing will still be expensive, but I can put up the 76" predator fence once instead of fencing twice. Need to get back to TX to do measurements and plan how many large posts needed for braces and fence post extensions.
I hope this will work out.

 

[Bruce]

Deposit? I need to give them my social security number so they can run a credit check to tell me how much the deposit will be! I can do everything on line but they did not tell me how I could do the deposit. So my SS # will be floating around the internet along with a credit card number or bank info! Trying to decide if I want to move now after 4 hours trying to set this up!!!

That is (bad word) ridiculous! How would the amount of the deposit be related to your credit rating? $5 if you have good credit, $50 if you don't?