Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

We loaded the stock trailer today and had extra space so I tossed in a couple lawn chairs that are pretty comfy for us to use in the empty house. I also loaded a folding chaise lounge from the camper and a small deck box that we weren't using. Still extra space but DH and DS1 were getting grumpy so . . . .

Then I went on to Ambit (the electric provider) and had the turn on the service. I asked for it to be turned on May 4 since the tenant is having it turned off tomorrow and we are trying to leave tomorrow for arrival by Friday, May 5. After leaving me on hold for 20 minutes the helpful lady came back on the line and told me that they can't find the address even with the ID number and the meter number. I was assured that someone would get back to me in 72 hours (3 days) about the service connection. How can the power company not find an address right on the highway where they have been supplying electricity ever since Ambit started supplying power. We will be arriving at the house on Friday - still within the 72 hour window and I might not have any power! Maybe a good idea that I packed MJ's kerosene lamps. I suggested that we delay leaving for another day but DH says we will just go to the motel if necessary.


I was going to bring some of our frozen meat and meals back with dry ice, but if we can't get electricity that is a bad idea. No point doing that now since even if they find the address on Friday the fridge will have sat for 3 days and be warm. OMG! I WON'T EVEN BE ABLE TO BUY ANY BLUE BELL ICE CREAM!

Please pray for us!

 

[Baymule]

NO BLUEBELL ICE CREAM? That’s cruel and unusual punishment!! Horrible! Terrible! Just downright mean!!

Is there no office that you can go into and complain? These sneaky electric companies that you have no idea WHERE they are, just some voice on the phone, probably a call center in Romania, where they have NEVER EVEN HEARD OF BLUEBELL ICE CREAM!! Oh the horror!

What a load of manure, can’t find your address? Don’t those dummies have a cell phone? GPS? Maybe they are from Transylvania, only come out at night, can’t read the address, cause it’s dark!

Frustrating.

Makes ME want to open up a six pack of Texas Whup-A$$ on them—IF I could FIND them! How dare they? Depriving my friends of BLUEBELL ICE CREAM!!!!

 

[Bruce]

How can the power company not find an address right on the highway where they have been supplying electricity ever since Ambit started supplying power.

If they can't find it by address they should be able to do so with the tenant's name and/or phone number. Heck, if I call some of the companies here they confirm me where I live based on caller id and their online records

OMG! I WON'T EVEN BE ABLE TO BUY ANY BLUE BELL ICE CREAM!

Sure you can, you just have to eat it in the truck at the grocery store

 

[Ridgetop]

Have been in the house since arriving on Friday. The house looks larger without furniture. We are getting accustomed to it and are enjoying it. I think we will be happy here in spite of the highway which is busy only at certain times of the day. Moving will be a good opportunity to declutter and cut down on possessions.

Arrived in Yantis with just a few problems on the trip. Left without the key to the house. Actually, I had 2 keys in my purse but had changed purses several days previously and forgot to transfer them.
Luckily, as we got to the bottom of the hill and convoyed with DS1 in the second truck, DH asked about them and I discovered I did not have them. I made a call to DDIL2 at the house and she raced down the road with the key. Whew! Next problem occurred at a truck stop. DS1, towing the stock trailer, had parked and DH was talking to him about what pump to get diesel at. DS1 went into the truck stop to use the facilities and DH, pulling the flatbed, drove around the parked trailer. The stock trailer jumped out and clipped the flatbed in n unprovoked attack! Certainly not darling DH's fault! Minor damage needing repair to our stock trailer, loss of the wheel caps on the flatbed, and major damage to DH's temper. Flatbed is already repaired but the shop here in Yantis can't get to the stock trailer for another week or so by which time we will be heading back to CA. Oh well, there is always duct tape for a temporary fix until we can put it in the shop in CA. LOL Of course, DS1 was furious with himself which translated into much swearing. I sat quietly and ignored him for an hour or so.

We took 2 nights on the road. First day we travelled for 15 hours and made Gallup, NM. Next day we drove 11 hours and stopped in Decatur, TX. We travelled through the major thunder and lightning storm and severe tornado warnings Thursday to make it to the motel. I checked on breakfast and was told hot breakfast from 6am to 9am in the morning. AFTER we checked in and went to our rooms we found notices "Do Not Drink The Water"! The town had an emergency with it's water mains breaking and the water was not drinkable. They did not bother to tell me that when I checked in. We were too tired to travel further and it was coming on to dusk so I went back for some bottled water from the office. With the water problem none of the restaurants were open so we went without dinner. DS1 went back for another bottle of water and was told that if we wanted any more bottled water they would have to charge us for the bottled water! Next morning NO COFFEE, no breakfast, and the clerk did not even get out of bed to come to the front desk. DH had to get a maid to go get our receipt from the motel. This was a Best Western which usually is pretty good. I made a complaint to the head office. If they did not have potable water they should have made it known when we checked in or not taken our reservation 4 hours previously over the phone!!! Real health hazard and possible lawsuit behavior!

While on the road I did manage to get the electric power turned on. Apparently, they had the address as being Sulphur Springs, but the lady was able to track it down with the DIR number. This is the same DIR number I had given the previous 2 people who assured me that they couldn't find the address. Go figure! But at least we had power connected the day before we reached the house.
Yum, Blue Bell!

Anyway, we reached Yantis ranch around noon, unloaded the stock trailer and truck, then I opened the various boxes we had brought on the previous trip which contained towels and bedding. Our tenants had left 2 king size beds for us (they couldn't load them to move LOL) and also the washer and dryer which are GE and only 4 years old. Our sweet tenant. Vikki, had bought new sheets and pillows for the beds for us!

Several of the boxes I had packed were missing! The missing boxes contained the pots and pans, kitchen towels, knives, etc. which we would need to stay in the house for several weeks. Naturally the important stuff. Luckily, the boxes that were here had the blankets, and towels. I checked the shed and the tack room but no boxes. I called Vikki to see if they had accidently taken them when moving but they didn't. Those boxes have disappeared into that no man's land known as "a safe place". LOL They may have been accidently put in one of the storage areas in CA. I will hunt them down when I get home.

So off to Walmart for groceries and cheap replacements for some of the items in the missing boxes. We planned to get a BBQ chicken from Walmart but DS1 said to wait until just before leaving so it would be hot. It was about 10 pm when we checked out and DS1 went to get the chicken. He came back empty handed. No chickens left. Another night with no supper but we were too tired to eat anyway. We did buy Blue Bell ice cream though! Ice cream has milk and eggs so dairy and protein - heathy part of the food pyramid.

Next day we went to pick up the posts from TSC. The posts were on order via "rain check" and hadn't come in yet. Ordering on "rain check" means that they will be sent when another order is coming to avoid shipping charges. No delivery date though. Next stop McCoy's in Mt. Pleasant to order and pay for the wire. At McCoy's Lance told us that he had checked, and we could also obtain the posts through them. If they don't come in from TSC, we have a second location to get our 10' T Posts. Same price too. Went to Atwoods for some stuff, then back to Lowes and Walmart for most of the stuff we had forgotten the day before. Another long day of shopping and massive spending before we could go home and collapse. This time we got the chicken though. DS1set up the Roku through the hot spot on his phone and we were able to watch a couple shows. Actually half of a couple shows since we kept falling asleep halfway through! LOL

The Peoples service guy came by in the morning to mark out the wi-fi service they are installing in the area for their customers. He gave me the name of a fellow that has a skid steer with a post driver who does post setting. I will call him about setting the posts instead of renting a post driver and trying to do it ourselves (when the posts and wire arrive).

Sunday DH and DS1 unloaded the tractor while I started scrubbing out cabinets and putting in shelf liner. DH decided to mow some of the area since the grass was over our knees. After about an hour he came in yelling to call the well guy and ran in to shut off the power to the well pump. The electric wires from the house to the well pump are only about 4-5' above the ground through some trees from the house. Apparently with the cab cover on the tractor he didn't see the wires and caught them on the tractor. DS1 was yelling at him as the wires pulled taut and the pump shed tipped to the side. Just in time DH stopped the tractor but it was too late. Water was spewing from the pump shed. OOOPS! @Senile Texas Aggie - where are you? You have nothing on Ridgetop! (Has anyone talked to him lately? I hope they are ok.)

Ran to call the well guy but Clay Earle has retired so DS1 found a local well digging company from Winnsboro to come out to check it. It was Sunday and we have city water for the house so not an emergency. They said they would be out Monday or Tuesday. DH was peeved with himself again, so I just went on cleaning cabinets. He went out to continue mowing and mowed along the fence line so we could check how much fence cleaning we need to do before installing the posts, etc. Tuesday the well guy showed up and repaired the broken pipes. The pump is ok. We asked fdr a bid to dig a new well. The fellow has turned it ver to the office to send out.

We are going to buy a battery chain saw. @Baymule and @Margale and @ . . . . What makes do you recommend and/or have? We have a large Stihl gas chainsaw but want the battery one to do brush clearing with less weight. Also with a shorter blade length would it be more maneuverable in brush?

DH went to Yantis and switched the water into our name. I finished the kitchen cabinets. After all day up and down on the ladder and kneeling on the floor scrubbing inside the cabinets, I could hardly walk on my new knee. I also realized my wrist and shoulder hurt, along with my hip on the good side. I know why the shoulder and wrist were aching, but I am beginning to think that my hip on the opposite side as the knee replacement is off kilter from walking all catty wampus for years. I hope it will recover - I don't want a hip replacement! All last night my legs kept cramping in different muscles and waking me up!

DH and I have been sitting on the back porch here at the ranch and enjoying early morning coffee. There are some Texas barn swallow mud nests there. The swallows chased each other around and swooped through the tiny patio around us. Turned out one pair have a nest with 3-4 babies. They were trying to either chase or lure us away from their nest. The pair on the back porch have become accustomed to us drinking our coffee out there. Every time the parent birds come to the nest the little chicks' heads pop up with their beaks open to be fed. So cute. Yesterday I saw a bright red male cardinal and DH saw a female blue jay. He is going to put in a couple bird feeders in the back yard. Another barn swallow pair have a nest on the front porch with chicks. We can see them from the dining room window.

I talked to Cody (our cattle tenant) and he said he is not putting his cows back on here but cutting hay instead since he did not know our plans for the land. He raises registered Brahmas and also the F1 striped Brahma x Herefords. He has about 200 head. I told him that the grass was pretty high and looked good. He came by today to check it. I told him that when we bring out the sheep, we will probably only use about 15 aces and would he be interested in a hay lease on the other 30 next year. I told him we could lease it for hay back and he was really positive about that plan. He said he had first leased the property for making hay about 8 years ago. Mrs. MacDonald's grandson then took it over for a couple years to bale hay, then Cody got the lease back about 5 years ago. He said it is really good hay land and most of the property is actually in Bahia. There is only a small part of the ranch that is in Bermuda. @Baymule said that the sheep prefer the Bahia so our sheep won't starve or go on hunger strikes! He also knows a company that does chicken litter fertilizer. I said I want to fertilize this year so he is going to contact them, and we can get the fertilizer on after he does his first cutting. I also want to find out about frost seeding the rear 15 acres with clover and broadleaf sheep mix. And get a soil test on the land.

Note: Got a text from Cody that the chicken litter people will be coming out this way next week and I had him order it. He said 2 tons per acre should be good. The Bermuda up front is pretty good but the Bahia pastures in the back look light so the fertilizer should help. He also gave us the name of a fence guy who might put in the posts and help with the wire. I already gave Jesse a call. And Cody said that his dad had retired and could do some bulldozing for us on the fence lines. Since he is not bringing cattle back, we are fencing the 15 acres separately. That will include the large pond inside the fence and make the fence line a straight square. Before we either had to fence the entire 44 acres or come at a diagonal to allow access to the pond for the cattle. The straight line will cut down on the costs.
By putting 16' gates in the pasture fences, there will be plenty of room to do chicken litter and access for the haying equipment. We won't put any fences on the 30 acres of Bahia. The horses and mule can be pastured there without even noticing what they eat. .Cody said that after the last cutting in the fall we can also turn out the sheep to clean up.

 

[Baymule]

Y’all have had a full week! No matter what the mishaps, Blue Bell makes it all better! I will have Blue Bell and cokes for a coke float when y’all come Saturday, and brownies!

 

[Ridgetop]

Y’all have had a full week! No matter what the mishaps, Blue Bell makes it all better! I will have Blue Bell and cokes for a coke float when y’all come Saturday, and brownies!

 

[Ridgetop]

The house is very livable as is, but we need to do a lot of minor things to the house, power washing, painting trim, etc. Most of the work we will be able to do ourselves when we get all our tools back here. Even the larger items are things we have done ourselves in renovations on our homes or the apartments and won't be a problem.

The main bathroom is the most work. The tub is narrow for comfortable showering. This doesn't matter since in the style of the early 70's the tub doesn't have a shower. It will be easy to add one without too much work, but we may need to replace the tub with a wider one for safety and comfort. I will tile the tub and shower myself. We also need a TALLER TOILET since this one is only suitable for children and midgets. Then we want to replace the 6' vanity with one that has storage cabinets and drawers instead of an open seated vanity area. Since this is a 4 BR house it might make sense to do two sinks in the family bathroom, appealing to families with multiple children to get ready for school, etc. I think we may have a plumber do the tub replacement, plumb for the twin sinks, and run the shower plumbing up the wall. We can get a standard 6' vanity with twin sinks at one of the home improvement stores. I'll strip the wallpaper and paint everything. The flooring in there now is vinyl. When we replace the carpet in the LR and hall with ceramic tile we will tile the main bathroom too.

Next large project is the kitchen. There is a low table peninsula no storage. It has to go. The kitchen is huge with plenty of room for a 3' x 6' island. I will make the island from two 36" base cabinets with deep drawers for pots and pans and a 12" overhead cabinet on a toe kick. That will allow for a 36" seating counter om the reverse of one of the drawer bases. We are keeping the natural color birch cabinets. They are original but in great condition. I can made pullouts for the bottom cabinets. The shelves are not adjustable but I can work with that. I can paint the new island in a contrasting color - trendy now. I have not decided about the countertops. Miracle Method can do a coating on the existing Formica counter tops for much, much less than replacing all the countertops in quartz. I will put a quartz top on the island but the original countertops are in pristine condition other than the terrible mustard - sorry, Harvest Gold - color. With the coordinating avocado green sink this house was right at the top of fashion back in 1972 when it was built. The original cabinets, paneling, and woodwork is in wonderful condition. I think if we change out the countertops to a neutral pale gray, the cabinets will look better and be good for another 10 or so years. By building the island out of deep drawer base cabinets for pots and pans, it should make the kitchen more user friendly. New cabinet handles will also update the cabinets. There is more than enough space over the stove to accommodate a built-in microwave hood without replacing the cabinets.

The dark Dutch colonial blue border on the top of the paneling makes the ceiling look lower than normal. I removed most of it today and already the house looks better and the ceiling higher. Th paneling is in good condition so just buffing with Pledge or Old English should be all it needs. There was a crack in the ceiling from Snowmageddon which has gotten longer but is no biggy to fix. Then we want to exchange the solid door onto the patio for a dual pane glass door to allow more light into the room. The LR and DR windows do not open, so we will replace them with retrofit dual pane windows that open for air flow. We will work on those replacements next year. The other windows are all original single pane aluminum but they all work perfectly so we will just replace them one room at a time.

The master bath tile in the shower is actually attractive now that we are able to see it properly. The 6' vanity has minimal storage with a vanity seating area and will be replaced with one with storage. We haven't decided if we will split the plumbing and install double sinks.

The front porch is really nice and eventually we will dress it up with flowering shrubs, rocking chairs, etc. The back patio is only 6' x 20'. However, if we decide we want more space we can add a deck to the side. Originally I suggested screening it in but with the barn swallows nesting there (they return to the same nests every year) DH has nixed that proposal. He loves watching them feed the chicks. With the fence in place Rika will become our house and yard dog here. She's 10 and retiring from heavy guardian duty. Ozel ("Special" in Turkish) will take her place with Angel. I have already ordered another puppy from Erick's next litter. We will need at least 4 LGDs here eventually. He is looking for a bitch to AI with Bubba's semen. I would love a Bubba puppy.

I got a fencing guy who is wring on an estimate for clearing the 15 acre perimeter and a price on setting the posts with his post driver. Our property is shaped like an L on its side with the short side of 15 acres having the house well, barn, and both ponds on it. The other 30 acres is mostly Bahia with some Bermuda in the front along the highway. At first, we were going to fence at an angle around the inside of the pond to give water access to Cody for his cattle but he plans to cut it for hay instead of grazing it. Now we can fence in a straight line from the inside back corner to the front. We will be fencing a full 15 acre square, using less fencing materials, and minimal clearing to do for that 800'.

Our 6' fence will run along the front of the garden area and then west down the property line 800' from the front corner of the short leg of the L to the back corner. Then 800' south to the inside corner where the line turns west. At that corner we will turn south another 800' enclosing both ponds and meeting the property line along Hwy 154. Then we will turn north again and continue the fencing along the highway side. Along the front line (the highway) we won't do any brush clearing since the trees form a nice privacy screen from the road. We will just run the fence long the inside of the trees from that corner to the driveway. We will fence down the driveway to an inset gate leaving enough room for several vehicles & trailers to turn in off the road. There is welded pipe fencing on the driveway running back to the inset gate. There is enough driveway to allow 2 trucks each pulling a 16' stock and a 20' flatbed to turn in off the highway at the same time. We will attach taller posts using hose clamps to the welded fence verticals, then put up the 6' wire like we did in CA. The driveway has more welded fence on it so we will do the same thing as the garden fence with posts and pipe clamps. From the other side of the driveway to the front corner of the property (north side) where the welded pipe garden fence starts, we will put in DIY 5' wrought iron fencing with flowering shrubbery.

We are not removing any of the current fences. The horses and mule can also graze in the 30 acre hayfields. Finally getting excited about less to do on the house, and being able to move as soon as the fencing is competed.

 

[SageHill]

Have been in the house since arriving on Friday. The house looks larger without furniture. We are getting accustomed to it and are enjoying it. I think we will be happy here in spite of the highway which is busy only at certain times of the day. Moving will be a good opportunity to declutter and cut down on possessions.

Arrived in Yantis with just a few problems on the trip. Left without the key to the house. Actually, I had 2 keys in my purse but had changed purses several days previously and forgot to transfer them.
Luckily, as we got to the bottom of the hill and convoyed with DS1 in the second truck, DH asked about them and I discovered I did not have them. I made a call to DDIL2 at the house and she raced down the road with the key. Whew! Next problem occurred at a truck stop. DS1, towing the stock trailer, had parked and DH was talking to him about what pump to get diesel at. DS1 went into the truck stop to use the facilities and DH, pulling the flatbed, drove around the parked trailer. The stock trailer jumped out and clipped the flatbed in n unprovoked attack! Certainly not darling DH's fault! Minor damage needing repair to our stock trailer, loss of the wheel caps on the flatbed, and major damage to DH's temper. Flatbed is already repaired but the shop here in Yantis can't get to the stock trailer for another week or so by which time we will be heading back to CA. Oh well, there is always duct tape for a temporary fix until we can put it in the shop in CA. LOL Of course, DS1 was furious with himself which translated into much swearing. I sat quietly and ignored him for an hour or so.

We took 2 nights on the road. First day we travelled for 15 hours and made Gallup, NM. Next day we drove 11 hours and stopped in Decatur, TX. We travelled through the major thunder and lightning storm and severe tornado warnings Thursday to make it to the motel. I checked on breakfast and was told hot breakfast from 6am to 9am in the morning. AFTER we checked in and went to our rooms we found notices "Do Not Drink The Water"! The town had an emergency with it's water mains breaking and the water was not drinkable. They did not bother to tell me that when I checked in. We were too tired to travel further and it was coming on to dusk so I went back for some bottled water from the office. With the water problem none of the restaurants were open so we went without dinner. DS1 went back for another bottle of water and was told that if we wanted any more bottled water they would have to charge us for the bottled water! Next morning NO COFFEE, no breakfast, and the clerk did not even get out of bed to come to the front desk. DH had to get a maid to go get our receipt from the motel. This was a Best Western which usually is pretty good. I made a complaint to the head office. If they did not have potable water they should have made it known when we checked in or not taken our reservation 4 hours previously over the phone!!! Real health hazard and possible lawsuit behavior!

While on the road I did manage to get the electric power turned on. Apparently, they had the address as being Sulphur Springs, but the lady was able to track it down with the DIR number. This is the same DIR number I had given the previous 2 people who assured me that they couldn't find the address. Go figure! But at least we had power connected the day before we reached the house.
Yum, Blue Bell!

Anyway, we reached Yantis ranch around noon, unloaded the stock trailer and truck, then I opened the various boxes we had brought on the previous trip which contained towels and bedding. Our tenants had left 2 king size beds for us (they couldn't load them to move LOL) and also the washer and dryer which are GE and only 4 years old. Our sweet tenant. Vikki, had bought new sheets and pillows for the beds for us!

Several of the boxes I had packed were missing! The missing boxes contained the pots and pans, kitchen towels, knives, etc. which we would need to stay in the house for several weeks. Naturally the important stuff. Luckily, the boxes that were here had the blankets, and towels. I checked the shed and the tack room but no boxes. I called Vikki to see if they had accidently taken them when moving but they didn't. Those boxes have disappeared into that no man's land known as "a safe place". LOL They may have been accidently put in one of the storage areas in CA. I will hunt them down when I get home.

So off to Walmart for groceries and cheap replacements for some of the items in the missing boxes. We planned to get a BBQ chicken from Walmart but DS1 said to wait until just before leaving so it would be hot. It was about 10 pm when we checked out and DS1 went to get the chicken. He came back empty handed. No chickens left. Another night with no supper but we were too tired to eat anyway. We did buy Blue Bell ice cream though! Ice cream has milk and eggs so dairy and protein - heathy part of the food pyramid.

Next day we went to pick up the posts from TSC. The posts were on order via "rain check" and hadn't come in yet. Ordering on "rain check" means that they will be sent when another order is coming to avoid shipping charges. No delivery date though. Next stop McCoy's in Mt. Pleasant to order and pay for the wire. At McCoy's Lance told us that he had checked, and we could also obtain the posts through them. If they don't come in from TSC, we have a second location to get our 10' T Posts. Same price too. Went to Atwoods for some stuff, then back to Lowes and Walmart for most of the stuff we had forgotten the day before. Another long day of shopping and massive spending before we could go home and collapse. This time we got the chicken though. DS1set up the Roku through the hot spot on his phone and we were able to watch a couple shows. Actually half of a couple shows since we kept falling asleep halfway through! LOL

The Peoples service guy came by in the morning to mark out the wi-fi service they are installing in the area for their customers. He gave me the name of a fellow that has a skid steer with a post driver who does post setting. I will call him about setting the posts instead of renting a post driver and trying to do it ourselves (when the posts and wire arrive).

Sunday DH and DS1 unloaded the tractor while I started scrubbing out cabinets and putting in shelf liner. DH decided to mow some of the area since the grass was over our knees. After about an hour he came in yelling to call the well guy and ran in to shut off the power to the well pump. The electric wires from the house to the well pump are only about 4-5' above the ground through some trees from the house. Apparently with the cab cover on the tractor he didn't see the wires and caught them on the tractor. DS1 was yelling at him as the wires pulled taut and the pump shed tipped to the side. Just in time DH stopped the tractor but it was too late. Water was spewing from the pump shed. OOOPS! @Senile Texas Aggie - where are you? You have nothing on Ridgetop! (Has anyone talked to him lately? I hope they are ok.)

Ran to call the well guy but Clay Earle has retired so DS1 found a local well digging company from Winnsboro to come out to check it. It was Sunday and we have city water for the house so not an emergency. They said they would be out Monday or Tuesday. DH was peeved with himself again, so I just went on cleaning cabinets. He went out to continue mowing and mowed along the fence line so we could check how much fence cleaning we need to do before installing the posts, etc. Tuesday the well guy showed up and repaired the broken pipes. The pump is ok. We asked fdr a bid to dig a new well. The fellow has turned it ver to the office to send out.

We are going to buy a battery chain saw. @Baymule and @Margale and @ . . . . What makes do you recommend and/or have? We have a large Stihl gas chainsaw but want the battery one to do brush clearing with less weight. Also with a shorter blade length would it be more maneuverable in brush?

DH went to Yantis and switched the water into our name. I finished the kitchen cabinets. After all day up and down on the ladder and kneeling on the floor scrubbing inside the cabinets, I could hardly walk on my new knee. I also realized my wrist and shoulder hurt, along with my hip on the good side. I know why the shoulder and wrist were aching, but I am beginning to think that my hip on the opposite side as the knee replacement is off kilter from walking all catty wampus for years. I hope it will recover - I don't want a hip replacement! All last night my legs kept cramping in different muscles and waking me up!

DH and I have been sitting on the back porch here at the ranch and enjoying early morning coffee. There are some Texas barn swallow mud nests there. The swallows chased each other around and swooped through the tiny patio around us. Turned out one pair have a nest with 3-4 babies. They were trying to either chase or lure us away from their nest. The pair on the back porch have become accustomed to us drinking our coffee out there. Every time the parent birds come to the nest the little chicks' heads pop up with their beaks open to be fed. So cute. Yesterday I saw a bright red male cardinal and DH saw a female blue jay. He is going to put in a couple bird feeders in the back yard. Another barn swallow pair have a nest on the front porch with chicks. We can see them from the dining room window.

I talked to Cody (our cattle tenant) and he said he is not putting his cows back on here but cutting hay instead since he did not know our plans for the land. He raises registered Brahmas and also the F1 striped Brahma x Herefords. He has about 200 head. I told him that the grass was pretty high and looked good. He came by today to check it. I told him that when we bring out the sheep, we will probably only use about 15 aces and would he be interested in a hay lease on the other 30 next year. I told him we could lease it for hay back and he was really positive about that plan. He said he had first leased the property for making hay about 8 years ago. Mrs. MacDonald's grandson then took it over for a couple years to bale hay, then Cody got the lease back about 5 years ago. He said it is really good hay land and most of the property is actually in Bahia. There is only a small part of the ranch that is in Bermuda. @Baymule said that the sheep prefer the Bahia so our sheep won't starve or go on hunger strikes! He also knows a company that does chicken litter fertilizer. I said I want to fertilize this year so he is going to contact them, and we can get the fertilizer on after he does his first cutting. I also want to find out about frost seeding the rear 15 acres with clover and broadleaf sheep mix. And get a soil test on the land.

Note: Got a text from Cody that the chicken litter people will be coming out this way next week and I had him order it. He said 2 tons per acre should be good. The Bermuda up front is pretty good but the Bahia pastures in the back look light so the fertilizer should help. He also gave us the name of a fence guy who might put in the posts and help with the wire. I already gave Jesse a call. And Cody said that his dad had retired and could do some bulldozing for us on the fence lines. Since he is not bringing cattle back, we are fencing the 15 acres separately. That will include the large pond inside the fence and make the fence line a straight square. Before we either had to fence the entire 44 acres or come at a diagonal to allow access to the pond for the cattle. The straight line will cut down on the costs.
By putting 16' gates in the pasture fences, there will be plenty of room to do chicken litter and access for the haying equipment. We won't put any fences on the 30 acres of Bahia. The horses and mule can be pastured there without even noticing what they eat. .Cody said that after the last cutting in the fall we can also turn out the sheep to clean up.

I’ve got a battery chainsaw from Lowe’s - their Kobalt brand. Love it. I’ve done a lot of sumac and smallish oaks with it. Battery lasts a long time too.

 

[Baymule]

My battery chainsaw is a Ryobi.
I’m glad the house is so inviting and doesn’t need the overhaul you thought it did. I can just picture y’all sitting on the back porch, watching the swallows feeding their chicks.

 

[Margali]

My battery chainsaw is a Milwaukee. I loved it when I first got it but having issues now. Not sure it's up to my abuse...