Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

Bruce

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In fact, might be better to buy an upright freezer for Yantis, although I don't like uprights - stuff tends to fall out on my feet!
Our 5 cu ft chest freezer is next to the washing machine, there are 3 stacking baskets and the hanging one that came with it. I can’t count the number of times I’ve removed half or more of the contents onto the washer to find something. Think I would prefer an upright even though they are less efficient
 

farmerjan

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I love the chest freezers for the whole chickens and turkeys... and then you can stuff little stuff around them if you are getting short of space in the uprights. I like the uprights for the convenience of the shelves and being able to find stuff without taking half the freezer out... but the chest is good for less frost and the seal lasts much longer... is cheaper to operate.... BUT it is SOOOOO easy to put stuff on top and then have to move it to get into it. And it takes up more floor space......
 

Ridgetop

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I used to have one of each. I also used to make my own lasagna, chicken divan, stew, etc. in bulk and ack in large foil pans cover with tin foil and freeze. Loved the chest freezer for those type of foods. Now I freeze that stuff in Ziploc bags and stack it in the freezer. I started using the chest freezers almost exclusively when we started buying our met at the Fair and entire butchered steers, goats, lambs, hogs, rabbits in the freezer. Not so much time anymore to make multiple meals in pans, and a lot more meat to freeze. Then I started putting bags of tomatoes off the vine in the freezer for future processing during the winter. Also flats of strawberries when on sale, and fruit from friends for future processing. It all fit in the chest freezer much better, and I used one for meat, another for fruit, veg, milk, (those pesky high yield dairy goats). Now it is harder to keep track with several people buying and filling the freezers. However, I did go down and do through the lower freezer and rearrange things. Then did the same with the 2 in the utility room. Sorted all the vegetables into the large freeze - apparently someone had stuffed most of them into the small freezer so we were buying more thinking we were out. And we buy the giant economy size since it saves us money. I need to go back and do more emptying and rearranging to fit in the 3 lambs. DS3 wants the whole steer so I won't bother with that for now. DDIL2's family want a lamb so DS2 can pay for that one.

So no freezer. Sadly we did run buy "The Barn" which is a store that sells high quality oak furniture. Many of the items are made by the Amish, others are just solid wood. DD1 bought another bookcase or her home and we ran buy to see it. I was shocked! One just like I had bought 35 year ago (styles don't change much) was $579.00! I have 5 like it, 30"w x 84"t x 12"d. I paid about $60.00 35 years ago. They had a light oil finish and eventually it wore down, so I sanded them down and put a Varathane finish on them. They are still good as new and we love them. They are coming to Texas and now I know how much it would cost to replace them I may have to raise my homeowners insurance! Whie we were there I saw a recliner similar to the old one that DH needs to replace. Brown leather with wide oak arms. DH needs one like that to be able to lever himself up from the recliner without a problem. The squishy ones rock and are too hard for him. They were having a major closeout sale on floor models. Happy Father's Day! Now we just have to decide whether to take it to Texas or to leave it here and take an old one until we move permanently. Would hate to have to get stolen, but then again I don't want 2-year-old Robert to eat his popsicles all over it either. I love my ddil2, and my grandchildren, but my children ate at the table and were never allowed to eat on the furniture or the rug. Popsicles were eaten outside. Robert eats anywhere he wants to. :somad Another reason to move to Texas. I have lost control of my house.

I also heard from the son of my old friend (my mom) today. He is refurbishing his mom's house and planning to move into it with his wife. Lois would have been so happy to have them do that. She said towards the end that she hoped they would move into her house instead of selling it. Lovely home, good area, excellent condition, with nice pool. They are taking up the carpet and extending the hardwood floors. He wanted to know if I knew of anyone who would like the large (10'-12' wide) Danish modern teak display cabinet from her living room. He also had a couple of desks. They hadn't sold at the estate sale and he needed them gone so the floors could be finished. I asked about the desks - I need a large oak desk with storage for DH. The one he had is just what I need so will go over tomorrow or Saturday to pick it up. It will go to Texas the end of the month - I won't pack up DH's office stuff yet, but I can use it in Texas for my laptop. :D =D I am also thinking about bringing back one of our file cabinets that is half empty now if there is room in the trailer. The more we take on each trip the less we will have to move at the end. The tenants left a nice desk chair there so won't have to take our chairs yet.

DS1 and the grandsons loaded all the old metal chain link fencing, corrugated metal roofing, broken bits and pieces, wire, miscellaneous metal, the bathtub we used to use for a water trough, an old adjustable bed frame, an old lumber rack off DSIL2's baby truck, some rusted out horse feeders and rusted out barrels. Then he hitched the Datsun trailer to the truck and they loaded more metal fencing, the dishwasher, the unrepairable wood stove, the JennAir BBQ part from the stove (we have a new gas stovetop in the connex to install), etc. DH helped to tie it all down and tomorrow it goes to the metal yard. DH told the grandsons they could have 10% of what it brought to split between them. Not sure how much is on there. Anything we could use in Texas stayed at the house, including the hoop frame for a corral gate since we can cut it apart into fence posts, and a container of large bolts covered with dirt. I sorted them out and they just need to be washed off. Everything else goes tomorrow.
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We are leaving just in time! Apparently, one of the neighbors told DS2 and DDIL2 that she had seen a prowler and called the police. They came out and caught the guy in her yard where he was trying to break into the house! She also told them that the neighbor up the road who owns an AC installation business (he bought Jerry's house 2 years ago) just got busted by a SWAT team and loads of cops. Jerry had built a large 4 car garage and the new guy had turned it into a pot growing greenhouse! She also said the cops told her they had busted three other drug houses around the area in the past month! This used to be the kind of neighbor where you never even locked your doors. I am happy we installed wrought fencing around the house. The only access is the front door. DDIL2and DS2 said they are getting a dog when we move. Right now our Anatolians patrol. I wonder if the drug bust a couple days ago was what the dogs were carrying on about in the front field. :clap This place is getting exciting. On the other hand, if we defend ourselves we go to jail! Like DH says "I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6!"
 

canesisters

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I love the chest freezers for the whole chickens and turkeys... and then you can stuff little stuff around them if you are getting short of space in the uprights. I like the uprights for the convenience of the shelves and being able to find stuff without taking half the freezer out... but the chest is good for less frost and the seal lasts much longer... is cheaper to operate.... BUT it is SOOOOO easy to put stuff on top and then have to move it to get into it. And it takes up more floor space......
Those large plastic cutting mats are good for stacking things in the upright freezer. I can put a layer on the shelf, then a mat, then another layer. That makes it easy to remove the whole top layer at once, get what I wanted from teh shelf, shuffle the shelf stuff a little to spread, and put the top layer back in 1 piece.
 

Baymule

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Your truck and trailer are loaded down! I like your trailer, it’s just the right size to pull around on the farm.
 

Ridgetop

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Yes, but starting to rust out in places. And no lights - have to rig it with the ones you buy separately. BIL was using it about 35 years ago and flipped it with his motorcycles in the back. Bikes gone, trailer survived crash but he tore all lights off. We keep using it by placing a piece of plywood in bottom s a trailer floor. Keep expecting the plywood and rusted metal floor to fall out eventually! LOL Can't decide if it is worth it to bring to Texas. Might be just the thing to use to take junk to dump though. Good height to load - 4WD truck bed is pretty high. Also to haul feed or hay (from cut bales) to pastures, and manure to garden. Fill trailer with manure and then dump at garden and spread with tractor? Up to DH.
 

Baymule

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It would be worth it to weld a new floor in it. I’m betting it would be useful on flat land. On a 12/12 pitch like you have now? Not so much. LOL
 

SageHill

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What is it with the crooks lately? (yeah besides the LE can't do what they need to do) Yesterday, from three towns away there was a car chase. We were on our way home, turned on to the curvy road to our area (3 miles worth of curves) but had to stop to let a fire engine and ambulance out at the turn. We ended up following them - to and including our cut off. No idea what was going on. Turns out the car chase came down our dirt road, suspect went onto the cattle ranch, crashed through the fence to their smaller pasture and launched into a ditch. If the gate to their ranch had been shut the guy probably would've ended up at/in or on our house - or maybe crashing through one of our gates.
 
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