Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

DH finished cleaning out the barn last evening. He also got the wire moved but said that only one pallet was there. Moved it over to the barn and put the full roll and partial rolls of wire on it. Said there were lots of wire scraps and pieces of metal left from the fence guys welding the cross braces and gate braces together. He gathered all that up and put it in the metal pile. When we come back I will sort through and may keep some of the more interesting pieces and gears for garden decor (or antique sales!). LOL Everything else will go to the metal yard. Thinking to keep the plow blade (middle buster) on the tow bar and the metal cattle stanchion to put near the front mailbox. I have 3 older cattle stanchions in metal and wood from MJ's barn in Washington. Not sure what to do with them, either unless I attach them to the outside of the wrought iron fencing as garden decor. LOL

Realized in the middle of the night during one of my many trips communing with nature that I forgot to caulk and paint the windowsill and surround in the bathroom! This morning caulked around the window but ran out of caulk with 2" to go! I didn't want to open another tube so just went ahead and painted the windowsill and surround. Will do the remainder of the caulking when I return and put a second coat on the windowsill. I will have to caulk the area where I repaired the ceiling and lightly spray orange peel on those areas of the ceiling. Decided on color scheme and what pix will hang in there. Until we get the shower plumbing run, it will be a guest bathroom.

DH took the trash to the dump. Then he bought more Blue Bell. WHY? We are leaving tomorrow! And why buy 2 large containers? I guess I will wrap them in plastic wrap and hope they stay good until we return. Putting butter, cream, and Danish in freezer for next visit. Hope the power stays on since there is also some frozen meat. Should be ok. My freezer alarm is still in there - paper cup with penny and ice. LOL Will wash and put celery, carrots, and some apple slices in Ziploc bags for the trip. Usually, have cheese cubes but just discovered they are missing. Told DH since he ate them all he should have mentioned it when I said I would pack cheese cubes for the trip! Probably thought if he said nothing I would not notice their absence! LOL Maybe buying the Blue Bell was in lieu of cheese cubes. LOL


DH is cleaning out truck now then will hitch trailer for trip home. First load of laundry is in washer - then I need to pack suitcase to load tonight. Will also load cooler tonight with water and half the ice. Will toss in the veggies and apples tomorrow am when we leave. DH wants to get out really early and we will grab some breakfast on the road.

Packing up the computer. So long for several days.

 

[Baymule]

Y’all be careful on your way back to California and hurry back HOME!

 

[SageHill]

Safe travels!

 

[Ridgetop]

Got back to California around 3pm on Tuesday. Picked up another 70 bales of alfalfa and found the rice had dropped by $.50/bale. Prices are still dropping a bit. I would like to be able to bring 80 bales of alfalfa to Yantis and store it in the barn to top dress the grass hay when the sheep come back. Spent the evening unpacking.

The weather has been unusually nice for September. This was always the month when we got the hot Santa Ana winds and fire danger was highest. The temperatures were usually in the high 90's-100 degrees. The temperatures have been much cooler, high 80's with a pleasant breeze. In fact, today I shut off the AC and opened all the windows with the fans running and it was very nice.

The formal dining room was empty of furniture when we returned (the dining room set is now in Yantis) but I couldn't walk through it! DS1 had unloaded the truck and stock trailer of all the empty, collapsed boxes, moving pads, and bins. Most of the bins had blankets used to wrap breakables, rolls of bubble wrap, and folded wrapping paper in them. I reuse all that stuff, so neat folding and rolling keeps it in good condition. There were also a lot of un-collapsed boxes in the living room and dining room that has accumulated while we were gone. DDIL2 orders her diapers and wipes (for 2 babies) from Amazon and all the small boxes arrive in larger boxes. I spent most of today sorting out the boxes according to size, collapsing boxes, and sorting out the packing paper and bubble wrap. There was also a huge pile of moving pads on the floor that had to be folded up and stacked properly for the next trip. The blankets that were used as padding will need to be washed after being wrapped around furniture in the stock trailer.

Today with space cleared in the dining room, I vacuumed the carpet and swept around the edges of the rug. Then I emptied the large display cabinet in the family room, removed the large glass shelves, and taped up the glass doors. After dinner DS1 and DS2 moved the cabinet out of the family room and into the now empty dining room. I am not sure who will get that cabinet, DS3 asked for it several years ago, but DDIL2 might want it. Either way, it is now out of the danger zone of the family room and a 2 1/2 year old and his 10 month old brother. Both like to pound on stuff and DDIL2 has been keeping the toy kitchen in front of the cabinet for safety. Removing the cabinet and bookcases has made the room seem larger. Tomorrow I will take apart the 4' wide x 6' tall heavy duty shelf in the milk shed and drag it up to the house where we will wash the shelves and put it back together in a corner of the family room. It is 18" deep so will have good storage for all the kids' toys. The kitchen can go against the wall and other toy shelves can be moved around. Maybe we will be able to actually walk in the room now. Or not . . . .

Once we have disposed of the furniture in the living room, we will roll up the oriental rug, have it sent out for cleaning, and store it in the Connex. I might send the small oriental rug as well since it has been down in the family room and the children have spilled food and drink on it. I will take the two small rugs with me to Texas and leave the large ones (11' x 21') stored for now. They are good wool rugs, one is Chinese and the other is Persian. The Persian rug belonged to my godmother, my grandmother bought it from her estate years ago, and gave it to me when she moved to live with my mother. It is over 100 years old. The Chinese rug was my uncle's and is only about 60 or so years old. The 2 smaller rugs - 8x10' and 9x12' are modern rugs and about 40 years old. All are good wool rugs. One of these days I might have room for the larger rugs. I have to remove the 70's divider in the house that makes a sort of hallway at the front door then either of the large rugs will fit in Yantis.

Tomorrow I will be babysitting Annabel - her mom got a last-minute cleaning job. At 4:30 I have to be at DGD1's school for Back-to-School night. All the Back-to-School nights are scheduled for the same night in elementary, middle and high school! Since DD1 is a teacher she had to tell her school that she would not be at the BTS night since she and her husband have to go to the model and high school for the boys. She asked if we could go to Elizabeth's BTS night. I told her yes. I told Elizabeth that her mom and dad loved her brothers best and we would go to BTS night for her, that is why she should move with us to Texas and get a pony. She agreed that would be a great idea. LOL DD1 just laughed at me when I told her about this.

On Friday we have nail appointments, and then will pick up the 3 lambs we dropped off months ago at the butcher. Tomorrow, I have to check the freezers and make room for the meat. DDIL2's family want one lamb so DS2 will give me the $200 for the butchering fee. At least that means I will only have to make room for 2 lambs in the freezers. I am going to thaw the pork clods and whole leg portions DH got for $.99/lb. I want to cook them in the Instapot with green chili sauce, then can the meat and sauce in quart jars to bring back to Texas. It will be easier to transport canned jars than frozen meat since we don't have a large freezer there yet. I might have to put the freezer in the spare bedroom for a while until we get electricity to the shed and put up the heat barrier in the shed. I don't want to wait to take my large freezer back there until we run the electric lines to the shed since we are not planning to do that until after we move to Texas permanently. We can make do with the small fridge, but need the freezer so we can bring all the meat I have back with us.

Next week we have a roofing guy coming to look at the roof leaks from Hillary. I told him that the roof was put on 10 years ago, but the new HVAC was installed about 5 years ago and all the leaks were around the vents in the ceilings. Since we don't have any attic space all our HVAC is on the roof and comes through the ceilings. Almost every vent in the house leaked. The skylight in the laundry room leaked worst and the ceiling has damage where the water ran along the beams through the room. We may have to replace the skylight, or just close it up although since the laundry room doesn't have a window, I hate to lose the natural light. We will see what the roofer says. He seemed to think that they might be able to just seal up the HVAC otherwise it will cost $$$ .

On Friday we have another round of sheep vaccinations to give. Also need to check feet. I need to sort out ewes to be bred into 3 flocks. Also have to weigh the 2 wethers to decide when to take them to the butcher. They are about 4 months old. DH and I talked about looking for a larger stock trailer to transport the sheep back to Texas instead of running 3-4 trips. If we could find a 24' used gooseneck for a decent price, we might buy one. With that and the 16' bumper pull we could transport 2 horses and all the sheep at once. Have to see what the cost would be to buy one vs price of gas driving back and forth to Texas 4 times. Not to mention meals, and possibility of at least one night on the road in a motel.

Today I found myself wishing I was home - in Yantis. LOL

 

[Baymule]

Look on Facebook marketplace and Craigslist in Texas, California and states in between for trailers. You do want to make sure it has good brakes and floor. I’m thinking about a bigger trailer in the future. I’ll put Layne on the hint, he love marketplace.

Glad y’all made it back safe. I hope the roof can be fixed and not cost a fortune.

 

[Ridgetop]

Great! Thank you. And thank Layne. I am also going to put up a notice at my butcher. We are looking for a 20-24' gooseneck. Slight body damage as long as it is usable is ok, older model, good floor, good brakes an absolute, we can replace tires. AFFORDABLE! One of Layne's "deals"? I bet Layne can find us one.

 

[Baymule]

Layne’s “deals” are sometimes questionable……..

 

[SageHill]

DH finished cleaning out the barn last evening. He also got the wire moved but said that only one pallet was there. Moved it over to the barn and put the full roll and partial rolls of wire on it. Said there were lots of wire scraps and pieces of metal left from the fence guys welding the cross braces and gate braces together. He gathered all that up and put it in the metal pile. When we come back I will sort through and may keep some of the more interesting pieces and gears for garden decor (or antique sales!). LOL Everything else will go to the metal yard. Thinking to keep the plow blade (middle buster) on the tow bar and the metal cattle stanchion to put near the front mailbox. I have 3 older cattle stanchions in metal and wood from MJ's barn in Washington. Not sure what to do with them, either unless I attach them to the outside of the wrought iron fencing as garden decor. LOL Realized in the middle of the night during one of my many trips communing with nature that I forgot to caulk and paint the windowsill and surround in the bathroom! This morning caulked around the window but ran out of caulk with 2" to go! I didn't want to open another tube so just went ahead and painted the windowsill and surround. Will do the remainder of the caulking when I return and put a second coat on the windowsill. I will have to caulk the area where I repaired the ceiling and lightly spray orange peel on those areas of the ceiling. Decided on color scheme and what pix will hang in there. Until we get the shower plumbing run, it will be a guest bathroom. DH took the trash to the dump. Then he bought more Blue Bell. WHY? We are leaving tomorrow! And why buy 2 large containers? I guess I will wrap them in plastic wrap and hope they stay good until we return. Putting butter, cream, and Danish in freezer for next visit. Hope the power stays on since there is also some frozen meat. Should be ok. My freezer alarm is still in there - paper cup with penny and ice. LOL Will wash and put celery, carrots, and some apple slices in Ziploc bags for the trip. Usually, have cheese cubes but just discovered they are missing. Told DH since he ate them all he should have mentioned it when I said I would pack cheese cubes for the trip! Probably thought if he said nothing I would not notice their absence! LOL Maybe buying the Blue Bell was in lieu of cheese cubes. LOL DH is cleaning out truck now then will hitch trailer for trip home. First load of laundry is in washer - then I need to pack suitcase to load tonight. Will also load cooler tonight with water and half the ice. Will toss in the veggies and apples tomorrow am when we leave. DH wants to get out really early and we will grab some breakfast on the road. Packing up the computer. So long for several days.

Sounds like you’re ready to be a Texan!
If you’re looking for a stock trailer check out Trailer Depot in Shawnee OK
405 214 2700. Good people family owned.

 

[Finnie]

Have to see what the cost would be to buy one vs price of gas driving back and forth to Texas 4 times.

Plus, you can resell it after you are done needing it, and recoup some of the money that way.

 

[Baymule]

Plus, you can resell it after you are done needing it, and recoup some of the money that way.

That’s not how it works. She is going from 5 acres to 15 acres. More acres equals more sheep. She will NEED that bigger trailer to take MORE lambs to auction! Hahaha!