Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Baymule]

Yeah, for you and me,

I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!! BECAUSE I have Anatolians jumping all over me, they think I want to play!

 

[Ridgetop]

Finished de-cluttering, de-boxing, de-moving materials the living room and cleaned it. Moved another couple packed boxes to the shed. Today DS1 brought in the ottoman that matches the living room chairs (it made the room look crowded before, so it was stored in the Connex). Then he brought in the oak and glass sofa table. I moved the sofa down a bit and now there is enough room to place this behind the back of the sofa. We couldn't put it there before because we had to leave enough room to extend the dining room table. Should be enough room for everyone to sit in the house now, even with DDIL2's exercise bike and my rowing machine thing in the dining room. I put them there so no one bumps their head on the chandelier. Next, I cleaned the silver tea service. I usually keep it in plastic with a camphor cube which keeps it tarnish free, but the camphor had evaporated. The fumes as it evaporated are what keeps the silver tarnish free, and I did not have time to put another in while doing all the packing. I put one in this time after cleaning it again, as well as in the sterling silverware chest. Now I need to put one in my jewelry box.

Got the turkey unbagged. It is not quite thawed so I couldn't get the gobbler's neck out. It is still encased in a block of ice, but I got the giblets into a pan ready to cook for the dressing. Tonight, I will make the dressing and let it cool down ready to stuff the bird. DD1 came over yesterday and made me go through the turkey and dressing instructions with " and her. She kept asking for directions like "how many cups of celery and onion" and "how many tsp/TBSP seasoning" which I kept telling her to just taste it and decide. She is like her grandmother, DH's mom, lack of good taste buds. I told her to have DGS2 taste it since he has good ones.

DS went to 3 stores searching to creamed corn. All 3 stores were out. He said he knew we had some since he remembered buying some. I told him that we did have a case of it but it was in Texas. I suggested we not have it this year.
Oops! Wrong thing to say! Massive uprising from the troops! Hysteria! Apocalyptic furor! DS1 left the house swearing to come back victorious. 2 hours later he returned.
The last store had 8 cans left - DS1 grabbed them all. He might have knocked down an old woman on a walker and a small child but was successful in his quest. We will have corn pudding at the feast. For a moment there I was worried about my standing in the family.

Tonight, DS1 will get the roaster down to rinse out the pan ready for the turkey. He will set it up in the laundry room on the small freezer. Tomorrow we will stuff the bird and get Tom ready for the roaster. Right now Tom is sitting in the sink finishing thawing so I can retrieve the neck. I have him wrapped in a wet cloth to keep him moist. I cleared out the bottom freezer and was able to move some stuff into it so we had space for the pies. Since we got them yesterday, I want to freeze them. I will take them out Wednesday evening so they will be ready. Removing the pies from the fridge made room for Tom after he finishes thawing.

After that I emptied the trash, bagged up some stuff for DDIL2, and took that bag and 2 boxes belonging to DS2 out to his shed. I have been asking him to do it for weeks but . . . . DDIL2 had put the second highchair together and cleaned it. We just need her mom to bring over their folding highchair and we will be set for Thanksgiving dinner.

DH had the roofer come to check the leaks in the roof around the vent pipes and HVAC vents. The frame of the skylight in the laundry room is broken and needs to be replaced. Everytime we get rain it leaks. The ceiling in there needs repair now too. The skylight in the bathroom is not broken and doesn't leak when it rains. Oddly enough, even though it doesn't leak we get dust and debris when the wind blows hard. The roofer is working up an estimate for resealing al the pipes and replacing the skylights. We also have the SUV at the shop (a different one) because when it rains hard the roof on it is leaking. Apparently, the water is running into the sunroof. There are drain channels to drain any water from the sunroof, but they get clogged and when they are clogged the water backs up into the ceiling and makes the roof leak INSIDE THE CAR! After checking with Galpin Ford and the body shop neither knew what could be causing it. We were referred to the car upholstery shop who told us what was wrong. He told us to bring it in today and it would take a couple hours. DS1 and DH have gone to pick up the car now. So that is taken care of. And we will get the roof on the house fixed. Supposedly, we are going to have an El Nino winter so it was necessary to get both roofs fixed before the rain comes. If we have a lot of green forage for the sheep to eat maybe I should leave them here an extra month while DH and I go to Texas to get more done on the house after Christmas. I still have to paint the bathroom, we need to have the shower fixed, strip the wallpaper in the MBR and paint it, make and install pull outs in the lower cupboards, and put in the front wrought iron fencing and gates, etc. And have the generator installed.

I have a problem with setting the table for Thanksgiving dinner since I normally set the table for dinner the night before with the good silver, crystal, centerpiece arrangement, etc. With 2 toddlers in the house this might be difficult. I will get everything ready for the boys to put the extra leaves in. That will entail moving some of the furniture around to make space for the table. I used to do it in the dining room, which meant that no small children s=could get to it until Thanksgiving dinner. When we bought the new table to fit more of us, I set it in the family room, again ok. Now we have 3 ambulatory toddlers, all of whom will be actively perambulating in the family room tomorrow since Annabel will be here. I told DD2 we could watch her when we thought we would just have 2 extra people for Thanksgiving. Three rugrats underfoot while stuffing the turkey and setting the table. I wonder if their mothers would mind if I duct taped them to chairs while we work.

Oh well, I will just go fold another load of laundry. Oh, and text the cranberry-orange jello recipe to DD2. Turkey day is coming.

 

[SageHill]

Better idea than duct taping them to the chairs --- give THEM the duct tape and a big bunch of baling twine. Add earplugs for you (or earbuds and great music or a really good audible book).

 

[Mini Horses]

I no longer have "those" types of distractions -- don't miss it either. Grownups are enough problems

 

[Ridgetop]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

We had three toddlers, and a 6-year-old to take care of today. Called DD1 to see if Elizabeth wanted to play with the 6-year-old but she had to do schoolwork. I wonder if DD1 realized it was a sneaky plan to take the 6-year-old to her house. At any rate, the 6-year-old was a big help with the toddlers, so it worked out except we are all exhausted. I did my usual clear-out in the fridge so all the holiday food would fit. I had cleaned it out last week and we have been eating leftovers this week, so not that much left in there.

Turkey stuffing got made this am and put in the fridge to cool down before stuffing Tom. DD1 came over tonight to learn how to stuff a turkey, pin, and lace him up. We normally don't lace our turkeys just pin them, but we did it for her. Our Butterball had a horizontal C-section opening instead if the vertical opening, but we pinned and tied him anyway. As usual had a small amount of stuffing left so put it in a small casserole with the extra fat I pulled out of the turkey on top. It will give that stuffing a good flavor when I bake that stuffing in a couple days. Tom is stuffed, trussed, oiled, seasoned, and in the roaster pan ready to place in the roaster tomorrow morning for the 6 our baking necessary for our 24 lb. bird.

DD2 may or may not get the Jello mold done. If not, I have a couple cans of jellied cranberry sauce. Cans of olives in the pantry too. DDIL2's family is bringing vegetables, salad and some other stuff. We have crescent rolls and will make the corn pudding tomorrow. I might make some mashed potatoes for the gravy. Pies are out of the freezer thawing. Wine is in fridge chilling. Just have to set the table tomorrow afternoon while children take naps. Going to just take it as it comes. And drink if necessary.

DD1 asked for a roaster like mine for Christmas. Ours only does up to a 22 lb. turkey. When we cook a larger one, we have to push the lid down tight. Sometimes we have to line the lid with foil to prevent Tom from sticking to the lid. DS1 checked and they make ones that will cook up to a 28 lb. bird. DS1 said that if we decide to get the larger one, we will wrap ours for DD1 for Christmas and keep the larger one. LOL I don't think we need a larger one though since it is hard to get turkeys larger than 24 lb. these days. I remember my grandmother cooking 35 lb. birds, but the turkeys now have to be smaller to go through the plucking machines.

DH got a flower arrangement for the dining room table from the florist. Usually, I buy flowers from the grocery store and make it myself, but he offered to do it. Also, he didn't know what I was talking about when I said to just get some mums. LOL I got sad news from the florist though. They have done all our weddings, birthdays, mother's days, funerals for 30 years. Jocelyn and her brother own it - it is a family business. Jocelyn had cancer and when I asked after her today, I found out she passed away. Our whole family is very sad - she was a lovely person.

Anyway, Stouffers lasagna tonight because I can't cook dinner before a big holiday meal. Third set of dishes is in the dishwasher, and after dinner I will take the stove apart and wash all those pieces.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

 

[Baymule]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Y’all have a wonderful day!

 

[Ridgetop]

Long Thanksgiving weekend -
Turkey was best ever. Dsaid it was because it was a butterball. I think just cooked properly by DS1. We both agreed that it was a good thing that the turkey tuned out great, so we were not humiliated in front of in-laws (Kathleens family). They brought green bean casserole, salad, clam chowder, corn muffins, and pecan pie. DD2 did not get the Jello mold done but no problem since we had plenty of food. DD2 and DSIL2 also arrived at 5:30 pm after we started eating. DD2 ate a plate of food but DSIL2 said he was full - they had eaten at his mother's house at 3 pm. Their loss. Robert and Annabel are so adorable together. Robert takes Annabel's hand and leads her around the house to play. Nick is waking now and he toddles after them trying to catch up. Gonna miss them.

DD1 came over and learned to stuff and skewer a turkey. She, in-laws, and friends had nice Thanksgiving although DGS2 said turkey was only "alright".

On Friday we babysat Annabel again. DS1 called DD1 to tell her that he wanted to bring her the sectional in the morning so we could do sheep in the afternoon. She didn't call him back until after 12:00 to arrange it. DSIL1 finally came over with DGS2 and DGD1 around 1:30 pm. They loaded our white sectional that DD1 wanted. and DS1 drove it over to DD1's house and unloaded it. DD1 made him mad because she wanted him to wait outside with it while she vacuumed. He refused because it was getting ate and he wanted to get the sheep done. Then he and DSIL1 loaded the loveseats and brought them over to our house.

Back story about this sectional:
When DD1 married and they were transferred to Virginia, DD1 wanted us to get her a new sofa in Palm Springs at the consignment houses. We found a new sectional with a queen size sofa bed for $400. It was a sample from a store, off-white with a very understated white on white, and gray pattern. We called her up to ask if she wanted it and she said she had to ask DSIL1 first. She was a newlywed so wanted to check with hubby. ?Didn't she already arrange with him before telling us to get her a sofa how much to spend and what to get? I tried to tell her that he wouldn't care but she insisted that he would want to be "involved". DH kept calling her to make up her mind about the sofa and she kept saying she was waiting to get the go ahead from her husband. DH and I decided that it would be perfect in our living room since we have a patterned Persian rug, and needed a larger sofa in that room. We liked that it had a sofa bed which was new - the mattress was still in the plastic. We would give her our 2 almost new loveseats - they were too small for the room anyway now that DD1 had taken the piano. DD1 hadn't given us any money to buy any furniture anyway, so we bought it for ourselves. We were loading it up when another couple who had looked at it but couldn't make up their minds came back to buy it - problem with the consignment stores is that if you see what you want, you have to buy it NOW or it might be gone if you decide to come back later. The consignment stores won't hold anything. DD1 never called us back. When we got it home 2 days later, DD1 decided she wanted it. Too bad! It was mine and we gave her the loveseats. Since then, she has lusted after it and keeps telling me I need to let her have it. Since we are moving to Texas and it won't fit in the living room in Yantis, I told her I would let her have it and take the loveseats (still in new condition) to sell at the consignment store.

Anyway, the men loaded it up and DS1 drove it over to her and brought the loveseats back where he and DS3 unloaded them. Later that day DD1 called DS1 and said that it was very dusty and dirty. Dusty maybe because of all the packing that had gone in the room without me being able to clean but dirty? No one even sits on the sofa except when we have company at Christmas or a holiday. On the other hand, we bought it 16 years ago and even without wear and tear upholstered furniture can get dusty and dirty. Anyway, she was mad because she said she would have to hire an upholstery cleaner to clean it. Then she told DS1 to bring back the loveseats and bring back the sectional! He refused - that sleeper sofa was massively heavy, he is not her personal furniture mover, and she insisted that she wanted it. When she complained about the "dirty" sofa, I was furious. For the past 16 years she has referred to the sofa as "hers" and said that we "stole" it from her. As soon as we started packing, she came over and wanted us to immediately bring it to her house. She wanted us to bring it before Thanksgiving too once I cleaned all the mess out of the living room. I told her I would not let her have it until after Thanksgiving because I needed the seating space for the 14 adults I was hosting for the holiday. Both DH, DS1, and I were very annoyed at her attitude.

Next annoyance from DD1 was that because she didn't bother to call and get the furniture moved until afternoon we did not even get to start on the sheep until 4 pm. It gets dark at 5 pm. We had 33 ewes to vaccinate, sort, and mark for breeding. DGS1 who was supposed to help us had "suddenly remembered" that he had a Scout activity. That meant that he was not on hand to help move the sofa, his father could not help DS1 move the loveseats back to our house afterwards because DSIL1 had to go get him. Luckily DS2 was home and had helped load the sectional and helped unload the loveseats. DS1 thought that DSIL1 was going to bring DGS1 over afterwards but neither of them showed up. DGS2 was limited help because he doesn't like working with the animals, doesn't like getting dirty, is 13, and just plain doesn't like helping with anything unless large sums of $$ are involved.

Just as DS1 was leaving to take the sectional over to DD1's the neighbor called to say that the dogs were out gain in the middle of the night?! Aaaargh! DGD1 walked the entire fence line while DS1 was moving furniture and saw no holes anywhere. Our dogs were in the yard. On the way back from DD1's, DS1 saw a large white dog with a dark face running loose near the dirt road up to the neighbor. Probably, they saw that dog at midnight so luckily a false alarm. It would also account for why the dogs have been barking a lot at night around that part of the field.

So finally, Friday at 4pm we went out to vaccinate the ewes and sort them. DS1 had set up our chute. The sheep don't like running through it and kept trying to back up but DGD1 was wonderful with the sheep. As DS1 got some of them moving towards the sorting box, a few would try to turn back. DGD1 climbed over the corral fence and dropped into the middle. She chivvied the sheep through the chute towards the catch box. She hung on the top bars of the corral panels and pushed the sheep forward with her feet on their rumps! Best sheep herder ever! No complaints about the work and would climb back into the large gather pen when DS1 and she needed to run more into the chute. Love working with that child. I wish we could take her to Texas with us! DGS2 was not much help. Some of the sheep would turn around and we would back them into the chute. Then I would go outside of the pen I was in and go to the back of the box to shoot them in the butt. It worked best when two sheep facing opposite directions would crowd into the box. LOL No room to move so they couldn't jump when they got the needles and I could get one on each end. LOL By 5 pm it was getting pretty dark but DS1 said we should just push on and try to get them done. DGD1 ran inside and got a flashlight. I had my paperwork binder outside since there were some problems with numbers. Some of the ewes were missing ear tags so we couldn't ID them without the scrapie numbers. I also had not entered two ewes on my chart while another ewe was entered twice. We got those straightened out although DS1 was very uncomplimentary about my record keeping. One ewe got into the wrong pen when we got confused as to which pen was the "Front", "Field", or "Creep". We were marking the 3 sets of ewes with different colors to be sure which ram they went to. I just moved her to the other ram on my chart instead of trying to pull her out of the pen we had released her into. DGS2 was complaining that he was tired, hungry, his knee (stitches) hurt, he needed his antibiotics, etc. until we all told him to shut up. (If we had cheese and crackers we could have had his whine with them.) He used to be a great kid but now is at a crappy age.

About halfway through the process, DD1 showed up and told the kids she was taking them home. DS1 hit the roof and told her that because of her they had started so late that they were only half done. After arguing back and forth for several minutes, it turned out that DGS2 had texted his mother and told her to come get him because they were done and DS1 wouldn't drive them home! You can imagine what happened over that bit of lying information! DD1 said that she would take them home anyway because it was the last night their grandmother and great-aunt would be in town, and she didn't want to have to come back. DS1 was furious at DGS2, and DD1 (for wasting half the day with the furniture) and told her to take them because he was mad at DGS2. I yelled "No one is leaving here until we are finished!" DD1 started to say she would go inside and we "better hurry up" so I told her to get busy and help us. She turned on her phone flashlight so we could read the ear tags and see to stick the needles. Then she gave it to me so I could read the numbers on the list, and in my records. We kept going and finally finished around 6 pm. DD1 took the kids home. It was 6:30 when I went in to start dinner. (Luckily leftovers.) DS1 ran one set of ewes down to the creep pen and fed the animals. When he came in the rest of us spent an enjoyable half hour dissing DD1 for both the sofa thing and her behavior coming to get the kids. We dissed DGS1 for knowing he had a Scout thing scheduled and telling us he would help then being gone on purpose. We dissed DGS2 for texting his mom secretly to come get him, his general whining, and decided we would never pay DGS2 for any future jobs. I reminded DH that our children had helped their grandparents without being paid for any work. DH and I congratulated ourselves on being good parents and having excellent hardworking children. A good time was had by all.

Saturday, we did a lot of stuff around the house. I picked the meat off the turkey carcass and made soup. For some reason my good knee is hurting badly when I walk and even if I turn over in bed. I think it is just arthritis, but DH wants me to get an x-ray. I don't want another knee replacement but if I have to have another, I want to do it at UCLA with our current insurance since it is covered 100%.

Today, I picked the rest of the meat off the boiled carcass, strained the soup, added the eat back i with some onions and celery, cooled it down, and packaged it in Ziploc bags. I couldn't can it since I forgot to bring any quart jars back from Texas last trip.

Then DS1 and I went out and put the harnesses and crayons on the rams, vaccinated them, and turned them in to the appropriate pens with their ewes. Lewis is 8 now and showing his age. He has lost some weight and may only have another one or two breeding years left. I will have to use him heavily next breeding before he gets too old. I love his daughters and kept a son for breeding. He has 11 ewes this time. I am also using his son for the first time this year. His son, Jr., has 10 ewes, while Moyboy has 12 (he got the extra ewe that we accidently out in the wrong pen). The girls are in perfect condition for breeding. DS1 commented on how thick and muscular most of them are. Tight hides, and heavy muscled rumps and shoulders. Some of them are smaller since they are yearlings being bred for the first time, but all in good condition. Hopefully giving them a rest for the past 6 months will result in more twins, and easier lambing.

DH spent the weekend watching football. He is still in the cripple list for now, even though he offered to come help us with the sheep.

By the way, if anyone is giving Bo-Se be sure to use at least a 20 ga needle or larger. I routinely use Luer lock disposable 3 cc syringes with 22 ga needles for my sheep vaccines since I normally vaccinate the lambs around one week and larger needles are too big for them. Since the CDT vaccine is very thin, it is not a problem. Bo-Se is thicker, and I had a very hard time pulling it up into the syringe and then injecting it. I keep my meds in the fridge, so I warmed up the bottle in hot water and that helped a bit but not much. For the rams I used a 20 ga needle - I keep 6 cc syringes with 20 ga needles for antibiotics. DS1 said we need one of those automatic ones. If we vaccinate that any sheep at one time again, I think he is right. And use the flexible tube and needle. Some of those ewes are so strong they pulled the needle out and 2 bent the needle jumping around. I told DS1 that instead of the regular gate on the end of the 3-way sorting box we should put on the head gate. That way we could catch them in the head gate instead of him having to hold them steady in the box for me to shoot them. He agreed that when we get to Texas, we will build a better chute with shorter sides since trying to work with the sheep through the corral bars can be dangerous on your arms. Using my solid hickory cane, the sheep cracked it against the bars. I hope I can mend it with glue, a clamp, and a screw but I will order another one now that DS1 has started using it. I have had that crook 30 years, use it all the time when moving sheep, and love it.

Thanksgiving weekend is over and now into Christmas.

 

[Baymule]

What a glorious Thanksgiving weekend! I can only imagine the loud discussions going on! Hahaha!
Working that many sheep at once, you need the head gate. Your sheep have big musculature butts, you need a big needle and a sledge hammer to drive it in! All sorted, vaccinated and in breeding pens. Well done! Spring babies on the way! My group will be a month or so ahead of yours. I have 15 ewes with Cooper, 13 are bred, 2 more to go.

I’m glad you have a son from your Lewis ram. Lewis should have another year or two.

I’m thinking maybe next week taking a day trip over to Waco to watch the sheep auction. Depends on bulldozer man. Auction is on Tuesdays. Sheep and goats 9 AM to 12 PM. Maybe at some point we can go to one of the big auction’s but we’ll have to travel farther. Waco is 2 1/2 hours from me. 165 miles, 2 hours and 45 minutes from Yantis for you. You will only be less than 30 minutes from the auction at Emory, so you might want to give them a try.

 

[SageHill]

Holy Moly - what a day that was..... after thinking you'll miss the lil' ones, sounds like TX isn't happening soon enough at least for some of them. Such drama. Geeze. Hang in there Texas is around the corner.

 

[Ridgetop]

Yes, just when I have enjoyed the little ones and am thinking loving thoughts about not leaving, this sort of thing happens, and I am ready to just hop in the truck with the sheep and drive away. It would not be Ridgetop without drama though.

So, we already have 8 ewes marked. Whether they are settled I don't know because the rams have not been used for a year. If not fertile, the ewes will recycle and remark in another 2 weeks. I need to order some more cool weather crayons though since I only had 2 of those and had to use a hot weather crayon for Junior which hardly shows up. I did get them all dosed with selenium including the rams. I figured that if the ewes were deficient the rams would be too, and selenium helps with fertility. No selenium for the young stock though. They will get a shot before they are put with the ram in another 5 months. I need another bottle of selenium though since the 100 ml bottle is just about finished - maybe one dose left. I will get another bottle or two when I have my vet come out to draw blood for brucellosis testing in the rams, and the health check on the ewes before leaving for Texas. I also need to order some disposable Luer lock needle/syringe combos with18 ga needles for ease in administering and filling the syringes. I use 20 ga for antibiotics but the 18 will be better for thick solutions. The dose is 2.5 ml/100 lbs. per ewe. I just gave 2.5 ml per ewe and 3 ml per ram. If I had given larger doses I would have run out since I had only 100 ml. I am hoping that giving Bo-Se will help the ewes lamb more easily this time after the problems we had in the summer.

Nicholas' One Year Old birthday and party is on December 20. It will be a large party with lots of relatives here - during the day so if the weather is nice, we can sit outside otherwise, we can bring some patio furniture inside. DS1 and I will be driving back to Texas a day or two later. DS2. DDIL2, Robert, and Nick will be leaving for the Philippines on December 17. We probably won't be back until after they have left. DS1 says we can get back there faster if we take the SUV instead of a truck and trailer. We can still load a lot of stuff in the back with the seats folded down. We will go back and put together the holding pens for the ewes and rams for when we bring them back. DS1 said he could do it alone, but I will go with him since handling the heavier corral panels is easier with someone to brace it while clamping them. If I get a gallon of paint as soon as we get there, I can paint the family bathroom while we are there too. That will finish it off. When DS1 and I get back here, I will put the tree up. The children will be gone so I won't have to put up the baby jail panels to keep Nick away from the ornaments. I am not doing much decorating since most of the furniture (bookcases and dining room buffet) I put decorations on are in Texas now. LOL Not sure about when we will get to Palm Springs. I could just bring the loveseats back and use them. I will do some more measuring in Yantis. The colors will go with the current (old) carpet, but not with the recliner I had recovered for DH. The shop could not get the color leather I chose so tried to match it without calling me. It turned out pretty orange. I suppose we could use them in Yantis then bring them back to Palm Springs next May, but why do all that transporting? Anyway, I will start packing some more tools to take to Texas. I think the cabinet I planned to pull out of the shop and take is too tall to fit in the SUV. The other cabinet is too wide. I will have to measure again tomorrow. I would really like to get a cabinet back there and installed to start putting tools in. With open shelves everything gets so dirty, even though I pack stuff in plastic boxes.

Anyway, we have decided to give Robert and Nicholas their Christmas gifts gradually before they leave for the Philippines since they will not see the Christmas tree and don't know about Santa this year. Next year Robert will be almost 4 and more into the Santa thing. Also, I won't have to wrap their gifts. LOL He already got a crane and is in love with it. We used the sand from the sandbags we got during the flooding last year and dumped it where Carl was extending his deck. There was not very much, and it will all get raked into the dirt before he lays his deck stones. I wanted to put the sand in the barn stalls but never got the jugs emptied long enough so the bags have been sitting on the driveway. Robert played in the sand pile with his crane for 2 hours until dark. When he came in the crane had to sit on the table while he ate dinner. He has it in bed with him now. He has been watching cartoons about construction vehicles. I would think he was moving on from dinosaurs, but his favorite cartoons are about dinosaur construction vehicles! He will be getting more of the large construction vehicles over the next couple weeks and also when he gets back from the Philippines. DH and I are ordering a cedar sandbox for the boys for Christmas, and they will have that when they get back too. There are 2 good spots to put it so DDIL2 can choose where to assemble it. DS1 said that he wants the kids to spend more time outside. Now that Nick can walk the boys are running around outside more so a sand box will be good for them. The one I am ordering has a cover that folds up into benches and a canopy. I am not sure how well the canopy will hold up in our winds. I thin DDIL2 would almost be better off using a pop-up shade canopy and not extending the legs all the way. The sandbox will need a shade canopy if it is put in one of the locations in full sun. If they put it in the other location the canopy will keep leaves out of the sandbox. Once DD2 is in her new Texas rental house with a yard, I will get one for Annabel too.

Today I went out and got out our suitcases for DDIL2 to pack for their trip. They get 2 cases per ticket so can check 6 cases. I got out the large ones we use on our cruises. I also gave her our very large rolling duffel bag suitcase. It will be good for the kids' stuff. It actually holds more than our largest suitcase as long as you are not packing dress clothes. DDIL2 is starting to sort out what she needs to pack for their trip since she and the kids will be there for about 2 months. Carl will only be there for 3 weeks so he will use a smaller suitcase.

Since we are going back to Texas in the winter, I will have to pack some sweatshirts. I already took my flannel lined jeans back and my long underwear. I will need to pack my winter boots and muck boots, along with heavy winter gloves and socks. Then I can leave the winter boots back there when I come back. So much to do. I think one of the file cabinets will fit in the SUV so I will empty it to take if we have enough room with the boxes and tools we will be taking back.

Just remembered that we have to cut down the gooseneck hitch coupler. I called Kiefer and they said that is all we have to do since the since we got is a universal coupler and Kiefer has changed the hitch style on their goosenecks since ours was made.

Hay has gone down to what we were paying in AZ, so we are going to buy 200 bales here to get us through the next few months. Our guy will store it and deliver it when we need it. That will get us through February (we already have 100 paid for that will be delivered tomorrow) and any left over will be here for the new sheep when I get them in May from Wes.