Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[SageHill]

Just got this picture of 12-year-old grandson, James, and his hog. DS3 took him with for a hunting adventure near Seymour, Texas. View attachment 105584 That is a big hog and one less to worry about!

CONGRATULATIONS, JIMMY! I am hoping that they will come for a visit and take care of any hogs we have.

Awesome! Good eats ahead.

 

[Ridgetop]

DGS1 just got a letter from Harvard asking hm to apply. I annoyed his mother by saying that I would not want to send my child to any university as anti-semitic as Harvard has become! Since DD1 does not watch the news, she does not know about the college student terrorizing the Jewish students.
she is not liberal but prefers "not to know". Dumb attitude if you ask me. DGS1's Science Bowl team competed in the statewide High School Science Bowl, came in second, and each kid won a $1000 scholarship bond. DGS2 competed in the statewide Jr. Hi Science Bowl and also finish second. No money prize for them though. Have to wait till High School.

 

[Baymule]

. What's that?

It is time away from home in which the farmer worries about the animals. LOL

 

[Baymule]

So y’all are going to be here for 2 weeks? I’ll have granddaughters this coming week. I could come see y’all on March 18-19 and bring your packages.

That is one big hog! Congratulations to your grandson!

 

[Ridgetop]

Sounds good! See you then.

 

[Ridgetop]

DH decided the 5th wheel trailer needed new tires. Had the tire guys come out to replace them today since their new shop is very difficult access. Got a surprise when 14 months Ozel decided that she did not like strange tire guys in her yard and started barking at them. Brought her inside.

She is growing up, leaving puppyhood behind, becoming a teenage Anatolian. This is the dangerous age. They are not experienced enough to determine friend or foe by behavior, so are more worried by strangers. They also can fall back into chase/play behavior. Where Angel did the play/chase/bite behavior, Ozel chases when the sheep run onto the field. She does not bite or nip and will stop when reprimanded but thinks they are initiating a game when they run. Rika was, of course, perfect. Bubba did not do chase behavior. He just wanted to steal all newborn lambs and believed their mothers were trying to harm them. LOL.

The trailer is partially packed with boxes, etc. Still plenty of room so I will add more stuff today. I have a lot of packed boxes in the shed with livestock equipment and tools. They can go in. Also, the tupping harnesses and crayons since I won't be breeding until we reach Texas. I made a mistake though, the trailer is plugged in and the fridge and freezer are cold but I forgot to pack the frozen goat milk and refrigerated meds! Could have transported them without dry ice and cold packs.

Planning to leave Tuesday. Still haven't heard from Wes about picking up the sheep. It will have to wait until we get back. Had an offer on the 3-week ram lamb but don't want to sell him yet - too hard on his mother's udder to wean this early. With him and the other lamb currently being born, I will have some lambs I can take to the auction in Texas when we arrive and see how prices are there. I keep finding more stuff in the closets that i need to take, as well as a lot of the kitchen pots and pans that can't be packed until we leave. Alo my turkey roaster - won't need it until next Thanksgiving. Since we gave one to DD1 for Christmas she can use hers for holidays. And the ironing bord, iron, and my sewing machine and boxes of sewing stuff. The plastic boxes of fabric and notions can go in the trailer too.

 

[Ridgetop]

More boxes packed and loaded in 5th wheel. DS1 said not to load the tools yet since we might need them. Big problem now. DH said leave space to climb into the bed and we would sleep in trailer on way to TX instead of spending $ on a motel. Great idea EXCEPT one of the alarms keeps going off. It happened before and is an easy fix - remove and replace. The big problem is due to WHERE the alarm is located - behind the slide in wall!
No way to reach it to disconnect. DS1 and DH think it will stop screeching when the trailer is unplugged from electric cord. I am not so sure. No problem for DH - without his hearing aids he won't hear it anyway. I will try to stuff a towel or blanket between the walls and mute it. Or sleep in the truck.

During the night I woke up with a new design idea for my kitchen island that will save me a lot of money. I was planning to remove 2 oak base cabinets from the tool shed and bring them with me for the tool shed in Texas. I looked at them again and they are in really good condition so I have decided to use them for one side of the island. I was going to buy 2 36" pt and pan large drawer base cabinets but now will only need one. The 2 cabinets are a 24" base with a pullout for 2 trash cans. The other is a 36' cabinet without a center face frame stile. Without the stile it has a 34" wide pull-out shelf top and bottom. The pot and pan drawer base will face the stove, the other 2 cabinets will go side by side at right angles to the 36 DB. I have a 3630 oak wall cabinet already in Texas and with the addition of a toe kick it will be base cabinet height. I will install it across the end of the 2 cabinets parallel with the large DB. With the addition of a solid counter over the top I will have a 36"x90" island with an eating counter. The tenant eft 2 stools behind so I will be good to go. And I will only have to pay for one new drawer base which I will order from Home Depot, and the countertop. Depending on the wall cabinet, I might just leave the doors off for open shelves for cookbooks.

While I love coming up with this stuff I don't get a lot of sleep. I really need to get to Texas so I can do the projects and sleep through the night. LOL

Tonight we will sort out the 4 ewes I have decided to sell. One of the buyers is coming tomorrow to look at them. I left a message for the other. DH suggested that I offer Lewis to the buyers cheaply. He is 8 years old, lame on a front leg, but still breeding. I haven't decided if I will make that offer. I hate to put him down, but I think the trip to Texas would be hard on him. He probably has a couple more years of breeding though. I have one son and 11 daughters in the flock, and 11 more ewes bred to him, so I have the bloodline.
Got the bid on transporting the flock and horses to Texas. Actually it is only $100 more than it was when I enquired a year ago. Pricey, but having made up our minds to bite the bullet and go with a commercial transporter, we are feeling much happier and less stressed. It will be easier on the sheep since they will more room and access to water and hay while traveling. I looked up the breeding dates and the sheep were exposed through March so last due date could be as late as July. Half of them look bred, but others don't look pregnant at all. That can fool you though. One time I moved a ewe I thought was open because she didn't show any baby bulge and turned her in with a breeding bunch. A week later she had twins! LOL Bob and his fellow driver will drive through the night without stopping which will mean less time in the trailer for the sheep. It would have taken us at least 4-5 trips for the sheep and one for the horses so about twice the price we could do it for in gas and motels. But a lot of time and effort saved driving back and forth. I also have a call in to an insurer recommended by Bob May for insurance on the flock and horses. No sense paying a hefty amount to transport, have something happen and lose the entire cargo.

Off to pack more. My life revolves around moving boxes and tape.

 

[Ridgetop]

Down in the barn this evening feeding and watering and really got a good look at the ram lamb out of 7088 and Jr. He is a keeper! Great length and thickness and only 3 weeks old. He is a hair coat too not wooly so should shed well. Shedding is not as important in the Dorper breed as it is in Katahdins but I am breeding for a complete shed. I guess tomorrow we will dock and vaccinate him.

He is a real chunk. Too bad I already packed the scale. LOL The pictures are not that great, as soon as I fetched the phone he stopped posing. Where is @SageHill when I need her?!

 

[Ridgetop]

I worked all day yesterday and this morning loading the 5th wheel. It is packed full now and ready to go. Only room for small overnight bags and a cooler with dry ice and the goat milk. I have some rebar posts and PVC that goes over them to load in the truck for use with electric fencing. Also dog exercise pens can ride in the truck bed tied in. Next load will be the gooseneck with the furniture, sheep equipment, lawn furniture, deck box with cushions, large metal tool chests and boxes of tools, etc, etc.

DH was determined to take it back to Texas RIGHT NOW "so the family can have somewhere to stay for the eclipse party". He was looking forward to a weekend with DD1 and her family. Yesterday DD1 told us that their arrival time is Sunday morning. The Eclipse is Monday, April 8. DH was sad but ok until she said that they might have to watch the eclipse while driving back to DFW airport since they are flying back Monday afternoon.
DH was shattered that his planned for weekend was downgraded to a couple hours. I started laughing hysterically at the thought of them all trying to watch the eclipse while driving on the freeway. Hope they rent a vehicle with a moonroof! She suggested that we accompany them on their drive to the airport which made me laugh even harder.

Apparently the tickets to come out on Friday or Saturday are much more expensive so they are taking a "red eye" on Saturday evening. At least they are renting a car from the airport and not expecting us to drive 1.5 hours each way to get them. Ok we understand the idea of frugality but why not go back on Tuesday? Because they don't want the children to miss school. I suggested that they might just want to watch it on TV and we would take a picture for them but I was accused (justly) of being snarky.

Anyway, the 5th wheel was packed before we got that news so we are leaving on Tuesday or Wednesday. Just as I was dropping off last night DH gave me a list of items to bring to get a PO Box, call the tractor repair guy to have him come out and work on the tractors, and a couple other things. I told him to write them down and he said he didn't have a pen and paper since he was about to fall asleep. I cannot remember what he told me because I was falling asleep when he said all that stuff! I wonder if he remembers what he wanted me to do . . . .

The person wanting sheep came today. After talking to 2 people who called from different numbers with different names both assuring me they wanted 2 ewes, it turned out that they were one family. Two brothers. Total of 6 people came and decided they would only take one ewe. Sold a registered bred ewe for $700. That will cover the cost of the flock evaluation in Texas in May and a bit extra. She is a nice ewe but I have her sisters. They decided not to buy the other ewe which was the daughter of the Reserve Grand Champion at western states Dorper Show 2 years ago. She was a bred yearling and the same price so they missed out there. The ewes were bred to different rams too, but they decided not to go for two like they originally said they wanted.

the sheep are scattered all down the hillside foraging. They look so pretty against the green weeds.

Someone has been paving the dirt road behind the house that runs across our property. Not sure who is doing it but we have sold 3 easements on that road so could be one of those people. The road washes into ruts when we get bad rains so maybe they are trying to avoid that. We don't use the road and the easement holders are responsible for upkeep. Getting more citified here by the day.

I am exhausted and my back and legs hurt from packing and climbing into and out of the trailer to load it. I keep taking breaks to put my feet u then remember stuff that I don't want to forget to load and dashing out to get it. I just came in from gathering the rebar that Andy welded with step ins. You step them into the ground then slide PVC pipes over them to hold a hot wire. I figure they will be useful with my electric mesh fencing to hold it steady in the wind. Also gathered the PVC pipes and the bird feeder hangers. They can ride back in the truck bed. Brought in my wind chime and packed it. Next will gather the metal building stakes and bucket of long carriage bolts to go. Last thing will be the folding X-pens and dog crates.

The next load will be the last large items I will pack. I need to remember to pack my favorite cookware too. DS1 and DH will be coming back for the remaining corral panels and jugs. When we come out for Marv's eye doctor appointment in July we will bring the trailer and get anything we missed like garden ornaments, etc. Got to haul the x-pens over and then I can go lay down and read another chapter in my book.

 

[murphysranch]

Oh Ridge. What a task you've been undertaking.!!I would think you will crash when there, then hire out the placement of the sheep when they arrive.