Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[murphysranch]

^^what she said!! Works!

 

[Mini Horses]

Just Google the address next door, and it should come up on Zillow. Zillow should have info

Weeellll...just like Google sometimes gives wrong directions, they did my addy . I googled my address only to find they apparently don't know the pic of the trailer at rear of property is not my address, or that there IS a house. LOL. I suppose, once they add MY house, 2 barns, etc the value will raise accordingly. BUT just shows the value for my land is great! In fact, I'd almost be tempted to sell for profits .

 

[Margali]

I PROMISE I only use my abilities for good!

You can go to Sulphur Springs website GIS server and get GIS map data. That shows owner of record and parcel ID. From there you can find out how much taxes are and if they have agriculture valuation or homestead exemption by cross referencing the tax record data base. For EXTRA points, you can pull the county clerk property records and see when it was bought and how much.

Research skills and OCD for the win. As an aside, anyone good at reading pre-1909 cursive?

 

[Ridgetop]

DH went back and found out that the brake lights were not working because of another fuse. Galpin used to have the best reputation for service. In fact, their entire sales program was based on the service you got when you bought a car from them. Since the owner died and his sons have taken over the service reputation has really deteriorated. The tire business and this fuse have DH fuming.

DH had mudflaps put on the truck while up there for the fuses. Our first step to registering the truck in Texas! He said that the shop guy told him that this is the last year for vehicle checks in rural areas. He got the vehicle safety check to switch registration. He doesn't want to switch registration yet since he just paid our CA registration through the end of the year. LOL He got our Yantis P.O.Box too.


While he was taking care of the truck business, I finished painting the family bathroom. I had primed and painted the wainscoting and woodwork back in November but did not stay long enough on our "turn-around-trips" to do the walls. DH read on the internet some colors not to paint the bathroom and reasons so I decided to paint it the same color as the master bath in California. We like that color and our towels, etc. are geared to it so we will use the old master BA towels, etc. in the family bath. Might paint the current master bath a lighter shade of the same color too. I put the towel rods, etc. back up this am. Hung a watercolor and some towels. Looks nice.

The white woodwork and light colors make it look much brighter than when it was painted with dark blue wainscoting and woodwork. The wallpaper had a dark borer and dark blue curtains and bathtub treatment. Amazing what a coat of paint can do to change things. Painted the wainscoting and woodwork white, the walls soft aqua, and changed the hardware.

< old new>


<old new>
Not quite finished with it - I can't find the other paintings to hang on the walls yet - still packed somewhere. I will tile above tub when shower is installed, replace all faucets, and light fixture. In the meantime, it makes a pretty guest bath. Flooring is the same for now but neutral and in fairly good condition. I will change it when we replace the living room carpet with ceramic tile or wood look vinyl planks.

This bathroom is actually large enough to turn into 2 small bathrooms. We could make one a new master bath and attach it to the rear bedroom if we decide to. The rear bedroom is currently a large office which I like. If it becomes the master BR, the current master BR will become the office off the kitchen. However, rebuilding the large family bathroom is not in my future plan since we have left most of our children in California. LOL.

I am considering eventually replacing the vanity cabinets in both bathrooms with knotty hickory. The bathroom cabinets are much deeper than standard bathroom cabinets and I could replace them with kitchen cabinets which are 24" deep and would be slightly taller. In the meantime, I might make doors and a toe kick to fill in the opening under the sink. Or just use some attractive baskets to hold stuff. Both bathrooms have that opening. I think it was meant to make the bathroom cabinet into a vanity with an added stool. I would rather have the added storage. Mrs. McDonald left the vanity stool so I could paint it white and reupholster the seat. When I have time.

I have decided not to bring the wrought iron fencing panels from the old house for the front yard. DS2 wants it, and DH said he will save up and we will put it in new. He said it would be easier to put it in new instead of digging up the old posts, etc. I called Levi (who did the fencing) get a quote to install more 6' wire fencing from the corner of the house to the garden fence, and another span along the side of the carport connecting with the fence there. That will make the back yard secure and we can open the rear gate to the barn area at night. DH measured it and said that side span is only about 55-60', and the side along the garage is about 20. We will need 2 walk through gates but it shouldn't be too much money to have that put in. Levi said that he thinks we have some posts left, and I know we have several short partial rolls of wire as well as a complete roll never opened. We also have about a half box of clamps and wire attachments so not a lot of cost to secure the yard other than labor. i want it mainly for the small grandchildren (6, 3, 3, 1) who will be visiting here since they will want to go outside, and it is too dangerous to have the yard open along the side of the house to the highway. And, of course, for the dogs. Fence for front yard may come later. Along with landscaping. Across the front of the side yard near the street would be a good place for more fruit trees. Shrubbery in front of house will cut some noise although 154 is not terribly busy.

Just ran out to install blind in new bathroom and !!! Big OOPS! I measured and installed the clips to hold it 3" in from the side of the window opening like I did on the other blinds. Problem is that this blind is narrower and at that spacing it won't clip in. The clip is hitting on the blind mechanism. Had to remove the clip, fill the holes, and reinstall the clip. I congratulated myself that I hadn't tossed the roller yet, so could just roll over the filed holes. Nope! I left the inside of the window embrasure painted white so that won't work. I need to open the gallon of white SG and use a paper towel to daub on a touchup of paint to the holes. It never fails.

We are leaving day after tomorrow to go back to California. I decided to use up the BBQ chicken I thawed and make soup for supper for today and tomorrow. Also some corn muffins. The muffins are baking now. The soup is cooking. We may eat early since it is raining. Timer for muffins just went off. LOVE my Texas oven! The corn muffins turned out perfect! Made brownies last night for Bible Study and they turned out perfect too. We try to go to Wednesday Bible Study just up the road. Potluck at 6, bible readings and music at 7pm. We have met some lovely people and feel very welcome. The minister is our gardener and he invited us last summer. We go to our church on Sunday in SS.

Our vegetable garden area is HUGE! DH went out and measured the garden area. It is 81' x 133'! He came in and did some math and said that it was about a quarter acre of garden! That will grow a lot of veggies! It was triple dug last winter by Jeremy and when we decide to plant the garden next spring, we will till it again. In the meantime, DH suggested we put the rams in it and let them graze it down. We will use some of our temporary pen panels to close it off. It opens off the barnyard so the dogs can get close enough to protect the rams.

 

[farmerjan]

You might want to make part of the garden into a "permanent" asparagus bed... and some rhubarb plants??? Don't know if either grows there or if you like them..... Or strawberry plants and or something like some raspberries or blueberries???? That is bigger than my garden.... and I grew over 400 lbs of potatoes from mine plus the green beans, tomatoes, peppers, and squashes etc....
You can designate one end for some of the permanent plants.... and square it off more.... That's a BIG garden for the 3 of you.... but then you will be mostly "food independent" ......that's good.

Like the colors of your "new bathroom", much better than the darker "older bathroom".... and I like dark blue and such... but just not a good bathroom color in my opinion....
Sounds like you will be much happier there once you get moved completely, and settled in... and FLAT ground to work with... you won't know what to do with yourselves not having to climb up and down the steep hills....

 

[farmerjan]

Doesn't CA refund money if the plates are turned in early... this is like only 4 months into the new year????

And, I would not want to be in TX with CA plates on my vehicle for very long... CA people and their politics, are not very well received many places... I would want to blend in, with the plates changed, (he// you have the right type vehicle).... as soon as I could...

 

[Baymule]

It’s raining here too. It rained last night and this morning. It’s just sloppy wet.

Ken, the guy who came over last summer to help put the metal roof on my house, sure admired the Dorper Texas Five. Said he’d be very interested in having a ewe lamb. He and his brother have American Blackbelly sheep. I made up my mind on the spot that I would give him one. He didn’t even know me, but spent 2 Saturdays in the heat last June, putting the metal roof on my house.

I bred 3 of the Texas Five, got 3 ewes and a ram lamb. I selected one of the ewe lambs for Ken. I knocked on his door yesterday and told him I had a ewe for him. He asked how much and I told him his money was no good. I reminded him how he came to my house, not even knowing me, to help put the roof on. He offered multiple times to pay for her, but I refused. He and his brother came over this morning to pick her up. He offered again to pay for her, I refused. He’s real happy to have her and I know she will be a good ewe for him.

I’m keeping the other two ewes, they are real nice. Cleo had twin ewes, I gave one to Ken. Her other twin is speckled brown and white. I’m excited to see how they grow out.

 

[Baymule]

Doesn't CA refund money if the plates are turned in early... this is like only 4 months into the new year????

And, I would not want to be in TX with CA plates on my vehicle for very long... CA people and their politics, are not very well received many places... I would want to blend in, with the plates changed, (he// you have the right type vehicle).... as soon as I could...

Texas has a time limit on switching license plates and registration in Texas.

Driving around with Ca plates ain’t a good idea….. as @farmerjan says….

 

[Margali]

Yep! I dealt with that when we moved from Texas to Iowa and I started engineering job when the union was striking. Keyed, dented, air let out of tires (thankfully not slashed). Losing sunk cost on California registration is nothing versus anxiety that people will be messing with your transportation safety.

 

[Ridgetop]

CA doesn't refund on plates. By the time we are residents in TX and registering the vehicle it will be 5 months anyway and someone said that getting the new registration and drivers' licenses can take months. Will go ahead and reregister asap. Maybe not the trailers yet. DH said that we only pay $5 or 10 every 5 years on stock and utility trailer. The 5th wheel is $200 so will check on cost in TX. Utility trailer is so beat up that we wouldn't notice if it got keyed LOL. Gooseneck has a 5-year tags now and was only $18.00 which seller paid for us. However, we need to transfer with DMV I think.

You might want to make part of the garden into a "permanent" asparagus bed... and some rhubarb plants??? Don't know if either grows there or if you like them..... Or strawberry plants and or something like some raspberries or blueberries???? That is bigger than my garden.... and I grew over 400 lbs of potatoes from mine plus the green beans, tomatoes, peppers, and squashes etc....
You can designate one end for some of the permanent plants.... and square it off more.... That's a BIG garden for the 3 of you.... but then you will be mostly "food independent" ......that's good.

I am going to plant some fruit trees on the side of the garden near the neighboring property. Along with berry bushes. I love raspberries and would love to grow my own. Love asparagus and will definitely plant, along with rhubarb since DH loves that. He wants to grow strawberries too and I remember Uncle George in Kansas showing me how he grew strawberries in rows then after a year (or 2?) would train the runners into the furrow between the rows and allow them to root. Then he would dig out the old plants and that would become the new furrow between the plants. The previous owner farmed watermelons in the 50's as a cash crop so melons should do well too. Could never grow them in California and we love melons. Will try all kinds of fruits and veggies.
In California I was limited to certain things because our early spring weather varied between 60 degrees interspersed with sudden weeks of 90-100 degrees causing my winter garden of broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce to bolt. My garden wss small - about 12' x 40' with a separate 3' x 20' bed for tomatoes. The soil was very good, and after years of tilling in all the rabbit manure from 20 rabbits I grew hundreds of pounds of wonderful huge tomatoes, Italian Roma green beans, wax beans, carrots, cucumbers, beets, green onions, and about a ton of summer squash. Looking forward to extending the range of varieties. I am partial to parsnips and I understand that they are better if you leave them in the ground in the winter. They are supposed to get sweet if there is a freeze. I figure that we can also grow a lot of winter squash and pumpkins for the sheep to fill space in the garden.

When we moved to this Shadow Hills location, I brought a lot of plants with me since they razed the house and lot for apartments. Everything died. I bought a soil kit and found that the PH in this soil is 9! It is so alkaline that nothing grows except the itchy weed, wild mustard, and a couple other high PH tolerant weeds. Pepper trees, pomegranate, Mexican mulberry trees, and native trees survive, others struggle along but not well. After 35 years of digging out and replacing the soil 2' deep in all the planter beds with good soil and rabbit manure, I was finally growing roses, tomatoes, and squash UNTIL The Invasion of the Ground Squirrels. 5 years ago, we gave up and installed fake grass. It looks nice, the gophers leave it alone, and the dogs don't excavate it to kill the gophers. I am looking forward to actually being able to do landscaping in Texas as well as growing vegetables and fruit. I used to love the flowers I planted in my old house. My grandmother had planted camellias around the north and east side of the house in the '20's. When we sold the property the trunks on those camellias were 10" in diameter and the bushes themselves were 12' tall. There were also a couple orange trees that were over 100 years old a had the sweetest navel oranges in the world. I had bougainvillea in different colors along the fence on one entire side of the property - so pretty.

DH has said that he plans to do some vegetable gardening. Sweet man that he is, he doesn't know a turnip from a parsnip but wants to try. We went to Lowes in Yantis to get a gallon of paint and he went to the garden area to buy a hose. He came back with a 6 pack of Early Girl tomato seedlings, a 6 pack of Better Boy seedlings, a 6 pack of yellow crookneck squash and a 4" pot holding 3 cantaloupe seedlings. He looked like he had just seen Santa so I didn't remind him that we were only in town for a week. He said that "we" would plant them in the garden while we were at the ranch. Oh Joy! DH uses the royal "we" meaning DW. DH was recovering from a pulled muscle in his back, I was painting the bathroom, and the garden is covered in 18"-24" high rye grass. 2 days later we returned to Lowes so he could buy a trowel, a shovel, and a bag of garden mix since all our gardening tools are still in California. It started raining on the way home and lasted for 2 days. On the last day of our stay, I told him that he would have to plant them in spite of the rain. During a quick cessation of rain, we went outside, and I talked him through digging a hole to plant the seedlings in the front yard by the porch where there was an open space. The ground was packed pretty hard, but he managed to dig a couple holes and we got them in the ground just as it started to rain again. I don't know if they will survive. After we came inside wet and muddy, he did say thoughtfully that maybe he made a mistake to buy them at that time.

He can grow everything from seeds next year. He had me saving cardboard egg cartons since he thought they would be good to start seeds in. He can set up a grow light in the shed to start the seeds. Actually, I think we can go to Habitat and get some old wood framed windows, make a frame and install the windows on top for a cold frame. Or use stock panels bent like a hoop and cover with clear plastic for a mini greenhouse. Do all that in one corner of the garden plot and any plants will be protected by the 6' fencing.

In the meantime, DH has decided that the garden full of rye grass is perfect to hold the rams when we transport them back. We will put some of the temporary fence panels across the garden opening or use the electric netting and charger. We will try to get that fencing up while back for the eclipse.

On the way home DS1 texted that GR10 had split twins. I looked it up and it appears Jr. made another break for freedom and romance back in October. That brings us to 3 lambs here and another 3 in northern California which we will pick up this Friday. The rest will be due to start lambing as of April 21 at the earliest. I don't know whether to hope they all lamb before the trip back the first week of May or not.

Once I'm in Texas again, I will get to work stripping off the wallpaper in the MBR. I hope I can get that room done and painted before DS1 comes out since we will have to sleep in his room. Then after stripping wallpaper and painting the last two rooms, the job of unpacking begins. I actually won't have a lot to unpack since I have been emptying the bins as I get to Texas and bringing them back to repack. Most of what is left is paintings to hang, boxes of books, and items that I have to construct the island to hold. I did take some of the closet storage units out of this house and they need to be installed in the closets in Texas. Once those are in place I can unpack more boxes.

The books will have to wait until I decide if I have to move the bookcases from the LR to accommodate the love seats. I love the upholstery which has a silk blend feel and sheen, but it is a plaid in tones of blue, turquoise, green, and rose. That upholstery won't go with the rest of the furniture or the Bokhara rug which is in tones of beige, brown, rust and navy. I found a 5-piece slipcover set on Amazon that has almost 1500 reviews of 4.5 - 5. It has separate pieces for the sofa body and each cushion cover. I am going to order the camel color. It is a light color, but the slip covers are washable. Free delivery on Prime and free returns so I can order another color if these are not right. I will order now for delivery here in case they have to go back since Amazon return is close by here. And there is a 40% off coupon!

The TX living room is rather dark with the fireplace wall all brick, the other walls in oak paneling, and medium blue wall to wall carpeting. The windows have dark wood blinds too. Eventually I will replace the carpeting with a lighter flooring but for now I need to lighten it up with the furniture and paintings.

Packed up my stand mixer, food processor and blender today along with the rest of my cookbooks and the Ginzu knife Daddy gave me years ago. I use it to cut frozen meat. Also remembered to get the electric carving knife, Gammy's rolling pin, and the pastry board Daddy made me out of a Formica countertop sink cut out. I still have an entire 6' x8' x24" deep closet of sewing fabric, notions, craft stuff, needlework stuff in plastic bins, sewing machine, etc. that needs to go. That doesn't include the other boxes of upholstery fabric in the Connex. I think I am going to leave some stuff here until I can unpack the boxes in Texas and build storage in the closets. I will take the sewing machine, boxes of thread, cutting board, and sewing box.

I need to do is remove the 2 oak cabinets in the tool shed so they can go to TX and become part of my kitchen island. LOL Next load will be the metal tool cabinets, boxes of tools in the shed, furniture, and bins I am packing now. Also need to remember my ironing board and iron along with the sewing cutting board in the same closet. Since we are not taking everything with us, I find myself forgetting to pack a lot of stuff that I will need. It is not like I can run back for the stuff either. LOL


Probably should start collecting the feed and water tubs, salt block holders, mineral feeders, etc. into one spot for transport. Also garden and barn tools, rakes, pitchforks, hay forks, etc. All that stuff can go in the tack room in the barn. We will probably be coming back for visits with a trailer for years to come to continue collecting stuff we forgot!