Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

STA & Bruce - I would love to organize everyone's tool rooms, but you would have to do the work while I sit on a chair and direct. I will make the labels for you. Oh yes, and drink coffee.

Miss @Ridgetop, that would work out just fine, as my Beautiful Gal gets tired providing adult supervision for me!

 

[greybeard]

Ridgetop said: ↑
STA & Bruce - I would love to organize everyone's tool rooms, but you would have to do the work while I sit on a chair and direct. I will make the labels for you. Oh yes, and drink coffee.

I suspect you guys will never again be able to find your tools........ without reading labels anyway.
My shop is small and it IS messy but I can lay my hands on any tool I need in seconds.

 

[Mike CHS]

My bride and I are equal partners in all things except the shop layout and tool storage which is all mine.

 

[Ridgetop]

I can always find any particular tool, but DH is a different matter. I admit that I have spoiled that man! His inability to find anything even when he is looking directly at it is a family joke! I do not understand it. He always was able to find his tools for any job he WANTED to do! And his DWP Pie Wagon was a miracle of organization. LOL

I do like a clean and tidy workspace. Mess is unavoidable when you are working on a project. When the project is done however, everything should be put away WHERE IT BELONGS so you can immediately lay hands on it again. Since there are 4 of us using the tools, this is especially necessary. Our tools were housed in their traveling tool chests for the past several years while we were working on projects away from the house. During that time, our Tool/workshop became a temporary storage shed for stuff. Now that it is clean and tidy, we will be able to find everything. I even found space on the shelves holding the solar battery bank for 2 of the empty traveling tool chests.

I have almost finished the Christmas decorating so told DS1 to put all the empty Christmas decoration bins in the Tool/workshop. He has strategically placed them so it looks as if the Tool Workshop is full. This is to avoid any of our children seeing the empty space and deciding they can store more of their junk there. LOL DS1 is arranging the bins to see what dimensions he can make the workbench without being too crowded.

 

[Ridgetop]

Greybeard: I will have DH and DS1 look at your post on the lights. DH wants to surround the entire front fenceline with lights. 700 + feet. Thank Heaven the back fenceline is too steep to bother with! LOL

 

[Ridgetop]

DH climbed up and down the front fence line today to add 3 more strings of lights. The front hill is also very steep, although not nearly as steep as the back gully. DH is now considering waiting to add more strings until next year. LOL The front drop is about 30 degrees. The space in the picture is shortened by shooting the photo from across the front drop. That is about a half acre field the Dorsets are grazing. The pole butts are around where the Doughboy used to be. The house is another 10 feet up. DH is going to look up Greybeard's lights to see where to get them.

 

[Bruce]

He has strategically placed them so it looks as if the Tool Workshop is full. This is to avoid any of our children seeing the empty space and deciding they can store more of their junk there.

 

[greybeard]

The Home Depot, Walmart, ...just about anywhere.
The ones I pictured are walmart's brand.
Home Depot has the same exact thing..same number of lights, same exact length under a different brand name--Home Accents Holiday instead of Walmart's Holiday Time.

IF he gets this brand, make sure he understands that these bulbs are true LEDs that push into the socket bayonet style, not screw in like some led strings are..I'm sure he knows that an led is not a bulb..it's a device..an electronic component ..a light emitting diode. The colorful outer part that you see is just a screw off shell on almost all led light sets to give it some shape and color. Inside is the actual led. I do not know how readily available replacement leds are for them. I haven't needed any yet, but you only get 2 replacements with the purchase of each 100 light string. This particular type has one side of the led's pigtail longer than the other, and thus will only go in oriented a certain way, for polarity I assume. You can see the difference in the 2nd photo.

 

[Ridgetop]

Well, another example of why I just LOOOOVE ram breeding harnesses and marking crayons! Just like Ewegenie, Dorset Green lambed right on the dot last night on her due date!!! Ewe and ram split twin lambs with no trouble.
Bubba seems to have calmed down even more with the birth of these 2 lambs. He wants very badly to get in and steal them for himself, LOL, but seems to realize that he has to behave quietly around the mamas. I will put him on a leash and take him into the pen with the lambs and ewe and do some corrective work with him, today.

The ewe lamb seems to have vestigial 3rd and 4th teats so will have to see how they develop. If they are true teats she will sell as meat to one of my customers. Extra teats will make it hard for her lambs to nurse. We'll go down and weigh all the lambs later today. The other Dorper, Lil Sweetie, is due today so we shall see if she lambs. If she does not lamb by Sunday, both Lil S and Dorset Yellow will go back out with the rams for another 2 weeks. They have been penned in jugs for almost 3 weeks and if they miss this due date are not scheduled for another 3 weeks so might as well go out for the exercise. We'll bring them back in to the jugs December 20. I am really hoping Lil Sweetie lambs tonight though. She is pretty big, and has an udder.

It rained last night and early this am. I am hoping it continues for another few days. The donkeys and mules are chasing each other around the pasture, bucking and playing. The rams (who have become best buds with the donkeys) are trying to keep up and the dogs keep running out from the barn where they are guarding the new lambs trying to figure out what the commotion is. Pretty cute.

Hoping for more rain even though it can cause mudslides in some of the burn areas. I am hoping this might be the beginning of the El Nino season. Got the new roof on the barn Friday after Thanksgiving so the barn and lower sheds are water tight. We need to sheep proof the old goat pen fences for the rams and then the ewes and lambs can go out on the field. The yearling ewe can go out with them too. Just need to go clean the lambingjugs again and switch the Dorper ewes around so Ewegenie's lamb can't get in with Lil Sweetie. She is really good with the lamb at the moment but as soon as hers are born she will probably turn into devil ewe and pummel the other lamb for a few weeks. I need to make sure that can't happen. Rearrangement of mamas after lambing is constant.

Last of the turkey soup has been eaten. Got all the Christmas decorating done, most of my Christmas baking done, most of the Christmas shopping done, half the lambing finished, maybe a quiet Christmas for once. I have more storage areas to clean out, but have to wait until it stops raining for those chores. Please keep raining!

I think I will start early pulling out all my receipts for our taxes. Lots of receipts, have to separate them into different categories. This year I thing we will file a farm return as well. Lots of losses, expenses, and next year we will have income and more expenses. Better get it over early.
UGH!

 

[RollingAcres]

View attachment 54963 View attachment 54964 These lights don't compare to Greybeard's show. The first photo shows lights on the fence down to the house, the front fence and disappearing down the hill in front. The second picture shows the light strings going down the hill along the fence about another 150 feet. DH has 2 or 3 more strings to put up. I will try to get a picture from the bottom of the hill looking up. The pictures are not very good, but the lights illuminate the entire road. We don't need the exterior lights when the Christmas lights are on!

STA & Bruce - I would love to organize everyone's tool rooms, but you would have to do the work while I sit on a chair and direct. I will make the labels for you. Oh yes, and drink coffee.

I am exhausted! But having that job finished has given me a second wind. I made 4 different types of Christmas cookies yesterday. Got up early this am and made 8 pies - 6 pumpkin, 1 pecan, and 1 mince (heavy on the liquor!). Then made the cranberry orange gelatin salad and the accompanying ginger curry sauce, a 5th type of cookie, and fresh cranberry orange relish. Wine and Martinelli's cider is chilling.
View attachment 54956 Set my Thanksgiving table. DH has offered to chop the onions, celery and apple for the stuffing tonight. I just have to put it all together, stuff the bird, and put the bird back in the fridge until tomorrow am wrapped in a damp rag so he or she won't dry out.
View attachment 54957 View attachment 54959 Tomorrow after we eat, the kids do the dishes while I collapse!

Next week other 3 ewes are due to lamb. Still wondering about Dorset yellow. Not much udder yet and only 1 week till lambing according to marking date. She will go to the auction if she doesn't lamb this year. Dorset Green is definitely pregnant and her udder is filling up and evening out. Both Dorsets are due next Tuesday. Lil Sweetie is due next Wednesday. Hopefully, I will get another purebred Dorper ewe lamb from her.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Should have gone to your place for Thanksgiving! All those pies!