Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

Weldman

Herd Master
Joined
Jan 15, 2024
Messages
893
Reaction score
4,472
Points
313
Location
Zone 3B
I wonder if that is how DH and I lost weight while in Texas. We ate oatmeal or an egg for breakfast then nothing except water until dinner at around 4:30-5:30. No carbs either. We were doing lot of work on the barn so didn't miss eating since we were drinking water by the case. DH lost 22 lbs. in 4 weeks and I lost a pant size. Didn't miss food at all. We want to keep that up. Let me know how you do.
Just follow me for a day and eat when I remember to eat again and you will be down to pre teen size before you know it.
 

Ridgetop

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 13, 2015
Messages
7,382
Reaction score
25,805
Points
743
Location
Shadow Hills, CA
Very strange thing happened yesterdy evening. I tried to go on BYH with a post that showed up in my new mail. Instead a page titled "Goatweb.com" came up which then said the page was not available. Ran scans in the computer,I went to another post in new mail and same thing. Went into old mail and tried to access through those and same thing happened. I restarted it, same thing, finally ran scans for viruses and was assured no viruses. Turned off computer, and this morning BYH is back. Anyone else have that problem yesterday?

Anyway, DH went to cardiologist yesterday. He was feeling tired, coughing (previous coughing and cold from grandchildren), had some dizzy spells over the past months so when he saw his GP in February he scheduled consults with cardio and pulmonary specialists. Pulmonary appt is in 2 weeks. He might set up more tests too.

Cardiologist did an EKG, and scheduled him for a variety of tests. Ultrasound of arteries/veins in neck, CT, and echo of heart. And he has to go in and be fitted with a heart monitor. These 4 new appointments now keep him here for an extra several weeks instead of letting him return to Texas while I am doing PT. Looks like DS1 will be running the ranch alone for a couple months longer. Luckily, I have complete trust in him. We have found a decent vet in Sulphur Springs for the dog and large livestock, and he is fine with doing the sheep work, picking up and mixing feed, etc. Since it looks like we won't be going back until October or November, we have decided to let DS1 come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we will stay in Texas. DD2 and her family will be in their TX rental by then so we will have Christmas with them.

Cody got 68 round bales of hay off the 30 acres on the first cut. He was very happy with that. He said that if we need more hay he will have plenty to sell us so no need to buy more now. I really don't want to store more in the open on the field. We still have the 70 bales (less 2) that we bought last summer. DS1 had Payton put a bale in the future garden area for the rams since we now have 3 adults and 4 ram lambs all eating in there and there is not enough pasture for them all. He also cut apart the rest of the original bale that Payton dropped in the night pen so it can be eaten. The lambs liked to play on it. He will have another put in soon.

DS1 treated the sheep with Corrid. We will see how they do now. It turned hot there but he called the other day and said that they had a quick heavy rainstorm. The sheep ran for the barn, knocked over the barriers into the side barn where they like to go. When he went out to check, the sun had come out and all the sheep ran out onto the field again. I think they love Texas! Cody said they seem to be loving the Bermuda, but I think they will be moving into the Bahia soon. DS1 called and said that Ozel was in trouble for chasing the sheep. It turned out that the dogs had been in the tall grass at the back of the property barking for a couple nights. The sheep decided to go graze there and she rounded them up and brought them back out t=of the tall grass closer to the barn where she could watch them better. :gig Apparently, being the sole protector while Rika was laid up with her neck and shoulder arthritis has sling shotted Ozel into adult protection mode. Now that Angel has joined them, I thought Ozel would relax back into teenage mode, but she has decided that she is responsible for the flock, the bottle lamb, and the kitten. What a good girl. Rika had another spell of bad arthritis requiring pain pills and steroids. The vet in Sulphur Springs has arranged to have us just call for a refill on the prescriptions without having to take her in for an office visit. That is a relief - since he said there is no cure for her condition other than meds to keep her comfortable - I am glad that I don't have to load her up and waste an hour or so and $$ on a visit. It is easier on Rika too since we keep the meds on hand and when she shows pain, we start her on them immediately instead of having to wait for an appointment. These vets are super busy, but I really like them. If necessary DS1 can hitch the trailer and run the horses or sheep up there too.

I had a long conversation with Erick yesterday. He lost 4 goats - mother/son and mother/daughter - to worms or Coccidiosis in 2 days. He has been culling and breeding for parasite resistance in his goats for years now and he said this is the first loss he had in 4 years. That wet weather has really been bad for all the sheep and goat flocks. Thank you to Baymule for telling me about her flock since I was able to worm and treat with Corrid fast. Hopefully those 2 lambs will be the only ones I lose. Not having them on the property before June 5 may be a factor too since they were wormed before coming out to TX.

Erick said he will keep Hazine as long as necessary since we won't be able to get her for a couple more months. He doesn't want to send her to us until I am there to watch her training. LOL I accused him of wanting to keep her since he said she is the best looking of the puppies and he loves her attitude. He admitted it was a risk! :gigWe are planning to enter Ozel and Hazine in some shows eventually, and try to get their championships. He has several puppies to enter as well so we need to find a handler to show them since neither of us can run well enough anymore to exhibit Anatolians. He has several handlers in mind so we will be going to several shows eventually. Angel will be able to watch the sheep with DS1. He said that although he loves the puppies he chose for himself, he thinks he gave me the best ones. We are excited that I will be closer in Texas and able to visit more frequently. DH said that with DS1 at the ranch, we can go down and stay in a motel overnight to have 2 days visiting with Erick and the dogs instead of just a couple hours and an 8 hour round trip drive. We are looking forward to that. Having Erick keep Hazine while I am recuperating is a big load off my mind. The big plus is that Erick will continue to train her! 😍 :weee
The big hazard is that he will decide to keep her and return our money! :hit :lol:

DD2 came over - she is moving in on Saturday- and talked to DH about driving out to TX with him the end of July. He has a 3+ week window to get back with DS1's car and return with our truck for more appointments - CT on August 8. Hopefully he and DS1 can get the water lines laid to the barn from the well. DD2 will fly back on August 10 with children. That CT appointment on August 8 is really a problem since he has 3 weeks clear before and 3 weeks clear after that when he could be working in TX on the water lines. :mad: On the other hand, DS1 needs to get those tests done to make sure he is ok. I keep telling him that we should have waited another year with all these medica issues to take the sheep out but he scolds me and says that if we waited any longer we would never get to TX and he is right.

How big are these rugs? Could they be used as wall or ceiling art in TX house if there isn't a spot on the floor? I saw a special where someone prepped one like a quilt with the sewn on curtain rod sleeve.
The rugs are too large. The Persian Royal Sharouk is 11' x 21'. The Chinese wool and silk rug is about the same size. Too big for wall decor. I have a 3' x 5' old vegetable dye Sharouk as well but I don't have enough wall space and have too many pantings to hang for it to be wall decor. When I have the guy pick up the rugs for cleaning, I will ask him what they would sell for. If he gives me enough, I might sell them. I still have 2 smaller modern wool Persian rugs that are very good and would fit in smaller houses. The 9' x 12' Bokhara (shades of brown, navy, and rust) is already in Texas and the red 8' x 10' Tree of Life is on the family room floor here but needs to be cleaned due to the children eating and spilling on it. The thing about the good real Persian wool woven rugs is that they clean up and don't hold stains like modern rugs. In fact, the way the old tribal and woven rugs used to be finished for sale to get the nap even, was t ay them out in the streets and let foot, camel, and dinkey traffic walk over them for about a week. Then they would be taken up, washed, and offered for sale. In old Iran and Iraq wealthy people would have bank vaults filled with rugs that were considered as valuable as cash in an account. Probably not anymore.

Anyway, we will see. We will go tractor shopping next year. DS1 wants to look for a used truck in Texas since the trucks Galpin has is for weekend warrior types that want a truck but don't need it to tow or haul. We need a work truck. Gotta leave for appt. Back later.
 

SageHill

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 27, 2022
Messages
4,334
Reaction score
16,332
Points
553
Location
Southern CA
Good luck with all the Dr appointments you all have.
My feeling on the medical system is that it is a sticky spider web we all get caught in and it’s hard to break free of it. It’s like one appointment leads to another, leads to a specialist, leads to a procedure, etc. Don’t get me wrong, not saying we don’t need docs, because we do -but it just feels like a sticky spider web. It seemed that way with my arm last year (all is well now)
 

murphysranch

Herd Master
Joined
Jan 13, 2010
Messages
689
Reaction score
2,790
Points
333
Location
Southern Washington State
I'm here being thankful that you can get your appointments so quickly. Up here it takes months.

In Feb, neurologist said for hubs to have hearing test and sleep apnea test. Hearing test is tomorrow and sleep apnea place isn't booking until October and haven't yet open up that two month slot.

Get it all done there. I'm glad you have a place to be comfortable in while you're back.
 

SageHill

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 27, 2022
Messages
4,334
Reaction score
16,332
Points
553
Location
Southern CA
I'm here being thankful that you can get your appointments so quickly. Up here it takes months.

In Feb, neurologist said for hubs to have hearing test and sleep apnea test. Hearing test is tomorrow and sleep apnea place isn't booking until October and haven't yet open up that two month slot.

Get it all done there. I'm glad you have a place to be comfortable in while you're back.
Good luck with the hearing test. 👍
The apnea test -- waiting since Feb to even be able to make an appointment - OMG!! Yeah - getting appointments is like waiting for snow in the desert (it does happen).
 

Baymule

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 22, 2010
Messages
35,726
Reaction score
110,447
Points
893
Location
East Texas
Even Erick lost animals to the rainy weather. I’m so sorry that he did. I’ve bred and culled for parasite resistance but nothing seemed to withstand this onslaught of parasites.
I’m glad you were able to get right on treatment for your sheep!

With 2 three week intervals between appointments, could your DH fly back and DS1 pick him up at airport?
 

Ridgetop

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 13, 2015
Messages
7,382
Reaction score
25,805
Points
743
Location
Shadow Hills, CA
With 2 three week intervals between appointments, could your DH fly back and DS1 pick him up at airport?
Probably, but now DH has decided to drive back in DS1's old Ford Explorer with DD2 and Annabel. Then she will meet up with husband so they can look for a rental house in Wylie. A friend of a friend who has an autistic child told DD2 the Wylie school district is good and had support programs for autistic children.

While DH is back there he and DS1 will rent a Ditch Witch and dig the trenches from the well to the barn and garden for the water and electric conduits. DH will return to CA for his appointment in August and If they don't finish laying the water and electric conduits, DS1 will finish up after DH leaves. DH will drive our truck back planning to borrow DS3's flatbed again to transport the rest of our corral covers to TX. They won't fit in the stock trailers. He also plans to pick up a load of Arizona alfalfa DS3 asked him to bring out

We just found out that DS2, DIL2, and kids are flying to Minnesota for 2 weeks to visit relatives on August 10. DS2 can fish since the relatives live on or near a lake. DH will get home right after they leave. DD2 and family will return to CA about a week later.

DH said that if the rug man offers enough money we should sell the rugs. :weee This makes me happy to sell them and sad to lose a part of my Grandmother. None of our children have homes large enough to hold them and don't want them so we might as well sell them and buy a tractor. Or at least buy half a tractor. Both of the large rugs would fit in the Yantis house but would cover the entire floor area from the living across the dining room from wall to wall. I don't like carpet in a dining room. The 2 smaller Persian rugs would fit better since either will leave the dining room carpet-free. The Chinese rug has a white background, not good for a ranch house. The Sharouk is dark blue, and with the wooden paneling makes the room too dark. There is currently a medium teal carpet on the floor (pretty worn out) which also makes the room dark. When we put down new flooring I am going to use vinyl plank flooring in a lighter color. I am still debating about eventually putting a whitewash stain on the oak paneling to lighten the room while still keeping the ranch house character. Maybe even paint out the large red brick fireplace. I plan to wait until we have lived in the house for a couple years to decide on that. All things to be considered later. But for enough money I will sell the large rugs. My uncle was not married and had a lot of gorgeous furniture, rugs, and artwork which he referred to as "a millstone around the neck". At the time I was shocked since I loved those things but now that we are older, I understand the sentiment. Our children will take the smaller items - china, crystal, silver, paintings, etc. but the larger furniture may go begging.

I have decided that we can go to Palm Springs before we return to TX and hopefully find a small size sectional or recliner sofa. If we can't find one used in Palm Springs, we will buy one new from La Z Boy with recliner sections. I can give the love seats to DD2. She will need furniture since they got rid of their sofa.
 
Top