Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

Remembered stuff I forgot last night but forgot what it was by this morning! I hope I will remember what state we are going to! Will rely on DH and his GPS.

Ran out and put on coffee this am. Then ran to barn to feed lambs and mamas. Then into the office to cancel electric and security company in Yelm. Received email from 1031 people needing more docs to arrange money transfer from escrow company. Took care of that and a few other items, then sent email to Bridge club board re meeting about resuming play. I won't be here so they may decide to wat until I return. No one wants to take over on my absence. DH and I packing office stuff we will need for purchase in Texas. Packed some clothes to transfer to trailer and put away. Still cleaning up out there and removing stuff. We use the trailer as storage for a lot of camping supplies and emergency food supplies. Remember the several hundred rolls of TP?

Went to reheat my coffee and DH had consumed the entire pot. Just nuked my cold coffee - hadn't drunk any yet! Too busy.

Back to trailer, then repair bed frame. Good news though, checked our the banquette in trailer which we hate. Got it thinking it would do for extra bed for grandkids but they would rather sleep a tent outside. Anyway the banquette was installed after the carpet and wall coverings were already in. This means that we can just unscrew the seats and remove them. We will leave the table and use folding chairs. Much more comfortable. We lose a little under seat storage, but I will use the drawer fronts as cabinet doors and build in storage under the bed. The bed lifts up for max storage but it is heavy so by putting in drawers or doors, we can access areas at the head of the bed which is almost unreachable without propping up the bed platform with a 2x4 and crawling in there. Always afraid it will come down on to of me too!

More later.

 

[Baymule]

Monday heading to Texas!!

We get our 3 granddaughters and their 3 dogs on the 8th. BJ has prostate surgery on Friday the 2nd, check up Tuesday the 6th. Then his next check up will be after we return the girls and dogs to their parents. He’ll be taking it easy, perfect time to have the kids! We’ll come see y’all and have fun.

 

[Margali]

Anyway the banquette was installed after the carpet and wall coverings were already in. This means that we can just unscrew the seats and remove them. We will leave the table and use folding chairs.

Is yours the built-in U shape sized for toothpicks? I took off the end seat and turned our into an L. Kept 2/3 of storage and doubled cushion turns L into decent reading spot. We use folding TV trays and chairs instead of one massive table. Soo much more room.

 

[HomeOnTheRange]

DH hopes to make Albuquerque first day.

Hey, that is my neck of the desert!

 

[Ridgetop]

No, we had the U shaped one in the camper because it fit over the wheel wells. This is 2 benches with the table in the middle. It is ok, except is becoming a tight fit for DH, and sliding in over the cushions requires some contortions that my body (while "in my prime") finds difficult. The worst part of the banquette is that the cushions are not that thick so when you sit on them they compress down, leaving the table at chest height. Not so bad for eating, but difficult to use the computer with the keyboard under my chin. I have to sit on a "booster seat" of all the towels and extra cushions. Using the folding chair that we are taking with us I find that the table height might still be slightly tall, but after removing the banquettes we can cut the metal table support poles down about an inch or so and it will be fine. Looking forward to doing this trailer renovation when we return. And adding access doors to the under bed box using the drawer fronts on the banquette. LOL

Played bridge today with "mom" and Don. They are not doing well and are failing rapidly. "Mom" says she doesn't know if she will last the year out. Breaks my heart to see her so frail. Don is having lots of problems with his meds. The doctors have raised the level of his cancer meds and they are causing massive dizzy spells, loss of vision. etc. The spells wear off in about an hour, but he can't drive while having them. Very worrisome. His daughter is an MD and is coming up tomorrow to go to his doctor with him so hopefully more info will be coming about his prognosis.

Rushed home after bridge to finish cleaning out the trailer so DH could close it up and hitch ready to take it tomorrow for new tires. While hosing it off, DS1 discovered that the rubber/plastic seal had dried out and was cracking and pulling out. "No problem" said DH "since it won't rain in Texas in the summer". "No" said I, "Remember it rained every summer for at least one day or night?. We need to fix this seal!" DH has now decided to buy the seal and we will put to before leaving on Monday. It comes in rolls at the trailer store and you pinch it together and insert it in the channel. I told him to get enough for both sides because I noticed that the other side at the back corner looks to be breaking too. Usually DH puts the trailer into the shop for a going over before any long trip. Nothing usually needs to be done on it so this year he decided that it didn't need anything. Naturally, a la Ridgetop luck, it needs work! DS1 and DS2 are both home for the holiday weekend so I am going to see if I can get them to do it for us. Otherwise, I will have to get up on the ladder. Apparently DS1 told DH abut the problem several months ago but DH did not hear him or forgot. Since DH's hearing has gotten very bad, and he agrees with whatever you say without actually hearing it, it is completely probable that he did not hear DS1 telling him that the water seal was bad. So another last minute chore that MUST be done. We have a telescoping ladder that we travel with so if necessary I can do it in the campground.

Got most of our clothes loaded this am. Just have shoes, socks, PJs, underwear, meds, cosmetics, etc. to go. Except that as I was putting DH's shorts in the closet I noticed a tear in one pair so need to mend them tomorrow. Also need to laundry. And go to the grocery store and Costco just before we leave. Normally we would have the trailer parked in its spot and plugged in so the fridge and freezer would be available to load. BUT DH is parking it on the field tomorrow when he returns after replacing the tires. This is so he can take the stock trailer to get another trailer load of h ay. He plans to park the stock trailer full of hay in the trailer parking in the driveway so Josie The Mule can't help herself to the hay bales. This means that he won't be able to pull the trailer into the driveway heading out until Saturday. Another problem is that I need the side extension extended to access the freezer and fridge. They don't want to put it out unless they can level it and that can't be done on the narrow driveway. I am going to tell them to put it out just enough to open the fridge and load it. Then they can close it up. Half an hour is all I will need for that job. I am going to gather the meat we are taking (lamb chis and steaks into a plastic bag ready to toss into the freezer compartment. We won't need a lot of stuff since I can stop at a Walmart n the way to the campground to complete our shopping.

At any rate, I finished cleaning out the trailer ready to close up. I was exhausted and it was getting late so DDIL2 made dinner. DH and DS1 hitched the trailer. After dinner DH and I collapsed on the couch and dozed our way through 2 shows before deciding we should go to bed. I staggered into the bathroom and brushed my teeth without opening my eyes - quite a trick - and fell into bed with DH. He immediately dropped off while my eyelids popped wide open and stayed that way for an hour and a half! I finally got up and came in to take care of any emails. The Bridge club board members had all returned my email stating that they want to wait till August to resume play at Joslyn. Now I need to notify Joslyn that we want to keep the room but not return till August. Many of them say they are afraid of the Variant (wimps) and don't like the idea of "honor system" verification of vaccinations. Again, wimps, and if they are all vaccinated what are they afraid of? Oh well. Personally I think they just want to wait until I am back to deal with everything.

Governor Gruesome is now talking about requiring us to wear masks inside our hoes because of this "variant". I'm not even wearing a mask anywhere outside anymore. Try and make me! This has become a control issue rather than a health issue.

Coyotes are active tonight and very vocal. Dogs are working hard. Coyotes are practically over running the entire area, across the valley, through Burbank and into Glendale. Yesterday DH saw a piece of LGD behavior that really impressed him as to the efficacy of their teamwork. He has several times voiced his concerns that Angel at 30 months may not be a very good guardian dog. He bases this on the fact that she is usually sleeping when he sees her. I tried to point out to him that since we don't wander around in the middle of the night wearing night vision goggles we don't see her actually working but he was not convinced. I pointed out to him that Rika has turned over most of the night guard duties to Angel but again not convinced. Yesterday that changed.

DH's story:
"While feeding the sheep this morning I was standing by the water trough filling it when I saw Angel shoot down into the gully, up the other side and into the fence corner that commands a view over the neighbor's acreage and into the open 100 acres. Immediately after Angel came Bubba and Rika. Angel was on high alert with her tail standing straight up into the air. Bubba and Rika's tails were also in the air - which is Anatolian language for "Watch out - there may be a dangerous situation. I will check t out and if necessary I will kill it/them". Bubba ran halfway down into the gully, pausing where he could see across the gully and part of the 100 acres. Rika moved across the flat top of the field, pausing on the edge of the gully between the sheep who were placidly eating hay, and the gully. Angel let out one warning bark and then stood watching the brush in the gully on the other side of the fence intently. Bubba and Rika faced the same way Angel was indicating by her stance. After about 15 minutes with no further barking from Angel, Rika turned and came back to her cool daytime bed (she had spent art of the night on night guard). 10 minutes after Rika left Bubba returned to the top of the gully where he also lay down. Angel remained on watch for another 10 minutes then did a complete patrol of the fence line." DH was very impressed with the LGD's teamwork.
DS1 broke it down this way:
Angel, the youngest and fastest of the trio, acted as scout and point guard.
Bubba, massive and in his prime, is the heavy muscle.
Rika, experienced and savvy, is the brains of the group.

Here is my interpretation:
Angel has come into her own. Although still young, she is fast and now experienced in what constitutes a threat. She went all the way down and up the other side at a dead run to inspect the danger. She kept her tail up as a warning that there was possible trouble. Remained at her post until the danger left, then did a perimeter patrol to reassure herself that all was safe. She dropped her tail once she decided that the danger was gone.
Bubba came halfway down the gully. He is the heavy muscle capable of killing a coyote or 2 by himself with one bite. He took up his position halfway between Angel (on point guard) and Rika, remaining with the flock. In that position he could advance to assist Angel, or fall back to assist Rika who remained near the sheep eating on the flat.
Rika, older and experienced, remained between the flock and the gully. In that position, if a coyote managed to decoy Angel out of the way, allowing one or 2 coyotes to sneak in behind her and get to the flock, Rika was waiting for them.

This incredible teamwork is what keeps our flock safe even when the brush is thick (when we get rain). With the current coyote load we have - and with the coyotes running in packs of 5-10 members, these 3 dogs work hard. Teamwork keeps our sheep alive. The last couple of instances of teamwork in our working dogs will make a good article for the Anatolian Times magazine. With Rika getting older, we need another pup. I am on the puppy list with Erick. I hope we can get another puppy before Rika is too old (and grouchy) to train her. Yes, we will get a bitch. Bubba is in his prime and in another 2 years will still be too young to accept another adult male Anatolian. With a bitch, the age differences between the new female and the 2 older ones will be workable.

Dog appointments tomorrow afternoon for vaccinations. Shots are due in August but Bubba needs his rabies shot now. Can't let that go with the number of coyotes around. Will a;so treat for fleas tomorrow. Oh yes, and got a reminder that Bubba need an eye exam scheduled for July - it will have to be August at this point. And the DR. appointment I scheduled for July because I thought we would be gone in June will have to be rescheduled too. The end is in sight though. . . .

TEXAS - HERE WE COME!!!

 

[Baymule]

I love your description of how the Anatolians work together. What awesome dogs. I love the breed. I love my Great Pyrenees, but I don’t love their thick fluffy, tends to matted if not constantly cared for, coat. Also don’t like their tendencies to roam. It’s their duty to escape and go wandering. I’ll always keep my Anatolians.

That’s a lot of preparation! So many things on your check list, but you have done this many times before. You are so organized, I’m so impressed. LOL And tell your sweet husband that it does too rain in Texas in the summer. It’s hurricane season and even if we don’t get the full impact, we get rains from hurricanes. Sometimes we do look longingly at the weather radar in acute disappointment as the rains go elsewhere, it’s a crapshoot.

Can’t wait to see y’all!

 

[Ridgetop]

Well, feeling a bit disappointed about the properties available for sale. On the computer all day looking at properties and weeding them out. So many properties have been cut into 10 acre parcels.

Several we will look at, most more than we want to pay for fewer acres or small homes in poor condition. No problem since if we don't find a ranch we can invest the 1031 $$ in something else. Main need is max acreage since the house will be rented and can be renovated when we move out here.
Thee are a couple we will look at this weekend an hour south of Tyler. There are another 3-4 north of Tyler. We have several weeks to find something. Maybe our dream property will come up for sale next week!

I suppose there is always southern Oklahoma. Or I hear that Tennessee is really nice and still affordable. Gotta keep looking and hope God will find us something.

 

[Baymule]

How disappointing. Something will come up for you.

 

[Mini Horses]

It's good that you are open to other areas than TX.

For me it would be "general" weather year round to tolerate first, then look of land, then prices. So fire, drought, tornado, etc...those prone areas are out! 6 months of snow, out! Desert, out-- I like green. I've traveled a lot and find I'm pretty happy with where I am. . Lucky me!

 

[Ridgetop]

My heart is in Texas! It was nice and green in the eastern panhandle as we crossed from New Mexico but I know that is just until everything dries out. We missed the best buying time by listening to the previous WA agent who told us there was no market. What he meant was that he was not ready to buy our property then. We could have sold it then as a single family home with no problem, half the work, and the same amount of money. No use crying over spilt milk. I need to shape myself up with a slap upside the head!

DH says we will find what God has in mind for us. Thank God for that man!


Going to chew on the wound a bit by looking back through all the listings again.