Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

I am hoping that the gully behind the house will fill with water. It actually did 35 years ago during another epic rain year. It has been raining non-stop heavily with some wind since 4 pm yesterday. Periodically during the day yesterday too. Very gray and more rain expected all week.

DD1 called at 7 am to bring her dog over. We have been babysitting this Lab since they got it and Covid ended. While I don't mind most of the time since he plays with Ozel and gets some of the energy off her, we have to close the patio gate to keep him away from the older dogs in case they decide to kill him. Now we have to let him in and out to potty. By "we" I mean DS1 and myself. DH can't (won't?) hear him at the door scratching and crying to go out or come in.

DD1 also took my muck boots because she didn't want to get her shoes wet going from her car to the classroom over the paved school parking lot. DH allowed her to take them so now I can't leave the house to do anything on the field or i the barn and keep my feet and ankles dry. I might as well go barefoot if I have to do any outside chores! DH doesn't go out in the mud in case he might fall. After seeing my boots disappear out the door while I yelled at her to return them, he better stay inside or I might accidently knock him into the mud! A jaunty wave and blown kiss from DD1 annoyed me. She refuses to buy muck boots because she "doesn't need them" until she does and then steals my good Texas muck boots! She will be sorry when I take them to Texas! At least I know what to give her for Christmas next year!

Josie the Mule and Skittles are soaking wet. The sheep are huddled under the teepee. The old trampoline cover has collapsed. The sheep probably knocked a leg out of it again. It is gray, foggy wet, nasty outside and I need to go turn up the heat.

 

[Ridgetop]

Protecting rats is right up there with refusing to eradicate the coyotes that are terrorizing our local parks and streets. Not selling rat poison to protect mountain lions is the stupidest thing I have ever heard and completely believable of our legislature. Mountain lions don't come into town to eat rats - they eat neighborhood pets instead, when they are not dining in ranch livestock.

The increase in rats is another by-product of all the homeless allowed to live in filth in the streets. They dump RV tanks into the sewers, leave trash everywhere, including needles. A couple years back there was a huge rat infestation in the L.A. city hall and other municipal buildings with rats running through offices, perching on desks, etc. Eventually all staff had a walkout until the buildings were fumigated and the rats eradicated.

Glue traps were developed to replace those dastardly cruel snap traps with a humane way to catch vermin. Now you can't even catch them humanely in order to destroy them. Haven't our disease officials heard of Hantavirus? Or Typhus? Or Bubonic Plague? These diseases are increasing. Instead, they are concentrating on making us wear stupid paper masks that don't protect from anything while allowing rats to rampage through the city spreading disease. Next, we will be told to keep our cats inside to avoid hurting any rats or to declaw our cats so they can't catch any vermin! IDIOTS!

Coyotes have increased in number until the parks are no longer safe. A grown man walking his Golden Retriever was attacked by a pack of 6 coyotes in my neighborhood the other day. Another neighbor had to help drive them off with a shovel. If complaints are made about coyotes killing your animals you receive a pamphlet from Animal Control about "How To Live With Our Wildlife". The pamphlet tells you to pick up fruit from fruit trees (I don't have any), not to leave pet food out (I don't), and to bring in animals at night (2 equines and 50 sheep?!).

The crazies are running the asylum that used to be Los Angeles!

 

[Mini Horses]

VA still kills rats (we're waterfront & big ships!) AND coyote are open season...some counties still pay bounties! Obviously mice are included in our inhumane ways still need permits for those damned buzzards

 

[murphysranch]

Ever been trying to sleep as the baby rats fall thru the openings in the attic, down the wall next to your head board, then spend hours crying/squeaking and scratching, while mom up above is frantic to get them. Yep. Roof rats in San Jose. Just lovely. Hated them. Running along the wires. Them and squirrels gnawing everything and anything. I used to sneakily poison them once in a while.

 

[Mini Horses]

OMG... can't imagine falling rats. . I see mine now & then, rarely now with a doz cats. . Harvest &/or hit of cold temps.

 

[Ridgetop]

I wish we had a dozen cats! We do still have a couple of the feral kittens DS2 brought home. we are hoping they are male & female so they will produce kittens. They are feral but we feed them dry cat food to keep them around. Seeing fewer rats in barn with them here.

Rain coming back with a vengeance now. Heavy drumming on roof and pavement outside. Puddles everywhere. Hope the sheep are taking cover under shrubbery. Horses are on their own - they are wearing leather so probably ok. Cold outside too. Had to turn the heat up to 70!

I want my muck boots back!

 

[rachels.haven]

St

I wish we had a dozen cats! We do still have a couple of the feral kittens DS2 brought home. we are hoping they are male & female so they will produce kittens. They are feral but we feed them dry cat food to keep them around. Seeing fewer rats in barn with them here.

Rain coming back with a vengeance now. Heavy drumming on roof and pavement outside. Puddles everywhere. Hope the sheep are taking cover under shrubbery. Horses are on their own - they are wearing leather so probably ok. Cold outside too. Had to turn the heat up to 70!

I want my muck boots back!

Stop by my place and in a few minutes we can load you up with cats.. and you'd be doing me a favor. The neighbor feeds a feral colony next door and the number spilling over to my place is reaching pestilence level. Lots and lots of reject intact males free for the neutering all over everything all the time. No mice, but everything smells of musky intact cat pee and I have to fight them off the baby goat milk and guard it well. Even better, I'll pay YOU to take them.

 

[Baymule]

I wouldn’t mind having some cats, but I don’t think the dogs would like that. And if the cats went very far, they would be coyote snacks.

 

[Ridgetop]

The dogs learn to get along with the cats. And the cats learn to stay safe in the barn where they can climb into the rafters. LOL

It continued to rain like gangbusters all day today, and i expected to keep going tomorrow. I started sorting receipts for my taxes. The sorting is worse than totaling and filing them. I still need to look up in the checkbooks for anything I have not got receipts for (thank you DH) in order to put expenses and income in my record book. Once that is finished, I can start totaling everything for DH.
Taxes are the evils of the world Adam earned when he blamed poor Eve for the apple. He probably guilted her into making him an apple pie for the Super Bowl just because she picked a new fig leaf! Adam and the snake made up everything while Eve was cleaning the cave. LOL

DDIL and grandchildren come home next week. Super Bowl is this weekend, I think. Maybe I can get work done on taxes while guys are watching. Maybe they can pick up fried chicken from the store.

 

[Ridgetop]

"It was a dark and stormy night . . . ."
Well, it was but what woke me at 3 am was the persistent slow drip of water onto the laminate in our bedroom. Yes the HVAC duct was dripping water again. I jumped up - unpleasant from a heavy sleep - and blundered around putting on my robe. Finally woke up enough to realize that the blur in front of my eyes was because I hadn't located and put on my glasses. I staggered down the hall to the laundry room, grabbed several towels out of the rag drawer, and proceeded to do a room by room check for leaks placing buckets where appropriate. Went back to bed and finally fell asleep to the sound of the plop, plop of drips hitting the bottom of the bucket. DH did not even stir in his sleep. In his defense he could not hear the dripping because he takes out his hearing aids at night.

This morning DDIS1 brought over their dog. I discussed leaving him loose in their house since he seems to be pretty good, but Covid has claimed another victim. He has never been alone for more than a few minutes at a time unless kenneled or crated. DSIL1 tried at Christmas but when he returned after a 20-minute absence Sirius had eaten 3 Christmas ornaments. (Naturally they were the irreplaceable ones made by Pre-K kids with their photos on them.) This is a seriously NEEDY dog. I went out in the rain and secured the gate so Sirius (whining at the back door) could go out to play with Ozel. I told DSIL1 that they needed another dog so they could leave them both loose in the yard. The coyotes are so bad that one wouldn't have a chance. He agreed. Does that mean that in the future DD1 and DSIL1 will have TWO seriously needy dogs? After DS1 was born I opened a licensed daycare and was home all day. My dogs were trained to behave inside - I have no advice to give DD1. She would not take it anyway, I am only her mother.

Today I have to work on my business records. I need to enter all ranch expenses in my ranch records. I have already done everything up to September, but need to finish the year. Then I will start the 2024 entries.

The rain has stopped for a while, everything is wet and muddy. Yesterday DS1 located and reattached the trampoline leg. It just slips into the frame. If we take it to Texas I will screw the legs to the frame with self-tapping metal screws to hold the legs in place. We will also have to sink some T posts and wire the trampoline to them to prevent it from flying away in some of our northeast TX winds. Som of the ewes were sheltering under it this morning. I guess they have decided that it will not eat them, and they would rather less wet under it than being pushed out into the driving rain by their flock sisters. The ram is big and strong so he gets the best place undercover. There is no "women and children first" in the animal world. The area under the teepee has been worn down by the sheep so it tends to puddle. In Texas I think we will have to build up an area under the field covers. Maybe use pallets and put the stall mats on them since I can't use the stall mats under the hay bales. I also will put up the corral covers in a teepee shape again. Instead, they will be mounted on corral panels in a 3-sided configuration. I can add metal or fiberglass panels to the sides to cut the wind.

I was watching the news this am. Too upsetting about the cops in NY getting beaten up. I was surprised they did not draw their weapons, but we know that Alvin Bragg would have sent the police officers to jail for shooting men attacking them. ICE arrested them in Phoenix. DH said that if they had made it to California our governor would not have allowed them to be arrested. Gruesome only wants something done when they close his neighborhood In-N-Out burger place or blame him when shoplifting goes down in front of his children. He probably complained about the poor checker saying it was his fault that security could not do anything to stop the thief at the Target. Might have got her fired? Having his kids see that nothing happens to shoplifters will probably start them on a life of crime too. They can take Biden as their role model. The next thing was the lady dragged down the street by the illegals on a moped. According to the newscasters there are lines of mopeds outside the illegal encampments and hotels. How did they get these mopeds? Next thing was talking about the "new" border bill allowing 5000 to 8500 per day to come in. How about closing the border, finishing the wall and letting Abbot get on with business? Too upset to watch anything else so came in the office to complain here.

Told DH we need to start saving for razor wire. Need to take a double dose of Prozac.