Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Baymule]

Howling with laughter! I know that low spot! And with all the rain we’ve been getting, it was a perfect giant bowl of POOP SOUP! I got a real good mental picture of your DH going down under the pounding hooves and rolling in the poop soup. Hahahaha!!!!!

My sheep pens are poop soup and I’ve gone down in the goop. Then the dogs are delighted and think I want to play! At least your dogs did not jump all over him. Hmmm, he was probably much too poopy soupy for the girls to put their delicate feet on him. Anatolians don’t like having muddy feet!

How in the world did monster drinks leak out of the cans? What a mess! I’m sorry that that happened. It is however, absolutely ok for your husband to wallow in the poop soup. That’s a different kind of mess and much more entertaining.

 

[fuzzi]

Some of the experiences shared here remind me of James Herriot's books, starting with All Creatures Great and Small.

 

[Finnie]

I was reading it and my heart started pounding a bit. Was he OK? Was he trampled by hooves? Did he break something? WHEW that none of that happened. Very scary.

I was worried as well while I was reading it. Then I realized that he must have been ok or else she wouldn’t have been spinning the tale so dramatically. So then I just enjoyed the rest of the story by the master story teller!

Does anybody remember the story of @Ridgetop losing control of the tractor going downhill? I think that was my introduction to this journal and Ridgetop’s exceptional writing talent! Must be near the beginning.

 

[Ridgetop]

Emptied 3 more boxes and got the antique gadgets onto the kitchen soffits. Most of these items came out of my grandmother's basement and belonged to her or my great grandmother. The pistol was found in the gully behind the California house by my boys when they were little. They were convinced it had been dumped by fleeing murderers or bank robbers. The odd looking piece of metal looking like a cultivator tooth came from the gully too. The railway spike did not make it onto the soffits. Still haven't found great grandmother's wash board which I have packed somewhere. That box may still be in California.


Today DH leveled the side barn ready for the jugs to go in. Then we dragged all the jug panels over ready to be put up. The wall of corrugated tin between the man barn and the side barn had an area where the metal panels been punched out and broken. The panels were waving around sharp broken edges that couldn't be straightened or bent back. I decided to cut them off so went and got the metal cutter. Made sure that I had a metal blade but OOPS! it needs electricity! No electricity in barn yet. What to do? AHA! The 5th wheel is parked next to the barn and it has a generator. Went back and got 2 long extension cords. On the way back to the barn met up with DH who told me that the batteries in the 5th wheel trailer are dead. No problem, I told hIm, I am going to use the generator.
DH looked at me with pity and asked how I expected to start the generator SINCE THE BATTERIES WERE DEAD! I guess you need a live battery to start the generator. I took the cutter and extension cords back to the tool shed and got the big tin snips. They are a million years old, all rusty looking, and have not been sharpened in living memory. I sprayed them with Lithium grease and hoped for the best. Surprise! I was able to cut through the corrugated metal and remove the broken and bent pieces. When I put up the jugs I will put panels across that area.

DH meant to start a burn pile this morning but the day got away from us. He decided to start it at 2:30 but I told him to wait until tomorrow morning since it get dark arund 4:30 and I wa afraid to let it burn unattended all night. Tomorrow we will light it first thing then I will start work on the jugs. I noticed today that several of the ewes are bagging up already. One or two look thin but most of them look in good shape. There may be 2 ewe lambs that are good enough to keep. The others and 2 of the ram lambs will go to the auction in January. Hopefully, this will be a better year for us.

I found the long feed troughs and pulled them out to feed the sweet feed in instead of using 6 or 7 flat pans scattered around the barn. Then I fixed the gate from the outside pen to the pasture. It would not meed the other side and there was a 12" gap. It was overlapping on the connected side and did not meet on the side that needed to close which meant that the sheep could force it open. I disconnected it from that side, and dug out the "stationary" panel so it could be moved in more. Then I wedged it with a log. I reversed the gate and rehung it since it was hanging up on a welded piece and wouldn't attach straight. Victory!

Tomorrow DH and I will unload the bags of feed. I got more of the $9.99 40 lb. bags of sweet feed for the ewes. DH has been feeding the horse and mule a pelleted ration too. It costs $22/50 lbs. I saw Atwoods were closing out a different sweet feed ration for $7.94/50 lb. bag. I can't use it for the sheep since it is too high in copper, but is good for equines. We bought 10 bags of that. Our storage is limited in the barn or DH would have bought the entire pallet they had. I have bee feedng the rams a pelleted feed too since Moyboy is looking pretty thin and run down. The 2 younger rams are looking good.

More work to do outside tomorrow as long as the weather holds. It was sunny and 75 degrees yesterday, sunny and 55 degrees today. Hopefully the dry weather will hold long enough for us to get the jugs up.

 

[farmerjan]

Happy New Year...

 

[Baymule]

I love the kitchen decorations! They really say Farmhouse!

Your barn is fabulous, a little mending and a load of dirt in DH’s Mud Wallow, and it will be good as new!

I’m looking at the 7 ewe lambs I kept from the Spring Parasite Slaughter Debacle. Most look pretty good, considering. A couple look doubtful. WTH, I’ll put them all in with a ram and see what they produce.

Take the lambs to Emory. Load them up the evening before the sale, go Saturday morning, unload, park truck and trailer and go have breakfast. Watch the auction and get your check when it is over. BJ and I used to enjoy that, it was lain for us.

 

[fuzzi]

Emptied 3 more boxes and got the antique gadgets onto the kitchen soffits. Most of these items came out of my grandmother's basement and belonged to her or my great grandmother. The pistol was found in the gully behind the California house by my boys when they were little. They were convinced it had been dumped by fleeing murderers or bank robbers. The odd looking piece of metal looking like a cultivator tooth came from the gully too. The railway spike did not make it onto the soffits. Still haven't found great grandmother's wash board which I have packed somewhere. That box may still be in California.
View attachment 113992View attachment 113993View attachment 113994

Today DH leveled the side barn ready for the jugs to go in. Then we dragged all the jug panels over ready to be put up. The wall of corrugated tin between the man barn and the side barn had an area where the metal panels been punched out and broken. The panels were waving around sharp broken edges that couldn't be straightened or bent back. I decided to cut them off so went and got the metal cutter. Made sure that I had a metal blade but OOPS! it needs electricity! No electricity in barn yet. What to do? AHA! The 5th wheel is parked next to the barn and it has a generator. Went back and got 2 long extension cords. On the way back to the barn met up with DH who told me that the batteries in the 5th wheel trailer are dead. No problem, I told hIm, I am going to use the generator.
DH looked at me with pity and asked how I expected to start the generator SINCE THE BATTERIES WERE DEAD! I guess you need a live battery to start the generator. I took the cutter and extension cords back to the tool shed and got the big tin snips. They are a million years old, all rusty looking, and have not been sharpened in living memory. I sprayed them with Lithium grease and hoped for the best. Surprise! I was able to cut through the corrugated metal and remove the broken and bent pieces. When I put up the jugs I will put panels across that area.

DH meant to start a burn pile this morning but the day got away from us. He decided to start it at 2:30 but I told him to wait until tomorrow morning since it get dark arund 4:30 and I wa afraid to let it burn unattended all night. Tomorrow we will light it first thing then I will start work on the jugs. I noticed today that several of the ewes are bagging up already. One or two look thin but most of them look in good shape. There may be 2 ewe lambs that are good enough to keep. The others and 2 of the ram lambs will go to the auction in January. Hopefully, this will be a better year for us.

I found the long feed troughs and pulled them out to feed the sweet feed in instead of using 6 or 7 flat pans scattered around the barn. Then I fixed the gate from the outside pen to the pasture. It would not meed the other side and there was a 12" gap. It was overlapping on the connected side and did not meet on the side that needed to close which meant that the sheep could force it open. I disconnected it from that side, and dug out the "stationary" panel so it could be moved in more. Then I wedged it with a log. I reversed the gate and rehung it since it was hanging up on a welded piece and wouldn't attach straight. Victory!

Tomorrow DH and I will unload the bags of feed. I got more of the $9.99 40 lb. bags of sweet feed for the ewes. DH has been feeding the horse and mule a pelleted ration too. It costs $22/50 lbs. I saw Atwoods were closing out a different sweet feed ration for $7.94/50 lb. bag. I can't use it for the sheep since it is too high in copper, but is good for equines. We bought 10 bags of that. Our storage is limited in the barn or DH would have bought the entire pallet they had. I have bee feedng the rams a pelleted feed too since Moyboy is looking pretty thin and run down. The 2 younger rams are looking good.

More work to do outside tomorrow as long as the weather holds. It was sunny and 75 degrees yesterday, sunny and 55 degrees today. Hopefully the dry weather will hold long enough for us to get the jugs up.

Love the classic kitchen cupboards and your decorations.

 

[KodeshAcres]

Back at the farm . . . life resumed with a trip to the barn to feed the supplement to the sheep before another thunder and rain storm broke overhead. DH had bought hmself a pair of hunting boots, insulated, and water proof, since the sheep pen floods badly. Comfortably attired in his water and mud proof boots DH checked water, got the flags and chivvied the sheep out of the barn and onto the field. It was hard going in the 4" of liquid mud. Then he shut the gate into the pen where their hay is so I could ration the 40 lbs. bag of feed into the 7 pans artistically scattered around in the barn. Just as I finished a clap of thunder announced a huge cloudburst overhead. Suddenly, I heard yelling and saw that the sheep had charged the gate, pushing it open and were stampeding back into the pen. This is the night pen attached to the barn. In an attempt to head them off until I finished putting out the feed, DH made his way to the barn entrance. There, armed with his flags, he made his last stand. Literally!

Since everyone knows hair sheep are allergic to rain, the flock now bolted for shelter inside the barn like a crowd on Black Friday going after the one remaining item on the shelf. Bravely, my hero attempted to turn them back but the treacherous mud held his boots fast. With a scream of rage and many bad words that our chidren were never allowed to say, DH went down. Horrified I watched him disappear into the mud under the thrashing hooves. Looking over at the doorway I saw him struggling on the ground. Worried that he might have broken a hip I shoved sheep aside to make my way over to him. It took a couple minutes because sheep don't shove aside easily from pans of sweet feed. He had stopped screaming but was still rolling and thrashing around which was scary. When I reached him I realized he had gone silent in order to avoid getting more muck in his mouth. He finally rolled to the side of the barn and managed to grab the supports and hoist himself out of the mud. Dripping mud and liquid manure, he staggered to the gate, telling me to find the flags which had disappeared beneath the surface.

Back at the house, I hosed him off, then made him take off his jacket, boots, and pants. He went inside to take a shower, reminding me to turn on the water for the sheep. The life of a farmer is not all sunshine and roses.

We decided the next project will be mounting a gate at the entrance from the pen to the barn. 10' gate will do it. Then we had measured from the back of the barn and another 12' gate will allow the sheep into the barn without going through the night pen. That will be handy to run them in and out of the barn without the giant mud puddle aka the night pen.
p.
DH said that his next tractor job is to remove the top layer of mud/dirt from the night pen and put it in the garden. All that muck will be good for our garden come spring.

I went into DS1's room and decided to put up the 24" shelf unit in his closet which is almost 44" deep. After installig it, and the 12" shoe tower next to it I decided to put the other half on the other side of the closet. I startd removing the cases of bottled. Then I lifted out a case of Monster drink. UH OH! The case felt empty and there was discoloratio on the wall. Two cases of Monster drink had apparently leaked all over the closet and the cases of stuff below them. AAAARGH!

DH helped me carry several cases of jars of canned meat, tomato sauce, and soup to the kitchen. I opened the cases of food and the Monster drinks had startd to eat into the surface of the jar lids. I lost 2 jars of spaghetti sauce and one of chicken. After checking and scrubbing the other jars, I was relieved to find that they were ok. The boxes were saturated and a total loss so I tossed the boxes outside. Several other boxes were damaged but all f them had jars in them - the boxes of books were on the other side of the closet.

Now I had a giant cleanup to take care of. The drywall was stained and damaged in the corner behind where the cases were stacked. The carpet was saturated with old Monster drink. I got the bleach spray and went to work on the wall. After a frenzied attack on the stains I got a lot of the black stain off but could see that not only would I have to prime and repaint, but would have to do some drywall prep with joint compund as well. Now on to the carpet. I got lots of towels and a bucket of hot water. I poured the water onto the area of the carpet and proceeded to mop it up over and over again. Then I sprayed it with carpet cleaner spray and did it one last time. Next time DD2 comes over I will have her bring her little carpet scrubber - it does spot scrubbing. I put one of the dehumidifier containers in the closet and left it to dry out overnight.

This morning I brought the rest of the boxes of jars out and proceeded to wash all 10 dozen jars. Then I needed to find a place to put them. I emptied the top shelf of my kitchen cabinet and moved all the empty tupperware cannisters into the lower blind cabinet. They can stay there until DS! retuns and we install the blind cabinet pullout. This gave me a long cabinet run on the top shelf. I managed to fit all the jars onto the top shelves in the kitchen. Everything was canned meat - beef, pork, and chicken, spaghetti sauce (with and without meat) and soup. All the seals were good but if the contents don't look right I will use it in the dog food. On the bright side, getting all the jars out of the closet means that I will start to use the contents.

Oddly, these cabinet are only 32" with a soffit, while the ones in California were 42" cabinets to the ceiling. I left a lot of stuff I didn't need in California, and all the canning supplies that used to live on the top shelves now have a home in the laundry room. I also left a few things I do need in California too. My SuperShooter cookie press, and all my spices are still there. DS1 wil bring them to me along with the step shelves in the cabinets. When I go back in May I will look in the Cnnex and sgeds for anything else I left behind. My great grandmother's washboard is one thing that was packed with some other antique Kitsch. I plan to hang it up on the soffits in the kitchen. One box is here but I am still looking for other things. The looking will probably take years. LOL

Got to go and put together the other half of the 24" wide closet storage for the spare bedroom. I am getting a lot of the sheep meds put away until we can get up more shelving in the barn tack room, not to mention the electricity for lights. Next week I will have to take down and store all the Christmas decorations for another year.

On a good note, Ozel has really come nto her own and is showing more of that Anatolian aggression towards night predators. Hazine is a little nervous arond Ozel who has becomemore dominant lately. Angel on the other hand seems to hav taken Hazine under her wing. I noticed that Hazine moved so Angel was between her and Ozel the other day. Ozel was chasig a sheep the other day but we realized that the sheep was one of a couple lambs that had found a hole in the fence and escaped into the barnyard. Ozel tried to put them back where they belonged but they were wily and avoided her. Dominic started shouting at her but I told him that she would stop as soon as we put them back in the field. She herded them into the side barn and I went through and opened the gate. However, they circled aroud and came back out into the yard. I checked the fence and sure enough there was a gap where the stock panel had come down from a corral panel surrounding the hay bales. The wire there was mashed ad tangled in branches so I got another piece of stock panel and Dominic went through and stuck it in place temporarily. Another repair project.

Hey, those storms last week were no joke! Opposite to your sheep our decided to just stand out in the rain the entire time I sure am glad we are getting some sunny days now, many of the paddocks still have big puddles of water from the hard rain. We've basically been playing musical chairs with rotating the sheep since, trying to keep them on the dryer parts of the pasture

 

[SageHill]

Kitchen looks great!!! Love everything on the soffits

 

[Ridgetop]

Our White Dorpers must be related to the Wicked Witch of the East (West?) and know they will melt if they get rained on. In California it was hysterical to see them dashing into their Teepee shelter when it rained. The shelter was made of 2 corral shelter panels 8'x 12'. We attached them together at the top and drove metal spikes uti the grud t keepthem fro shifting.

The shelter was sufficient until the flock increased to about 30+ sheep. Then as the first ones reached the shelter the last ones were stuck into the rain. As the last ones forced their way in, the first ones were pushed out! Wish I had gotten a video of it. LOL

We still have to bring the last 2 shelter panels back to Texas along with the last 100 bales of prime alfalfa. That will wait until May when we can borrow DS3's flat bed trailer again and bring the last of our equipment back.

Anyway, they love the barn but I have to move some of the panels around again to give them more room. I can also out a few jugs in the large pen when I run out of space in the side barn. A lot of the ewes are bagging up already so January will definitely be the month lambing starts. A couple don't look pregnant, and a couple look kind of thin so will probaby do some ewe culling in March.

DH is trying to start one of the burn piles. I see a little smoke but we may have to get some charcoal starter if it won't catch. Our cardboard may be damp. I have to go out and move some of the fencing in the barn to give the ewes an extra 100 sf. We moved out the jug panels and that freed up that side of the barn. Unfortunately it is the outside of the barn wall and might get muddy. The other side has a couple bales of alfalfa, the tractor auger, several metal horse feeders, and a bunch of 50 gallon metal barrrel feeders. Also holes where the dogs have dug themselves comfy beds and covered them with loose hay. AAAAARGH! Broken leg anyone? Got to get outside and get more done. DG didn't want to do anything yesterday except watch the Rose Parade and football. Time to get to work before the rain comes in on Friday/Saturday.