Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

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goatgurl

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when you stake dippin' dot and bang out leave april in, take two buckets, a big one to sit on and a small one with her grain. sit down and rattle the grain bucket and when she comes to you and she eventually will because she is greedy just let her eat with you holding the bucket close in to you. or feed her bites out of your hand. don't try to touch her the first day or two and then slowly start petting her neck and shoulders. its going to take her some time. remember I told you that they had grown up with no one around but me and a big old hairy legged man is not something they have ever had to deal with. you're going to take some getting use to. lol or take some animal crackers out and just sit with her, don't try to catch her at first just sit quite quietly and let her learn that you're not a threat.
well, tomorrow is dot's due date. anxious to see what she gives you. and remember what you tell everyone else... we love pictures and I know for a fact that you have a good camera.
no more news about spot the pig since the game cam pictures of her. will let you know if they catch her in their hog trap.
 

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OK, for the tractor, there are 3 blades. the center blade overlaps the cut line of the two outer blades by just a bit. The deck isn't square or rectangular, it's TRI-angular. The center blade sits back and not in line with the other two so the blades never actually interfere with each other, they just overlap the cutting area. If the edges of the blades are damaged and not cutting, then it leaves 2 stripes of uncut material right along the outside edges of that center blade. Now, if the blades can be sharpened and balanced so the edges cut again, that will fix it. If they can't be, then new blades will fix it. The stripes weren't there when the unit was new. They appeared and increased over time as the blades took damage from rocks, roots, branches, stumps, vines, etc.

"Big old hairy legged man" huh? Harumph! They aren't that hairy at all! ;) I'm not worried about April. She runs right up to the fence and fights for her share of treats... I think the issue the other day was I left her till last. I need to move her first, then Bang, then Dot last as Dot has no fear of me at all. Dot hasn't started drainage or roping and no vaginal/vulva swelling or drippage at all. I've felt for ligs but can't find them... don't know if they're there and I can't identify them or they're legit gone. She hasn't been acting strange or doing anything that would indicate she's due. Figures though that we have real bad weather forecast for next 2 days, so maybe she'll surprise me. I will plan on pictures of course. :hide

Wanted to use the jacuzzi tonight but it's just too hot and humid out there... still 81 degrees and 80%+ humidity. AC is running and has been since early afternoon.

Went to Chili's tonight and addressed 2 cravings; buffalo wings and baby back ribs. Haven't been out to eat in quite a while. Was nice.
 

Bruce

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They appeared and increased over time as the blades took damage from rocks, roots, branches, stumps, vines, etc.
Might I suggest that you not mow rocks, roots, branches and stumps?? Would be nice to NOT have all those things.

The blades on my mower don't get nicked up at all :gig:lol:

OK they do get hit pretty good no matter how hard I try but I sharpen my own. I'm giving serious consideration to buying one of those garden tractor "jacks" that lift up the front of the mower so you can get under the deck without taking it off.

First it would be a lot easier to get the blades off for sharpening so it would get done more often.
Second it would make it possible to get all the "glued on" grass off with a hose as the "deck wash" thing is a massive joke. It washes the chlorophyll of the "glue" but doesn't clean 99% of the grass out. Maybe it would if you mowed 1/8" every day. I have to reach in under the deck and scrape the grass out with my hands or take the deck off and "stand" it up against something to hit with the hose.
 

CntryBoy777

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@Bruce have ya tried those metal ramps ya can get to pull a car up on in order to change oil? They used to come with a pair of jack stands and a floor jack. My Dad has some, but haven't tried to run the rider up on them yet, so I don't know if there is enough clearence. I do use the jack stands, tho Joyce has to position it while I lift it up.
Yeh, those limbs, branches, rocks, and such will do a number on those blades. I need to change mine too for the same reasons, but just can't take the time yet. Something tells me it just wasn't built for Farm use, but I will til it dies....:)
 
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Never dropped below 78 degrees last night and the humidity got worse. Climbed out of bed at ~8:30 this morning... an hour or so later than I've been getting up. Something to do with having animals to feed I guess. Didn't sleep much or well last night either. Ended up spending several hours in my recliner. :hu It's gray and dark and misting/spitting rain... humidity is 100%.

So just to clarify, I still do have to go out and feed the animals when the weather is less than desirable? Are y'all sure on this? Hmmmm... May have to rethink this "farming" thing ;) OK, so had a good look at Dot's butt... still nothing really indicative of "ready to kid". She has dropped, there are nice hollows right forward of her hips up high. Her vulva "might" be a little more "swollen" than "normal" but still no discharge, no change in eating habits, no nesting, no pawing, no stretching, no attitude change... I'm guessing she's gonna be one of those "shock and awe" kinda goats... Nothing and no indication then 1/2 an hour later, multiple kids on the ground, dry, standing, and nursing. :idunno:clap Maybe she's just waiting for the really bad weather due later. Which right now is rumbling pretty good up in OK and points north and east from there. They're saying 100% chance of rain here today and tonight into tomorrow, so I guess there's a better than average chance it's gonna rain.

I had one last 6" x 8' fence post that was fully down in the creek. I've been putting off trying to fish it out cause I just didn't want to deal with it. Well, seeing as we're supposed to get a potential 5+" of rain over the next 36 hours, and I know that would wash it away for sure, I went down & retrieved it. I had to cut the barbed wire fencing on both sides of a rusted out and bent over 90 degrees T post. Then dropped a ladder over the bank and down into the stream bed (still a good foot or more of water from the most recent rains). I used a ratchet strap around the post then pulled it out with my truck. Saved getting the feet wet since I don't have boots or waders. The barbed wire fencing I cut was never gonna be used anyways, so no biggie. Hopefully it will now no longer damn up the water flow either. Man, the mosquitoes down there are like clouds! I'm not normally down there except when the sun is shining bright, and then they're are in hiding.

Bruce, I looked into one of those tractor lift things. They want like $150 for it and it only lifts I think it said like 24 inches. :idunnoWhat the heck good is that? 24" is about useless to an old fart like me... No way I'm getting down and laying on my side or back under a 600 pound mower in 24" of working space to screw with blades. Sorry, just aint happenin'. I have a hydraulic jack that I used to lift the front of the mower when I needed to take off the front flat tire. I'll rig a pulley system to the rafters and attach to the front bumper or axle and haul that thing right up near vertical when and if it comes down to it. You have a barn with I imagine pretty decent sized rafter beams... I'm sure you could probably rig something similar up. Pulleys and some rope are a lot cheaper (and better IMHO) than one of those lifts. I have jack stands as well, no ramps though... I expect they'd present the same space limitations a lift would... Don't know, have never used either on a lawn tractor.

The mower has that hose attachment wash out feature, which I'll never use as I expected it was nothing more than a sales gimmick. Without direct water pressure on the matter being removed, and done immediately after use before it has a chance to dry, it's just going to get wet and set like concrete. I've never much worried about it anyway... I clean it out once a year at the end of the mowing season.

Man now I have mosquito bites as well as ivy rash to scratch... Lucky me! :rant So last night after dinner I went and did a little grocery shopping and broke down and bought a weather alert radio and set it up. Man that warning siren ought to wake the dead! :ep I also went ahead and bought one of those canister type table flashlight/lamps. Figured I better start getting the basics together before a time comes when I need them.
 

CntryBoy777

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Yeh, be careful with those Skeeters over there, they seem like B-52s when their area is fertile. That's a good idea on the pulley and ropes. I wish I could weld stuff, it sure would come in handy. I have thought though about building something out of wood, tho that is level with the upper ground of a slope and maintain that level out far enough to give me the ground clearence desired to work under the mower, or vehicle....kinda like those oil express change places. Since your only mowing during warmer mnths, being inside isn't that important...and some of us don't have Rafters.....got plenty of Slope tho....of varying degrees. Glad ya caught the big one and it didn't get away from ya. Sure hope Dot holds off thru the weather for ya....hope ya got a pancho just in case. We got one of those radios a while back, and ended up pulling the battery out of it. I just use a phone app. Those radios seem to repeat every 15 mins or so, and whenever any kind of warning go out it sounds off. You'll see, tho...just be sure to tune it to just your county and the ones next to ya the direction most storms travel in from, otherwise ya will never get any sleep.
 
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