Farmerjan's journal - Weather

farmerjan

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Friday, late afternoon.. It's been a long hot day. But that is good because the little bit of green in the hay that I turned up was drying fast... and it was about 1-2 hours before DS got there to start baling.

DS came by the house, he forgot his phone at her house, so called her with my phone so she could bring it later when she was coming this way. He had me go with him to get his other truck that was left at one of the pastures, as there were tools he needed...dropped it off at the farm, then we went by and checked on the sorghum-sudan grass he had planted..(.on the way to drop me back off at my house)..... and the screw up by the one co-op and the section they never killed with the spray... like he said, that is why he PAYS a PROFESSIONAL to come do what little spraying we have done to kill stuff... in this case it was some grass, lots of weeds of all types.... and he wanted to put sorghum-sudan in there so we will get a decent crop off it for 2nd cutting since the weedy crap grass is not worth cutting...
Anyway, they missed a good sized section and the sorghum-sudan grass will not come up good if at all in that section..competition by the weeds..... so wasted seed planting on top of having weedy crap grass there... the people that own the house and the one next door, were wanting DS to improve the ground some...
This was one place that got split, "old house" and land sold and new house built on split off section... and they are both "part-time" residents.. but want it kept up and improved for future retirement.... Ground is rough around new house, contractors did a LOUSY job with grading etc... and DS and the people have got an agreement for him to do a little grading... as in discing/harrowing the ground to smooth it out, get rid of the ditches and ridges.... and to do some work on the "old house" land also, where it is also roughly graded.... so kill the old crap grass/weeds....plant the sorghum-sudan, get a decent crop out of it... then after frost kills it off, do some work on it to make it smoother.... and reseed it in the spring... probably will do sorghum-sudan grass again next year, then after the ground is leveled off and not so rough, put it back in a grass mixture for hay... It is probably too far to haul corn silage back to the barn... although that is an option... but to make it a decent hayfield overall... they naturally are contiguous so make the hay all in one piece...

So, I watered the birds, filled feeders, when he dropped me off, and then headed for the tractor and rake... Got on it about 10:30... and headed to Fred's hay fields.
Got his lower hayfield raked with no problem... had the usual ledges/rocks to rake around and the ground hog holes... then went up in the upper, bigger field... It went along until about 1/2 way .... and one spring on the rake wheel came off... and another one broke on another wheel... There are 7 big wheels on a side.
Not a big deal, I cannot get it back on by myself.... takes one person to hold the wheel up so it is easier to reattach the spring, and you need a big vice grips to hold the end of the spring and twist it on to the metal bar that holds it... the spring holds the wheel so it will bounce/float on the ground... other wise the weight makes it sit down so "hard" that it drags and digs in...
BUT, no phone to call DS because he still had my phone ...which I told him to keep til he got his back today.. and I couldn't call him if he had given back mine, because he hadn't gotten his back yet... So I figured he would be along soon to start baling and he could help me get the 2 springs "fixed".... So, I parked the tractor under a tree and drank 2 bottles of water and waited.
He finally got there... and I helped hold up the wheels (they are on arms that hold them up to transport or drop down to rake) so he can attach the one spring... then took the other off, and forced the broken end into the bar past the end where the hook was supposed to be, and then reattached it so I could go on and rake. By this time, he had gotten his phone, gave me mine... and he has Colt... so that tells me that is why he is soo late getting there because there is all the drama crap... seems "she" is fighting with her sister again.... I am SOOOO glad that I am not directly in that drama, BS CRAP all the time... but this is why he can be an absolute A**hole all the time...

So, I finished raking... and he was about done baling the "small field"... it is a nice long rectangle so easy to rake and all except watching for the ground hog holes and the couple pieces of ledge/rock..... With the hold up waiting for help to fix the rake... luckily minor with the springs... I was gone for about 6 hours... and it was HOT out there later finishing up the big upper field... BUT... it is raked... he was working on getting it all baled... Turns out the sister was coming to pick up Colt... and DS saw her truck at the gate at the bottome of the hill at the road... so we put Colt up on the tractor with me... he stood on the top step, held on to the fender (hand hold space) and the back of the seat, and I could put my arm in front of him, and hold the fender, so he couldn't fall/slip off and we went down through the gate and DS shut the gate behind me (there are cows in the pasture that you drive through to get to the hay fields)... and went slowly down through the field with the tractor and rake and delivered him to his mom at the bottom of the hill.... I am perfectly civil to her, so we just exchanged hi's and it's hot.... and then I said Colt would have to get in her truck so she could move it since I could not make the swing out the gate where she was parked... which was no big deal... she didn't know.... so we said bye, and she left and I went out the gate, made the big swing for the length of the rake... then backed up so I could shut that gate along the road..
I then went to the field where I got the tractor from, where my car was, and stopped at Wendy's since I was about half sick from the heat and needing to eat... this was after 4.... and then got something in my stomach, and a big glass of lemonade... and finally came on home.

It got cloudy and I went on the computer and the radar showed rain north of here, 10-15 miles... but headed east... so we were lucky to dodge that one, and get this hay done... THEN he was going to bale all the hay for the friend that he cut it for the other day, that they had tedded and were going to rake.... 23 acres worth that DS said was thick and heavy.... So, I am hoping that it does continue east and not hit us today...
The clouds have thickened up here, radar shows some rain just west, but looks like it is also breaking up just as it gets here. Hope that he got Fred's done and is getting Glenn's done now...

The heat kicked my butt today...

I am going in to take a shower early... wash my hair and all the sweat and dirt off, and be clean and cooler for the night. I need to go in and wash dishes too... but I am whooped from the heat. Ought to do that though... need to make a gallon of tea tomorrow too... I'm out...

Just looked at the recording thermometer... guess ignorance is bliss... it hit 97 on the record... with heat index of 102.... NO WONDER, I got hot.... WOW.....
 

fuzzi

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Friday, late afternoon.. It's been a long hot day. But that is good because the little bit of green in the hay that I turned up was drying fast... and it was about 1-2 hours before DS got there to start baling.

DS came by the house, he forgot his phone at her house, so called her with my phone so she could bring it later when she was coming this way. He had me go with him to get his other truck that was left at one of the pastures, as there were tools he needed...dropped it off at the farm, then we went by and checked on the sorghum-sudan grass he had planted..(.on the way to drop me back off at my house)..... and the screw up by the one co-op and the section they never killed with the spray... like he said, that is why he PAYS a PROFESSIONAL to come do what little spraying we have done to kill stuff... in this case it was some grass, lots of weeds of all types.... and he wanted to put sorghum-sudan in there so we will get a decent crop off it for 2nd cutting since the weedy crap grass is not worth cutting...
Anyway, they missed a good sized section and the sorghum-sudan grass will not come up good if at all in that section..competition by the weeds..... so wasted seed planting on top of having weedy crap grass there... the people that own the house and the one next door, were wanting DS to improve the ground some...
This was one place that got split, "old house" and land sold and new house built on split off section... and they are both "part-time" residents.. but want it kept up and improved for future retirement.... Ground is rough around new house, contractors did a LOUSY job with grading etc... and DS and the people have got an agreement for him to do a little grading... as in discing/harrowing the ground to smooth it out, get rid of the ditches and ridges.... and to do some work on the "old house" land also, where it is also roughly graded.... so kill the old crap grass/weeds....plant the sorghum-sudan, get a decent crop out of it... then after frost kills it off, do some work on it to make it smoother.... and reseed it in the spring... probably will do sorghum-sudan grass again next year, then after the ground is leveled off and not so rough, put it back in a grass mixture for hay... It is probably too far to haul corn silage back to the barn... although that is an option... but to make it a decent hayfield overall... they naturally are contiguous so make the hay all in one piece...

So, I watered the birds, filled feeders, when he dropped me off, and then headed for the tractor and rake... Got on it about 10:30... and headed to Fred's hay fields.
Got his lower hayfield raked with no problem... had the usual ledges/rocks to rake around and the ground hog holes... then went up in the upper, bigger field... It went along until about 1/2 way .... and one spring on the rake wheel came off... and another one broke on another wheel... There are 7 big wheels on a side.
Not a big deal, I cannot get it back on by myself.... takes one person to hold the wheel up so it is easier to reattach the spring, and you need a big vice grips to hold the end of the spring and twist it on to the metal bar that holds it... the spring holds the wheel so it will bounce/float on the ground... other wise the weight makes it sit down so "hard" that it drags and digs in...
BUT, no phone to call DS because he still had my phone ...which I told him to keep til he got his back today.. and I couldn't call him if he had given back mine, because he hadn't gotten his back yet... So I figured he would be along soon to start baling and he could help me get the 2 springs "fixed".... So, I parked the tractor under a tree and drank 2 bottles of water and waited.
He finally got there... and I helped hold up the wheels (they are on arms that hold them up to transport or drop down to rake) so he can attach the one spring... then took the other off, and forced the broken end into the bar past the end where the hook was supposed to be, and then reattached it so I could go on and rake. By this time, he had gotten his phone, gave me mine... and he has Colt... so that tells me that is why he is soo late getting there because there is all the drama crap... seems "she" is fighting with her sister again.... I am SOOOO glad that I am not directly in that drama, BS CRAP all the time... but this is why he can be an absolute A**hole all the time...

So, I finished raking... and he was about done baling the "small field"... it is a nice long rectangle so easy to rake and all except watching for the ground hog holes and the couple pieces of ledge/rock..... With the hold up waiting for help to fix the rake... luckily minor with the springs... I was gone for about 6 hours... and it was HOT out there later finishing up the big upper field... BUT... it is raked... he was working on getting it all baled... Turns out the sister was coming to pick up Colt... and DS saw her truck at the gate at the bottome of the hill at the road... so we put Colt up on the tractor with me... he stood on the top step, held on to the fender (hand hold space) and the back of the seat, and I could put my arm in front of him, and hold the fender, so he couldn't fall/slip off and we went down through the gate and DS shut the gate behind me (there are cows in the pasture that you drive through to get to the hay fields)... and went slowly down through the field with the tractor and rake and delivered him to his mom at the bottom of the hill.... I am perfectly civil to her, so we just exchanged hi's and it's hot.... and then I said Colt would have to get in her truck so she could move it since I could not make the swing out the gate where she was parked... which was no big deal... she didn't know.... so we said bye, and she left and I went out the gate, made the big swing for the length of the rake... then backed up so I could shut that gate along the road..
I then went to the field where I got the tractor from, where my car was, and stopped at Wendy's since I was about half sick from the heat and needing to eat... this was after 4.... and then got something in my stomach, and a big glass of lemonade... and finally came on home.

It got cloudy and I went on the computer and the radar showed rain north of here, 10-15 miles... but headed east... so we were lucky to dodge that one, and get this hay done... THEN he was going to bale all the hay for the friend that he cut it for the other day, that they had tedded and were going to rake.... 23 acres worth that DS said was thick and heavy.... So, I am hoping that it does continue east and not hit us today...
The clouds have thickened up here, radar shows some rain just west, but looks like it is also breaking up just as it gets here. Hope that he got Fred's done and is getting Glenn's done now...

The heat kicked my butt today...

I am going in to take a shower early... wash my hair and all the sweat and dirt off, and be clean and cooler for the night. I need to go in and wash dishes too... but I am whooped from the heat. Ought to do that though... need to make a gallon of tea tomorrow too... I'm out...

Just looked at the recording thermometer... guess ignorance is bliss... it hit 97 on the record... with heat index of 102.... NO WONDER, I got hot.... WOW.....
Don't make yourself sick.
 

farmerjan

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Sat morning. I slept over 10 straight hours... guess I was a little tired...:hide

70 overnight... already 90.... not in the sun....

Yesterday aft., DS finished Fred's, traded tractors to use the bigger baler already hooked to the Agco, and went to Glenn's. 2 hrs later than he had planned (all the stupid time taken up with screwing around with her and the wasted time with the drama and getting Colt and all that... it adds up and I have seen the wasted time over and over when he needs to just get going with what he has to get done).... Glenn raked a bit ahead of him, to not get too much raked up in case... and they got maybe a third of the field done and it started to rain and he had to quit. Now, it is not even 2 miles over the hill from my house, and we got nothing but clouds. Rained enough they had to quit and there were about 6 windrows raked ahead... the rest was still spread out from tedding yesterday. Plans were to get back into it today about 11 or so. Good luck to them. I am thinking that it did not get it as wet as he thought and the breeze that came up and the sun actually came back out after that pop up shower will help to dry it more. But, if he had gotten going on it like he should have, they would have been mostly done.

He said that the rake they use balls hay up alot, and so he has to back up and feed it into the baler at different angles to get it... and he said something to Glenn about maybe he needs to get a different rake... and he said that he is not spending any money on hay making equipment... that his hay making days are about over... he is my age..... so my thoughts are he is going to see about getting DS to start making his hay for him... just what we need... but not my deal... Glenn had both knees replaced like me, and his wife and I used to be pretty good friends until Covid, and she is a die hard vaccine person and we had a falling out over that stuff.. Because she looks down on people that didn't have the shots and all that... EVEN though now it is coming out how bad all that was and how contrived... she is one that believes the gov't knows what is best for people... :barnie:barnie:he:he:he:duc:duc

Oh well.... The radar is not showing any pop up stuff before 4-5 pm at the earliest... so I hope they get it done...

He said that Fred's made 145 rolls... these are 4x5 rolls that we net wrap.... Of course, it is alot later than normal to make his hay... Usually get it done by the 4th or so. But he will have enough to get him through the winter with his cows... I think he had about 10-15 rolls left over from last year. He figures he needs 125 minimum... and it depends on the weather and if we get rain to make some late pasture grass etc and so on. Now he will get them moved to the place he keeps them, and then open up the hay fields for the cows. There are some spots along the edges and such where we can't cut so there is some residual hay "left" and the cows will work on that ..... and if we get the rain they are saying for the next week or so.... of course it actually has to rain here and not go around.... then his hay fields will start to green right up and he will be in good shape. We are also hoping that it does rain here on us this next week... to rejuvenate these hay fields we just made, plus give the 2nd cutting orchard grass a little more height, and boost the pastures. Heat is supposed to be in the 90's plus all week... so some showers/ rain would be perfect. Plus we have dr appts next week so not going to be making any hay for several reasons.

I did fill the waterers again last eve and feeders, so they should be good. I am being lazy and plan to go in and do some laundry to hang for a few hours... it will dry fast in the heat. And the dishes I didn't get done last night.
 
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fuzzi

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Sat morning. I slept over 10 straight hours... guess I was a little tired...:hide

70 overnight... already 90.... not in the sun....

DS finished Fred's, traded tractors to use the bigger baler already hooked to the Agco, and went to Glenn's. 2 hrs later than he had planned (all the stupid time taken up with screwing around with her and the wasted time with the drama and getting Colt and all that... it adds up and I have seen the wasted time over and over when he needs to just get going with what he has to get done).... Glenn raked a bit ahead of him, to not get too much raked up in case... and they got maybe a third of the field done and it started to rain and he had to quit. Now, it is not even 2 miles over the hill from my house, and we got nothing but clouds. Rained enough they had to quit and there were about 6 windrows raked ahead... the rest was still spread out from tedding yesterday. Plans were to get back into it today about 11 or so. Good luck to them. I am thinking that it did not get it as wet as he thought and the breeze that came up and the sun actually came back out after that pop up shower will help to dry it more. But, if he had gotten going on it like he should have, they would have been mostly done.

He said that the rake they use balls hay up alot, and so he has to back up and feed it into the baler at different angles to get it... and he said something to Glenn about maybe he needs to get a different rake... and he said that he is not spending any money on hay making equipment... that his hay making days are about over... he is my age..... so my thoughts are he is going to see about getting DS to start making his hay for him... just what we need... but not my deal... Glenn had both knees replaced like me, and his wife and I used to be pretty good friends until Covid, and she is a die hard vaccine person and we had a falling out over that stuff.. Because she looks down on people that didn't have the shots and all that... EVEN though now it is coming out how bad all that was and how contrived... she is one that believes the gov't knows what is best for people... :barnie:barnie:he:he:he:duc:duc

Oh well.... The radar is not showing any pop up stuff before 4-5 pm at the earliest... so I hope they get it done...

He said that Fred's made 145 rolls... these are 4x5 rolls that we net wrap.... Of course, it is alot later than normal to make his hay... Usually get it done by the 4th or so. But he will have enough to get him through the winter with his cows... I think he had about 10-15 rolls left over from last year. He figures he needs 125 minimum... and it depends on the weather and if we get rain to make some late pasture grass etc and so on. Now he will get them moved to the place he keeps them, and then open up the hay fields for the cows. There are some spots along the edges and such where we can't cut so there is some residual hay "left" and the cows will work on that ..... and if we get the rain they are saying for the next week or so.... of course it actually has to rain here and not go around.... then his hay fields will start to green right up and he will be in good shape. We are also hoping that it does rain here on us this next week... to rejuvenate these hay fields we just made, plus give the 2nd cutting orchard grass a little more height, and boost the pastures. Heat is supposed to be in the 90's plus all week... so some showers/ rain would be perfect. Plus we have dr appts next week so not going to be making any hay for several reasons.

I did fill the waterers again last eve and feeders, so they should be good. I am being lazy and plan to go in and do some laundry to hang for a few hours... it will dry fast in the heat. And the dishes I didn't get done last night.
Take some time away from the heat, help your body recover. I'm inside, sorting my file pile, as it's brutal outside.
 

farmerjan

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Basically a do nothing day. Should have gotten out on the mower for a bit... been a couple weeks since I did the lawn.
It was mostly sunny and hot, hit 97, with a higher heat index I am sure. Humid and rather sticky. It clouded over some this afternoon, kept thinking it would actually finally "rain"... not some sprinkle stuff... thundered and then nothing... I watched on the radar and it went north and then east AGAIN... we are basically missing anything of any significance.. We could really use a good rain.... these little "get you damp" things do nothing for the ground.
I am going to soak all the potted plants again in the morning... maybe that will make it actually rain tomorrow afternoon... for the predicted storms again in the afternoon.

Never heard from DS all day... so I hope/guess that all Glenn's hay got baled finally.

I am going in to get the tea I put out a couple hours ago to steep. Make some supper...
 

fuzzi

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Basically a do nothing day. Should have gotten out on the mower for a bit... been a couple weeks since I did the lawn.
It was mostly sunny and hot, hit 97, with a higher heat index I am sure. Humid and rather sticky. It clouded over some this afternoon, kept thinking it would actually finally "rain"... not some sprinkle stuff... thundered and then nothing... I watched on the radar and it went north and then east AGAIN... we are basically missing anything of any significance.. We could really use a good rain.... these little "get you damp" things do nothing for the ground.
I am going to soak all the potted plants again in the morning... maybe that will make it actually rain tomorrow afternoon... for the predicted storms again in the afternoon.

Never heard from DS all day... so I hope/guess that all Glenn's hay got baled finally.

I am going in to get the tea I put out a couple hours ago to steep. Make some supper...
No rain here, either, storms have been breaking up just before reaching me. My potted Joe Pye weed plants are soaking up a saucer of water daily.
 

farmerjan

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Been a couple days.... a couple LONG, HOT, HUMID, STICKY, ....... you get the gist.

We wound up having a total .4 rain between Sat aft. and Sunday aft. showers. It sure didn't take any humidity out of the air... but at least it was a little more than a sprinkle. Did very little over the weekend, except the necessary things.
DS did get Glenn's hay baled on Saturday so that was good. Got it done about a 1/2 hr before we got the shower on Sat.
Our first cutting is done; orchard grass is ready for 2nd cutting already...

Monday I had the dr appt... she said the bone density was pretty good.... I have "pre" osteoporosis... osteopenia ? ... said that it is lower density, and that I do alot of what she would recommend already... actually not much different from the one 5 yrs ago... so taking some supplements now might help a little... and the Vit D3/K together might make the difference in absorption..........and the Vit B, and I am going to add a balanced calcium/mag/zinc supplement that I used to take..... I have to be careful as Zinc makes me sick to my stomach... so have to make sure it is right after a meal... I am sure I will forget it some, but we'll see. I always take some Vit C ...
I can do vit/mineral supplements....

She said that my kidneys are not the problem... they look good and when she got to "pressing on them" , there was no pain. Didn't realize they were more on the left side of the back... the pain is more on the right side to the middle of the lower back.
She was going to look into what other tick diseases she could get me tested for without costing a king's ransom... and how to "code it"... and that since I had taken the doxycycline for 2 weeks when I first went to the emergecare... that it might have masked the lyme.... so to give it some more time...Plus, she had me get a couple more x-rays for the spine from mid back, down. She says that I have quite a curve in the lower back... more common in women that have had children..... and it might be causing my vertebrae to pinch together more and maybe putting pressure on some nerves.... and maybe some PT would be in order to try to stretch it out and strengthen the muscles... We'll see what she thinks after she sees the spine x-rays. But she said that it was rather coincidental that the back ache started right after the tick-bite rash and such. She said she went hiking this past weekend and took 5 ticks off her when she got home so is totally understanding about my constant exposure to them.
Will see what the spine xrays show, then go from there... said she could prescribe something a little stronger for days it really aches, realizes that it is a stop gap but might make it easier for me to do things. I might go on and get them... but usually a couple tylenol and ibuprophen will take the edge off ...

I have also lost 6 lbs..... I specifically asked to get on the scale and see what the difference was... I showed a little loss at home, wanted to get something to run it against... Got a lot to go, and some could be the heat.. but it's still a plus.

Today (Tues) took DS to dr appt... he has had a real bad headache and stiff neck the last 2 days... slept most of the way down.... She helped the headache some today... but slept most of the way home...
We went to Rural King, picked up a few things that were on "sale".... hydraulic fluid, some other stuff... I got 2 blocks with Clarify...feed through fly control of the larvae, to take to the nurse cow pasture... Will get more on Thursday, he has an appt with the lawyer, and with the workman's comp people that say he can go back to work... now trying to find a "job he can do, even part-time".... will see how this affects his status with the long-term disability....through work.... all that...

We got home before noon, he was going to lay down for a bit and I came home. We met at Walmart at 6 to go down, since he was at her house.
I finally got the laundry hung out, and it was hot and dried fast. Brought it in about 3 as it was thundering... got it all in before it started to rain. We got a pretty good rain for awhile... I went out a little bit ago and there was 1/2 inch in the rain gauge. It is still sticky/muggy/humid out there.
Temps were up to 93 with heat index of 101... tomorrow supposed to be the same... then more rain on Thursday, and a "cold front" coming through and dropping temps 10-20 degrees... down in the 80's????

My Explorer battery died...yesterday it started fine, then turned it off and it was totally dead. Was able to jump it and drove it home... DS doesn't think it is charging... so will put the charger on it, get it started and go down to the local place here and get him to test it. Might be the alternator... Battery is only 2 1/2 yrs old...but it might just have gone bad... So will do that tomorrow. I bought the battery at this place, but they are quite a bit cheaper at Rural King, DS has been buying all the ones for the farm there lately, so will see what is what. Didn't want to put charger on it, outside in the rain....

Going in to get a shower and go to bed early...
 
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