Farmerjan's journal - Weather

farmerjan

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@Senile_Texas_Aggie , thanks but there is only one outside water source and it is a hydrant that comes up out of the ground. I am thinking that it might not be a good frost proof one, or it might not extend as far down as it should. I wasn't cutting off the hydrant because I was filling all the waterers at night and then in the morning was just flipping the 2 over and the other 2 are top fill, with a small hole in the bottom for the water to "glug glug" out until the surrounding water tray is full. Then as they drink, the water level goes below the hole and more water comes out. Since the top is tight, it is sorta like a vacuum..... air goes in and the water comes out.....I't hasn't been cold enough for more than the hose to freeze a bit.... but there was a bite to the air last night and with the nearly constant breeze here..... the "wind chill " on the hydrant was probably colder than I realized. I left the hose unattached and hopefully the hydrant will thaw out. Tomorrow is supposed to be up in the upper 40's they said just a little bit ago and sunny. But the hydrant is in a shaded spot so won't thaw as quick as if it was in the sun. Still, if the air warms up some, it ought to get thawed.
Since I have PT early, then going to run the couple of errands, I ought to get back by 10 or so.... I have to leave by 1:00 to go test so if I can get it thawed, I will shut it off after filling all the waterers and a couple of buckets for the next morning.... and see if that solves the problems. Then the meat birds should be processed before we get into real cold weather. I will not get any more for the winter. Much easier to only take care of a half dozen purebreds for the winter. By late Feb or March, if the knees are not done, then I will want to get some so that I can sell in May at the poultry swap. Just don't want them through the Jan-Feb cold.
 

Mini Horses

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I have a couple hair dryers that are just kept to thaw a pipe or faucet. Have put a surround on a pipe and let dryer blow into it. Works well. Then, put a more permanent cover on that pipe. Lol.

Haven't seen the recent possum since I kicked him in the butt until he went thru the fence he was trying to go thru...maybe he went off and died, it was a couple pretty hard kicks. Ok, really hard!! :mad: No doubt it was severely bruised up. I was pretty ticked at losing a doz eggs, which it didn't get to finish eating...tough luck! A bullet or machete will be next hit if it comes back....whatever I have with me.

Your getting things moved nicely. Congrats! Hope son feeling better...

You got a dusting. Glad not more. I got cold rain. ;). More than I wanted or needed. Hate even the thought of snow. Been 10 yrs since a really big snow here and it was 1.5 ft. That is as bad as 5 ft...not a lot of VDOT equipment since it is a rare occurrence. They do work hard to spread salt & sand before. It helps for the occasional 2-4" we sometimes see here. Holding my breath for a bad hit this winter....only a dusting last 2 yrs. There are several houses on my end of the road and those with tractors usually try to help clear driveways for this with only a shovel. That last big snow, I had only a shovel! :thit was great to have a neighbors help -- on a tractor! This year I'm more prepared and while I want to help, I'd prefer it isn't with snow for any of us!
 

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The last several major snows that hit places like Hampton Roads and other areas, DS has been on a big snowblower for VDOT that got sent down that way to help clear roads because as you said, they don't have the snow equipment we have here in the more snowy mountainous areas. If that happens, I will catch up with you and maybe he will be in your area. He said that the one area they got sent to, several of the people along the routes were bringing the guys out hot coffee and soup and a couple had made stews and fed them hot meals. They were working 12-16 hour shifts. He likes to get sent to places like that.... or at least he used to.... don't know what things will be like this year....:hu:rolleyes::idunno:idunno:hide

I will get the foam surround thing for the pipe and that ought to help with the wind chill stuff. Thanks for the idea, I hadn't thought about it. Since it is out in the open, I really don't want to have a heat tape out there on it although it can be covered I guess. Something to think about because it will be easier to have the hose to water them. But less birds will be the best thing. And once these go, I want to move the shelter so that the manure and all will get soaked into the ground too for the garden. I want to have a couple of smaller, moveable coops for the purebreds but for now they are sharing this shelter.
 

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I use those foam cups for the two faucets at the house. All the other faucets are pipes sticking out of the ground, I should look into the frost free faucets. I always cut off the water to them.
 

farmerjan

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Tuesday morning. It was cold this morning, 26 I think. Went to PT and then came to house. Going to put on my chore jeans etc, and go out and do the chickens now that it has warmed up some. Carry some water so they can come out and drink, then carry some more. Got a load of clothes in the machine and will do at least one more load to hang out. I had put a bunch of clothes in the car early, brought them up and sorting through...washing and will make a pile of those that don't fit. Was I ever that small and slim to wear some of them??????
Since I have to go through town on the way to test I figured there was no sense in going after PT.... it's 10+ miles out of the way although it is half way to town if I need to get something. So I will leave a little early for work and go by and get the few things I have on the list.
Got to load the meters and hoses for the farm this afternoon now that the back is empty.

They have revised the forecast a bit and it might get warmer than they were saying last eve. YAY:weee:thumbsup:yesss::yesss::yesss::clap:celebrate:love Upper 50's and mostly sunny through Friday at least.

There was a cancellation for the pool at PT and my PT guy wants me to get in and see if I can get some more stretching . The lack of gravity does help but it is more time consuming to do the pool. So..... it is after I test on Thursday, and I should have enough time to get done testing and then get there. At least if it is warmer, I won't hate coming out of the heated covered pool and into the colder air. I wish there was a pool close that I could use regularly as I do feel much better after getting in and being able to move much more freely.

Just got a call to pick up a herd for another tester. Not what I want to do, but I will do it for her. Her mom is not doing well and has come to live with her. So there goes my schedule for next Monday.....Oh well.....

Gotta head out to get things done here. Have a nice day.
 

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Tues night. Got here about a half hour ago, brought samples in the house and went out and just locked up the chickens. I will come to the house first in the morning and take water and feed out to them. It is cold, although the wind has laid down, but it is a still cold....I am tired from testing, PT, and all.

I tried the faucet and it ran good. I think that it just froze because of the wind chilling it and that it was full of water because I had left it on to fill the waterers. Dodged a bullet I think. so from now on the hose will get detached from the faucet, and I will try to fill the waterers earlier. Hose should be pretty well drained out too so hopefully I will be able to use it again tomorrow. Luckily, I can drain it from both ends as there is a small rise in the ground about halfway out to the chickens..... so will just have to make sure I do that.

Got caught up in some major traffic when I left to go to work. So I finally was able to get off the interstate, and went up the local roads to the farm. Didn't make any stops because I was almost running behind time wise....so didn't get to the store for the few things I wanted to get. Tomorrow or Thursday.
Tomorrow morning, I will come do the chickens and put some of the longer hoses in the car for the farm that I am going to do in the afternoon. I have to go set up so he can run all the wash systems through the meters. It is fairly close so not a big issue. I also have to go pick up the 3 samples from the farm I used to test, that still has a few cows for themselves, and since they are registered, they worked out a deal where I send their samples in as part of this other herd and then he can keep his cows registered records up. I forgot to call him and tell him I was going to this other herd... so I called from the farm, and he was able to weigh the milk this evening and get the samples that I will pick up and send them all out tomorrow. Worked out good considering that I totally forgot to call him and tell him I was going today. Too much other stuff on my brain lately.
So after I set up at the farm for tomorrow's test, I will run over to his place, get the samples, and then come back to the house and pack samples to get sent out. Then, I hope that I can refill all the waterers, and go get the buckets filled with feed again..... and maybe do a couple more loads of laundry while it is not so terribly cold. And take the rest of the meters out of the car, I needed 16 tonight but only 12 for the next 3 farms, and maybe be able to go get a load of boxes to bring up. Might find a few that aren't too heavy to throw in there in the morning, but it is easier to not have too much in there when I have the meters. I still hope to make at least one trip tomorrow. Trying to take advantage of the nicer warmer weather to move things. There is alot of the china in boxes already, extra pieces and stuff, that I could put in and there is some clothes and stuff.... a couple boxes of towels and misc stuff in the linen closet in the bathroom. I am sure I can find some stuff to toss in there in the morning that can sit on the front porch when I go set up and then can get a second trip after getting some laundry done. Have to be back to test at 4:30 in the afternoon.... so I can water and feed the chickens later and they will be in good shape. Need to move the chairs into the DR , so they are out of the way in the hallway, for bringing in more stuff. I can get the stuff to put on the bottoms of the chair legs when I go through town.....
I am cold and tired, so going to head down the hill and make something to eat and get a good hot shower and some sleep. It will be a long enough day tomorrow.
 

farmerjan

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Wed eve. Just got back to house from testing this eve. LONGGGGG DAY. Got up and was real sore. Came up to house, got the other hoses and went out to chickens and fed and filled waterers. I used the hose with no problem. Thank goodness, carrying water was not on my preferred list this morning.

Took the meters and went and set up at the farm I was going to test this evening. Then went to the other farm and picked up the samples and talked to him for a little bit. I miss visiting with him and his wife. She is working off the farm now, and he has been approved for disability. The bad injury to his leg when the heifer fell, and subsequent surgeries and almost losing that leg, and the trying to carry on that ended up in his selling the majority of the herd. He told me that part of it was pride, but he finally broke down and applied and was approved on the first application which is almost unheard of. I am so glad that he did finally go for it.... we had talked about it a couple of times and I told him that after paying in SS for all those years; as a self employed farmer; .... and all the ones that get it that are a whole lot more able bodied than he is..... that he was nuts to not try to get it. He is 58 and the arthritis is getting really bad, and the damage to his leg and repair has it barely able to bend. But he could have lost it so he is really lucky in some ways.

So left there, came back and then put clothes in the machine. Packed the samples, then took them to the ups pickup, took the feed buckets and filled all them and brought them back and took out to the chickens and filled the feeders and filled all the waterers. Then took all the dry clothes off the line and hung the load just washed. The wind was blowing the dry clothes enough that a couple had come loose and were hanging by 1 clothespin. Brought the clean dry ones in, and laid all the t-shirts out flat so that they will fold decent. Put the trays of bottles in the car, and went to test. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Go back there in the morning....5:30 a.m. As soon as we get,done testing and I do the computer stuff, I have to come back to the house and change to go to the PT in the pool tomorrow. 11:15......
Needless to say that I didn't get anything moved today. I hope to get something moved tomorrow afternoon.....I hope that I will feel a little better after the pool therapy.....I hurt tonight. I am not going to even try to load anything tonight. I need some rest for these aching knees.

It started out cloudy then the sun came out. It is still breezy. It is supposed to be warmer Thursday, Friday, and Sat then some precip coming in. I'll take it.....

Going down the hill... need a good hot shower and something to eat so I can get some sleep and get up to go back to work.
 

Mini Horses

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Glad your friend applied and got a fast approval! You are right that most often you must go through a lot of crap to get what you paid into and deserve. No doubt it will help them. Dang, a heifer fell on him? And people don't realize the dangers in this. So many farming accidents are with equipment...but there are others. Those grain storage bins are dangerous!

You sure did have a long day!! Rest up.
 
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