rachels.haven
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Farmerjan's journal - Weather
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farmerjan
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Thanks @rachels.haven .... very much.
I went and fed the horse and Deb called just as I got to the top of the hill to go out and shut the gate. She was just leaving to come back to the farm this evening so will be here later. That is great. She also said that she is planning to stay all next week and work remote again.... we are planning to get together for supper one night. One less thing for me to do with the horse too.
I talked myself into going down the hill and got most all the small boxes loaded in the car. I will unload it tomorrow as it was dark by the time I finished. There are no lights working on the porch so I wanted to be done before it got too dark to see. Tomorrow I will go down and get every/any thing left out in the back closed in porch. There is the one kitchen table and the 4 chairs there I forgot, they are slated for the yard sale since I have the one from my parents house in CT, and a small cabinet that I had in the bathroom...the shelving boards.....but it won't take much to get all that on the truck to come up.... depends on the weather if I bring it up tomorrow or wait to Saturday... Then the stuff in the storage building and there isn't alot except the fish tanks and some furniture that needs to go to the dumpster... given to me and needs reupholstering and I am not interested in it anyway....
Trying to not dwell on things up north since I can't control them at this point. I have a headache... so what else is new. Knees ache with the dampness but I was very glad to see the rain. Hope we get another one like it later.
I ate a stuffed shell and some of the garlic bread and am plenty satisfied so probably will leave it at that.
Time to quit for the evening.
I went and fed the horse and Deb called just as I got to the top of the hill to go out and shut the gate. She was just leaving to come back to the farm this evening so will be here later. That is great. She also said that she is planning to stay all next week and work remote again.... we are planning to get together for supper one night. One less thing for me to do with the horse too.
I talked myself into going down the hill and got most all the small boxes loaded in the car. I will unload it tomorrow as it was dark by the time I finished. There are no lights working on the porch so I wanted to be done before it got too dark to see. Tomorrow I will go down and get every/any thing left out in the back closed in porch. There is the one kitchen table and the 4 chairs there I forgot, they are slated for the yard sale since I have the one from my parents house in CT, and a small cabinet that I had in the bathroom...the shelving boards.....but it won't take much to get all that on the truck to come up.... depends on the weather if I bring it up tomorrow or wait to Saturday... Then the stuff in the storage building and there isn't alot except the fish tanks and some furniture that needs to go to the dumpster... given to me and needs reupholstering and I am not interested in it anyway....
Trying to not dwell on things up north since I can't control them at this point. I have a headache... so what else is new. Knees ache with the dampness but I was very glad to see the rain. Hope we get another one like it later.
I ate a stuffed shell and some of the garlic bread and am plenty satisfied so probably will leave it at that.
Time to quit for the evening.
Last edited:
Mini Horses
Herd Master
You did good. Rest.
Baymule
Herd Master
Could that itchy thing be a spider bite?
I feel bad for you and your father. There isn’t much you can do and you feel so helpless. Big hugs.
I feel bad for you and your father. There isn’t much you can do and you feel so helpless. Big hugs.
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farmerjan
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Yes, it could be a spider bite. They even said possible... but it just kept getting worse and spread out and I was just worried. Normally I don't give things a second thought, but the itching and then it getting redder and all had me concerned. I have taken several ticks off me in the last couple weeks..none attached, just crawling.... they are common when raking hay as you go under a tree branch, or get off the tractor and there is a weedy spot... I mean you can get ticks going out in the front yard lawn.... I just have never had much trouble with spiders and now this is the 2nd time I have had a suspicious looking spot... only the one with the red ring on my other arm went away in a couple days... and this one has gotten bigger and itchier.... and it could be because it has been hot and muggy and I have been sweating alot....
Will see how it looks/feels tomorrow.
Will see how it looks/feels tomorrow.
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farmerjan
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Cooler morning. Down to 64 and it rained/showered some off and on last night. Had another 10 minute good shower this morning. Radar shows it to be moving east, and we should be out of it by mid day or so. Still pretty cloudy and dreary out there. I will check the rain gauge when I go out. Seemed to be a good soaking type rain, didn't see any downpours or anything. It will really go a long way on the hayfields that were just cut.
Going to unload the car in a bit when it dries out some. I desperately need to take the weedeater out and do around the walkway to the house and some other places. Then the lawn needs to be mowed again, it got done the day before we left so has been 10 days or more. It didn't grow very fast with the heat, but now will grow like crazy again.
Can't believe that it is JULY already. Got my 500+ cow herd set up for Tuesday morning...Geneva did get back to me and that works for her. So I changed the 2x herd I was going to do Mon eve - Tues morning to Tues-Wed. That ought to be great on the knees.... 500+ in the morning Tues, then a 225 cow herd Tues eve and Wed morning...
I know I am nuts. Haven't heard back from them but they are going to have to deal with it. She cannot do Mon morning and I want to get the 500 cow herd done since I am behind on them. Going to call one herd that does his own to see if he can do Mon-Tues and I can pick up the stuff on Tues since I will be right up the road.... I am finding that I am getting tired of trying to juggle herds/testing more and more. Maybe it is the stresses lately too. Keep telling myself that I am not making any big changes until after the knee replacements.....
Arm itched like crazy last night but I tried real hard to not itch it much. Looks about the same this morning. Guess that is better than looking worse.
So time to get my butt in gear and do something... even if it is wrong!!!!
Going to unload the car in a bit when it dries out some. I desperately need to take the weedeater out and do around the walkway to the house and some other places. Then the lawn needs to be mowed again, it got done the day before we left so has been 10 days or more. It didn't grow very fast with the heat, but now will grow like crazy again.
Can't believe that it is JULY already. Got my 500+ cow herd set up for Tuesday morning...Geneva did get back to me and that works for her. So I changed the 2x herd I was going to do Mon eve - Tues morning to Tues-Wed. That ought to be great on the knees.... 500+ in the morning Tues, then a 225 cow herd Tues eve and Wed morning...
I know I am nuts. Haven't heard back from them but they are going to have to deal with it. She cannot do Mon morning and I want to get the 500 cow herd done since I am behind on them. Going to call one herd that does his own to see if he can do Mon-Tues and I can pick up the stuff on Tues since I will be right up the road.... I am finding that I am getting tired of trying to juggle herds/testing more and more. Maybe it is the stresses lately too. Keep telling myself that I am not making any big changes until after the knee replacements.....Arm itched like crazy last night but I tried real hard to not itch it much. Looks about the same this morning. Guess that is better than looking worse.
So time to get my butt in gear and do something... even if it is wrong!!!!
Mini Horses
Herd Master
Correct you are! The pressure of time and stresses of move, parents sick, mom's passing, dad's upheaval, add the pain you endure....it is depressing! You need a release and everything needs your time and attention. Once the stone house is out of your life, it will help greatly...taking away that "pull" ..... A break between hay cuttings, time to mentally process parents and loss. Things will only then smooth out for you.
I have had a good amount of time this past 3 weeks to give attention to back burner issues, cross things from list and, yes, relax my mind to re-focus. It is a beautiful thing when you can have time to sort things out....highly recommend it! Once past this next week you can take care of you. Keep the goal in mind and DO schedule a few days off!
Do something " fun" one day to break the cycle, then you can relax a little....yep, hard, but you can do it!
I have had a good amount of time this past 3 weeks to give attention to back burner issues, cross things from list and, yes, relax my mind to re-focus. It is a beautiful thing when you can have time to sort things out....highly recommend it! Once past this next week you can take care of you. Keep the goal in mind and DO schedule a few days off!
Do something " fun" one day to break the cycle, then you can relax a little....yep, hard, but you can do it!
Baymule
Herd Master
What @Mini Horses said!
misfitmorgan
Herd Master
Jan what are you testing cow herds for?
I hope you days get better soon or at least less busy. I know with hay season alone that is a dream. We start cutting after work today. Also got offered another 30 acres on top of the 27 acres we were planning on. I have no idea where we are going to put all this hay. Our 2 story only has storage for about 1,100 bales, we could fit another probly 2-300 hundred downstairs if it we clean it out first. Hay prices fell at the latest auction went from a high of 9.50 down to 6.50.
I hope you days get better soon or at least less busy. I know with hay season alone that is a dream. We start cutting after work today. Also got offered another 30 acres on top of the 27 acres we were planning on. I have no idea where we are going to put all this hay. Our 2 story only has storage for about 1,100 bales, we could fit another probly 2-300 hundred downstairs if it we clean it out first. Hay prices fell at the latest auction went from a high of 9.50 down to 6.50.
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farmerjan
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@misfitmorgan , I am a DHIA (dairy herd improvement assoc.) milk tester for 30 years. Take a milk sample from every cow that goes through the barn/parlor, and it is sent to the lab for testing of butter fat, protein and scc. I record milk weights on each cow, and any pertinent info such as dry off, calving, breeding dates.... other stuff. The farmer gets back a report that allows him to compare his cows against each other... It is a management tool for the farmer. The lab also allows for pregnancy testing, and some other tests. Anyone with registered goats that are "on test" also go through dhia or one of the other companies that offer milk testing like "dairy one".....
It gives farmers official records on cattle and can be required by some of the lending institutions.... goes on the registration records for cattle and goats... and possibly sheep.....SCC (somatic cell count) is what many of the commercial dairies want so that they can monitor the quality of the cows milk....
Weather cleared off mostly late this afternoon although there were patches of clouds and sun during the day. Wound up with a total of .9 inch for the 2 days... not too shabby. It was a good rain too, it all really soaked in.
Cooled off too... hit about 82 and is back down to 61 now.
Had a headache again today.... hoping that I can get rid of it by tomorrow.
DS is planning to cut again starting Sat afternoon if all goes well.
Yeah, getting more hay ground is a blessing and a curse.... At least with us round baling we can store outside. There is some loss, but not too bad.... sq bales HAVE to be stored inside.... but even if hay prices are off... it still only costs about 3.50 a sq bale to actually make it so if you sell part of it, you are paying some of the costs to make it. Well, might be up to 4 now with increased fuel costs. But we figure that what we sell that is even 1.00 above production costs, that is extra hay right out of the field, goes towards the cash flow overall. Although I think he is going up on hay prices this year due to increased fuel costs.....The costs are somewhat fixed, but the handling afterwards, to put in the barn and such, is where you can save if you can sell it directly out of the field or directly off the wagon..... we try to make more than 1.00 bale above costs... but as you said, where do you store it.... although our seasons are a little ahead of yours, the type of grasses seem to grow real fast up north, so the quality of your hay must be getting to mature or over mature now like ours is. You will have alot of green growth coming up in it, but it is probably getting past prime. Ours is, but there is no point of cutting for it to lay on the field for a week getting wet and turning black or getting moldy... so you wait to be able to at least get it made dry. It is even more important now for us to try to hit the "windows" of being able to get it dry so we don't have to tedd and then rake it...cuts down on a trip across the field which is time and fuel and wear and tear costs...if I can just rake it.
The spider plants that I transplanted looked good too... settled all the soil around the plants good and washed off all the leaves. Soaked in real good around the peach trees and roses and peonies and all....
Ought to be a couple of nice clear days with drier crisp air.
It gives farmers official records on cattle and can be required by some of the lending institutions.... goes on the registration records for cattle and goats... and possibly sheep.....SCC (somatic cell count) is what many of the commercial dairies want so that they can monitor the quality of the cows milk....
Weather cleared off mostly late this afternoon although there were patches of clouds and sun during the day. Wound up with a total of .9 inch for the 2 days... not too shabby. It was a good rain too, it all really soaked in.
Cooled off too... hit about 82 and is back down to 61 now.
Had a headache again today.... hoping that I can get rid of it by tomorrow.
DS is planning to cut again starting Sat afternoon if all goes well.
Yeah, getting more hay ground is a blessing and a curse.... At least with us round baling we can store outside. There is some loss, but not too bad.... sq bales HAVE to be stored inside.... but even if hay prices are off... it still only costs about 3.50 a sq bale to actually make it so if you sell part of it, you are paying some of the costs to make it. Well, might be up to 4 now with increased fuel costs. But we figure that what we sell that is even 1.00 above production costs, that is extra hay right out of the field, goes towards the cash flow overall. Although I think he is going up on hay prices this year due to increased fuel costs.....The costs are somewhat fixed, but the handling afterwards, to put in the barn and such, is where you can save if you can sell it directly out of the field or directly off the wagon..... we try to make more than 1.00 bale above costs... but as you said, where do you store it.... although our seasons are a little ahead of yours, the type of grasses seem to grow real fast up north, so the quality of your hay must be getting to mature or over mature now like ours is. You will have alot of green growth coming up in it, but it is probably getting past prime. Ours is, but there is no point of cutting for it to lay on the field for a week getting wet and turning black or getting moldy... so you wait to be able to at least get it made dry. It is even more important now for us to try to hit the "windows" of being able to get it dry so we don't have to tedd and then rake it...cuts down on a trip across the field which is time and fuel and wear and tear costs...if I can just rake it.
The spider plants that I transplanted looked good too... settled all the soil around the plants good and washed off all the leaves. Soaked in real good around the peach trees and roses and peonies and all....
Ought to be a couple of nice clear days with drier crisp air.
