Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Mini Horses]

The reports here are saying 12-15 inches in your area. Not good to hear but, good to know ahead if ya gotta have it happen. Sounds like a few days of "after" to deal with. Lotta hay! Looks like it's outer edge is either very close or barely on me. I expect mainly rain with possible slushy mix but nothing else. We all know things change! But I am back to full schedule of work coming week....don't need snow!!

Good on auction! The checkup ordeal, like you say, just the price you pay. At least you know all is x-rayed out ok. That's important for this procedure. Glad you have that . Now you can push on with confidence, especially with the right side soreness.

 

[Baymule]

Jan, you are inspiring me to get this durned left knee done. The right knee is kicking up a storm, it hurts like the devil, but it can wait. I'm looking forward to surgery!

Hunker down for the storm, get as ready as you can. I know you and DS will put out plenty of hay for the cattle and get them ready too. Don't forget to have plenty of hot chocolate!

 

[Mini Horses]

Do that knee soon, Bay. While you aren't doing garden, only sheep & dogs...smaller place to work...round balers, big water tubs, less work and walk. Otherwise, a new place "might" be an issue -- cause I know you'll look for a fixer upper bargain!!! . I would!

 

[farmerjan]

I'm waiting for DS to call after he gets out of the dr so we can look at these heifers before I go to work. Just got back from my PT.... Weights on the ankles to do leg lifts and such with the knees... OH, anyone say jelly knees.

cloudy and grey... was supposed to be partly sunny today but think that there are clouds moving in ahead. Heard on the radio that Iowa is expecting a foot of snow before it takes the dive south and adds the moisture to come up to us Sunday.

After all I went through with the horrible rehab.... I am glad that I got the knees done. They are getting better...and I know I will continue to get more and more... and I am going to keep working at it, with the right one especially.
I will say this,....if you have problems in both knees, do them both at once. It means 1 time rehab...... if you do them separately, then you are looking at 6-8 weeks EACH in the pain and rehab and down time. Sure, I am not as happy as I thought I would be ..... because I am not as far along as I WANT to be.... but everyone keeps telling me how good I am doing. The horrible rehab place really worked on my mental state.... the ankle was soooooo good in comparison... but ONE AND DONE time.... yes they hurt, but I don't know how long I would have put off doing the 2nd one because of the pain and all.
Wouldn't you know that there is just recently a doctor here at the local hospital that is doing the Mako procedure... with the robot....and is doing both at the same time. My PT guy just told me about it. I might have waited to do it local.... the rehab here is better and I would have had local support.... It is done and over.... so no sense in "what if's"......
but this way I am not going to be in the position of getting one done then babying the other bad one along til I can't stand it any longer.... If you like the doctor there @Baymule get them done. Once they are both done, then you don't have to worry about "doing the second one ".
Besides, one thing I have learned, the "southerners" are much more compassionate in the rehab stage.... and take better care of their patients in so many little ways....I was in more "yankee land" in Baltimore.... And looking back, neither one hurt more than the other in the beginning after the actual surgery.... and by doing both, you are not favoring one......
Of course if only one is bad then you should only do the bad one....
And being "not overweight" is definitely in your favor... I am overweight and so it just makes everything more effort...although I am working on trying to lose at least 20 lbs this year.....that is my goal... especially around the "middle", as I used to have a much better shape. I am hoping that in another month I can start "dancing" more with the 2 step line dancing tapes I have.... practice at home.... and dancing is good exercise too....I hate feeling so "fat" and I never used to feel the weight like I am now.

Got to get off here and get the computer packed to take to the farm.

 

[Bruce]

Up to 15 inches of snow? Ugh. I have a whole new respect for people who have real winter. I never experienced it until last year. It's made worse by no equipment to clear the roads.

We are supposedly looking at 7-8 Monday into early Tuesday. Of course Monday being a Federal holiday, DW has to go into work early on Tuesday. That means leaving at 6. It also means I have to get up WAY too early for a retired guy to make sure she can get out.

if you have problems in both knees, do them both at once. I

My step sister had one knee done a few weeks ago. They wouldn't do both. But you and she are a wee bit different. She is morbidly obese, no way she could put that much weight on two new knees.

 

[Baymule]

I need to go se the doctor on my knees. I’m thinking get moved and make plans for surgery. I brought a recliner with me , after unloading truck and trailer, I’m tired. Got feet propped up, taking a rest. I’ll see what doctor says about both. He does the robot surgery too. I’m tire of bone crunching pain.

 

[Mini Horses]

Good choice Bay!!!! Line it up.

 

[farmerjan]

Saturday morning. Cloudy, but it is a "bright" kind of cloudy... looks like the sun is trying to "burn off the clouds" but they say it will only get thicker clouds as the day goes on. Cold too... down to 26 and the forecast says might hit freezing - 32 - today.
We might not get hit overnight now. Start time in this area is pushed back to about 8-10 a.m. Sunday morning. That would be good. DS won't have to go in tonight. He is planning to do ALOT of hay feeding today he said... and he is maybe going to move cattle around some at the barn to get some out of there.

He did go get the one group of weaned heifers out of the pasture yesterday afternoon, after I left the barn to go to work.
We met at the barn about 11:30 and he got the ones there, in. We sorted through several and made some decisions on who to keep and who to go. Then I had to skeedaddle out of there at 12:40... and did get to the farm in time to get the meters set up and we started milking at a little before 2 p.m.. He then went to the other pasture and got them in... One gave him a bunch of grief about not wanting to come in... and although she was a nice heifer, she went on the trailer. I think it was one of his he was going to originally keep. Said he is tired of dealing with trouble making PITA's....

He took 16 head and said we got 1.45/lb. I think he said they averaged 550 lbs. No commissions paid. But he did not weigh his and mine separately... so even though there were at least 3 of mine that were bigger that we had sorted off earlier; I am probably only going to get paid for the average. I didn't say anything but I am not really happy about it. We haven't really talked about it, he just called me on his way home from taking them last evening and I was on my way home from testing. He said he did keep one of mine that was going to go , because she had a "pot gut" and thinks she might be bred.... and it is possible that she is because she is one of the ones that did not get moved out of the nurse cow field as soon as they should have. We will see. The only saving grace of that, is if she did get bred too young, the bull there is the easy calving bull and throws small 50-60 lb calves; so she should be able to have it without any problem.

I will have a chance to talk to him more about it. I am fine with selling privately like this, but I want mine to get weighed and paid for separately.... Or at least put in with similar sized ones and weighed. There was a definite difference in some of them... a group that were weaned and bigger.. and a group that were a bit smaller. I know there was one of mine that was in the smaller group.. but there were at least 3 that were bigger... and 2 were total idiots in the barn so I am glad they are gone. I don't know, sometimes I would just rather send them to market... but it is saving at least $20 or more a head in the commission fees.... At this point, I am glad that he got a bunch out of there... that's 8 cows and 16 calves in the last few days... he did bring home the ones from that pasture but there were only about 10 there and several got sold... and at least 10 calves out of the group at the barn.
He will be able to get the pregnant cows out of there also that had some of these calves on them and wean the calves and just have less in there. We have alot still out to pasture that need to come back and get preg checked and the calves weaned... 30 + one place, 25+ at another, 13 at another... plus 25 heifers that went out for the summer with the bull that need to be brought back and checked too....
GF is not feeling good, thinks she has a flu bug.... so he is catering to her too. Which is understandable but this stuff needs doing and he needs to be out earlier and getting it done when the ground is frozen. Since I am not up to "speed" yet I am not saying anything; because I cannot help like I "should". But there were times when I wanted to; and could have, just driven the truck with a load of cattle and he was "busy at home" with her and her daughter. He spent all day with her Thursday, I found out, going to doctor appts.... when I went to mine in Baltimore.... and they still don't have a plan in place for what they are actually going to do for treatment for her. I don't get it... but DS said that the chemo dr was not very accommodating and they actually went to the head of the dept about the wishy washy way they were treated. I would be screaming for someone to get their act together....

Time to get out and let the chickens out of the crate and get some meters out of the truck that I don't need this afternoon...
Did all the dishes in the kitchen that had been piling up. Going in to get the sample bottles for this afternoon, into the trays and then will be ready to go. Going to text DS and see if he wants any help at the barn before I go to work. So guess it is time to get off. Have to take computer to the farm this afternoon to do an exchange with the thumb drive like yesterday's herd... so time to turn it off and put it in the truck too.

Looks like @Mini Horses is going to get mostly or all rain/sleet out of this storm...very little snow unless it changes direction here soon.

 

[farmerjan]

Saturday night. It is nearly 11 already. LOOOOONG day.

Let the chickens out into shelter and there were 3 eggs... one was probably yesterday's that I didn't pick up last night after they were in the crate for the evening when I got home and it was dark out there. Two looked the same (hence thinking 1 was from Friday) and a darker brown one this morning. So hopefully that means 2 of the 3 sex-links are now laying. Maybe the leghorns will start up again.

The feeder is less than 1/2 full so I stopped at the grain bin and filled a 5 gallon bucket on the way to work so I would have it to fill tomorrow. I actually drove the truck out there this eve and put the bucket in the shelter when I locked the chickens in... was not feeling like carrying it after the long afternoon in the barn.

Stopped at the farm, on the way to work, since DS didn't answer my call earlier. He was in the skid loader, feeding silage to the ones in the barn. Said he DOES have to go in tonight at midnight, and has to go to the main area headquarters to get the snow blower... so he is going to do that as soon as he goes into work. Then he said they will get any last minute stuff ready for the trucks etc and then the guys can get some naps.... himself included. He said that as soon as he gets off in the morning that he is going to go down to the one hayfield that is way up a steep hill, while it is frozen ground, and bring some of the hay down before it starts to snow. Since the forecast now says it will start between 8 and Noon.... and a good chance for it to amount to 6-8 inches before changing to some sleet and freezing rain....so who knows what we will get.

Got to the farm and got set up and we were milking at 1:45p.m... got done at 6:50 p.m. and then had to enter milk weights and all. They had about 235 go through the parlor....I was really getting tired by the last few groups. There were a bunch of "missing cows" and they had to come up with some information.... also about 20 did not have the proper identification so I had to go through and correct all that. Took over an hour... I didn't leave there until after 8 and it was close to 9 when I got home.

DS called me on the way home; he was headed down to the pasture near her house with a silage cart full of silage and a roll of hay on the truck and she was also headed down with the other truck with 2 rolls of hay so get this out in the field for the cows down there. She came up to the farm this afternoon to see if she could help a little...don't think she feels too good though. Then he said he was going to sleep for a couple hours before going back to work. He said they fed out a whole slew of hay today.

Plus, the older cow I bought Wed eve had a little calf today at the barn....he said it was pretty small but looked like it had been up and nursed already. Said she was staying right with it. I hope it does okay in the cold, and weather coming. Sooner than I expected.... they said 7 months, but when the fetus gets over about 5-6 months, it is very hard to tell exactly how far along they are...I really hope it does okay.

I stopped at the barn and got my clipboard out of the truck so I can try to get paperwork on who was sold and all done while it is still fresh in people's minds. It will give me something to catch up on while the weather is crummy.

After I locked in the chickens and put the bucket of feed in there, I backed the truck around to the house, unloaded the trays of samples into the house, and then backed around to the carport and put all the meters in the storage box from the back of the truck. Also put the one plastic tote in the carport, and will hopefully get the rest of the hoses out of the truck in the morning before it gets snowy, so I can sort them to size as I put them away. The farmer's took them down out of the parlor and put them in the truck while I was in the office doing computer stuff so I am not going to complain. But it makes it easier if I keep the various lengths together for when I have to load for other farms. Used to be I just kept them all in the car but I have other things to put in the back of the truck and they are not protected from the weather in the back of the truck. Snow won't hurt them or anything, but they stay cleaner in the storage box...

I finally got in the house, made the rest of the soup for supper and remembered I had the brownies and ate a couple for dessert. I am ready to go in and get a shower and hit the sack. I need to find the shovel in the morning, think it is in the storage building, and have it on the porch to use. Take hot water out to the chickens, and fill the feeder. There was something else I was thinking about on the way home, that escapes me now... hopefully I will think of it in the morning before we have a ton of snow. There will be plenty of things for me to do in the house tomorrow when it is crummy out there.

I quit for the night...

 

[Mini Horses]

Sounds like the southern storm is warming that NW one as they meet up...less snow for you. Of course, there will be messier roads. We're still getting primarily rain. Don't need 2" but it's coming. Bad winds!

Today will be oven meal and maybe a cake....inside, heat house. . Eat a lot. Made 2 loaves in bread machine yesterday. Heavy work this week and I'll need sandwiches to carry. Was not making a trip to store! Gosh it was good warm with melting butter and some homemade peach jam!

Not enthused with the heavier work after so slow for 2.5 months! . Got spoiled.