Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Baymule]

Sounds like the GF needs to find a new doctor that gives a durn about her and her treatment. Medical professionals sometimes act like everything is boring and routine to THEM, but forget that it is a BIG DEAL to the PATIENT. Either that or doctor needs an old fashioned "peach switching" LOL LOL

Hope the snow is light and the animals fare well. Congratulations on the new calf and I hope it makes it through the cold.

 

[farmerjan]

Getting ready to head out the door and get the hoses off the truck and find the shovel in the building. Check the freezers while I am in there too. Not that anything is going to thaw... It is currently 16 degrees...
No snow or anything yet. Radar looks like it will hit after 10 a.m. So I am going to go out and do what I need to and then probably settle in the house for the rest of the day.
I don't really want a foot of snow.. but REALLY DON'T want the icy mix... and rain at these cold temps is just NOT acceptable.

Yeah, hope the calf does okay considering I was not wanting one yet.
Not getting into the mess with the GF and the dr.... guess they are dealing with it.... I just listen...
Hope DS got a chance to get some sleep last night since they really did not need to be there... He will have to go back in at 8 p.m. this evening, so I hope he gets what hay he wants to moved down the hill and goes home for some sleep. All the cows should have gotten enough hay yesterday that he shouldn't need to do much other feeding today except maybe refilling the silage in the bunks before the snow starts. It won't hurt it to get wet but half of it is inside under the roof. They eat if fast enough that there won't be much waste. Although, he will probably let them clean up what he fed yesterday and then refill after the storm passes. It is supposed to be out of here by late night...
But the winds that @Mini Horses was talking about are supposed to hit here... possible power outages. Hope not.

See y'all later...


It is da#@ed cold out there... Chickens need letting out and some hot water to thaw the little bit of ice in the waterer... it was nearly empty yesterday so that was good.

 

[farmerjan]

Back in the house a bit. It is COLDER than a witch's teat..... down another degree to 15.....

Took hot water out and got them their water... Had a brown egg this morning... Filled the feeder and there was a little left in the bucket to refill with in a day or 2. They rushed right out to eat.

Got the hoses out of the truck into the carport and sorta sorted them so I can find the different sizes when needed. It was starting to spit snow then. Went in the shed, got the shovel and the broom and checked the freezers. Came on into the house....
It was starting to blow snow... and it is really cold. Not to my liking. Saw DS with more hay for the cattle next door when I was in the kitchen.... I don't know how much he got moved off the hill but hope it was most or all of it... he had been going up there and getting 2 rolls at a time when he was down in that direction, to go feed other places... but don't know what the status was/is. He shouldn't have had much to feed so I hope he went home to get some sleep as it is going to be messy later I am afraid.

Made some of the hard boiled eggs into deviled eggs and some into egg salad; made and ate a couple sandwiches. Went into the freezer in the house and got out some ground beef, some "chipped beef" for making chipped beef on toast, a pkg of pork chops and a rib eye steak. Give me some stuff for the next few meals. Think I am going to go in and put a pot of baked beans in the oven to cook.... can't find my bean pot (packed who knows where) but can just use a baking dish.... good way to warm up the kitchen/house.

Got most of the clean dishes put away. I moved the other kitchen cupboard in the house yesterday, it has been on the deck covered with a tarp... and want to get it slid into the DR on the blanket I slid it in the house on... and then see about getting it stood up against the wall where I have been planning to put it. One of the doors is missing... it warped and the guy who built it took it and was supposed to replace it, but he moved and I never got it back. So will have to see about getting a new sheet of finished plywood to cut a new door out of... I like them plain and simple.... and to make it match....and then stain it and get new hinges to put it on. But I can use it as is like I used to... works good for the gallon and 1/2 gallon glass jars and other stuff like that. It would help empty some boxes and at least I can reach the shelves in this as opposed to the high shelves in the upper cabinets in the kitchen above the counter tops and lower cabinets that stick out 24 inches as opposed to the upper ones at 12 inches. I get that that is the standard... but I MUCH prefer the cupboards that are one depth top to bottom with no counter space. I would rather have an island with a big counter top to do stuff than all these cabinets around the kitchen that I cannot get down to get into the bottoms, and can't reach the top shelves because they are set back further from the bottom ones so I can't reach over and up that high. Oh well, that is a pet peeve of mine.

So, I decided that I ought to get it in the house before we got this big snow/ice mess so it wouldn't get wet or warped or ruined.... It is in the way but I will get things moved around in the DR to get it over against that wall. It is pretty heavy so don't know if I can get it stood up by myself....

Snow is coming down pretty steady out there... and darned if it isn't just frigid....there is a breeze so blowing a little. Going in to get a pot of beans in the oven. Thinking the steak for dinner this evening... pork chops tomorrow night.....chopped meat for making some manwiches maybe???? And there is always soup.....

Clothes to fold and am going to hang the "delicate" laundry that I just ran through, in the house on a couple of hangers with clothespins... will add some moisture to the air as it dries. Never got it done last week.

Lots of little projects today.

 

[farmerjan]

Temp down to 14 and the wind is blowing hard. Not quite a blizzard but it is awful out there. Just downright miserable... Hope the animals have all found places to hunker down. Hate this wind.

Big bowl of baked beans in the oven. House still is not very warm. Sure wish I had an inside wood stove.... At least we have not had any problems with the power so far.

Put some things in the "spice cupboard" and been looking in a few boxes to unpack some more....

Time to put in a movie and fold these clothes.

 

[Ridgetop]

Good prices on cattle -
Good buy on cow who calved several days later! Hope it survives even though it is not the right time to have a newborn. If the calf makes it then quick return on cow purchase! LOL

Even though you did not like the final price on the private treaty cattle, at least they are off your hands for feeding through the winter. Do you have a cattle scale? Maybe next time weigh your cows at home to check differences in weights. At least no commission.

Keep warm!

 

[Bruce]

It is COLDER than a witch's teat

My second college roommate used to say "Colder than a witch's tit in a brass bra in January". Given he came from San Diego I have no clue how he would know anything about cold. But then I came from just south of L.A.. Cold was anything below 50°F.

 

[Baymule]

While we generally don't enjoy bad weather, sometimes it's nice to have forced down time. Or at least down time between caring for animals. Hope the weather isn't too hard on your son, working nights out in this mess.

 

[farmerjan]

Monday morning. The wind is still blowing and predictions for gusts up to 40 mph with sustained in the 15-20 mph. The sun is out some, clouds too. The temp continued to rise overnight. it is now 35 but feels like 20 with the wind....

I am going out to the chickens in a bit. I did not even go out to lock them in the crate as there would not be any predators out last night in the cold and weather...they would all have gone in the crate so wasn't too worried about them staying together to stay warm.

Trucks have been out on the roads, I imagine spreading stuff for all the slick spots. It does not look like it is scraped to the pavement but then the wind blows on this ridge and drifts it over alot.

Official snow total was 9-10 inches just a few miles north of here. I expect that is about right. The wind sure makes that a difficult thing to measure.

The wind is just blowing out there...I never lived out in the midwest or the plains states... but if it does this all the time they can have it. I could not take the relentless blowing.

Last night the water to the bathtub was frozen... I put a heater to blow in there and after opening up the faucets, it finally thawed enough to start running... first the hot and then about 20 minutes later the cold got flowing. I took a good hot shower and made sure that I kept the heater on low and kept the room a bit warmer. It is fine this morning. The pipes run near the outside wall.
There was a terrible draft in the bedroom and I was having trouble keeping the temp up to 50. The windows they had installed several years ago for the mom are not worth diddly.... I took just clear packaging tape and taped up the sides where the windows slide up and down... and there was cold air coming in the bottom where they are supposed to close down tight. Then I took a blanket all folded up and had to stuff it all along the window trim, below the window, where you could feel the draft... It was really bad. I had some water in a bottle on the floor and it had ice in it. This coming year I will have to see about addressing this problem; after the weather gets nice and all. I think that a storm window is in order for starters... these are double pane windows that the previous owner was saying how good they are and I am not at all impressed...Better than single pane I realize.. but the installation was definitely sub par in the bedroom one. BRRR it was cold... but after doing the quickie fixit it got much warmer. I can't understand how the window just must not fit in the space and they did a crap job of shimming and insulating it out. It is on the side where the carport is only a few feet from the side of the house... but the wind whipped through that narrow "alley space" like a wind tunnel.

I made chipped beef on toast for breakfast this morning. Now getting ready to brave the miserable wind and go out to the chickens with hot water and see what I can get thawed out for them to drink. Next 2 days are supposed to get nicer... sunny and up into the low 40's for day temps and 20's at night, then drop off again to 30's and teens the end of the week.

Haven't talked to DS yet... I am sure he is doing farm stuff as he should have gotten off at 8 .

 

[Bruce]

but the wind whipped through that narrow "alley space" like a wind tunnel.

Yep. Does the same thing here between the little barn which is maybe 20' west of the house and between the little barn and the big barn 15' to its north. The wind between the little barn and the house pulls the snow out of that area. The wind between the barns drops the snow there.

 

[farmerjan]

Taking a few minute break and ate an avocado for lunch. Still pretty full from the chipped beef this morning.

The wind was cold when I went out to the chickens. The water had some ice in it but not frozen hard. Took another gallon or so out so poured it into the other waterer that was pretty frozen. It was actually not bad in the greenhouse/shelter. At least no wind in there.
Picked up 2 eggs, 2 different shades of brown so pretty sure 2 different hens again. That works for me.

Tromped through 6-10+ inches of snow in different places so safe to say we had about 8-10 inches total. It has been mostly cloudy all day. Temps are dropping a bit... hit 37 for a little bit but now down to 29 and it will only drop off now. But the forecast is for mid-upper 30's tomorrow and 40's Wednesday.
Unfortunately they are calling for another "system" to come in this coming weekend again....It seems that we get on these patterns that bring weather "events" in most every weekend.

Haven't talked to DS and I am sure he is home sleeping now so won't bother him. Don't know how this is going to affect getting the rest of the cattle moved. I am not thrilled with so many still out on pasture and they need to be preg checked and the calves weaned off the cows.... I am not in a place to do anything on my own....just frustrating.