Farmerjan's journal - Weather

farmerjan

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I did get to town. Picked up a few things at Walmart and went next door and got the paint sample cans. Got a roll of "wood grain" shelf paper for a couple dollars to see if I like it in the cabinets. They don't carry the baseboard heater's metal parts, said to try a plumbing supple. There is a good one in town so will go there and see if they have them, to replace and price, or find out the best way to get them cleaned/sanded to be able to repaint. FORGOT to look at the fencing as I wanted to get home to the hayfield to get the raking done. I had also gone to get the feed. Hay is raked. The fog had cleared off by the time I was heading to town, and it has gotten hot.... hit 94 on the thermometer.... I did the cow on the way home too, but didn't unload the feed so that will get done this eve when it is hopefully a little cooler and I will let her out. Got cat food to unload here for now.... and stashed the paint jars and misc stuff in the house here, until I can get in the house there. Have to get a roller pan and all, I used to have one but think it finally got thrown out and they are not expensive. Since I probably am not going to bother with the ceilings since they look so much better, I think I will just get a couple of big sponges and a couple of my 2 gal buckets here, to wash down the kitchen walls there... and then take the tape measure and measure exact size for the fridge and where the freezers might go.... and see about getting my washing machine moved up there.... I forgot to look at the floor in the utility room but I am pretty sure it is a vinyl which is fine....
Tried to call the electric co but the wait time was too long for me to wait so will try again in the morning. I know that they won't just go and turn it off and I will pay them for a month if it takes a little bit to get it changed over. I have good credit with the elec co here at this house so don't see any problem.

Was planning on having the guy who helps us at the farm and all, do some stuff for me for some cash,but he is supposed to go in and have his gall bladder out, and then he is maybe going to an institution for a month to get his diabetes straightened out and deal with his mental and depression issues. Medicaid will be helping him with that from what my son said. One day he is good, the next he is so depressed he can't get himself up out of bed and do anything. The insulin is a problem I know, and that can affect things too.... but you have to want to get better and if he expects the insulin to get right, he has to eat better and quit drinking sodas and such that have sugar and all..... like I said awhile back, he has to want to do better..... and make the effort. Maybe this going away for a bit will help him with some counseling and such. Get him straightened out and then he can hold himself to it. Get his wife/ex-wife or whatever she is out of his life and quit dwelling on it.

I guess that I am just different, I won't let myself wallow in self pity, or continually cry over what was or should have been.... it is just not productive. When a relationship is done, it is done. I will do my crying, and regrets, and then go on. He can't accept that she has been doing him wrong and gets all upset everytime he starts to think of it. If she is continuing to do it, then there is no chance of making it better, so she needs to be out of his life and he has to go from there.
I feel terrible about my ex-fiance , passing away, and have thought about him several times over the years.... but the relationship was over. I considered getting back in touch with him, but he wanted me to change and unless he had realized that it wasn't going to happen, it never would have worked again. Do I get lonely, YES.... but you have to live your life for today, and tomorrow, because you can't change yesterday. Regrets, maybe... revisit, possibly..... go back and feel sorry for the wrongs that were done to you......NOT so that it cripples your life now. You have to move on.... one way or another.... and go forward, backward, or sideways, but not stay in the same rut.....

So the upshot is, he will be going to get some help, hopefully it will help him..... he's a nice enough guy, decent mechanic, easy going enough, ought to be able to make a life for himself. He keeps lamenting losing his CDL due to the high sugar/diabetes.... and the lifestyle he had and lost due to not managing his money and doing for her.... well, there are jobs out there... he won't go apply for SS disability so has become sort of a bum.... He could go back to "turning wrenches" but doesn't have the drive to hold a job because he gets so depressed over her. So hopefully this will help him get back some self esteem and get his health on track.... maybe he will come back "better" than he is now. His camper trailer will stay at my son's barn while he is gone and ds said he hopes he can come back to work some for us and maybe get a job and get his life put back together. For his sake I hope so. Not at all interested in him as anything more than a friend and help on the farm, but I would be willing to help out a little with some decent meals once I get settled into the house so to have someone to cook for occasionally. Can't handle him on a daily basis.... not his mother or his nursemaid and definitely not girlfriend.....

Got to get all the stuff I need for work Tues., together this eve. And get the stuff for Wednesday too so that I am not pushed wed morning for time. Left a message for the farmer to see if he wants to owner sampler test this week . Not a big deal one way or another. Guess I will go unload the cat food into my bin here, then go up the hill. It is still 94 out.....at least the hay has had a chance for the green/wet spots to dry better. It was pretty thick when I tedded it and with all that dew took awhile to dry off on top.
 

farmerjan

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Hey, @Mini Horses , I am looking for a portable dishwasher as there isn't any place to put in a "built in one" without tearin apart the cabinets.... and yeah, I want it for the canning jars/milk jars and such. Wouldn't have alot of use for it just for me .... but it will get them clean and sterile. One with like a "butcher block top" that will roll to the sink to hook up.... it might just fit under that "bar area" where the book shelf things are on the end.... I need to measure that. Thanks for mentioning it. It was on my list for here, but never found one. Might have to buy one new -OUCH - but it also could go with me so not like I would lose out on the "investment". Then I was thinking about it for the new house, then it got left off the list, when I was trying to remember everything else and the dates kept getting put back....

Yeah, I can't figure those that don't like to milk. To me it is very relaxing way to slow down and just contemplate things or even blank your mind and feel the rhythm of the milk from the teats into the bucket....My son will not milk... and with his lack of patience it is a good thing.....they would kick him from here to kingdom come....
 

Bruce

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was sitting up on blocks but the grass and all has grown up over the years and it probably should be raised up again to have "air" under it.
I don't understand. Why can't you just whack the grass under it? The grass grew up, the tank didn't grow down, right?

Don't know about the wood furnace, it will add value for most people looking to settle out in the "country".... and if things do go sideways in this country, might be the smartest thing I do.
I wouldn't bet on it being a value add to a lot of people. Not everyone wants to hike outside to feed the woodburner in whatever the weather happens to be. If it is going to be a 15 year payback and you don't plan to be there anywhere near that long it might be a money loser.
 

farmerjan

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I think that the blocks have settled or maybe even broken.... the tank looks to be sitting in the dirt and weed eating has not gotten any space under it. They mentioned that it might need to be raised back up a bit.

Around here there are more wanting the wood burning furnaces, that the one place has a 6 month wait. I stopped by there today inbetween everything else to just get an idea. The kind my friend said not to get as it uses too much wood.... And right now the price of oil isn't too bad, but when it was near 4.00 gallon, the one place was scrambling to get them installed in less than a year. Those stoves are cheaper, but Rocky told me all the differences as he researched them for a long time before he decided on which one to get. So, I will be in that direction in a week or so and just see what they have to say. Realize something too, if I don't take out the oil furnace, which I don't plan to, the wood furnace can be removed and sold or moved. Yes they weigh alot, yes they are awkward.... but they can be "unattached" to the system. They are free standing outside.... Another advantage is the insurance rates are not near as high with the "fire" not inside the structure... and there is no mess, no wood/sawdust/ stuff to clean up and no smoke or dust when loading to get on the ceiling and walls.
As for people not wanting to go out and put the wood in, I think that alot around here are still old fashioned enough to want to do for themselves, and most that move out of the subdivisions, do so, so that they can have more control over some things in their life. And with the small solar panel to run the water pump.... they will have heat if the power goes out. That is a plus to many .
Around here the weather is not like yours up there... we don't get as cold, but we get alot of the dampness. So it feels cold/raw. Actually, one of the 3 sisters that are selling me the house...they have one. And she has issues with her legs and feet, and she says it makes her get up and get out and walk. Plus they buy their wood, and she says they know exactly what it is going to cost them for the winter as they buy their wood ahead, and usually have some left, so know pretty much how much it costs to heat the house and provide their hot water. Oil prices, and propane to some extent, can vary week to week and I have seen it flucuate. She said they have seen their winter time costs go down with it. They have had it about 10 years she said.

But it bears looking into and then sitting and chewing the fat on it for awhile. Big thing as you said, is how long I think that I might be there....as to payback....
 
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farmerjan

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Hay is all baled, so if it rains tonight or tomorrow then no losses. Still got one more 9+ acre field to do. Might have gotten it done if he had cut it, but it wouldn't have gotten baled until tomorrow and the supposed rain coming in is iffy as to time. Says evening.... can't depend on it that is for sure. Probably won't rain til wed or thurs because we didn't go on and mow it....

Got the meters and hoses in the truck. Going to get the sample bottles in the racks for both tomorrow's herd (150+) and Wed. herd (200+/-). Going to go by and pick up the couple of samples from the farmer that has the couple show cows at home, on my way to test, then can come straight home to do the nurse cow instead of stopping on the way home and making itan even later night.

Got an issue with a well pump at the "home farm" (dougs) and the well guy is supposed to come tomorrow and I will have to meet him to take him up the hill to where this well is. Says 10 a.m. we'll see. I do have to leave by 12:30 the latest so he had better show up at a decent time. I will go do the nurse cow and all in the morning first, and have all my stuff in the truck in case I have to leave from there if he is late. They are supposed to let me know when he leaves the shop. 1/2 hour away. Gonna be a long day and wed will be longer with the 125 mile drive each way. But then there is THURSDAY.......
I was going to go see about getting the oil changed tomorrow morning.... don't think that is going to happen. Maybe Thursday aft or Fri morning. It is way over due. Check it to make sure that it is up to the line every time I get gas....
 

Bruce

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Oil prices, and propane to some extent, can vary week to week and I have seen it flucuate. She said they have seen their winter time costs go down with it. They have had it about 10 years she said.
Very true. And the price has been trending up pretty much annually but then so has wood. Wood not as much, it has been linear, like $5/cord/year. This is from Al up the road, he's pretty much stopped cutting wood being about 70 though he does have a cord for me this year. Going out now before it gets too hot (supposed to hit 90°+ today!) to split some of the wood I cut.

Propane for me is going down this year because I've gotten into the pre buy program that I didn't know I was eligible for the almost 9 years we've owned this house. I was paying close to $4.50/gallon last winter until I found out someone I know (down where I deliver eggs and shop once a week) with a small tank and not near as much annual usage as I have was paying $3.50 from the same company. They can't possibly be using enough to be in the pre buy since it was mostly the cooktop and the propane furnace they didn't use much because of the amount of propane it used. I called the company in Feb and they brought the price for my then most recent fill to the same $3.50. I signed up for the pre buy and will be paying < $2.60. Now given the price of oil has been down this year I suspect I wouldn't have been paying close to $4.50 but I bet it would still have been $3.50 or more if I hadn't contacted them. If they didn't own the tank and have me by the (um, short hairs) I would have ditched them years ago.
 

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but you have to live your life for today, and tomorrow, because you can't change yesterday. Regrets, maybe... revisit, possibly..... go back and feel sorry for the wrongs that were done to you......NOT so that it cripples your life now. You have to move on.... one way or another.... and go forward, backward, or sideways, but not stay in the same rut.....

You are a wise woman, Miss @farmerjan.
 

farmerjan

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Thanks @Senile_Texas_Aggie ... lotta years behind learning some of these lessons. I have no intention of being miserable, and yes, I have days that I get pretty down..... but then I think that this is really unproductive, and just plain stupid. And then I either go read a good book or watch a movie or something.... or get my butt out the door and go sit and watch the calves or the chickens or something. One good reason to have the animals.... it MAKES ME get out and take care of them when I would rather sit and wallow in my "or poor me, feel sorry for myself"...... NO ONE can make me miserable.... I can make MYSELF miserable by my reactions to things. My ex was enough to make me seriously consider shooting him and going to jail when I was considering a divorce from the mental abuse.....controlling ways.... but I said no, not fair to my son..... and killing myself was just a stupid option....
So I got some counselling while getting a divorce.... the judge hearing the preliminary stuff ordered it trying to make it out that I was totally unbalanced for wanting to move away from family and friends. (they were trying to coerce me into giving up on the divorce and be a good little suburban housewife)..... and the thing that will always stick in my mind she said to me right in the beginning.... "Quit trying to reason with an unreasonable person. You will drive yourself nuts and will get absolutely nowhere." Then she went on to tell me to make a list of pros and cons in my life, and what some of the consequences might be of following different paths.... and it made me realize that I needed to get out and away from both the controlling abuse from my ex and be "happy" again, not afraid of doing anything that might upset him.... and to realize that I had been conditioned that way by my upbringing and my father's total control of the family. It was his way and as a growing child, of course I didn't see it.
So I got divorced, and came to terms with some of the influences in my life, and when it came time to make a change after my ex just thinking that he could walk in and out of my house whenever he wanted after the divorce... because I was a young confused person that needed guidance and someone to "take care of them (control them).... I opted to move away instead of doing something drastic that would land me in jail..... and I moved south.

Here I am still.... not perfect, a little worse for the wear..... and basically content most of the time.
 
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