Farmerjan's journal - Weather

farmerjan

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OH THE BIGGEST NEWS.... The TOWER IS UP !!!!!!!! They got it put up on Friday. And honestly, looking at it from several different angles, it isn't all that horrible looking. I mean, it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, and doesn't look 200 ft tall with the surrounding treeline and hill behind it.... I was surprised that it doesn't really even catch your eye.... looks like it has been there all along. I don't know what all they have to do to get it "operational" but won't be long and hopefully the cell service will improve.... The landscaping is done along the base and they will be putting up the privacy fence that was agreed to at that meeting at the last minute..... and gates across the "road" to it so that people are not driving up there.... don't know exactly where DS is going to have them... but they will be kept locked and we and the service guys for the tower will have keys.

Son cut the hay there at that field too, that is orchard grass that will get made into square bales. Nice thick stand of og for 2nd cutting.
 

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Looks like everything is coming right along. I like your idea to wait on the storage building and put the freezers into the existing one temporarily. That way you can really decide exactly where you might like it. Once you are living there full time you might change your mind about the placement. Always live n a place for a year before doing anything very drastic since the weather, position of the sun, etc. all may affect what you do, and it is better to wait than to make a mistake and have to change things later.
 

farmerjan

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BRRRRR; 40 this morning, and very breezy. Got up to 78 but that was on the porch where it is protected from the wind. I wore a sweatshirt this morning, then just a long sleeved t-shirt all day. The sun was out and it was nice but cool with that breeze. Tomorrow is supposed to be a carbon copy, then temps moderating.... possible rain next weekend.

Loaded and took the "cinder blocks" and the cap blocks to the new house and piled them for the guy to use for the oil tank when the time comes. He is supposed to come by and look at the stuff tomorrow. BARC elec is coming at 8:30 about the internet for in the house..... not sure exactly what they have to do.... but I am hoping that I will then have service there and can take the computer and do stuff up there without having to worry about all the error messages when it won't connect and stay connected here. DS never called like he was supposed to about seeing why the mower won't start...it cranks, not firing for some reason. Then he texted me about 1 said he forgot and that he was mowing and would come by in awhile. I said okay, I was going to get some gas and did he want anything to eat & he said he was good. So about 2:30 he comes up , and she's with him.... and he goes in and tries to start it, and it won't fire and he gets all short and says, I don't have time to fool with this because we have got to get across the mountain - he was taking a load of hay to a couple of customers - and that he'd have to see about it later.
I just said okay. I thought I was going with him to deliver the hay, I had asked him if he wanted company, and he said, he'd let me know when he was going. Normally he goes later in the afternoon.... but I guess she had to be home to get her daughter from the ex, so he had to hurry up to accommodate her..... They left out of there and headed back down the road in the direction of the barn, to get the truck and trailer with the hay on it. I mean, why bother if it was that much of an inconvenience.....
I know a guy that I can ask to come look at it.
Tomorrow, I am sure I will have to rake some hay as there is alot down. I was hoping to get the lawn remowed and try out the sweeper.... I don't know if I will be able to get to it with the amount of hay that is down and my schedule. Mon is elec....& the guy about the boxwoods and other stuff.... going to set up at the farm in the morning for testing late in the afternoon and some hay raking. Plus the other guy is supposed to maybe be there to look at the kitchen stuff and finish the deck boards that he is going to replace so then I can do the sealing.... Tues is back to the farm at 5:30 a.m., for their 2nd test...PT at 11.... samples to pack too. Plus more hay raking. Wed I will have to leave by 10:30 to go to the farm 125 mile away to test at 1:00 p.m. and won't get home until after dark. No hay raking for me that day. Thursday I am sure I will be raking....
So I also took my battery weed eater up and did along the carport so I could find the couple of daylily plants.... there are 4 clumps of them. I am going to put these small bunches I got along the carport too, so that they get planted for this year. It doesn't get the best of sun, but it will be better to get them in the ground for the time being. Plus I am going to dif a few of the ones I have here and take them up and plant them along there too. That way I can start moving some of this stuff as I go. Also did around one of the walnut trees... I want to get a load of mulch to start trying to smother out some of the weeds and grass that grows right up to the tree trunks.... so I won't have to do so much weed eating just mow up along the mulch. Then if I can get the guy to clean out the old stump and weeds in the spot along the road, and the stuff under the maple and under the holly tree, I will mulch them too.
Then I moved the mowing deck from my other mower, and got it in the corner of the building, and got a few other things rearranged... put the grass catcher metal frame thing and all, all together right there in the corner too. Then I went under the carport and moved the set of shelves that I had the guy power wash, and set them up and put some stuff on the shelves that was just piled in there.... the 2 boxes of canning jars I had picked up at the dumpster site a few weeks back, plus another box of jars they had left here that I said I'd take if they wanted to leave them,,,, Put a couple of jugs of oil on a lower shelf.... will move more stuff from here now.

I was thinking about painting the 2nd coat of white on the baseboard heater panels, but the wind was blowing too much and there were some leaves that had blown up on the porch... didn't want to get little bits of dirt in it. I will just wait for a calmer day to do it. I will put the ones in the bedroom and then paint the tops in there... but have to put some protection against the wall so I don't get any on the new wall paint. At least I can do that most anytime since it is inside. Same with the tops in each of the rooms, but will probably wait to see when he is going to start the sanding... no sense in having to clean them all again.... I do want them to be at least 2-3 days fully dry before he starts the sanding.... might wait for that to be over in all the other rooms.... as I am not sure when he is going to start. And I am not going to put any of the fronts and all back on until he is done to make it easier for him to get underneath them to scrape/sand and finish..... nor to get them all dust covered. But I can at least get them moved around on the porch so I can get the other ones done.... and get the ones off the heaters in the hallway. I did get all the stuff out of the LR and everything off the stairs.... so just have to do the baseboard covers and the rug that is on the floor whenever he says he is coming.

So then I came back home here, and went into the storage shed here and got out 3 smaller metal shelves, not as deep or as heavy as the bigger one I put in the carport; that were also rescues from the dumpsters; and a closed door set of shelves... like a pantry cabinet.... and got them loaded on the back of the truck to go up there tomorrow morning. They need a good washing off with the hose and left out in the sun to dry. The bottom shelves are all partially rusted through... so a piece of plywood cut to fit will stabilize them and make them very useable. Just something like 1/4 inch to cover the rusted holes so I can put stuff on the bottom shelves. Corners are okay so the plywood will just sit on the "frame" and cover the rusted spots/holes. I then measured the freezers here, and will go up tomorrow and start thinking out the best way to set them in the shed. Might put the chest one in front of the window on the one side.... the top won't be up very often or for very long so won't impede the light from the window; then an upright can go next to it, in the corner. Have to look and see if I have one that opens on the left side, so the door will open against the wall.... I honestly can't remember... I know 2 open on the right .... be alot easier to get into and put stuff in and out if I can put it on top of the chest and right into the upright without going "around " the door. Well, I have the measurements, and hopefully I can do some figuring. I am thinking that a couple of sheets of 3/4 inch plywood would support them the best in the shed on the floor. The one will fit through the door into the house.... so guess that it will be the one going into the utility room....

Picked up a few other things that need to go to the dumpster from here, and made a pile.

Also took the panel off the tailgate as one side of the tailgate latch doesn't work. Have to use a screwdriver to push the slider thing out so it will drop. It isn't attached and nothing there to attach it with... so will have to see about getting whatever i need to make it work. The other side looks like it it "jury-rigged" but it is working.....

I think that is all.... oh yeah, took a shovel up with me and dug out some of the grass and some built up dirt so the doors to the shed open all the way on the one side. There had been something digging under the shed, at one time.... probably a ground hog, and the dirt had gotten piled up and the door only half opened. I dug it down a bit and it swings open full.... I could dig it back even farther and might eventually...

Did discover there are hostas growing on the one side of the shed, under all the weeds and inbetween the sapling walnut trees coming up. Get the saplings and some weedy junk out, and maybe I can see what is what. They would be nice to put under the maple and the holly tree in the mulch as they don't require any real work once they are established. Something to think about. Maybe find some in the late summer/fall when the "garden centers" at Walmart and Lowe's are putting stuff on clearance . They come up every year too. Didn't think about that and then I saw them today along the shed....
 

farmerjan

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Monday eve.... had a very full day. Was 41 this morning but actually a little bit of icing on the windshield... the thermometer recorder thing hangs just behind a post on the porch here.... a little protected from the worst of the cold I do believe. I also saw a a little frost at the house this morning on grass clump that haven't been swept up yet.

SOOOO, elec co guy came and got the boxes inside for the connection to the fiber optic cable. Went pretty good except I was trying to explain to him that I might want to put them on the mantle in the BR which was the closest and easiest place to come through the wall with it. He told me they needed 2 plug ins, there are 2 separate boxes... and that they could set on a little table in there once I decided where the furniture was going to be. I said that I would like for them to have enough wire to put them up on the mantle and I could plug them in to the plugs near there.... as the plugs he was so set on using are on the wall right near where they are going to take part of it out to make the bathroom door bigger.... So he said he would leave some extra line so that I could move them but he wasn't sure if their electric plug in cords would be long enough to reach from the mantle to the plug in which is down pretty low. I said okay. He was barely out of school he said... like 19 or younger. Nice kid..... but he DIDN'T LISTEN TO WHAT I SAID OR WANTED. So got it all hooked up, got my computer oriented to it with whatever for 5G connection.... and then left. In the meantime, the guys came to do the deck boards, connect the pipes under the house for the utility room sink and fix the shut offs under the sink ( put new ones in) and replace several of the light switches and plugs..... BECAUSE they had different colors mixed in the same room, in several of the rooms.... and I just decided that I wanted them to match, in each room.... I am scared to death of doing anything with electricity, so was glad to have someone else do it.... and it didn't take them long anyway... At that point I went up to the farm to set up the meters and called the guy who was supposed to come about the boxwoods.... and a few other things I wanted done.

He called me back a few minutes after I got to the farm, apologized as he forgot he had to dig some test holes for a guy first thing this morning, was loading up his equipment, and would an hour be okay.... I said that was fine as I would be 20 minutes or so finishing set up and would be back by then.
Okay, here comes my son, stopped to see if he could figure out the mower.... says it is not seeming to be getting enough gas???? and he calls jim as he has not left yet. The camper is gone,he sold it, but jim is still around???? Don't know about that yet.... but he said jim was going to come by and see what he could see.... and then in comes the guy about the boxwoods... and my son knows him, so we are talking a bit and he asked what was up and Kimball says he is there to see what all I was wanting done.... taking out the boxwoods and some other stuff, and my son says he doesn't get it with taking them out.... and I looked at him and said, my house, my decisions.... they are GOING.... he said he had to get back to work, and then said he'd talk to me later.... we had already discussed what needed to be tedded and what needed to be raked...
So I showed K what I wanted done and he agreed that the boxwoods are just too overgrown and that they had too much trash trees/scrub growing up in them.... they needed to go and the yard would be so much more opened up. Showed him the fuel tank that needs to be lifted and fixed.... the stump and overgrown spot along the road that I wanted out.... the clearing out around the huge old holly tree and the maple tree.... and he suggested getting the boxwoods and all the limbs and such that aren't big enough to keep for a future stove, all chipped up and I said that would be great as I want to mulch around the trees so that I can mow and not have so much weed eating. Discussed moving the forsythia down along the dirt road and out of the line of sight.... then I asked if he wanted to see in the house and he said sure...took him in the house and showed him the layout and all.... and the first thing he said in the DR is the boxwoods were completely covering up the view out the windows... which they do because they are so tall.... and he agreed that the yard would look real nice from inside when they were gone. THANK YOU that some man actually was listening and SEEING what I was talking about. Also mentioned possibility of digging some holes for the peach trees I want to move... So he said he would talk to a buddy that does alot of tree type stuff and see about the idea of a chipper, and work up some prices for me. I explained that I was on a budget, that I was trying to pay for the changes/improvements as I went, and that I wasn't trying to be cheap, but that I needed to get some prices so I could prioritize a bit. He said he fully understood; he is going in for surgery tomorrow to remove a kidney stone that is pretty big and said it would be a week or so and I said that was fine....
They will be gone this fall/winter..... one way or another. But getting them out will make getting the oil tank up and put back to rights will be so much easier.... so then I can get the guy here to work on the furnace once I get the oil in it. He said he can work around them to get the tank lifted if need be....

SOOOO, I then went in the house and went to move the boxes for the internet..... and there is no extra in the cord length, and they reach 1/2 way to the mantle.... I was P.O.ed.... big time. Talked to the guy doing the deck and all, he is subcontracting from the guy who did the doors, he and his son are starting their own business and are doing work for others as a way to get their feet in the door and have done some stuff for others. They want to be like the "little guy's handyman" and not get real big but do the "honey do type stuff" so that is perfect for what I want. The guy who is "co-ordinating this", is really busy and that is why he got them to come do it.... he's overseeing and all...... but I guess he heard me get mad, and asked if they had done something wrong.... and I told him about the wire not being long enough when the kid had said he would leave me a couple extra feet so that I could move it.... and this guy John said that it seems like no one ever listens.... especially the younger ones.... he said he understood what I wanted and that nope... it wouldn't reach. So I called back to the elec co and told them and that the young guy was supposed to leave some extra so I could move the boxes when they started to tear that wall apart, and that since he had told me that he was in the area doing a couple more installs, could they catch up with him and have him come back and put a longer wire/cable thing for me so I could move it up and out of the way when they came to tear out that part of the wall.....

Told John that I was going to get on the tractor and work some hay before I had to go to test cows.... and if the guy came back about the cable, he knew what I wanted changed.... and he said okay.

Then I left.... got on the tractor, tedded the 10 acre hay field of orchard grass, then raked the 2 smaller fields of about 3-4 acres each. It was about 3:30 at this point, went back to the house for a minute.... and then went to grab something to eat on my way to be at the farm at 4:30. They had found another leak in the pipe under the house to the hot water, so had to get more pipe to repair/replace it. It had a split in it... probably froze somewhere along the line and that could be why the bil who originally cut and capped off the pipes did it way back when....

Testing went fine, I will take the milk samples in the morning as I didn't bring the bottles with me this morning when I came up the hill....Got done there about 7 came back by the house to get the computer.... and low and behold.... the kid had come back and put a longer wire.... with some to spare, and put the 2 boxes up on the mantle.....
And the water runs in the sink in the utility room..... and it was getting dark but the deck boards that needed to be replaced are done too.....
And ds called me as I got to the farm to test and said that the carb isn't letting enough gas get through, and it is starving for gas to get started, but once started seems to run okay.... but that it might need a new carb. And I said well the one on the old mower was the new one HE (DS) put on it early this year... and he said well jim said it was no good.... and I said well it was new this spring.... but I did get 2 this year so we will just put the other new one on it. DS said well, let me pull the other off the old mower and see.... he said, you never had this problem with the old mower did you and I said no.... if anything it would start easily, but then it would quit and it was because of the split in the o rings and that a new carb was cheaper than having it worked on....so one way or another it will hopefully get fixed within a week.

So that is where it is at.... I won't have anytime to do anything the next 2-3 days anyway now with raking, Tues. and then testing Wed., and then raking again on Thursday....
 
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Senile_Texas_Aggie

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They had found another leak in the pipe under the house to the hot water, so had to get more pipe to repair/replace it. It had a split in it... probably froze somewhere along the line and that could be why the bil who originally cut and capped off the pipes did it way back when....

Miss Farmerjan,

Would you like for me to repair the water line for you? After all, I have lots of experience. Of course, I will take a week to repair it and will dig up 60 feet of line to repair a small 1-foot broken line...

Senile Texas Aggie
 
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