Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Baymule]

Tires can be out of round and will ride real rough

 

[farmerjan]

Thursday night... They rebalanced the tires, but even the one guy said they just don't look exactly right when they spin on the balancer...couldn't put his "finger on " what looked a little off.... but they were off balance so he said to try them, and see...... Next will be to switch front and back... if I still have the little bit of vibration... he said it was good that I came right back about them, as he can "do more" about it with the company... not wait for a month and then complain. He did take it down the road when I got there, and said he felt the vibration... It also shimmy's when you first hit the brakes... DS said probably a warped rotor... but it always did that... so that is not the issue.
I went to Walmart to see if they could fix the nose piece on the glasses, and the one girl there was really nice... she did get it bent back about perfect again... The frames are a smidgeon crooked... but barely... she said she tried to straighten them up a little, and didn't want to break anything... they seem to be fine... fit, and all that. It is time to find a new eye dr... mine retired last June, my usual eye exam is in Jan/Feb.... and I have not found a new eye dr... I need to get another pair of glasses because the old pair had the arms that could bend backwards and one is broken... so it doesn't spring back.... they work for emergencies... but I need a new pair. These are fixed for now... I would like to keep them for farming stuff... and get another pair for "good".... and having a spare pair is practically a necessity with all the things that can happen around here...Luckily I had the other pair to fall back on.....
I did some looking/shopping... they had the big Behrens metal garbage cans... the co-op has gone up to something like $45 each... Walmart had 3 in stock at $29.95... 1 had a few dents... and I asked if the guy could do anything on the price...I figured even saving $5 would be nice... It does not look like the seal on the bottom is broken... and they marked it HALF OFF ... I took all 3... so got one for $14.95.....NICE.... never hurts to ask.
Then I went down along the gardening stuff... and they had some of the raspberries and grapes and stuff marked down a little. WHY do they put them inside, no water, laying on their side in the boxes that they are packed/shipped in... no sun... and many had dried up I think. But there were a few concord grapes, one or 2 red grapes and green grapes, and a couple of red raspberries that had feeble growth... so I went through the boxes and got a few that I thought I could salvage... got them too... We'll see if I can salvage them... I am thinking that they will mark them down more in another week or so.,... might go back and see if I can get a few more concord grapes... plant them and let them just kinda "go wild" .... they would be a good "living fence in the summer time along the dirt road... if they produce some and if the calves eat on them a little it would be okay... plant them on the outside of the fence .... I do plan to have a few vines done "right" to get grapes... The raspberries I am going to plant where they can be sectioned off... near the chickens so that they can run loose in around them, after they fruit and all... help keep the bugs down... but able to keep them away from them when I want...
There is still a little vibration, not as much... but I will take it down in the morning and get them to switch front and back... and see if that is the problem... They might be just a tad bit out of round... and on the back won't feel it in the steering wheel... we'll see. I will take a couple bags of stuff to the dumpster while I am right there too...

Finally got home, and got the mower out, did a little mowing... batteries were low so brought them in, put the 4 bigger ones in and then got it parked in the carport. Will get the other 2 big batteries in it tomorrow... I wanted to run the 4 amp batteries in it so they could get discharged and then put on the charger.. they came with the self propelled mower... and I don't use it as much... but want to keep the batteries in good shape with using them some; run them down so they will get a full recharge... I have 6 of the 8 amp batteries, 2 of the 4 amp... all in the 60v.... and you can use them interchangeably in any of their 60v stuff... Would be heavy in their regular weed eater.. I think it uses a 2 amp... but the 4 would fit it... The 8 is a little longer so will not fit in the self propelled as good... the lid stays open a bit since they are longer, but they can be used with it, the battery cover just does not close all the way...
They have a battery walk behind weed eater... but are out of stock... have been for awhile...... seems it was REALLY popular... that is the next purchase.... and sell this one with the gas engine... It works fine, I just have too much trouble starting it with this bum shoulder... I like the way it works... so I hope the battery one will work as good when they get it back in stock and I go on and get it...
I do love this riding battery lawn mower/tractor.... pulls the gorilla cart really good for moving stuff around... SOOOOOOOO Glad I got it... Plus; it has been a year so done paying off the interest free loan on it too.... I like doing business with them so far...

Saw that there are some shingles missing on the shed roof, that came off during one of those high wind days....and some wet inside the shed... Deb was still there... and said she could help do it... but I told her I would not let anyone up on there.....I do not trust the rafters and all that.... DS could reach over and not put his weight up on that roof to replace them... Got a half a bundle of them from the previous owner, so need to get them replaced before anything starts to rot... It had been so dry I did not notice they were missing... but with these last few days of heavy rain, it is noticeable. One more thing....

Past time to get a shower and go to bed... Should be sun early, then looks like some thunderstorms by around 11 or noon... pop up stuff through Sat then drying off for Sat aft and Sunday... then some more precip after mon/tues?
We have gone from Moderate drought back to extremely dry status.. right on the edge as it is still in the moderate category just north and west of here... That was as of Tuesday (gets reported on Thursdays).... so we had had some of the rain from Monday included... We are still at only about 9-10 inches for the year so far and normal average is over 16... still something to be concerned about..

Sure hope that some of it gets put on the back shelf to come on in July/August...

 

[farmerjan]

Friday mid day. Tire situation stinks., they are going to order another one... don't like one of the back ones they rotated to the front... rebalanced and just said it was not right... . I appreciate the guys being so stringent about it... I will not buy Cooper Tires again... and they were normally a pretty good tire.

Vet cannot fit us in on Tuesday... he has several calls and said that he did not see where he could manage it... booked til 5:30 and is on call that evening... Could do Thursday... but DS has scheduled dr appt ... they are so hard to get them that he dares not cancel it... So will have to wait for the following week I guess... NOT in the plans....

I came in and ate a sandwich... going out with the charged batteries and do some more mowing and such... line of pretty strong storms coming through later.. first thought they would be here before noon... now looks like after 4... winds and all that. Want to see about getting some of these plants into pots at least for the rain to settle them in and they can have a chance to get going....

Fence guys are putting in posts at the farm.... at least one good thing....

Some days....

Not much of a black eye... little bit... but still quite a bit of red and scraped up. I'll live...

 

[SageHill]

Not much of a black eye... little bit... but still quite a bit of red and scraped up

Arnica gel, even now. It's one of those things that I always have on hand once I found out how good it worked.

 

[Baymule]

Arnica gel, even now. It's one of those things that I always have on hand once I found out how good it worked.

You can’t use it on broken skin.

 

[farmerjan]

Saturday evening... Been a nice enough day. We had rain overnight again... DS said it was raining so hard that it woke him up... NOPE NOT ME...... but it had been doing some thunder and lightning earlier in the evening. We had about .4 inches.. so that was a total of an inch or so in 2 days/nights...... nearly 5 inches in the last week. WHAT A DIFFERENCE......

Today it was cloudy for a little bit, then it cleared off. The front must have finally blown east and it has been very clear and crisp and NO HUMIDITY all day... It has been very breezy.... nearly windy.... The orchard grass is all heading out so my allergies are in OVERDRIVE today... nose running like a faucet, eyes itching... the whole nine yards.

DS went to Colt's "last " T-ball game... in the morning then left to go to a friend's son's graduation party. I wound up going to a birthday party for the GF's ex's other daughter... since DS couldn't go since he was going to the graduation party... and he sees the girl alot here... goes to her ball games most of the time and all that.... GF takes her with the other kids when she isn't with her grandmother... mother has had drug problems, in and out of trouble/jail... the father actually got custody of her a year or so ago... the mother is into some sort of rehab and back living with the grandmother, so the child sees her mother quite a bit...so anyway... I wound up going. GF was there with her daughter (1/2 sister to this 9 yr old) and the 2 kids from her own sister that DS has the little boy all the time... It was okay... the 9 yr old has had a tough row to hoe even though the grandmother is very good to her and she was in favor of the father getting custody too.... she seems to like me... and I really don't see her very much... but anyway... I went..

I had locked the 2 bull calves off the jersey, in the barn lot last night... there were 2 heifers in heat and the holstein was trying to breed them... the last thing we need is 1/2 holstein calves... DS would have a total FIT.
We had been talking about him coming up to band them... so this was the final incentive. He couldn't get to them Friday night.. before dark... there are no lights at the nurse cow barn... and we were getting one of the holstein heifers out of the feed bunk where one of the other cows that is coming in the barn, just put her head down and flipped her up and in the b unk she went... had to unbolt a section of the metal that runs down the sides of the conveyor to that he could push her over and she could get out. Totally NOT her fault. Even better, was that DS and GF were there at the barn, to feed grain and watched the cow do it... Luckily the heifer did not struggle much since she was really stuck under it, and was not upside down. Got her pushed over so she could get her front feet down and then got her back feet under her and stepped down. It was a very fortunate thing. They need to come out of there...

Didn't get much done here...with having to go to the birthday party middle of the day. DS texted when he was on his way home and I went up and the calves were still locked in the barn luckily....you just never know...
and he came up with GF and came in and we got them both done without any problem. The jersey cow was having a conniption fit about her "babies" being locked in the barn... but they are banded and although if they are fertile... hoping not since they aren't 6 months old.... they could still breed and get someone pregnant... but in a couple days, sacks should be drying up. I have written down the heifers I have seen in heat... and will make sure there is a heat in 3 weeks, again... or they will get a shot of lute to slip it and come back in heat... Bull will be going in, in about a month... I do not want heifers to start calving before mid March... weather can be bad enough then... don't need heifers calving in the normally IFFY weather in February...

Michael was not happy with the vet not coming this Tuesday...so he managed to talk to him this morning and it is set up for Tues, 27th... a week later than we planned... but, that's not too bad....I am not going to get in the middle of his "mad" so let him deal with the vet... Then we will know what is what, and I think DS is going to pull the steer calves and ship them... most all the calves will be getting weaned off too.,... might be better since he should have the new wire up on the posts, there at the first barn lot where we took it all down after the last big bunch of cattle we worked, and all the "odd ball" steers got sold a couple weeks ago. Got alot of wire to get up now that they have most of the posts in at the farm... They are not working this week here... but should finish up in a couple days, starting after memorial day... here at the house and across the road in Grant's pasture... where these cows and calves will be moved out of...

Past time to get started on hay cutting too... It is all heading out with all this rain and warmth the last week... going to be alot that is a little overmature...

Went to Deb's for supper... then came home. She is working on the 2 pieces of replacement wood, for the top of the frame of the roof panels for the other pen... had to be grooved and she took the one piece that was "rotten" on the end where the carpenter ants got it all eaten... so she could measure it and is working on it. Said she should get them done by tomorrow... so I told her to call me and we can get them put together. She is staying out and working remote on Monday... then going home Monday afternoon... so she can have a full day to work tomorrow in the nice weather... she still has to do some mowing and stuff. Then will come out on Sunday of memorial weekend... stay Monday and then Tuesday since she has a "call in " for jury duty... Guess it will be whatever happens from there... She was not going to come out memorial weekend since she gets together with some friends once a month and that Saturday is the plan... but since she has jury duty on Tuesday, she will come out on Sunday... probably won't be until mid day at least since the "gaming" they do usually lasts fairly late in the eve/night.

Got a farm set up for Mon eve/ Tues morning right up the road here... got a couple calls out for Wed and Friday aft... Gotta get back in the swing of it...

Going to take a shower and wash all the traces of pollen etc off my face... eyes aren't quite so bad but nose is just running and having to blow it constantly....

 

[Baymule]

It was good of you to go to the birthday party. You never know when you might offer a positive influence on a kid that might make a difference.

Bull calves banded, that is a chore that definitely needed to be done!

I hope you are far enough north that screw worms don’t reach you. I’ve heard that they have crossed the Rio Grande and have appeared in the Rio Grande Valley. The fight is on, last I heard, our borders are closed to Mexican cattle imports. If we get hit hard, it’s entirely possible that the states around Texas will close their borders to us. That would be devastating to our cattle market, plus all other livestock.

 

[farmerjan]

OMG.... I hadn't heard much about the NWS (new world screwworm) since they closed the border last Sunday... Gosh, was it only a week ago? Had not seen anything about them having managed to cross the Rio Grande.

I just got the current report from our livestock market sale on Friday... 350 lb steers hit as high as 5.35/lb... TOTALLY INSANE... The 6 and 7 wts were a little higher than what we had gotten for ours... but the small ones are just totally crazy high. This stockyard is closed this Friday, for the Memorial day weekend... but I imagine the ones just north of here will have sales on Wed and Thursday... Don't think the Sat yard will have a sale... or the one we go to on Monday south of here...

There is a bred cow... cow/calf sale this Tuesday eve here local. I want to go and just see how crazy the prices are. There is only a chance in a ZILLION I would be buying anything... but the entertainment watching the prices hit the stratosphere would be fun.

It is partly cloudy out there, pretty much the forecast for the day. Down to 60 last night...

Might go to the farm and pound some staples for a little bit.. until my arm gets too tired. Usually an hour or so and I can't hold the hammer straight . That's part of the hand damage from the accident many years ago...not counting the shoulder problems now... you just have to try to deal with it. But I can get some done... I have found that an hour at a time and I can get a bunch done then do more the next day. Did one whole stretch of 330 ft., at the farm in 2 "trips" the last time. It is actually easier for me to pull the staples than to pound many in...

Whoops, nose is starting to run... forgot to take an allergy pill... need to do that right now.. give it an hour or so to work... then get productive. I do want to work on the planting of stuff in the tubs too...should get them finished today...
Need to go up and check on the bull calves... they were happily nursing their "momma" when we let them out last night after banding them. Good thing is the "big bander" as we call the callicrate bander... cuts the circulation off pretty fast.. which cuts off the nerve feelings, so they don't hurt for a long time... they ought to be fine. I need to take salt up to them today too...,

 

[farmerjan]

Did some searching.. I see where Miss ag is warning of potential for NWS problems... and it had been found in every Mexican state except the most northern one along the Texas border... NOT GOOD....

 

[Mini Horses]

chance in a ZILLION I would be buying anything... but the entertainment watching the prices hit the stratosphere would be fun.

Waaay back in mid 90s -- when Boer were being imported & quarantined forever -- those born or AI, or embryo transplant could be sold & moved out of TX. Anyway, prices very high!

At an auction in NC they have a decent buck in the ring. Bids are fast & active. Then seller goes "no sale", want more. Two guys in row in front of us. One says to other -- glad you're here to witness this, cause when I go home & say someone turned down $3K for a goat, they'd swear I was drunk!

We just laughed, knowing the buck was a $5K guy.

Same with the calves. Unless you know the market, you'd be floored. Even knowing the market you're in shock but, excitedly so if selling.

It's always fun to go watch. Plus, on occasion you get lucky -- like I did last week on chickens & hatching eggs. Guy in front of me bought most all hatching that went thru way before these, at least a 12 dz and pd $15+. But some were turkey.