Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Thursday..... started out looking good... but not great by this evening... Sunny, and breezy... 57 overnight. Got the laundry off the line and in... Brought the samples in and got them packed to go to UPS. Was quite breezy and started clouding over...

Went up to the nurse cow pasture and no new calves... There is some of the electric fence dragging... so go and turn it off to fix it and find that there was a broken strand of the poly "wire"... I have 1 strand of high tensile and 1 strand of poly ... the poly is more for the visual so they don't run through the high tensil as it can be hard to see sometimes... Then there is a wf heifer in the yard at the house..... chase her along the fence and she goes back in where we drive through... then I go to checking the fence...fixed the one spot it is broken, then it is stretched better.... went back and plugged in the charger.... Took the fence tester and started at the garden.. and there is a charge... and then to the "drive through" gate...hook them back up, but the fence is weak... and past that there is no charge...
I go back to the house, unplug it, and go back . There are 2 in the yard... chase them back through the drive through since I had unhooked it again... Start at the corner of the garden and walked it... there were several spots that I pulled the wireback up and went all the way to the gateway... stretched the wires at the "gate" back, and it was good to the post...go back and plug it in AGAIN..... then very weak... so, I unhooked the 2 "gate wires" then went and unhooked the poly wire that goes down the hill; and rehooked the 2 gate wires to the top strand to keep the witches in. The poly wire is connected to the top strand of high tensile just past the gate. This meant I could go down the line... and fix, stretch, reattach the poly wire and see if there was anything else...
Found another spot the poly wire was broken... got that tied back together... got it all stretched back up the hill... unhook the gate wires, then attach the poly wire to the top strand past the gate... then hook the 2 gate wires back to their strands... and there is a charge... MAYBE it will keep them in...

The problem is the ground is dry... very very dry... so the "ground rod" at the house is in dry dirt... and not making a good ground.... This is right where the gutter comes off the house, so the ground... DIRT.... is usually pretty moist... so makes a good "ground" for the fence... No rain, no moisture, dry dirt, not so good ground for fence...

I took the tester and checked it a couple places and had a pretty good charge... so hope it will stop them.
Tomorrow I will go down the line on the other side of the house along the driveway to tighten it up and make sure the charge is good... Looks like I may take the walk behind weed eater up and go down the whole fence to get all the dead grass and weeds cleared out... in order to help it to work without any extra draw on the charge....

Radar showing a good line of storms coming and there was some bad wind forecast... It was cloudy and breezy... then....
FINALLY it started to rain, good nice shower and I left to go to the UPS store and run into Lowes. I was in Lowes, then when I came out there was sunshine... and it was over... NOOOOOO.... I want it to rain all afternoon and night...

NOPE, that is all we got... Barely .1 in the rain gauge at the house.... and the sun is back out...Just looked at the radar, they got some bad wind, tore the roof off a building and trees and all down, south of here near Galax... power outages... but all we got was a short lived shower... Nothing else showing for here. mostly sunny for Friday, and 20-30% chance of some showers on Sat and Sunday.... Then cooler and dry all next week. Just would like 1 good day of rain.....

Guess I will go out and water all the plants, tomorrow, again....

Had hoped for a good soaking 1/2 inch or more.....

 

[Baymule]

Maybe you could use a tree watering trick. 5 gallon bucket, drill a 3/8” hole in the bottom. Place a brick or big rock in it to keep it from blowing away when it’s empty. Put it next to the ground rod and fill with water. The slow dribble will let the water soak in instead of running off.

 

[farmerjan]

Friday afternoon... It has been warmer today... they said it was going to be the hottest day this week... It got up to 85, so warmer than most.

Went up to snyder's and there was a new calf... I was expecting it pretty much as she looked ready yesterday. My heifer, had a heifer calf... so now we are 3 bulls and 3 heifer calves so far. There are 7 more heifer's to calve, and one young cow that had her first calf last year... an OOPS.... got bred too young but did a good job... She will go back out with these girls whenever they get moved... Have not heard if there are any at the farm yet today.
DS said he was checking cows and waterers, and then would come to the barn and we could work those 4 bought cows and the calves. I texted him about the calf and so he came and tagged it first, then we went to the barn. Got those 4 in, put the cows through the chute... tagged them... 3 had freeze brands on their sides... and the other had an eartag in 1 ear. So, according to the freeze brands one is an old cow... she has some teeth but we call her a broken mouth... BUT, she has a decent calf and is in pretty good shape... born in 2012... 13 yrs old. There are 2 that are 2016 cows, so 9 yrs old... and one is a 2018 model so 7 years old... Considering what we paid for them, and everything considered, we actually got a better deal than we thought... DS was hoping that 1 or 2 would be good enough to breed back... 3 are good as far as age, and if the old one breeds back that is fine... we would get at least 1 more calf out of her. They got vaccinated and blacklegged as a precaution... and the calves were already steers so they also got vaccinated and blacklegged. Then we took them out to pasture with the big group... and they went right down through the field to the group of cows.
They were very quiet and nice to work through the chute, the calves very calm also... Sure hope that they do good... they will fit right in with our cows.

Then we came back to the barn, he was going to see if he could get his rams that are there, in, as he is setting up 2 breeding groups... took 4 ewes out to a ram at a pasture he has, and then brought the 4 rams to his house from the barn... and we got his sheep in and got 3 ewes out to go with the ram he wanted to use... it was a tossup and asked what I thought and I said I would go with the ram with the more massive thick set of horns... then he sorted off 3 ewe lambs to separate out and not breed... and all the younger rams... He has a guy who is interested in a couple of the ones with good horns... and so after he uses them to breed, he will sell a couple... These rams are such that once you take an old ram out for breeding, you pretty much cannot put him back with other rams unless they are young ones... The rams will head butt and can actually kill each other if they hit each other too hard... but they will fight and one will get hurt for sure... You can put an old ram in with young ones, and the older ones will live together fairly well... best if they cannot even smell a female anywhere close... So he will take the 3 rams that have been together, back to the barn until he decides to sell, since they have been together... and there is one old ram in with the young ones there that he is going to sell... but they will stay together for now. The one big ram is in with the 3 ewes, which is not alot... but he only had 6 ewes last year, got 9 lambs... He said he only wants to get up to about 12 ewes total... and he has 1 or 2 ewes that he will probably be culling..... so for now is keeping all the ewe lambs.

So I helped with opening and closing gates and such... and getting the ram off the trailer... he is a "horse"..... they are big and strong and can push even him around... and shutting the back trailer door before the rest could get out... finally got all that done... and just came home...
He is really slowing down with doing things, gets out of breath easily.. and said his head was starting to really pound... He was going to feed his chickens and such, then would take the trailer with the 3 rams back to doug's barn where they live going between a couple of pastures... and then I suspect he will be done for the night.

I am going to Deb's for supper... we were going to do it yesterday but she texted and said she didn't feel up to it since she worked there around the house/farm all day the day before... Plus she is still working remote for work this week while she is out here... Another friend of hers came out with one of her horses and they put it out in the lot by the barn... don't know if it is going to stay out here for a bit... which means I will have to go in at least once a day and check on it... guess I will find out what is what tonight.

Got to get my mower back before she goes back too.... and I need to remind DS about getting the piece welded or whatever ... because he will forget...on her mower.....

@fuzzi ... I was in Lowe's and they had some trimmer string that is .155 .... I got a thing of it... will cut some to length and see if it works... nice and heavy but don't know if it will go through the loop and fold over and stay since there are not the serrated sections... It is like 90 ft so ought to last a bit if it does work. I will let you know as I am going to try it since I need to put a new one in mine... I still have 3 or 4 of the original ones left.

So I am going to go out and get the feed and water for the chickens in a minute... Then go to Deb's at 5:30-6 she said. I will fill the feeders and waterers after I come home. I need to go to the barn and get a couple buckets of feed and see if I can get the wf heifers in for some grain... Having 3 tubs there has helped with them spreading out to lick them... and they are eating some of the hay but are still trying to find every bit of grass they can to graze off. Probably will try to feed them in the morning, since it is sure to be dark when I get back from supper.
It is dusty dry and I hate the dust that you feel like you are eating fine grit... NOT NORMAL for here.

I haven't taken the extra meters out of the car yet,,, and I need to get some texts sent for testing some next week... everyone is chopping or getting ready to start chopping, so don't know how much testing I will be doing..

DS just texted me and said the battery that was in the forester is bad... new battery... wouldn't charge at the barn. So it will go back next Wed when we go down to dr appt. At least I know that I wasn't crazy when I couldn't get it to hold a charge... thought I was doing something wrong just hooking up the battery charger ...

Time to get going.

 

[Mini Horses]

Sounds like a decent buy on those pairs -- in good weight & not limping, I'm betting the old gal will give another calf Pluses....calm, all calves already cut!
I know we're having a time accepting what prices we must pay but, calves to sell & breed backs, that makes the $$ tolerable. Think as $$ in the bank, as a calf producer.

WE can't forget the "used to be" no matter how adaptive we get. Vehicle & groceries are the most unbelievable for me. Especially vehicles -- not ever happening here! Nope.

 

[Baymule]

Well let’s go back to a “usta be”.
Ustabe a coke was 10 cents and a candy bar was 15 cents. There was a 3 cent deposit for the GLASS coke bottle.
Ustabe I spent $35 on a week’s worth of groceries and that included a porter house steak.
Ustabe gas was 15 cents.
Ustabe a gas war meant gas stations on opposite corners dropped their prices-as low as 12 cents! That was WAR!
Ustabe in 1970, $3,000 bought the fanciest Ford truck ever made.
Ustabe we drove trucks to school with gun racks in the rear windshield with rifles in them. Nobody got shot. FYI, I went to high school in Houston.
Ustabe, toothpaste came in lead tubes. A key was included so you could roll up the tube from the bottom. Squeezing the tube in the middle could put a hole in the lead tube.
Ustabe we “smoked” candy cigarettes.
Ustabe a new 3 bedroom 1 bath house with attic fan and a carport was $10,000.

 

[fuzzi]

@fuzzi ... I was in Lowe's and they had some trimmer string that is .155 .... I got a thing of it... will cut some to length and see if it works... nice and heavy but don't know if it will go through the loop and fold over and stay since there are not the serrated sections... It is like 90 ft so ought to last a bit if it does work. I will let you know as I am going to try it since I need to put a new one in mine... I still have 3 or 4 of the original ones left.

I bought some trimmer line through Amaz0n, twisted type like the original line was, just not quite as large in diameter. I cut off a few sections, will let you know how it does.

Speaking of chicken feed, I have been very pleased with Chewy.com customer service for my cat food, and saw they had the Nutrena chick crumble I use, at about the same price as TSC. I like having it delivered, and if there is any quality issue I call, and they replace the item. I've gotten moldy food at TSC, wasn't pleased I had to haul it back to the store.

 

[fuzzi]

Well let’s go back to a “usta be”.
Ustabe a coke was 10 cents and a candy bar was 15 cents. There was a 3 cent deposit for the GLASS coke bottle.
Ustabe I spent $35 on a week’s worth of groceries and that included a porter house steak.
Ustabe gas was 15 cents.
Ustabe a gas war meant gas stations on opposite corners dropped their prices-as low as 12 cents! That was WAR!
Ustabe in 1970, $3,000 bought the fanciest Ford truck ever made.
Ustabe we drove trucks to school with gun racks in the rear windshield with rifles in them. Nobody got shot. FYI, I went to high school in Houston.
Ustabe, toothpaste came in lead tubes. A key was included so you could roll up the tube from the bottom. Squeezing the tube in the middle could put a hole in the lead tube.
Ustabe we “smoked” candy cigarettes.
Ustabe a new 3 bedroom 1 bath house with attic fan and a carport was $10,000.