Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[fuzzi]

Had a really INTERESTING day... Started out mostly sun with a few clouds... met the friends at 9 to go to town as they were riding a different train today... It was the one they originally planned to ride.... and I could not get tickets as it was full... then the deal with the 611 steam train worked... so we did that and then they were going to still do this morning, then go on to PA for an overnight and then home tomorrow afternoon... BUT.... her mom didn't come from falling and cracking the ribs... and so rather then turning in the ticket for a gift card... they had asked me to use her ticket and go instead... SO, I did... We drove separate since there was no point in them backtracking to bring me back... then going right back that direction to go to PA.
We had hoped to spend a little time in gift shopping... but that didn't work... Seems that the scenic railway has been sharing the actual Amtrack space, and there is nothing in the way of souvenirs or anything; there at that boarding place... So, I will have to make a trip back to where we got on the 611, next weekend, to shop... it is only about 30+ minutes south so not that big a deal... because there was a train book DS liked and I thought it might make a good Christmas gift...
Anyway, the train came and we left about 10:30.... there was mostly sun and some clouds... it was supposed to cloud up late afternoon and rain by 4 or so... but it was quite breezy. Train went through a tunnel that was built through the mountain in the 1850's.... it originally was to allow train travel for ag stuff to travel from the Shenandoah valley, where I am, to the eastern markets... plus the added passenger traffic... There was a good commentary that would come on and off as we passed several areas and such... it was a nice ride... not as scenic as the steam engine.... but the info on the tunnel, and different aspects of the train line and such, were interesting. Coming back, we went back through the tunnel, and then got nearly back... maybe 10 miles... and the train stopped... they said that the one sensor went red and the train has to stop to see what was what. They did not find any of the normal things. Finally they made an announcement that the engine was DEAD... and they were going to have to get the other engine to come and get this train... they figured 2 hours total... because don't forget,,, although it was only 10 miles. between starting up the other engine, coming, getting us and all that it doesn't happen in a minute....
We were just right near the intersection of 2 main roads... and several younger people decided to get off and get an uber back to the station to get their vehicles... they had to climb/slide a rather steep bank to get to the store there, where they all were on their cell phones getting an uber ordered... I said that IF I got ahold of DS it would be 45 minutes before he could get there to get us, IF we were willing to go down the bank... and it would be near 2 hours overall, anyway... and we weren't PUSHED to be anywhere... there were about 15 of us in the coach class that STAYED... so many were real unpleasant about the break down... and left.... several all got together to "pool" the rides back to the depot 10+ miles away... The one group in another car was a charter bus group of SENIOR citizens...so the other engine did get there... it pushed the train back a few hundred feet to where there was a couple "siding rails"... unhooked the dead engine from the train, moved it forward then back onto a siding, rehooked to the train, and we went on to the station... it was just about 2 hours like they said...
It had gotten windy and very cloudy. Very glad we were in "climate controlled cars" so not exposed to the cold wind, or anything... It wasn't really all that bad temp wise, but with the clouds you could feel the rain and dampness..and felt chilly. By the time we got off there were some very fine sprinkles...
So, the funny thing is the "steward" of our car said he has NEVER had anything like this happen... there have been a few times they got a stop signal, and had to check for things and it always reset fine... sometimes one of the cables for the air lines or something hit something under the train, things like that, that trigger the safety system...
Seems like this was s diesel powered engine... but it powers a generator to make electricity, and the train is actually "electric"... the diesel was still burning, you could see the exhaust... but the electric was shut completely off... Could be something as simple as a ground wire,,, might be the electric engine just went KAPOOT...
It was kinda funny after all.... and we did not have to be anywhere at a certain time... and 2 hours later was not going to break anyone unless they had to be at a wedding or funeral if you ask me.... but some of them just had NO PATIENCE to wait... I mean they were ready to get off before they were even sure what it was or how long it might be.
I am sure there will be some really bad reviews... but come on.....

Took DS nearly half an hour before he saw or answered my text... about what we were looking at... and he said... guess they need to get a steam engine... "LOL"....
He was cleaning up the rock that the guy had come on Friday and broke several big sections of ledge and stuff in the fields, so he could then spread dirt back and drill the seed in the corn field... said he got the one big 12-14 acre field all cleaned up and dirt spread and was seeding it... He said it was 2 full dump truck loads of rock he got and loaded on the dump truck... So he really worked at it. He could have been doing it Sat when we went, but never complained about he "should've" been doing that... of course it was last minute that the guy said on Thursday that he could come do it on Friday... DS figured sometime later this fall/winter... so he took advantage of it, and got the one field all cleaned up and hoping he got it planted.
The sprinkles stopped for a bit, and the ground was barely damp, so I am really hoping he got that done... It sprinkled again about 5-5:30 for a few minutes.. not much... then we got a good shower/lt rain about 6:30-7... supposed to have some more off and on through the evening... but clearing off by tomorrow and cooler and dry for the rest of the week again... So, I rather hope we get a decent amount this eve/night... then in a day or so, he will be able to get into the other field and get that cleaned up and drill the seed in there.
Hopefully by getting some of these ledges gone, we will not tear up so much stuff when you come upon it suddenly... when he is planting, he can see them... but when we have a cover crop that he mows, like wheat or something that is 3 ft high or more, it is so easy to not remember EXACTLY where the rocks/ledges are, and hit them... and some of what he got the guy to break up, was some rock in one hay field section too... it will be sooooo nice to not have to try to mow around and then rake and bale around those spots. Plus less equipment damage hopefully...

So, hoping this rain will amount to something... hope he got at least the one field planted... and then start over again this week. Dr appt on Monday, I have to test Tues and Wed aft...

AND now we aren't really sure what we are going to do about these weaned heifers since the market prices dropped after Trumps announcement of "working magic" to make the price of beef drop in the stores... our futures markets on calves dropped the limit the next day... you know that some of this commodity trading is all the paper/pencil pushers on the stock market... but it showed in prices on Friday I heard... So... we will see about what we will do about the heifers later this week. Last time it dropped, it was back up in 3 days... so got a few days to just see how the winds blow...

Going to get a shower and head to bed. See what the plans are in the morning... I think he has to be there at 1... so leaving here at 11:30 the latest....

I don't understand the impatience of some people, did their parents not make them wait on occasion?

Glad you enjoyed the ride, and that the engine didn't die in the tunnel!

 

[farmerjan]

Funny you should say that @fuzzi ... we said the same thing that whatever went wrong we were lucky it happened where it did... not in the tunnel, in the pitch black, tight walls of the tunnel... we had lights in the car, but it was black in the tunnel.
No, no patience, and it was just stupid.... unless you HAD to be somewhere and that it was "life or death" type of thing... getting off to get an uber was just so stupid... What if we were up somewhere that there was not the convenience of the road, stores and intersection there... Why did they go on the ride to start with? I guess ought to be glad that they are spending their money on something that this company is trying to preserve... Did they hate who they came with so much that they couldn't sit and visit a little longer?
Oh well, whatever... I assume that they will give it bad reviews... and don't know if there will be any kind of concessions made or anything under the circumstances...

Well, we got some rain overnight... but total in the rain gauge was only .3..... so not much but a "sip" for the ground... This is like about 1/3 of what we normally we get and it has been like this for several months...

I am getting the samples packed to drop off when we go to son's dr appt. Paperwork done, computer stuff uploaded....
It is chilly out there. Was 42 to start. It is only up to 57 so very cool outside. Fall is here... even with the sun out.

 

[SageHill]

Yeah - when something like that happens, or stuck in traffic, or whatever that holds me up -- I say to myself perhaps there is a reason and it's keeping me from trouble. Sit back and breathe. So many are in such a rush, esp with the internet they've practically been programmed to go from one wreck to another at lightning speed.
Edit -- oh geeze do I remember my grandmother telling me to slow down when I was a kid??
OR slow down, you move to fast, got to make the morning last

 

[fuzzi]

Yeah - when something like that happens, or stuck in traffic, or whatever that holds me up -- I say to myself perhaps there is a reason and it's keeping me from trouble. Sit back and breathe. So many are in such a rush, esp with the internet they've practically been programmed to go from one wreck to another at lightning speed.
Edit -- oh geeze do I remember my grandmother telling me to slow down when I was a kid??
OR slow down, you move to fast, got to make the morning last

 

[farmerjan]

Tuesday morning... 41 overnight... we had a nice day yesterday... sun and a bit breezy... I wore a light sweatshirt for the trip to the dr office. DS decided to make it a combination trip... we normally go to the stockyard on the way home. It's a small stockyard, 100-500 head any week... but the prices are often close to the rest around here... sometimes can find a deal. We had that cow that had the bloated steer that died a year ago, was bred back, had a small calf and it was found dead out at pasture a couple weeks ago. Not a bad cow, but obviously she is not even paying her way, let alone making money. He brought her home from pasture with the couple of bred cows that needed to come back and the couple of big calves that we weaned off too. Anyway, she was going to get sold... and he decided to take her to that sale on the way through, not keep feeding her... she had been with the bull so was probably bred back... her cull value was about 1500 at the current cull cow market prices. So, figuring that she would bring probably as much there as anywhere, we took her. Dropped her off at the sale, went on to the dr appt then came on back. Ate lunch at the sale barn little lunchroom.... walked through and looked at calves/stock for sale...
The cow got offered in an early pen, they decided to sell her by the head as exposed to the bull, which was 100% correct... and she brought a little bit more than DS expected, so that was good. Maybe she will go on to raise a calf for someone else somewhere... she got bought by a dealer that buys alot of stuff there...
So on to the calves... They were off a bit. Had last Friday's market report that had just been posted and the prices last Friday were still up. So we watched quite a few, a few nice calves... then they brought in a "farm group"... so all one owner.... and they were 530 lb average BULL calves... but really nice. DS had said how nice they were back in the barn earlier.. He wound up buying them, and then bought one more single that was just about the same size. Paid less than he had in some of the ones he bought about 3 weeks ago.... that are smaller...
We will give them several days, but he said they went right to the bunk last evening... they are supposed to be weaned and it showed that they were very comfortable with coming in the barn to the bunk... We will give them this week to get comfortable, make sure none get sick, they are on a preventative antibiotic in the feed that we always do now when bringing in any new animals; and then work them through the chute over the weekend and make them steers and give some vaccs. Having them all (except the one) from one farm, means alot less "mixing" together several different farm germs and such....
These will be put together with our steers, make a couple groups of steers to sell I think... and unless the world collapses, we ought to make a bit on them and only have them for about 30-60 days...backgrounded, on feed, vacc, worked to make them steers.... ready to go.
I asked if there were any heifers from that same farm... I would be very interested in raising some from there for replacement heifers... the bull calves we got are really nice and uniform. He said that he was told the guy only brought in the bull calves and 1 heifer that was not very good. Maybe he has some at home to sell. DS is going to talk to the guy who works there, who told DS about these calves when he was looking at them... said they came off a farm near where he lives and the guy has nice cattle... Never know... might find some new, unrelated nice heifers to raise up... might not...
Part of the "game" of farming...

So, I have the bottles all ready for this afternoon, reports printed to drop off at another farm, list of a couple of errands to run going through town... some groc to pick up along the way also.
DS said he might mow some of the last hay we need to make so that it can get baled by the weekend. It is supposed to be nice pretty much all week even though chillier. Then next week is looking like some rain/showers all next week on the future forecast. We all know that can change... but better to have this stuff done while it is calling for dry this week.

So ready to go out the door and do chickens/turkeys... and no, the coop is not off the trailer yet... got to go feed the "13" at the pasture, check the one heifer still not fresh, who did not look like it will be for another week at least.... then come back get the outback and head to town and to work without having to rush today. Don't have to be there until 5, and won't get home until 10-11 p.m.

 

[farmerjan]

Oh, one more thing... although this is a part of @canesisters journal discussions over her kind heart wanting to help the disabled buzzard she found on the road... I don't want to clutter her thread again...

It was rather interesting that yesterday at the stockyard, there was a notice posted on the bulletin board... VDACS which is the official dept for Ag in Va, was issuing this notice. It seems that there has been a die off of some of the Mexican Black Buzzards... and with that, they have been testing them to find out why. The have discovered evidence of the VIRULENT AVIAN FLU virus in these buzzards... I am not sure which variety it is ... like the H1N1 or some number... But the notice was to warn all farmers of caution with them hanging around anywhere there might be poultry. The avian flu virus is what causes all the poultry house depopulations, causes all our poultry shows to be shut down... puts all the free range chickens and backyard flocks on the radar of the state and them wanting to regulate our backyard flocks... They advised for anyone with poultry to be especially aware of the buzzards and to not allow contact with their poultry. To not handle any dead and to dispose of them through inceineration...

So, please, anyone with chickens, be vigilant... these avian flu strains are really bad... and we know they are in some of the waterfowl populations, especially the migrating ones... now it is in these miserable buzzards. We have them hanging around the farm this time of year... they seem to gather in the fall and I have counter 10-40 at a time in groups. We try to discourage them to fly off elsewhere... plus the worry about calving cows right now.

 

[SageHill]

Geeze - I didn't even think of that. Dead birds around here are tested often. Though mostly crows and ravens. Still avian flu is nothing to mess with.