Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[greybeard]

"Oh, look at all the cute little piggies!"
"Yeah, look at your flower beds and the holes in the lawn and your hibiscus"
Oh!!
"Well don't just stand there, why aren't you shooting the sobs?"

 

[Ridgetop]

People the move from other places usually bring their beliefs with them until it really affects them personally. Then they often change, or die, or go broke.

I would have no problem getting rid of the feral pigs since I have read about and seen on TV the damage they can cause. Also, thanks to devil Pig, we know that they are not all cute pigs like Babe. I also saw Ol' Yeller - hogs are mean.
DH went with friends to see the movie Babe when it came out and nearly got thrown out of the theater for her indignant talk about the unreality of the movie. She kept telling everyone that Babe should have gone to slaughter not his mother who was a valuable brood sow and who would be too tough for anything except sausage. She came home still angry about the inaccurate way it portrayed farmers "who are just trying to make a living, Mom!"

While I know that technically predators are designed to pick off the weak and sickly animals in a herd, I also know that they go after domestic animals PDQ since a field of sheep or calves are just so many Happy Meals to a hungry cougar or pack of wolves/coyotes. I would have no problem shooting anything who tried to eat my animals. Sadly, many city people have been taught that all animals are our friends. Until they come face to face with a coyote or cougar.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Miss @Ridgetop,

Are you being impacted by all of the wildfires in California? I know most of them are in Northern California, but are there any near where you are?

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[goatgurl]

we have a lot of wild hogs around here, they come within 100-150 yards of the house and cause a lot of destruction for me and my neighbors. I am only afraid to 2 things in the woods around my house, the pigs and the mountain lions neither have any fear or respect for humans. thank God for big barky dogs, they keep them at bay from around the house.

 

[Baymule]

Latestarter: We do have a live-in 5th wheel trailer. It is not a stock or horse trailer with living quarters. DH wants to take it on our trip to VA because we can do the trip cheaper. We plan on the trip to VA and back taking 4 weeks. DH wants to do some sightseeing on the way, and we have friends to visit in DFW and Austin. With the 5th wheel we stay in a campground with hookups if we are going to be in one spot for a few days. We unhitch and use our truck to sightsee.

In Dallas, you will be 1 1/2 hours from us. Y'all could come spend the day, we'll invite @Latestarter and @Devonviolet, cook a bunch of food, have lunch and talk a lot!

 

[Bruce]

 

[Latestarter]

That would be a great get together Bay! I hope you'll consider it RT! I'd look forward to joining in the festivities!

 

[Devonviolet]

Me too!

 

[Ridgetop]

SenileAggie: There are fires to the south of us, to the north of us, and probably other paces as well. At he moment they are not close to our place yet. On the other hand, on our trip to Washington State, we drove through the Shasta area (the Car fire) and the smoke was bad. We passed it and thought the going ahead would be clear of smoke but it got worse. Apparently the state of Oregon was on fire too! Now we are in Yelm, just outside Olympia, WA. Hot and no sign of Mt. Rainier which is only a few miles away. Not sure if that is from smoke drifting north or what!

 

[Ridgetop]

So after a killing drive of a day and a half to do 1200 miles we got here to find the gate still chained shut, but the old fence kicked over next o it and the house broken into. The thieves had first pulled and stolen the electric meter! No electricity and of course, the fridge was a mess! We may have interrupted them because lthough they had taken the new TV and stereo, they had also taken all the new bath sheets and towels, including the new kitchen towels! Clean thieves? Then while I was inspecting the empty closets wondering what was missing I realized that all the giant economy packs of paper towels (3 bundles) and toilet paper (2) that I stock up for my aunt were missing, along with some cleaning supplies, blankets, and my son's beloved miniature grandfather style wall clock that he and his great aunt used to joke about. Oh, yes, they also took the forks from the kitchen but left the spoons and knives! They took several bottles of wine, but left the full case of beer! The police officer felt it might be one of the neighbors that had been in trouble before, but he was stumped about the theft of the meter. The electric repair man said the he has been seeing a lot of the meter thefts since they pull the meter and then wait several days until the back up batteries in the burglar alarms run down. Then they can come in and have all the time they want!

Anyway, thanks to the Good Lord, they did not vandalize the house. DH thinks they were disturbed because they had been through the outbuildings, and had the new wheelbarrow hidden behind the house filed with all the new tools we had left here. It looked like they were coming back for more stuff. They also left a bag with a bunch of tie down straps in it. To use to carry away the furniture? Oh, well, the house will be rented by the end of the month and hopefully that will be the end of that.

One good thing about the loss of the TV, we are in bed by 9:00 pm. We would go earlier but it stays light here till 9:30 pm! All this work is playing heck with our bodies we feel soooo old! Of course, if we lived here full time and had animals here we would not have to do all the grass cutting with a weed wacker, and would have the berry vines controlled, we would be able to use DH's tractor, so I guess it would not be as bad as it feels now! LOL We do take lots of Ibruprofen.

My apologies to you BYH members who live in WA, but I am appalled by the prices here. Tomatoes are $2 lb! At Walmart! Frget the garden stands - $2 a basket OK, but only 2 peaches in the basket! I complain in CA when tomatoes reach $1 lb. I really feel sorry for everyone living here. I had to replace 6 small panes of glass in the windows to get the house ready to rent. The panes are about 8 x 10. The cost to replace them is over $600.00! Extortion. What really kills me is that there is an identical window in the shed that has 5 good panes. I cold remove those panes and reset them in these windows for nothing except the putty. Sadly DH refused to let me add anymore work to my schedule.

We have been moving right along with our lost of repairs and fixes to get ready to rent the house. Have taken care of all the appointments with the rental agent, bank, insurance, etc. Now just the carpet, window, pest, HVAC, etc., appointments to do all the little fixes and check ups before renting. Right on schedule.

I am hoping to get a chance to make more mulberry jelly this year. We like it better than blackberry and easier to pick. The 2 old apple trees still have a few Golden Delicious. Not the best for applesauce, but I might try to do some. When you walk out behind the barn you can smell the falls that are fermenting. It smells like hard cider!

All I can think of is that we need a pig to clean up the fruit! Not Devil Pig, a sweet gentle pig more like Freckles. he could clean up the apples and his meat would taste like it was cooked in applejack! .

I make lists of the things we still have to do each day. DH's side does not get checked off as fast since his stuff takes longer. he made me add 'Eat Lunch" and "Take Nap" in several places so he could cross off more! If he does anythingnot on the list he makes me put it on and cross it off so we feel more is accomplished!

So we have loaded another full p/u load of wood for my sister and there are still 2 more loads in the trailer! DH is annoyed because after driving an hour (in the heaviest traffic you can imagine - another problem in western WA!) and unloading and stacking the wood she did not even ask him if he would like a glass of water! Luckily I had a bottle in the truck. I told him I would bring our own water this time and he doesn't have to offer her any! LOL He cheered up!