Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Mini Horses]

I wonder if all these problems are being sent by God to warn us not to go.

You keep mentioning reasons "to not move".....well, that thought can be blamed on only you! Reality is -- YES, like your family, YOU are realizing you ARE MOVING AWAY from your family. It's hitting you that this is a "for sure" move, not some ever expanding renovation of a property. Nope, TX is gonna be home soon -- to YOU & DH. You're mourning the daily contact loss that's coming.


Hmmm.....it's finally hitting emotions.

Absolutely must repair washed out fence, now!

 

[SageHill]

YIKE! But the good news is you can get it fixed before you leave. As for God telling you not to move or testing your commitment -- it's much easier than that -- he's just delaying your departure so you miss some big accident on the way. See - simple. And -- fixing now means less wash out from the storm about to hit us.
Safe travels when you head out!!

 

[Ridgetop]

With the storm coming in DS1 got up on the roof and heavily applied cots of roofing repair tar around the heating vents. They had leaked during the previous storm. When we fund out about the fence problem, DS1 went to Lowes Friday night and bought a large roll of 5' chain link to repair the fence wash out in the gully. The bottom rail of the welded pipe fence which normally is 12" above the ground was around crotch height on DS1 and the washout was 30' wide! That is 30 feet wide, not inches! He said we should go on since he could do the repair himself, so we left early Saturday morning for Texas.

Here is DS1's story. DS1 headed into the gully with his tools and roll of chain link fencing. Correction, he drove over to the far end of the property, then tossed the roll of fencing down the cliff. That side of the property is much steeper than the other side. Practically, perpendicular. He scrambled down after it and then had to carry it up the other side to the top of the washout. Luckily not the top of the property, but a steep struggle with the roll of chain link. He said he fell down twice and slid to the bottom with the roll on top of him. When he finally got where he needed it, he measured off about 6' and took out a wire strand. This is the easiest way to separate chain link. The panel now could collapse like a piece of fabric. He attached the side edge of it to the fence and metal pipe. Then trailed the piece down and along on top of the ground. This forms a new fence and provides a dig proof barrier on the ground in front of the bottom edge. Eventually the weeds and brush will grow up through the wire and become impenetrable. As he was balancing on the cliff and measuring the next piece, our loyal dogs showed up to keep him company. Angel sat in the bottom of the gully watching him. Rika and Ozel strolled under the fence bottom and out along the gully. DS1 called them back, but with purpose in her step Rika ignored hm and continued her leisurely stroll outside the fence line! Ozel gamboled along behind her mentor. DS1 said many unprintable things but couldn't stop his repairs to crawl under the fence to chase them down and bring them back. It took him 4 hours to repair the fence.

In the meantime, the neighbor had been on the phone to me (we were driving through Palm Springs area with rain). He said the dogs were out again. I called DS1 to tell him about the dogs. DS1 was not pleased to be interrupted while struggling with a 25 lb. section of chain link on the side of a cliff. I called the neighbor back and told them that DS1 would be over for the dogs once he finished the repairs. They obligingly caught the dogs and walked over with them where they discovered DS1 fighting with the chain link pieces and working on the fence. Eventually, DS1 finished the repairs. He climbed out of the gully and drove over to pick up our disobedient dogs, with many thanks to the neighbors. Releasing the dogs in the yard, he staggered into the house with cramping legs. He said that if he had tried to leave for Texas at that point, he was afraid his legs might cramp up and he couldn't drive! After he showered and loaded the last items into his truck, the rain had started. He tarped the load and hoped for the best. He left on Wednesday morning after the storm.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch - no that is DS1, on the road DH and I hit rain on the desert but managed to outrun the storm in New Mexico. Our first day was uneventful but the second day we had a front tire blow out. I mean explode! DH is an expert driver and was able to hold the truck and trailer on the road.
Defective tire blowout on front driver side

Middle of nowhere? No, but we could see it from there.
37 miles east of Pecos on the I-20.

After inspecting the tire we got back in the truck and I called AAA. He found our location and I got a text saying he had dispatched a truck from Pecos to help us. ETA 30-40 minutes. TWO HOURS LATER, I called AAA back. This time they said it would be another 90 minutes since the operator was assisting customers on other calls!? What other calls? DH took the phone away from me and told the lady that we need help NOW since by now it was pitch black and we had been waiting, etc. . . DH gave me the phone and I complained some more . . . . About 10 minutes later I got a call from the truck driver who said he could be there in 40 minutes and that he had not gotten the assignment from the first AAA rep. He was very nice, and we finally got to the motel (50 miles away) around 12:30 am exhausted and hungry. Next day completed our journey, stopped at Walmart for groceries and made it home around 9 pm.

Surprise! the fence was not completed. However, this was not a problem since the gate I wanted into the rear yard from the driveway had been omitted. Luckily, we were able to get that installed. Even nicer was Levi saying he remembered me telling him I needed a gate there and it was his fault that it was not included in the estimate so no charge! Everything is finished now on the fences and gates. It seems strange to see all the wire up, but so nice not to have to do anything - except dig deep into the bank account.

We still have some green in the fields. Not completely crispy except for the winter rye naturally. The Bermuda is green, and the Bahia will come back if we get any rain. 40% chance today but not a drop and another 40% tomorrow but not holding out hope. Anyway, Cody said that if we get any rain between now and end of September he thinks it will make another cutting. Cody delivered 27 bales of net wrapped Bahia/Bermuda and said he can get me another 50 bales. He only charged me $45/bale since he said that he doesn't think they are as heavy as he had originaly thought. More like 850 lb. bales.

DH took Baby 'Bota to the tire guy when we got here since he had developed a flat tire on the way. Got it replaced. DS1 and DH moved all the corral panels out of the barn yesterday and DH has been tractoring away today. He has been using it to clean out the manure/hay in the barn and dumping it into the garden. It will be good soil next spring.

DS1 has figured out how he wants to configure the corral panels in the barn to hold the sheep when we bring them out in January. He wants to leave the front of the barn open for the tractors. Levi told us about a "sheep hay cradle" type round feeder. The round bale is suspended in the feeder by either a solid floor or a chain "cradle", so the sheep eat it from below. The uneaten part of the bale drops down as they eat so no waste. I will have to get a couple. Meantime, we will have to unroll the bales and stuff the feeders we brought from home. I need to take some samples from our bales to the Co-Op and get them protein tested. Levi (the fence guy) told me about having them tested there. He got a lot of bales to the acre this year but said that the protein content was way down around 5% so will have to supplement more heavily. I will need to see what our protein is so we can do the same. Next autumn I will have to collect soil samples in the fields to determine what I need to add to the soil. I can have the soil samples tested through the Wood county office in Quitman.

Back to DS1 - we had left him in CA fighting with the fence repair. His roof repairs held for the first day of heavy rain from Hillary. Unfortunately, the second day of the storm they did not fare so well. In the words of DS2 the roof "leaked like a sieve".
We will have to have a roofer come out to see about repairs. All the leaks are at the site of the new HVAC vents. Our HVAC vents and ducting is on top of our flat roof. The roof is fairly new, but the HVAC went in a couple years later. This year was the first year of heavy rains since installation. it will not be extremely expensive. I wonder if the HVAC people did not flash the vents properly. Seems like 2 steps forward and 3 steps back! At least the Yantis fence is in and paid for, and the CA fence is repaired. With the dogs inside it!

Anyway, DS1 left on Wednesday and got to Yantis Thursday afternoon. I remember when DH and I traveled like that. I didn't like it but DH did. It must be a guy thing. Jeff Foxworthy did a monologue about men and how they compared "making good time" on trips. LOL We started unloading the trailer and found a lot of water had gotten in. The furniture was dry, the plastic bins were ok, but a lot of boxes were saturated.

The main casualty was the 100-year-old buffet that my great grandfather had built with hand tools. He never had any power tools and made all his furniture by hand. He was a Master Cabinetmaker when he immigrated to this country after the big Flu epidemic in the late 1800's. He was traditionally trained in Germany, apprenticed at 11 years old through the Cabinetmakers Guild to a Master Cabinet maker. Apprenticeships were valuable and the family of the apprentice had to buy them formally through the Guildhall. It was a formal contract. Boys that were apprenticed in this way lived with the Master and his family. The Master was required to teach the apprentice his craft, as well as reading, writing, and arithmetic. The apprentice had to go to church services, ("keep a high moral standard"), and was allowed one afternoon a week to go home to see his family. When the apprentice reached a certain level of proficiency, he had to submit a piece of his own work for the Guild Masters to approve. Then he advanced to Journeyman. After further study under the Master (or other Masters in the trade - at that point the Journeyman could leave and go to another Master to learn more of the craft) the Journeyman would eventually submit another piece of Work to be approved to advance to Master Craftsman. At that point he could set up shop and accept apprentices himself.
China cabinet Buffet
(Buffet used to have long legs like China Cabinet and a backsplash like China Cabinet but my grandmother decided to have legs cut off and carved backsplash removed in order to have the lovely quarter sawn oak painted in French Provincial style. I stripped it down and refinished it in natural. The hardware doesn't match anymore of course.)

Back to the buffet catastrophe. DH thought the damage might have been caused because he loaded it upside down thinking it would ride better that way. The entire bottom had come out of it and the legs had separated. DH was really upset but when DS1 and I inspected the damage we realized that the way it was constructed was very interesting. The center bottom was dadoed into the right and left cabinet bottoms. The frames of the front and back were dadoed into the sides and carved legs. The strength was due to pressure between the different pieces. The bottom pieces were supported on triangles of wood glued to the frame. After a discussion we decided to buy a new pipe clamp. I have 2 or 3 of these at home that belonged to Daddy, but unfortunately, the key words "at home" made a problem. After some discussion it was decided to just buy a half inch size with the required half inch heavy metal pipe. We were worried if we waited several months until we returned from California with Daddy's clamps, that the wood would have shrunk, and we would not have been able to refit the joints. After working at it, DS1 and I repaired the buffet by refitting all the pieces together, using wood glue to attach some pieces, and brad nailing in a couple key parts. Then we clamped it together and let it dry overnight. Good as new. Tomorrow I will put my grandmother's pre-war china into it.

I have decided to keep the large display cabinet built into the corner of the living room. It is 5' wide and 18" deep and was a real problem with arranging furniture. However, I solved the problem of where to put the three 30" wide x 7' tall bookcases by lining them up on the same wall. Now the display cabinet does not overpower the room. I hope to be able to arrange the furniture around it. The problem with moving is that you have to make sure your old beloved furniture fits into the new house. Or get rid of everything and start over. 35 years of decorating my lovely living room and dining room in CA now ends and I begin again. I think I can make this much smaller home look nice though. You have to be like the willow tree and bend instead of like the oak which breaks. And I do like this kitchen better since it is larger and will have an island.

Next up - the truck bed tonneau cover leaked. Apparently during the maximum impact of the storm water ran into the truck bed in spite of the cover and in spite of the tarp DS1 arranged over it. Most of the cardboard boxes were soaked. The crystal was in the soaked boxes. However, DS1 carefully supported them as he brought them in. I immediately unpacked them, dried the crystal, and put everything in the empty display cabinet built by Pete McDonald. Luckily crystal is not damaged by wet. Dry boxes (only 6) have not been unpacked.

More adventures tomorrow.

 

[Mini Horses]

That tire blowout was impressive . Glad you two got the furniture fiasco repaired . What would a trip be without incident??? Unusual!

DH is probably happy with doing tractor work, especially on level ground. No doubt, after DH1 fence repair in CA, he was thrilled others had fenced TX!! Things are rolling along.

 

[Ridgetop]

DS1 left for California this morning. He wanted to get back since it is hard to arrange child pickup for DGD1. DDIL2 has been picking her up late from school since both babies are napping when it is time to do pickup. Anyway, there is little for him to do here since DH can do the tractor work in the barn while I am painting in the house and unpacking more boxes. I still have boxes of books to unpack and put in the bookcases in the living room, but no reason to unpack the books and then have them collect dust while we are in CA.

I finished painting the office yesterday but forgot to paint the closet so did that this am. I might prime the large bathroom next since I will have a few days to do it. I stripped the wallpaper and DH washed the walls. They could use another washing since they are kind of rough from the wallpaper paste, or I could just prime them with Zinsser. Easiest to just prime them since unless I scrub the walls with a brush that roughness won't go away. I need to wash down the woodwork, - cabinets and wooden wainscoting first. We are not using the large bathroom yet - I have to get a plumber out about the shower.

With the dining room furniture in place DH says it looks more like a home than just an empty house where we are camping out. I am cutting more stuff from my list of furniture to bring back and figuring out where stuff will go. DH has decided to give his gold Louis XIII display cabinet to DD1. My grandmother left it to him because he loved it so. It has curved glass sides and front and is very fragile. After what happened to the buffet, he is afraid it won't survive the trip to TX. A big load off my mind since I don't know where I could put it in this house where it would be safe. Everything in it can go in the dining room china cabinet. The 5' wide built in display cabinet will hold just about everything else. The bookcases can hold some of the more durable items. I just have to decide what I will use for seating in the living room. I need a sofa but where should it go? DH suggested we just have 3 recliners in there for TV watching. "What about any guests?" I asked him, "will they sit in the recliners while we crouch on the floor? Or should we all take turns?" He seemed surprised that we would have any guests. Perhaps he is planning a new life as a hermit even though we have made the acquaintance of many nice people at church. LOL The layout is tricky, but I think I can come up with something. Each trip makes me see the move more clearly. The new double entry fence/gates I designed for the pasture and barn access will be great to keep the dogs away from the highway.

I actually packed some stuff to take back to CA that I don't want. I had my grandmother's 8 glass dessert plates. LOL There are 8 of them. DD1 has 8 similar ones, not enough for desert at Christmas but with these she will have 16. I have some cactus shaped taco holders which I'll take back and give the kids too! DD1 has taco night and can use them. Not to mention the china sugar and creamer - why I packed those I don't know. We drink our coffee black, and I have a set of Tupperware ones that I like better since the sugar bowl seals tight. I wonder what other treasures I will find when I unpack these boxes that can go back to CA! Delft cheeseboards? I have a couple . . . .

 

[Baymule]

I’m glad y’all were able to fit your grandfather’s buffet back together and get it fixed. When I moved from Lindale, my well meaning neighbor placed several pieces on the trailer floor, upside down. I made him turn them right side up and explained the movement of the trailer would rack the furniture and pull it apart. He grumbled, didn’t believe me but that’s ok. Furniture was safely moved.

That blowout had to be scary! Expertise on your DHs part saved the day.

I hope y’all got some rain. I got 3/8” last night, slow, soft rain and the thirsty ground soaked it up. There’s been a big fire in Jasper-far east Texas, one county over from the Louisiana border. It’s burned something like 4,000 acres. Radar showed rain, I’m hoping it was enough to help put out the fire.

 

[Ridgetop]

Forgot to report that Hillary brought 8" of rain to Shadow Hills. DS1 said it filled the 50-gallon rubber tubs on the field - they are about 8" tall. After the first day he dumped them, and they were full by the next morning again. He said he would have brought some of the rain, but the trailer was full. LOL

That fire was scary close for you. Too bad the woods behind you are on the neighbor's property, Otherwise, you could run a fire break around the house. If that neighbor puts in a road around the property that might help. On the other hand, didn't you say that he wanted to put in that road for his kids to 4-wheel? Possibility of fire might be more pleasant. Certainly less annoying and frequent.

DH is working on cleaning the barn again. The manure/dirt is more solid than he thought. He has to keep getting out of the tractor, breaking it up and shoveling it into the bucket. Then the tractor engine often dies. To start the tractor again we have to use some sort of battery booster. Open the hood, disconnect some big black part, clip the booster thing to the terminals, push the button, restart the tractor, disconnect the booster, reattach the big black part, close the hood, climb back in the tractor, etc. This can be one by one person, but DH likes me to come out and push the little button on the booster. He says I do it better. Aawww. So sweet. He treks in from the barn and I trek out with him, push the little button and go back to resume my work. However he is getting it done. I think I will need to hook up some sort of baby-cam system in the barn so I can check on him. Couldn't see the tractor or Marv when I looked out the windows yesterday so was about to go check on him to make sure he hadn't collapsed in the heat and discovered hm in the recliner taking a break.
LOL

Both the tractors are old and need some work. That can wait until we are living here. We can call the mobile tractor repair guy to work on them in the barn. Cody used the blue tractor to do some shredding when he came to see the fences. He said it needs to have the radiator blown out. He told DH to bring it over and he would do it for him at his place. He is a very nice man. Hopefully his son will be interested in meeting the dogs and doing feeding etc. when DH, DS1, and I visit our family next year. Cody said that Payton likes $$ so would be interested in working for us occasionally. He is 15. He has a busy schedule with sports and school, but the $$ needs of the teenage boy are legendary so I think we have found our farm sitter. He works cattle with his dad, and his grandfather has recently gone into goats so he will have the experience we need. I think his grandfather has a couple LGDs too. Just need him to meet the dogs in January.

Planning to return to CA the end of the week. Medical appointments and DH knee surgery October 11. Then 6 weeks of PT for DH. DS1 and I might make another trip with more stuff, have to see. The family is planning Thanksgiving camping at the beach and cooking the turkey in a deep fryer and on the Trager. Letting them plan everything and we will just come with our 5th wheel. This letting the younger family members plan and carry out the big occasions is getting addictive.

I do want to go to Palm Springs and shop for a sofa. I can't really shop at regular stores because I am not quite sure what I want. I will know it when I see it, but until then just have several measurements and floor plans. Besides, Palm Springs consignment stores are fabulous. You can get anything from rare antiques to ultra-modern pieces, artwork to junk, most expensive manufacturers, and all in great condition for pennies on the dollar. There are also upscale thrift stores and even the Goodwill stores have nice stuff. Artwork, kitchen goods, fine china, crystal, silver, clothes, even fine jewelry from estate sales, etc. all there to be found by the careful bargain hunter.
My heaven on earth. DH and I just love to browse through them. So does our Fort Worth friend, Kris. I wonder if stress relief shopping could somehow be considered a deductible medical expense?

 

[Baymule]

I’m glad your sweet DH is having fun on the tractor. The joys of flat land instead the baby brother of the Grand Canyon!

As far as fire danger here, I don’t think the neighbor is interested in doing much of anything. Peggy texted me this morning, he’s having it logged off starting this week. It’s managed timber. Just great, now I’ll have to run the gauntlet of logging trucks on my road.

If I ever have to leave due to fire, I don’t expect a miracle. The house is 20’ from the woods.

Thanksgiving camping on the beach sounds like fun. Now YOU get to be the guest!

 

[murphysranch]

I have shopped at those stores in Palm Springs. Simply sooooo many gorgeous things to choose from! I went to a Jewish thrift store and came out with a arm full of great buys!

 

[SageHill]

Awe damn @Ridgetop and @murphysranch - yall making me want to go to Palm Springs shopping!! Oh man - and I'm sure my DIL would love to join me. It's SOOO close - it's only a 2 hr drive, and of course Hadley's on the way or way back for a date shake. Dang you two!
@Ridgetop wowzers - 8 inches - you guys got way more than us. Oh and check out Blink cameras from Amazon - we've got a bunch of them - they aren't perfect but they work good for us inside, outside and at the barn.