Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

I made a pot of chicken broth from the 4 chicken carcasses and got some canned. Had to use 12 ounce jars since all my quarts and pints are in Texas. Forgot to bring any empty jars back. Might buy some pints at Walmart. I hate to since I have a couple hundred jars in the Texas shed. I won't mention it to DH if I buy some. Love that electric canner. Stuck the jars in and turned it on to can and forgot about it. I might get a second one if we grow a lot of veggies in TX.

Worked on my taxes and ranch books today. Had to sort out and enter stuff in the ranch book as well as add up the business stuff for the other properties. Managed to finish a lot. BUT totally forgot to fix any dinner! DS2 wandered out and asked if there was anything cooking. When I looked up I realized it was around 7:30 pm!

I meant to use the leftover chicken broth and make chicken and dumplings but didn't realize it was time for dinner. Luckily my darling DH brought home some BBQ chickens from Costco yesterday, so I told everyone to just forage. They could see that I was buried under a mountain of paperwork with nowhere to sit to eat! I had spread everything out on the kitchen table to work on things. I hate doing that but half the furniture is now in Texas so no desk space in the office.


Still raining hard.

 

[Baymule]

Moving slowly like this is the best way. I’ve moved extremely fast twice and brought along stuff that I had no time to go through. Boxes stacked up waiting to be opened. . That didn’t happen.

Still moving from Laynes house. It’s not going well. This house is full now. No proper storage outside but I’m working on that. Slowly. I have boxes to take back to Layne’s house. I’m thinking skip the garage sale, just call in a resale shop and make me a price, load it up and take it away.

 

[Mini Horses]

I have boxes from moving mom out of her house almost 10 yrs ago. About half were emptied & used/shared. Down to donations to places that sell second hand....should happen before summer.

 

[Ridgetop]

Problem is that I am starting to forget what I moved already and what I decided to leave behind. Spent an hour looking for a piece of kitchen equipment then remembered it was in Texas! Wouldn't be so bad if the new place was closer than 2 days away!

The good news is that our medical is being renewed with UCLA. Not sure what the new plan will be like - maybe a co-pay, but at least for the coming year we can get our stuff taken care of. I need a partial knee replacement and DH needs cataract surgery on his other eye. I am hoping that the same plan will be in effect since we have no co-pays for any surgery. Will know more the end of March.

Made a large pot of chicken stew for tonight out of the remaining chicken broth. I will make dumplings for supper. Played bridge today. First hour had horrible cards, second hour had great cards, third hour had a mix. Nice thing was playing with DH. We like playing partners, recognize each other's bids, and usually do well when playing together. We have been playing with other people because one of the 4-some doesn't play any conventions. "Conventions" are special bids that most people know and that tell your partner certain things about the hand. Since I can adjust to playing that way, I have been playing partners with her. Today she decided to play with the other person and DH and I got to play together. We really enjoyed playing partners again.

Rain let up today but is expected to come and go for the next few days. Big flush of green in the fields and the sheep are enjoying it. Naturally the year we are trying to move to Texas we will have plenty of forage for the sheep during the spring. At least I have plenty of hay in Texas in case of another drought.

Better go finish with the taxes. DH wants to get on with them and needs my portion of expenses and income. My books show that I actually have more income from sheep sales this year in spite of not having many lambs to sell. Hay cost is down, mainly because we bought a year's worth of alfalfa last year and have been using it the first half of the year. GRRR! Taxes

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Baby 'Bota has a front end loader but is too small for a hay spear. It is mostly a motorized wheelbarrow for cleaning the barns. It is the smallest Kubota tractor they used to make. LOL Big Blue has no front-end loader - the arms are broken or something, but we can get a hay spear on the back. It will pick up the bales. I think we will have to great a new or newer tractor eventually. Both of these are old and have a few problems. We will keep Baby 'Bota since he is like a garden tractor on steroids and very useful to clean the pens and barn

Do you know the model of the baby Kubota?

My hubby has been wanting to get a small tractor that I can use to move garden stuff around. We currently have a modified lawnmower my brother Frankensteined to be a tiller and pull a trailer. The engine is apparently the wrong size? So it snaps a belt every time you use the tiller. I have requested hubby find a different machine as the steering is really wonky and not intuitive.

 

[Baymule]

Do you know the model of the baby Kubota?

My hubby has been wanting to get a small tractor that I can use to move garden stuff around. We currently have a modified lawnmower my brother Frankensteined to be a tiller and pull a trailer. The engine is apparently the wrong size? So it snaps a belt every time you use the tiller. I have requested hubby find a different machine as the steering is really wonky and not intuitive.

I have a 23 horse with front end bucket, 4’ bush hog, 4’ disc, box blade and I love my little tractor. It’s perfect for a small farm or acreage. I wish it was a little bigger, now I have a bigger farm.

 

[Ridgetop]

Do you know the model of the baby Kubota?

No idea. It is old and we bought it use from a guy who used it to drag a piece of chain link around the riding arena to smooth it out for his wife who competed in reining events. The tractor place that worked on it said it was the smallest model Kubota made and they might not be making them anymore. It has a front-end loader but if you put anything in the loader it tips the trailer forward. DS3 had to make some sort of counterweight to use it safely.

DH taught me how to turn it on, lift and lower the bucket, then insisted I use it instead of a shovel and wheelbarrow. The only time I drove it to clean up manure I tipped the manure over the side of the front hill. On the third or fourth pass I got too close to the edge and the loader tipped the rear end up a bit, and it rolled forward down the hill. The hill is pretty steep and ends at a cliff. Our oil pipe fencing is about 15' in front of the cliff. It kept going faster, I couldn't get it to stop, so I abandoned tractor before it hit the fence. The tractor hit the fence and survived. So did I. The fence wire got torn up and I have heard about my lousy tractor skills ever since.

DH explained that the tractor brakes were on the rear wheels and when the tractor tipped slightly forward they had no traction. He said that to stop the tractor I should have dropped the bucket. I said that he should have warned me about that BEFORE insisting I drive the tractor. Knowing ALL the safety features are important to survival. DH gives long tutorials but tends to leave out important bits of information.

Back to the Kubota. It is a handy little tractor and DH uses it in the barn at the ranch. We couldn't use it here since it doesn't climb stairs. But we should get a lot of use out of it in Texas in the garden and barn. Big Bue is larger but DS3 took it and used it to put in all his water lines, fence posts, barn, etc. Then he broke the bucket arms so we can't get any equipment for the front end until we find someone to repair and replace them. It is a Farmall. Both are old but cheaper to baby along and repair than buying a new one at the moment.

It rained Thursday all day heavily. Yesterday was sunny with some clouds. The roofers are coming today to repair the roof leaks now that we have gone through several bad storms. Surprisingly the roof only leaked in one spot. I could see light through the heating vent around the base so that roof heating conduit definitely needs to be sealed. Having no attic space is bad since all HVAC tubing has to be on the roof. In the winter we get a blast of cold air before the heat comes through. In the summer the opposite. I want to be in Texas.

DH came down with a bad cough. It is not a summer head cold. He is also running a fever. Tucked him up in his recliner with a blanket, gave him OTC meds, and a bowl of chicken soup yesterday. Then I redid my books for the taxes. Today I have to finish totaling the columns. Our manager still has to supply us the rest of the rental income and expenses. DH fills everything in on the draft forms, we take all the stuff to the accountant, she fills in the final IRS forms, and makes whatever copies I need to send off to the various banks. Next year we will switch to a tax guy in Quitman.

Super Bowl tomorrow. I already bought 4 giant bags of chips, avocados, and onion dip mix. Yesterday DS1 got soda, salsa and spinach dip. The men have their supplies. They are not big beer drinkers. All set for the Big Day. None of our individual favorite teams are competing so it will just be fun.

Now that I have finished (mostly) going through the file cabinet drawers and getting rid of old stuff, I will start on the 2 large bins of photos. They are pre-digital and I want to sort them into boxes for each child. I am hoping that DH and DS1 will be able to take the gooseneck back to Texas in the next couple weeks with another load of stuff. DDIL2 will be home Monday so maybe if the weather holds we can go back with 2 trailer loads and finish taking back the furniture.

Our departure date keeps getting moved farther and farther away. In another few months the ewes will start lambing and we must be in Texas by then. Now that the house is completely torn up, I am worried that DH will back out of moving. He wants to get out of California BUT he doesn't want to leave his little grandbabies. I keep packing to take my mind off that thought, but I am running out of stuff to pack that we don't need on a daily basis. And I am tired of replacing stuff we need that I have already moved to Texas.

Where did I my Prozac?

 

[SageHill]

Just load him up, drive out to TX and leave him there. You said he's happy when he's there. You could add a grandbaby or two to keep him company (just thinking outside the box) Easter break is not far away to grab a grand for the "drop off" trip.

 

[Ridgetop]

We really need to get moved in no later than the end of March since DH has invited everyone to come back in April for the total eclipse which will occur right over the ranch.

Got the bill for the chicken litter which Cody ordered for me. Now his son Payton will spread it when he spreads theirs and I will pay him. With all the work we will throw Payton (age 16) he will probably be able t buy a new truck before his senior year!

DS2 was in a flurry of house cleaning this morning for the arrival on Monday of his wife and babies. Glad to see it. He suggested that I might want to do the cleaning, but I laughed at him. He had to clear out the nursery since we just moved all the children's large toys and equipment into that room and shut the door. He was not very happy about having to do all that and it is possible that I am no longer his favorite mom. LOL

Now that I think about it, it is possible after several weeks of the toddlers underfoot, baby screams, and not being able to watch his Fox News all day (Robert is quite possessive of the TV for his cartoons) that DH will get back into the "moving to Texas asap" groove. LOL

Finished collecting and adding up all the expenses and income for the taxes and will work on them with DH on Monday.

I am taking the loveseats to TX for the living room for now and have decided to make the spare bedroom into my TV room with a sofa bed for company. That living room floorplan is going to be hard to arrange. I think I will have to take the bookcases out to fit in the sofas.

 

[Ridgetop]

Another night when I can't sleep so am up on the computer. I think worrying about getting to Texas before the ewes lamb in April is starting to affect my sleep patterns. I lay in bed thinking about all the things that need to be done before we can go but can't do until just before we leave. Still need to get all the corralling out to Texas. It will take several trips on DS3's flatbed trailer. However, his flatbed is loaded with all the free pallets he got to build animal housing. Must have 100 stacked on it (and wouldn't give me a meager 30!) We can use the gooseneck to move the panels, but it will take more trips. Still have some furniture to bring out, our clothes, the feeders and water tubs, the jug panels, and the sheep, horses, and dogs. Also the car. At this rate I won't need the hay I bought in Texas until next year!
I may end up on tranquilizers in addition to the Prozac. Might as well go back to bed and worry there. As long as we can get the sheep to Texas, we can make trips back to pick up more of our stuff when we visit the kids.