Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

We had tp gather everything and put it in a bucket. The hanging buckets at least kept supplies off the barn floor but crazy charging sheep could knock the buckets off the rail. And we always forgot a vital item. The best thing will be when we have the small fridge with meds in the feed room so I don't have to trudge back to the house for "just one more syringe of something" because I either miscounted or decided that a ram lamb was nice enough to keep for another month or so and needed a flock tag and to be docked. Oh yes, and with DS1 whining about my inability to count and yelling at me to hurry up. Not so bad in CA with the barn only 35' from the back door, but now in TX the barn is 300' from the house.

Tomorrow we may tag and dock in the barn. There are 7 lambs to get done. I think we may be finished unless X087 lambs. She looked pregnant and had an udder but I have not checked her since that preemie was born. However she looked like she had twins so I will try to check tomorrow.

I am still working on how to pack it, what to put in the drawers, etc. since I think that large plastic tub may be too heavy to lift on and off the lipped lower shelf. May prefer to have some sort of wire baskets to stand the marking paint up in with a smaller covered bin for towels during lambing season. Or could have different bins for different jobs that would go on the bottom shelf at different times. Choices, choices . . . .

Friday the well drillers are bringing out their big semi with the drilling equipment on it. Bryan will be laying out the new 10' x10' pump shed/storage shed. DS1 and DHwil have to tear down the old pump shed. That will be easy since it looks about to fall down anyway. LOL The exterior is made of AG metal panels in fair condition though so I want them to save those for future building projects.

We know why farms always have a large "junk" pile behind the barn. We had one in CA too. It is not junk, it is actually odds and ends of building materials that will be needed eventually. The pump shed materals will go in that pile for future use. Farmers and ranchers never throw away anything that can possibly be useful since buying new stuff is so expensive! LOL

 

[Baymule]

A well on Friday! Once again, your DH has outdone himself. Friday is Valentine’s Day! Who needs a box of chocolates? They are fattening. Who needs a bouquet of flowers? They shrivel and die. Who needs jewelry? Where are you gonna wear it, out to pull a lamb? But a WELL!!!!! That’s a Valentine’s Day present that will keep on giving! When we become ranchers, we tend to see the world differently.

A big huge YES on the “valuable materials” pile!! All the scrappy stuff I build around here comes from tearing down something else and free pallets. I wring every bit of value out of those valuable materials, that is possible!

 

[SageHill]

Friday is Valentine’s Day! Who needs a box of chocolates?

ROTFL!! Priorities!!

 

[Ridgetop]

My darling scores again!

Huge gust of wind woke e ast night followed by intense rain. Thn God kept turning the light on and off outside - lightning every minute but no thunder for at least half an hour. This morning wet and puddles everywhere but the rain has stopped temporarily. I am going to take advantage of no work to be done outside to wash down the bathroom walls finally. My knees and back are feeling better so I need to hop to it. Next week we need to tear down the pump shed.
I think I was gettig low on Vitamin D. Joint pain, extreme tiredness, and some forgetfulness all the same as when I had a major Vita D defficiency. Thinking about it I did not get out much in the sun last summer since I was laid up with my knee surgery. Then I also realized that my knee replacement was only 7 months ago!
Here I was feeling when I was actually not completely back to normal. DUH! No wonder I am having trouble getting up and down from kneeling! LOL

The bottle babies are 3 weeks old today and growing well on 3 bottles a day. They are nibbling hay a bit too since they are next to a ewe and her lamb. The ewe reaches over and eats from their feeder too. Not looking forward to turning all the ewes and lambs out with the others and eaving the twins alone in a pen in the barn. Maybe when they are a month old they can go join the other lamb s an mamas. By then we will have the creep up so they can escape from any mean ewes.

 

[Ridgetop]

Finished washing the bathroom walls and woodwork. Then used joint compound to even out the walls, patch holes, and cover the areas where the paper on the drywall tore off when removing the wallpaper. Also filled the extra holes in the cabinet doors and drawers. Tomorrow I will caulk the woodwork trim. Then I will caulk aound the top of the shower tile where there are gaps, and the window where the old plaster has come loose and is allowing air to leak in. I got some silicone caulk for those areas. Then I'll prime the entire bathroom tomorrow. Hope to have everything painted by Friday evening. We need to pull the toilet out and replace it since it seems to be leaking around the seal. While it is out I can prime and paint the wainscoting behind it. The toilet water shutoff also needs to be replaced and Bryan can do that while he is here. After the room is painted, I will replace the cabinet knobs with the pulls I bought on sale last year, and DS1 can install the new black faucet (also bought last year on sale). Rehang the towel rods, etc. and put up the pictures and towels and presto - a brand new bathroom!
Another room finished.

Next project will be the pump shed and putting storage in that building. Got to move the Christmas decorations and tree out of the front hallway. LOL Then the tool shed lights and storage. We have the storage cabinets but they need to be installed in the tool shed once the electric lights and outlets are in. Then a major rearrangement of the storage shelves ssorting out of the tools and supplies in the tool shed. After that we will have to remove the outsode wall on the barn fed room. It is falling off anyway, and we need to rebuid it with new studs and siding. DS1 wants to put up the concrete board siding used on MJ's Pump Palace. It goes up easily and we can salvage the corrugated metal currently on the wall for future roofing. I found heavy duty wire grid shelves that mount on brackets installed into the studs at Home Depot. Between those shelves and the heavy duty shelving units we will have good storage in the barn.

Most of our attention is going to the outside buildings and pens right now. Next house project will be removing the peninsula and making the island. I will start sanding and revarnishing some of the kitchen cabinets too. DS1 wants to replace the kitchen fluorescent light fixture with an LED fixture. The dining room has a flat ceiling fixture. Newish but ugly. I have a new chandelier in the barn which I will put up in the dining room.

The spare bedroom is almost cleared out now. Then I can paint it and we will order a Murphy bed for it. We wll have to assemble the Murphy bed but not a problem and it will give us a double bed spare room which can also be used for sewing, crafts, exercise, etc. as well.

So many projects, so little time. LOL Last on the list will be our bedroom. I hope my list is not longer that my life span.

 

[Baymule]

That’s what keeps us going, more on our list of things to do than we’ll ever get done. I can’t wait until next week, when I go pick up chicks. I’ll swing by and see all the work and improvements yall have done.

 

[Ridgetop]

Worked on caulking the window frames and shower with silicone caulking. Will do the rest of the room with standard fast drying caulk. Bryan is here today taking down the pump shed and setting the forms for the base. When he is finshed he will come in and sweat the new shutoff on the toilet line. Last year I had a plumbing company come out that was supposed to change out all the shutoffs. DH was talking to them and when they left and I checked the bill I paid for the work but they did not change the shutoffs! We did not find this out until later but naturally I never hired them again. Will start the priming after Bryan is finished in the bathroom.

Went out this morning and finished the vaccinating, worming & docking on the final group of lambs. We had an oops in one set of twin ewe lambs when it was discovered that one ewe lamb was a ram lamb. LOL I must have checed the same ewe lamb twice. That last group of ewes and lambs have been turned out with the others in the bg field. DS1 said that he move the alfalfa bales over to that side tomorrow and we will construct the creep pen tomorrow. The bottle lambs are enjoying a larger 5' x 10' jug and have been moved further into the interior of the barn to avoid rain being blown in on them.

I have gotten a set back in the bathroom painting. Bryan found an issue with replacing the shut off in our bathroom. The copper pipe to attach the new shut off was behind the wall and the valve was on the outside of the wall. Poor design on the part of the builder. First DS1 had to run to Lowes for extra parts, then Bryan had to cut into the wall to sweat the copper pipe since the copper pipe did not reach outside the wall. Old houses suck. Anyway, I think I might be able to repair the hole in the wall with the shreds of paneling left and a piece of baseboard. Luckily I have some extra baseboard from where I removed a piece in the laundry room to fit in the new cabinet shelves. I hope I can fit it together, then will fill the gaps with wood putty and paint it out.

 

[Baymule]

Just think how much BETTER it is that Bryan found the not properly done copper pipe than it would have been if your two HEROES were working on it.

 

[Ridgetop]

I am thinking on how to repair the wall now. DS1 said he will pull out the toilet so I can get in there for the repair and to finish the painting behind the toilet. Then he wants to put in some sort of special collar ring before setting the new toilet. Somehow the toilet barely leaks dampness along the floor.

Last night I was not sleepy so I put new paper down to paint today. The old paper was nasty from the wallpaper glue and vinegar water, and the tape wouldn't stick to the floor. I pulled up the old paper earlier and washed the floor then laid the new paper late last night. This morning I have most of the wainscoting primed. Still have some of the cabinets to do. I am considering removing the doors from the cabinets to make it easier to prime and paint the cabinets. This bathroom is smaller than the main bathroom and it is harder to move around in it while painting. Once the cabinets are primed I can roll the walls with the primer. I tried to caulk everything yesterday, but today with the white primer I see spots in the woodwork and moldings that need to be caulked. I will get in there with more caulk once the primer dries. I am taking a break now after crawling on my knees priming lower cabinets.

Weather report says that we are suposed to have "light snow" on Wednesday. Apparently DS1 and DH are true Texans now because they are worried about the snow. After much discussion DS1 ordered a water tank heater for the ewe and lamb pen. I told DS1 that he should move a heat lamp over the bottle lambs in their pen in the barn. Now that we have electricity he can do it. I was busy painting so dd not mention that they had already ordered a big propane burner to heat water for the barn.

DS1 plans to get into the jug side today and set up the creep for the lambs. Some of them are a month pd and need to start on grain as well as the hay and pasture. I want the rams large enough to go to auction in March and April for Muslem holidays as well as Easter. Some of the lower quality ewe lambs can also go in the Easter sale. In April we will put a selection of ewes with the black head ram. Everyone incuding the rams will get a Bo-Se shot. Last years lambs will be 11+ months old, they and any ewes that didn't settle and lamb year can go to him too. Then we will sort out any ewes with older 3 month lambs. Spmoe of them can go to him too. I have a list of special ewes that I want to breed to Junior for breeding stock.

Better get back to my painting.

 

[Ridgetop]

The well people have set off drilling and delivering the equipment for a week due to heavy rains and flooding. I am happy with that since I don't want their giant semi tearing up my pastures.

Yesterday I spent the day priming the bathroom. To do the lower cabinets I found it easier to lay on the floor instead of kneeling and bending over. Harder to get up, but easier to paint. LOL I finished up the half gallon of prmer and was about to open the new gallon when DS1 called me to come out to the barn where he had been building the new creep. First he had to remove a 10' panel with a gate and substitute a straight 10' fence panel. The gate panel will go in the new doorway between the two sides of the barn. Then he moved the squeeze out of the barn with DH's help. It is a behemoth of a thing and takes 2 strong men to move. It can sit outside for a while while we decide where to store it. We he will tarp it. Next he moved the 5 bales of alfalfa over to that spot in the back of the side barn and tarped them against the rain that might blow in.

Then he took apart the jug that was holding all the loose hay. We had fed all of that during the heavy rains so it was empty. He used 2 of those 5' panels and a 2' gate panel (usually used in the chute) to build the back wall separating the hay storage area. The 2' gate allows access to the alfalfa and can of grain for the lambs. Next he moved all those heavy 5'-6' feeders around, hanging 2 of them in the creep, and moving 3 into the ewe area. By the time I got out there he had the creep paels n place. We have 2 creep gates. One is a 5' Sydell, and one is a Shaul's 3' walk through gate creep panel. By angling them slightly and attaching them to the upright posts in the barn walls, he managed to get them to fit with another 5' panel. The side barn is 11' wide.

It was at this point that DS1 called me to come help him in the barn. He wanted me to put in the creep bars at the width I judged the lambs to be. Then he put the horizonta bars across both of them. The horizonta bars prevent any ewes that may have regained a slim figure from getting through the creep bars. Now he had to figure out how to attach the different panels to the brn walls. He decided to go with the Sydell bars we had used in CA. They lag bolt into a wood structure and have pin attachments for the panels. Problem 1. No lag bolts. Despte DS1's claims that he had sjput them in a Ziploc bag and they "should have been with the bars" somehow they had been "misplaced". (Do you think they may have been packed into a box of hardware instead of being tossed loose willy-nilly into a trailer? LOL Apparently DS1 considered they should have been laying around somewhere in plain sight. He gets more like his daddy every day!) Anyway, after an abortive search in the tool shed while DS1 raged about things being "moved" from where he left them ????? I came into the house and got out my plastic boxes of screws and lags from the tool closet. (Everyone should have a tool closet in their house.) He selected several and went back to the barn, complaining that they might be too small. I offered to give him some large washers but he refused saying that I could not know they would fit. ??? I was instructed to get lamb bottles ready for Daddy to feed. As I was heading out to the barn DH arrived at the door requesting fender washers. I went back to my screw box and got out 9 large fender washers. Naturally they fit since I had bought them for those lag bolts.

Back to the barn where DH was feeding lambs. I helped DS finish everything. While he was doing the last chores I decided to spread 2 bags of corn cob litter in the side barn since the floor seemed wet. One bag in the creep for the lambs and one in the main part for the ewes. By now it had started to rain. When I say "rain" I mean RAIN! It was so loud on the metal roof of the barn that we almost couldn't hear the sheep screaming thir complaint abut the toxic water pouring down on them. Sheep are very loud - has anyone else noticed? Until we were finished it "RAINED" intermittently accompanied by sheep screams and complaints. We had to communicate by hand signals. I often wonder why sheep people don't invest in an American Sign language class.

Finally with the gate into the main barn in place, feed in the feeders, we could bring in the sheep. DS1 told me to bring in Hazine from the side barn. Ozel was laying in the gate way between the main and side barns so I stepped utside and called Hazine. She gladly came with me until she reached the utside where the rain was pouring down in a steady sheet. Giving me an incredulous look, she stopped dead. Starting to feel damp through my coat, I went bck insde and opened the gate to the main barn. Ozel did not move. There was a little room to get past so I called Hazine again. She looked shocked that I would want her to be so rude as to walk over Ozel. I told Ozel to move. She pretended not to hear. Finally by stepping closer and closer to Ozel she decided that she was no longer comfortable and got up. Again I called Hazine who still refused to enter Ozel's barn. The fact that Ozel was glaring at her from behind me did not help. Ozel has been asserting her authority over Hazine who acknowledges her as boss. Hazine is still a puppy. Disgusted by this behavior in my "brave" LGD I got a piece of hay rope and brought Hazine through the gate. Now we were ready to bring in the sheep and lambs all of whom were dripping wet.
Creep at the end of the side barn.Close up of the creep panels and finally with the heat lamps on
It is supposed to drop to 16 degrees Wednesday night so we will have to run an extension cord and a heat lamp in the main barn over to the "orphan" lambs' pen. We will get another heat bulb at Lowes when we get the new toilet today.

Back to the bathroom painting. I was now so exhausted from kneeling./crawling/laying on the floor painting and climbing up and down off the ladder, then running back and forth from house to barn, spreading litter and carrying feed that I decided to wait until today to finish. Luckily I had leftovers that I could heat up for dinner.

BUT WAIT! DS1 refused to eat the leftovers! Instead he volunteered to make ham, onion and cheese quiche for dinner. I even got to sit in his squishy recliner and watch Gutfeld while he cooked.

DS1 Yep! Taking more after his daddy every day. I am a lucky woman.
BTW the quiche was excellent!