Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[farmerjan]

The table was very nice. Kudos to the grand daughter.

WONDERFUL on the Yelm property. Hope it goes through for you. I get the feeling that you are "past it" and ready to move forward.

Nice family picture. We used to do that but it has pretty much died off with so many spread out. No grand children here, my sister's son & dil have a little girl. Family has split apart and I am not into it as much as I used to be because of the lack of "farming" blood anymore. Sometimes wish I could find a young couple that would be interested in "carrying on" with the nurse cows and such... but I guess that will die off with me because even though DS is glad to take advantage of my one good dispositioned one now, not his thing.

Would be great to make the trip to Tx before it gets too terribly hot for the summer.... and maybe find what you want. At least you would be going to a state that is still red although the cities are gathering all the stupids from blue states.

 

[Ridgetop]

Thank you. Family tradition to have fancy tables for holidays. My grandmother used to decorate her tables according to each holiday. When I married and started having the family dinners she came over to make sure that they wee decorated properly! LOL My children get upset now if the table is not decorated and set with the good silver, china, and crystal. We put out crystal glassware for the grandchildren too and use the antique silver children's tableware sets from my uncles. It is good that they have to be careful and use nice things on special holidays. Seems like no one wants to mess around with that much work anymore, so I hope my grandchildren remember the special meals at Grandma's using "the good stuff". DGD1 was very excited about the finished table so I foresee a tradition of helping Grandma set the holiday table from now on.

I used to wash everything by hand but a friend told me several years ago that she decided to just put her grandmother's crystal in the dishwasher. She had inherited tons of crystal from her grandmother, mother, and mother-in-law, but had no children. She decided just to use it and enjoy it. If it broke in the dishwasher, that was ok since at least she had the pleasure of using it. I started doing that 2 years ago. Now the only stuff I wash by hand anymore is the sterling silver. I count the pieces like my grandmother taught me after a couple of her pieces went down the garbage disposal! Our children delighted in telling each other (and any guests) that it was to make sure no one stole the silver!

 

[Ridgetop]

Lasagna in the oven. Sent the required docs for the well in Yelm to the agent for the buyers. I think I got everything they wanted. I have everything about the repairs, renovation and all the bills for everything, so will be happy to scan and send them too if needed. I finally got the pump house key off to the agent for the inspection. I am not sure when that will happen. Or if there will by anything we will have to do to the house. I told Agent Jerry that we would sweep the roof and gutters, and I could replace the stolen antique knob with a reproduction knob assembly. Found one cheap on Amazon for $30.00+

After telling me last week that she couldn't even discuss or think about a wedding, yesterday DD2 told me that she thought we were going ahead with her wedding on June 19! I am not sure that we can do it then since the venue refunded our money when they were closed down. I will have to check to see if they are still planning on having inside dining, etc., then send them another deposit check. Besides I would rather do it later in the year since we will be in Texas looking for our ranch as of May 12 through the end of June if this escrow closes. We only have 45 days to identify 3 properties or lose out on the 1031 advantages. If will be pushing it but we can't go ahead with a 1031 purchase until this one closes. Not sure what properties are available now either. The77 acres on the tracks is off market but that doesn't mean it sold We might still be able to make an offer but maybe a bit less due to the condition of the small house and the amount we would have to spend to make it safe for the tenant. Also we are coming with $20,000 less to spend. On the other hand, maybe we will just buy a smaller property and not cash out as much of our savings to make up the difference. I better send an email to the venue to see what dates they have open. The wedding dress is hanging behind the door of the office along with the Maid of Honor's dress. The flower girl dresses are in the closet. Everything is made that needs to be done. Just the new invitations to send out and the flowers to order. I even have the menu list in the folder.

Oh well, at least my ewes are breeding. Good sheepies!

 

[Ridgetop]

Just heard from our agent that the buyers in Yelm are not asking us t do anything on the house!

We just have to get through the appraisal and closing. Then out to Texas and our new ranch.. Hope we can find something.

Had an appointment at the vet this am for a pre-op with Angel to be spayed. We have given up hope of obtaining papers on her sire and I really don't want to breed her without a registration. Finally, spending $700+ every 6 months to board her in the kennel is ridiculous. Erick said he may have another litter this summer so we might be getting a puppy after all. She will be registered and can be bred to Bubba if we decide to have a litter.

Tomorrow is DH's birthday. He will be 78. Is that too old for us to relocate to a ranch? I am starting to worry about my perception of "prime of life". However, if we don't sell the CA property, DS2 and DDIL2 can stay here ad we can decide if moving is for us. After all, we can sell off the sheep here and just pay for brush clearance.

Got to make a pineapple upside down cake for DH. The children will be coming over tomorrow evening for a BBQ. DH went shopping and splurged on steaks. I won't tell you the price since I would not have paid what he did. On the other hand he is worth it.


DS2's paternity leave is over and he goes back Sunday to San Diego to work for another 2 weeks before being transferred to Moorpark. That location is only a 20-30 minute drive from us so he will be back living at home. While he is gone DDIL2 and little Robert will be going to stay with her family. He finally got his Covid vaccination so his wife will now let him see the baby. She wouldn't allow him to come over before. We teased him by sending messages that DH was whispering constantly that DH was the favorite grandfather. Then I told Marlene that it was obvious to us that she was using that as an excuse to keep the baby away from him so she teach Robert "I'm the favorite". LOL I am very glad that they are going to have the baby for 2 whole weeks. Maybe Robert will learn to sleep through the night during those 2 weeks . . . .

One of the lambs has torn out her ear tag. Not the way they normally do with a ragged hole either, she has torn the entire ear into 2 dangling strips! Not sure how to attach another tag. At least she did it before I registered her with the old tag number! DS1 and I are considering waiting to put in the larger ear tags until the lambs join the main flock on the field. We think they may be tearing them out on the creep gate. We can use the tiny scrapie tags to tell them apart when we weigh them until then. If I put in a different number, I have to reregister as a corrected registration.

I just counted the ewes. We have 28 ewes and ewe lambs now. 20 of them will be breeding and lambing before the end of the year!!! Last May's 4 lambs will be bred this summer as first fresheners. We are breeding 5 ewes at a time because of the number of jugs. We may have to build a creep in the large sheep pen in order to fit all the lambs into a feeding station to let them eat properly. Probably need to add another feeder when we head to Yelm. I better order it! I will also be taking a lot more to the auction every month or so. So far I have 4 due in June, 5 due in August, The FFs + 2 ewes in October, and more divided up for every 2 months through the end of the year when I will start breeding some of these all over again. Better get to Texas fast!!! LOL

 

[farmerjan]

I don't know when it is "too old" to buy a ranch. How does he feel about it? How do you feel about staying in California???? The taxes and such in Texas are going to be better... maybe a smaller place and not as many sheep and breeding for the optimal market there????
Happy Birthday to DH !!!!

I know getting these knees are a priority, and then I am going to seriously think about the next few years for me.... wanting someplace that is much more remote than here.... I will deal with it, the price was/is right.... but the traffic and only 2 acres won't keep me happy... and if things keep up the way they are then moving out of Va may be the best thing for me. Tenn and even KY are much more farmer oriented... NC mountains are pretty... I really liked the Smokies when I was there. Not going "north" as I don't want all that winter....
Get moved. get things here done, upstairs ceilings done and such, get the heat situation done, and then the KNEES..... go from there.

So glad that there isn't anything that is required by you for the Yelm property. You've had to do and redo enough.

 

[Ridgetop]

DH goes from "We have to move immediately!" to "I don't know if I want to do all that work." to "Why aren't you packing?!"

With regards to the sheep, DH feeds in the am which would not be required on pasture for most of the year. DH also goes and picks up the hay. DS1 feeds in the evenings, unloads and stacks the hay, builds/repairs the fences, catches the rams and puts the harnesses on, changes the crayons, and separates the sheep for me. I could do it alone with better and permanent pens and chutes, which we don't have room for here. He does the weighing now, but I can weigh the lambs myself in both the hanging scale and the freestanding scale. I take longer because I have to set up a portable chute but I can do it. He doesn't want to use chutes so it takes longer but he has the grandchildren help. They run the sheep and lambs into the main barn and we lock then in the jugs, then sort them out to weigh and run them back into the creep pen or the large pen. Sometimes I think I take less time by myself than when we have the grandchildren "help" us. They are getting better at catching the lambs though. DGD1 is actually the best because she just jumps in and wrestles with them. DGS1 is ok but likes to argue and discuss as the lamb dashes past him and out the open gate! DGS2 hates to touch the sheep, but I have given him a pig board and taught him to use it. He uses it to block the lambs so his brother can grab them and push them into the scale. Now that he understands to brace it with his knee and move it to keep the lamb from getting past he has more confidence, hops in to block lambs, and does better. No use screaming at him to grab a lamb with his hands when I can get a better job from him with the pig boards. I keep track of the weights, do the paperwork, decide when and to which ram to breed, and chose lambs for the auction. DH drives the truck and we visit on the hour log trip. DS1 and I both look the ewe lambs and yearlings over and decide which are worth keeping. He and DS2 are good at judging them.

I could never live in an apartment, condo, or even a small city lot anymore. We love living on acreage, so we really have no choice but to buy a larger property. We could stay here, but it keeps getting built up more and more and with the political situation the quality of life will soon be untenable. I am even wondering if eventually we would have to leave Texas and move to the Dakotas or something. BRRRRRR!

We might as well go while we can though since if we become unable to fend for ourselves then we can look at buying a condo.

 

[Baymule]

You are not too old until you die, then it’s too late to worry about it.

Congratulations on the Yelp property, guess I’d better look around...... you mentioned a smaller property, what’s the lowest acreage you would consider?

Lovely family pictures. Looks like a good time was had by all. How wonderful to have everyone together.

 

[Ridgetop]

Thank you for starting to look. I haven't seen much on line. Two properties we looked are off market, not sold but pulled from market. Another that Marv liked sold 2 weeks ago. This time, hopefully, we will be able to get something.

Probably 35-40 acres would be smallest because unless we have 25 or more acres in hay we won't be able to get anyone to cut & bale for us. I will need hayfields and also rotational pasture for the sheep to graze. More acres would be better, but too many Texas properties are being cut into smaller pieces for higher prices. Love Houston county, Elkhart or Grapeland area. Hope I don[t have to look in another state since my heart belongs to Texas.

Marv's birthday today. Everyone came by. First DD1 said she and her family would not be over till 8pm since kids a had scout stuff and birthday parties with friends. DH upset since whole family had discussed his birthday part on Easter Sunday. Told DS2 to throw their steaks into freezer. Then had idea to invite DDIL2's parents over since her dad had not seen Robert yet. They accepted. Then DD1 called back that she would be there at 4pm with a potato casserole! What?! OK out came steaks again and we cut them smaller to feed everyone. DGS2 nd DGD1 came with DD1. DD2 came over nd said that Doofus couldn't come. Then he showed up. DSIL came over after we finished dinner but luckily we had some leftovers for him. Crazy but it worked. Pineapple Upside down cake for DH. Complaints that there were not 78 candles on it but told everyone I couldn't get a permit from the fire department for that much open flame. DH blew out the candles before we could sing so DD1 lit them again and made him wait till she could take photos. Loud and fun dinner and evening.

Checking and rearranging my breedings to try to have lambs born every month so I can take a load to the auction every month starting in December. If I don't like some of the ewes I can take them too. Really want to try to make a go of this with lamb sales. I have enough ewes now to be able to string them out and have lambs every month. I have a small area that can be fenced off for an additional creep, and will set up a creep pen in the large field so I can move the lambs out to the large field sooner.

 

[Baymule]

Happy birthday to your DH! I know everyone had a great time. 78! Sounds like a great age for adventure! What else to do? Sit in a rocking chair and wait to die? Don’t think so! I’ll get to looking around.

We got good news. DD thinks job in Oklahoma went to someone else. Maybe she isn’t happy but we sure are! LOL LOL

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop you may want to rethink the lambing every month due to demand for lambs. Not saying I don't agree with a more steady supply, but it makes no sense to have lambs to sell in March that bring premium price, lambs in April that bring a good price, and lambs in May when there is little demand and the price tanks. Not saying it will, but just something to think about. I know with the cattle, we don't sell in June-Sept because everyone that wanted "grass cattle" have got them, and too many farmers are too busy in planting then in hay making to be fooling with it. I realize that the lamb market is a little different... but something to think about. Texas markets may be a little different, but again, with the extreme heat in the summer, the lambs aren't going to grow and you will have alot in them in feed/grass etc., that might not prove to be practical, especially if the demand is down at that time.
I know up here they are more seasonal.... and having lambs for the different ethnic holidays drives the prices.