Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

Ridgetop

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 13, 2015
Messages
6,572
Reaction score
22,270
Points
693
Location
Shadow Hills, CA
Been super busy emptying the Connexes and sorting out boxes. Didn't have to lift the wood stove after all. I did insist on taking all the parts off and out of it before the boys moved it. Then I wrapped it in heavy plastic to protect it. The boys moved another 8' heavy duty shelving unit down t the milk shed, and moved some of the heavy stuff down there too. 2 new medicine cabinets destined for TX, several new, and one antique, light fixture, etc.

DH took a load of stuff to Salvation Army - 2 lovely old wing chairs that were grandmother's that I had intended to reupholster, a Duncan Phyffe folding table that I loved that my uncle gave my grandmother with his first paycheck, and a bunch of junk. The armchairs and table wrenched at my heart but the chairs had gotten loose in the joints from being stored for years in the Connexes, and the mahogany veneer was breaking off the table. I decided to be strong and just send them off. I am a bit too old to refinish the mahogany table veneer, and like DS1 said - I have too much furniture and am trying to downsize anyway. Besides when I go to Palm Springs there are always good buys at the consignment shops. :lol:

I brought in another dozen boxes of stuff to sort through. Several boxes of antique toys and collectibles, DH's cribbage board collection, a collection of lovely carved and handmade wooden boxes from specialty woods, and boxes of china ornaments, painted plates, etc. Sorted all those boxes out and wrapped up a lot of the items for the children.

Next several boxes of old documents to shred. Old meaning back to 1973!!! Old statements and cancelled checks from banks that are no longer in business, bills, etc. Took 2 days to sort through those and shred them. Then another couple of boxes of old documents pertaining to purchase and sale of our old house (including the bill of sale when my grandparents bought it from the original builder 100 years ago!), purchase of the new house (where we live now) as well as earthquake and renovations documents and bills. I kept a lot of those things just in case we have to prove we raised our basis in the house. DH says the tax laws have changed but they could also change again and we might need those items. Packed them in plastic Banker's Boxes to store in the sheds. Have another Banker's Box of old IRS returns to go through dating from 70's/80's too. Asked DH to do that but might have to do it myself if he "doesn't have time" or more truthfully inclination.

However the one Connex is now almost empty while the other is now 3/4 empty. The 3/4 empty one has lots of empty shelves which means that I can transfer more stuff from the almost empty one. The almost empty one has 16' of shelving mostly with Christmas decos and the Christmas tree. DS1 said the in November he will bring in all the Christmas stuff as normal, at which point he and DS2 can move those 2 8' shelves over into the 3/4 full Connex, since it has room for them. That will leave one additional 8' and one 4' shelf to relocate to the milk shed and the Rubbermaid shed.

Voila! One empty 24' Connex with doors on each end for hay storage. Hay has gone up in price, but DH plans to bring in as much as he can afford this year, and next year if it comes down we will be ready to stockpile during the summer when it is cheaper. It is expected to be a La Nina year - no rain again - although we have gotten a couple days of light showers.

OOPS! Just found the pile of Salvation Army stuff in the house that was supposed to go. Loaded the truck and forgot to load all that stuff! Oh well, there will be another load from various areas next week.

Th ram buyer that has been calling saying he will come out to pick up a registered ram lamb did not show up again last weekend. The ram lamb is 3 months old and over 100 lbs now so I need to make a reservation at the butcher for him and a couple of smaller ones. I should actually take the smaller ones to the auction since my freezers are full. I am considering getting another big chest one and putting it in the milk shed, Priced them at Lowes and they run $750-850. Next appliance sale will be Black Friday. Need to consider if I really need it or not. However, it is a good place to store extra bags of flour so it doesn't hatch weevils.

DD2 and DDIL2 both listened when I told them diapers might become hard to get. DH is suddenly saying that there is a limit of ne on toilet paper again. I did get some powdered milk but couldn't get the large boxes of individual packs to make 1-2 quarts at a time. It was either 3 packs in a box - yield 6 quarts - or a large bag that would make 5-10 gallons. I may get the larger pack and if I have to open it then pack it in Ziplock bags and store it in the freezer. DH couldn't find any at Costco either.

Pulled Smalley out of the breeding pen last week. In another week I will put Lewis in with the ewes as a catch up, and sort out some other ewes that are ready to breed. However, doing that I will have ewes lambing in March which means summer sale of lambs for less money. I considered holding off on some of the younger ewes but that will mean hold them until they are 18 months old before breeding. :( Bad for them and bad for me. Better to breed them and get less money at a summer sale price than have them sit open for an extra 6 months. I have about 6 due during November which will be prime for spring high $$ sale.

DH wants to get the new countertops in the kitchen done. The tile is 30 years old and the grout is failing. Have a new cooktop already to install. When we move to TX, DS2 and DDIL2 will probably rent our house from us. That takes the burden off having to sell and means that if we have health issues and need to move back near the children we can. Our house payment is so low (2.25% interest) that DD2 will pay about the same renting our house as renting a 2-3 BR apartment. He has so much of his stuff stored here that by the time he rented a house or apartment and a storage unit he would be paying more than the cost of the payment here! In the meantime we will do the countertops, have done repairs to the driveway, and will install more faux grass on the barn side of the house where the sorry attempt at a garden was. Any shrubs I plant from now n will be gopher and ground squirrel resistant. Or fake!

Have my Christmas shopping for the grandchildren done. All the hype about not getting any toys for Christmas kicked e into high gear. Just the babies to shop for and Annabel needs clothes so. I am giving some of my good crystal and beautiful items to my children along with some money. Not much though because we are short with the ranch purchase.

The ranch finally closed on October 13. We may not be back there as early as we thought since we both have appointments with the orthopedic surgeons November 9. My knee has started buckling and when working in the tight confines of the Connex I had a lot of trouble when I would twist around and the knee would give way. Main problem is that the knee is causing the hip to go out too. DH's has fallen several times when his "GOOD" knee has given way. He is worried about walking with the baby in his arms in case he falls. We have known that knee needed replacement for a long time.

We have to be at DS3's house for Thanksgiving. So a trip to TX might be either a quick trip out or we will have to go out after Christmas for a longer trip. The late closing on the ranch has messed up our timeline. On the good side, the tenant is already moving into the house. The cattle tenant was going to work on the Honey Locusts that were coming up. Two weeks ago he texted that he was shredding. He usually sprays the pastures and I told him that we would pay to fertilize so need to hear about that.

Couldn't sleep so got up to catch upon my emails and BYH. Off to bed now.
 

Baymule

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 22, 2010
Messages
33,089
Reaction score
98,637
Points
873
Location
East Texas
I went to Sulphur Springs Monday for feed, coming back I saw your new tenant moving stuff into the house.

You really should get on track to get your knee surgery. There is no reason for you to suffer in pain and not be able to do the things you want to do, much less what you need to do. Life will be a whole lot better!

I finally went to a doctor, lab work first, then back next Wednesday for results. I'll get knee x-rays and see where I am. If surgery is recommended, I'll wait until I sell the farm, get moved and settled in and find someone to feed sheep and dogs while I'm gone. BJ was supposed to take care of me when I had knee surgery, but it looks like rehab and therapy every day for a couple weeks might be my best bet. Not quite what I pictured, but It's what I got. I'll come back to Tyler to the same doctor that did BJ's joint replacements. Looking forward to next Wednesday so I can see how decrepit I am. :lol:
 

Ridgetop

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 13, 2015
Messages
6,572
Reaction score
22,270
Points
693
Location
Shadow Hills, CA
Well it never rains but pours! Both our truck and DS2's truck are stalled on repairs due to unavailability of parts. Also DS2's car so he will be using our car to go to work tomorrow so we can use his truck to haul 3 lambs to the auction. Then I have a mammogram scheduled at 3pm so can't stay for the auction. Will have to come home and drop the trailer then take the ginormous beast of a Black Dragon to the appointment. I will have DH drive in case there is no parking since this is a new location. In North Hollywood which is only 20 minutes surface streets instead of an hour on the freeway. UCLA is starting to have locations for testing in the valley which is good for us.

DH's truck was in for something - oil change? and when he got it back the radio did not work and neither did the speedometer. This is the dealership shop wh have always done our work. They were not sure what the cause was so he went to the radio shop and they replaced a fuse that had blown out. Whatever the shop had done while replacing whatever it was, the mechanic had apparently blown up some wiring while working on it. The shop now tells DH that the part to fix the problem is obsolete and they can't get it. WHAT?!

This is a sore spot since this is not the first time the shop has messed up something while doing a repair on our car or truck, requiring another week or more in the shop while they fix the second problem. (Lately the shop also "found" other problems while working on repairs. These second repairs usually cost in the neighborhood of $500-1000. DH no longer tells me about these since I get very testy about it and suggest finding another mechanic.)

At any rate, now DH is pissed. DH has words with the mechanic, the parts department, the manager of the repair shop, and so on up to the general manager of the dealership. Our family has been a good customer for the past 20+ years and DH is VERY UPSET! He comes home and tells me that they are looking for the part. That was last Saturday and he is still waiting to hear from them. Since they no longer answer his calls when he phones (probably blocking him) he drives back to the shop and talks to the shop manager again. The manager sees him coming but his back door access is blocked and DH had seen him so he can't run. DH informs him that they either fix the truck since they broke it, or replace the truck. The manager brightens up and says they can probably find a used truck. DH says "Not like mine, in that condition". The manager's shoulders slump since he has to agree with DH. DH has kept our truck in perfect condition. All work has been done on schedule at the dealership, the leather upholstery was replaced when it got worn, and the motor runs like clockwork.

Now we wait and see if they can locate the part. In the meantime, we can't go to Texas in November since the truck is sitting at the mechanic while they search for the damaged part.

The bright spot is that the manager is hunting for the mechanic that caused the damage. 👿 Public hangings anyone?

Started on my taxes. First I have to sort out all the bills for each property. This includes travel expenses. I also have to tally up all the farm expenses since we are not sure whether to wait until next year to claim the ranch expenses. DH says since you can only take 3 years of loss we should wait until next year when we will have pasture rent, pasture fertilization, etc. along with the sheep expenses. This year we will have only had the farm for 2.5 months of the year. I think he is right. But I want to start keeping the ranch records anyway for this year.

It rained all day yesterday! :weeeIt was sunny today and will be for the rest of the week. Apparently it was a freak storm that blew through. Hopefully we will get a few more freak storms this winter. LOL

DH hopes to get another couple loads of hay in the now empty Connex for the winter. We turned the last ewe and lamb into the creep today after loading the 3 lambs for the auction tomorrow. This weekend we will pull Lewis out and harness him for breeding. A couple of ewes need to come out of the breeding pen (Lewis' daughters) and a couple others go in for breeding to him. I really like this ram. He produces fast growing lambs. He is also getting older and I want to use him a lot before he gets too old. I will buy another Lewis ram before we move to Texas.

Tomorrow I need to order some more scrapie tags. The state does not give them out free anymore so I have to pay for a set up printing fee as well as the tags. One company wants $40 for the one time fee and another $25 for the one time fee. Got to check the reviews.
 

Baymule

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 22, 2010
Messages
33,089
Reaction score
98,637
Points
873
Location
East Texas
No parts. Have you gotten a part number or description and done a parts search yourself? The dealership is tied to only it's "approved" suppliers. You are under no such constraints and if you can produce the part, then demand the dealership put it on for NO CHARGE plus REIMBURSE you for the cost of the part.
 

Ridgetop

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 13, 2015
Messages
6,572
Reaction score
22,270
Points
693
Location
Shadow Hills, CA
DS1 did a search on line and there are parts out there. DH told the shp manager that and the manager said that they are trying t find the part but that sometimes they show they have it on line and when you send the $$ suddenly they disciver it was an inventory mistake. They send back the $$ but it takes time. They are searching. Yes, they are going to fix it no charge.
 

Bruce

Herd Master
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
17,435
Reaction score
45,775
Points
783
Location
NW Vermont
No parts. Have you gotten a part number or description and done a parts search yourself? The dealership is tied to only it's "approved" suppliers. You are under no such constraints and if you can produce the part, then demand the dealership put it on for NO CHARGE plus REIMBURSE you for the cost of the part.
Yep. Dealerships don't look for used parts, an independent mechanic will. DD2's car needed a part that Toyota wanted $1,500 new. I found it for $1,200 online from Toyota dealers!!!! Found a used one for under $700. Cars get totalled, plenty of usable parts in areas where the damage didn't occur. The part I found was from a car that they even listed the VIN on and all the parts they had on hand.

How the hell do you blow the electrical system while changing the oil?????
 

Ridgetop

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 13, 2015
Messages
6,572
Reaction score
22,270
Points
693
Location
Shadow Hills, CA
OK. The dealership found a shop with the part that will do the work. It will be paid for by the dealership. I told DH to get the name of this shop because there are couple of items in the truck that the dealership told us could not be fixed because yo could no longer get parts. Told DH might as well see if this guy could fix those small items too - after getting the truck back from the dealership.

Started working on my taxes. :barnie So much sorting of bill categories for each property, and each different trip. Total of 4 trips last year. 2 to Texas and 2 to Yelm. All the bills from cleaning up the Yelm property and repairs after the tenant left. Then all the costs from selling the property. Then all the costs of purchasing the new property. I am glad I am starting now since it will probably take the rest of the year to finish all this.

Got my check from the auction. Very pleased. Well over $200 each for 3 lambs 4 month old! Will be sending more next month. Got to get Lewis in harness and down in the breeding pen. Will start lambing in mid November again.
 

Latest posts

Top