Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

Baymule

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There is only 25 days worth of diesel fuel. This administration sure has F’ed things up. I don’t care which political group anyone is in, it all comes down to the economy, crime and our freedoms. Galloping inflation, criminals turned back out on the streets to pillage and murder again and every “fix” made into law just erodes away our freedoms.

Remember the Alamo.
 

Ridgetop

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OMG! Not enough fuel to get to Texas and back again. We planned to go the 2 weeks before Christmas. That gives me enough time to do the Christmas decorations, cookie baking (will store in freezer), gift shopping and ordering and doctor/dental appointments for the 3 of us (DH, DS1, and me). At least we have enough food here in CA and we use natural gas to heat and cook. Not sure if the DWP electric plant uses diesel to produce. Looks like we might have missed the window to move to Texas. :somad

Like Scarlett O'Hara I won't think about that today.

On a happy note, DS1's trick with penning Junior (the 6 months old ram) inside the ram pen for several days before turning hm in with the older boys worked. He hangs out with them like a groupie, even cuddling u at night to sleep. There was some minor butting and dominance scrambling but he is young enough to agree they are the bosses. All is now calm in Ramworld. Of course, Lewis is still in with the ewes. When he returns things will change again as everyone asserts their pecking order. Junior will be bottom rung for a while, but unlike chickens the sheep don't see a need to pick on the younger flock members except to drive them away from the feeder if there is not enough room.

We have not seen any more lambs born yet, but on my quick trip to the breeding pen I saw a ewe stringing her plug and standing off a bit from the flock. She did not approach the feeder and is obviously beginning the lambing process. No sign of a lamb, alive or dead, so we wait. DS1 or I will go check in an hour. We were supposed to have a torrential storm today beginning last night. This morning we had wet pavement and a slight ongoing drizzle. If it starts to rain, we will have to get that ewe inside the barn with the lambs. I have a doctor's appointment at 11:30 and need to leave in an hour. Maybe she will hurry up. DS2 and DDIL2 are at OB appointment. Robert is here with us. When we leave DS1 will have Robert and the ewe to worry about. I don't like to leave the lambs in the rain but they are born wet after all so . . . . :D

BL16 has a crayon mark today. She was just added to the breeding pen. The next lambing dates are around November 15. Strange year for breeding and lambing. Not one I want to repeat either.
 

Ridgetop

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Oops! What was I thinking? Today is Monday not Tuesday. Luckily DH reminded me of that before I left for my Tuesday appointment! We voted on Sunday - DH wanted to vote early because he had jury duty starting Monday. He has been checking online and he didn't have to go in either Monday or tomorrow.

OR10 marked today. 100123 is the ewe that was starting labor this morning. She lambed finally. She had 1 big healthy ram lamb this morning. DS1 moved her into the barn just before the rain came down. Kept checking on her but she was quite calm and eating. Kept waiting for her to pass the afterbirth. Late this afternoon she had a stillborn ram lamb that she didn't clean. I wonder if I should have pulled it or if it was already dead since she didn't strain or look uncomfortable. She also didn't udder up much. At least she delivered it and has a healthy live ram lamb instead of a dead retained one. This year has been a bad one. I really wonder if this past terrible summer has something to do with it. Both ewes lambed 5 days after their due dates. Usually they are all on time. Not sure if that is something that will continue for the rest of this lambing group. I remember several years in the rabbitry when all the does would kindle a couple days early or a couple days late instead of at the 30-day mark. And it would be ALL of them in that one year. Strange things happen with livestock. At least it gives me hope that some of the other ewes will lamb. We pulled the ram on August 16, so they have until January 8 to lamb if they are bred. 3 ewes have marked since Lewis went into the pen on October 23. Two of them had been marked by Smalley so we will have to see if they actually lamb before January 8 or if they will have Lewis lambs after March17.

Been misting and sprinkling all day with just one cloudburst. Supposed to have a large storm move in tonight and tomorrow. Robert found one of the "ram-be-good" sticks in the office. I made 3 of them - 24" of closet pole with a hole drilled in one end for a rope to hang it on the corral post. We keep then on the corrals where the rams are housed to make sure the rams behave. He took it out to the family room and proceeded to whack his daddy and grandfather with it. Several times. I have no idea why it was in the office since they are supposed to be kept hanging on the corrals where they are handy. Mr. Not Me has been moving stuff around again. Just like my ballot that DH insisted he had personally given to me when it arrived. He found it on his desk (where I told him it probably still was) and tried to sneak it onto my desk when I was out of the room but I came back in and caught him. :gig

Got my tax receipts sorted out and totaled for our 3 Texas trips. Took all day to put in date order, compare them to the credit card bills, and total them. Next, I have to collect the property tax payments, insurance payments, any repairs to the properties, office expenses, etc. and go through the checkbook stubs to make sure that I have everything. :sick If I find an entry that has no receipt, I have to track it down. If it is something in DH's checkbook I am in trouble since he has a very erratic way of filing receipts. Sometimes he also doesn't see the need to note what the amount was for. I try to snatch all receipts away from him as soon as I can, but he still manages to lose some between the store and home. :he Then I have to transfer everything to the form that DH uses. If I'm lucky, everything is ok for the tax preparer. Usually though DH questions stuff and I have to go look it up so it can go in a different category than the place he told me to put it. By the time I finish I want to go live in a cave. Alone. Or overdose on chocolate.

I wonder if any of those stupid ewes plan to lamb in the rain tomorrow.
 

Baymule

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I moved my flock in February of this year, then again 6 months later. Poor girls. Breeding is all over the place. My “fall” lambs haven’t arrived yet, except for one. Ewes are not even bagged up. Evidently they did not get the memo.
 

Ridgetop

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No lambs this morning - just as well since it rained hard last night and is still raining off and on this morning. Not the tropical downpour that we were told was coming but it is only 9am so plenty of time still for a massive rain today.

Removed the dead lamb from the jug. Born dead late yesterday afternoon and left it in the jug till today since the trash cans were all 1/2 mile down the hill at the curb. No new ewes look like lambing but since the 2 that lambed didn't udder up before lambing who knows. Crazy breeding and lambing season last year. No ram was in with the ewes from August 16 through October 23. Normally I wait abut 3-4 weeks then out in another ram to make sure the ewes settle. Since DS1 and DS2 were in Texas during September no one would have been here to write down breeding dates, so we did not put a cover ram in the pen. Oh well. We will just have to wait to see what appears.

Lambs born before Christmas will be eligible as Fall lambs to compete at WSDA show and sale in Reno if we go Lambs born as of January 1 will be eligible as Spring lambs, I think. The entry catalog hasn't been published yet so I am not sure what the cut off dates will be. I am only considering bringing some lambs since the White Dorper entry is very small and they are bringing good prices. I may have to shear and train the lambs to lead on halter.
@Margali I need a Cassandra!
The black head Dorpers have a large entry and their prices are fairly static except for the breeders who normally win everything. I haven't decided if we will enter although some of the lambs are promising. Not even sure if we will go. The 2023 show will be in Reno since the premises are booked. After last year's fiasco when the person in charge FORGOT to book the showground and the show had to take place in July, they got right on it and booked the Reno premises then. Several members have requested the show move to Idaho so in 2024 they will be holding it in Idaho. No idea on where in Idaho it will be held. Since this is the "Western States" breeders' association it needs to move around in the different states. It was held in California for years, then finally moved to Reno, NV. Now some other states want it to move closer to them. Since the WSDA covers Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, California, Oregon, Idaho and Washington, it is only fair to let the other states host the show and sale. By moving the annual show and sale to other states we might get some different breeders coming to show and auction. It would be interesting to see what other breeders are producing. Of course, those breeders in other states would have to step up to put it on. Right now, most of the organizers are in northern California. Having put on different types of shows in my time, I know it is a lot of work and most people thank you by complaining instead of stepping up to help on the day.

Doctor appointment this am, then possibly some Christmas shopping at the Ross (Tuesday is senior day 10% off) in West LA on the way home, then back to the dreaded taxes.

DH said that DDIL1 told him that the horses are eating sand and colicking. Their land is almost all beach sand. Once these 2 are with us she will only have a 30-year-old left. She must have sold the other one since they had 4. DH said when the truck comes back, he will drive up and pick up the horses. DDIL1 said that DS3 will bring the flatbed trailer down at Thanksgiving. We need to put up a temporary stall for the horses to see how they interact with the sheep. Then clean out the stock trailer and load the flatbed and stock trailer at our leisure for our trip to TX. DH is worried about the weather in December. :fl I figured at gas prices today (and if the diesel is available) it will cost us about $3,000 in gas to make the trip with both trucks. :( But it needs to be done if we are going to move to the ranch.
 

Ridgetop

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Went to doctor this am. Then to Ross afterwards with DH. He wanted to sit in the car but then he would have kept calling me to complain about length of time I was in store SHOPPING! He did sit down for quite a while in the shoe department and then downstairs in the furniture department while I shopped. During the 2 hours we were in the store the heavens opened up and the rain really poured down. It cleared slightly for us to drive home. On the way home there was an ALERT about flash floods in Shadow Hills and surrounding areas! The GPS sent us home a different way to avoid the flooding, but the traffic lights were out when we got off the freeway and a lot of debris had been washed out into the road. DS1 turned on the heat because inside temp had dropped to 60 degrees! The skylight in the laundry room had leaked too. I will have to go up on the roof when it dries out and caulk around it. Bubbled some of the ceiling paint. :mad:

Shopping trip was pretty successful. Got cute and warm jackets for both daughters, and a really pretty
windbreaker for DIL1. Dressy black sweater for DDIL2 and another sweater fr her that is ok but I might take back. Then scored 2 really nice shirts for DS2 - one in nice teal color and the other in a subdued Hawaiian print in pretty colors. Then, on to the children - found adorable matching sweatshirt jackets with sequins for DGDs 1 & 2, the kind that you push the sequins up and it makes a different design, and nail polish kits. DGD1 and DGD2 both enjoy having matching things. Also got a cute 4 piece outfit for DGD2 and Disney Princess match game. Then I got pajamas for both Annabel and Robert, 2 small inexpensive toys for Robert (characters he watches in cartoons), fleece jacket & matching T-shirt for Annabel, a push toy, and hairbows for DGDs2 & 3 to share. Last one to shop for was DS2's and DDIL2's baby due in a month who got a fleece suit with hood and handcovers, and 2 toys. No need for more since DGD2's 5 siblings shower Robert with clothes and toys and will do the same for the new one. There are currently 4 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of boots sitting on the windowsill in the family. Looks like we have a set of sextuplets living here instead of one 18-month-old! These are the only grandchildren (and nephews) in their family so they enjoy them.
My Christmas shopping is now 60% complete. Still have DS1 and DS3 to shop for, along with DS3's 2 boys and DD1's 2 boys. Those boys are aged 15, 12, 11, and 8. For those ages I can also buy on Amazon since older kids are particular. !!! Just remembered that I already have 2 Dungeons and Dragons game books for DD1's boys, and a book and needlework kit for DD1. I will look in my gift box to see what else I have. I know I bought a couple tops for DD2 last summer which I was saving for Christmas. I think I also have another baby toy put away for "Nameless" and a really good teether.

DGD1 is getting Ikea shelving for a Barbie house using the beautiful handmade furniture I bought and made for her mom. She not only has furniture for a mansion but also patio furniture and a barn for the 4 horses. Oh yes and the garage for the car. I picked up Barbie stuff at the thrift store over the years so DGD1 will be fully equipped. Not to mention DGD1's Barbies have macho GI Joes for husbands - with weapon. They must be Texans. LOL Ken is their gay friend. This family does not judge.

Told DH when he complained that i have done this shopping every year for over 50 years and he needed to just suck it up. I have to get everything done before we take our 2 truck and trailer loads to Texas in December. I will do the decorating the day after Thanksgiving and bake the cookies right after that. I would do the Christmas cookie baking now, but don't have any room in the freezers. :idunno Uh oh! This might be the Christmas there are no Christmas cookies! What to do?
 

Mini Horses

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One year, many, many yrs back -- when kids were still pre-teen -- I had brilliant idea to bake holiday cookies early and freeze. Being a working mom, time was a treasure to find! Things went well until kids realized I was hiding them in freezer and opened a couple containers and enjoyed them! 😫🤣. So much for planning.
 

Baymule

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That makes sense about moving the show around. Make it easier for people in other areas to show their lambs, it’s only fair. Y’all should go.

Christmas shopping! We revamped our Christmas years ago. We do a White Elephant party for adults and pound kids with presents. White Elephant is fun, we draw numbers, pick a new present or steal one. If your present is stolen, you can either steal one or get a new one. #1 waits until last and then can steal. Presents can only be stolen 3 times. It’s a lot of fun. So much easier than trying to shop for everyone.
 

Ridgetop

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I will bring that idea up to family. Yesterday I went through the gifts I bought and decided that the coat I bought for DD1 is not something she will wear but the sweater I bought on clearance is, so she will get that, along with a book of embroidery stitches, and a needlework kit. She enjoys small needlework projects. I will return the coat on Tuesday when it is old folks' discount day. ;)

As to the Christmas cookies - I used to wait till the kids were all off at school, empty the freezer, stack the tins in the bottom, and put all the frozen back on top. Now the kids are grown, and I just put the tins in the freezer. They know that I will not make any more so they hold off until Christmas Eve. Then all rules are off and often I find a couple tins with just one cookie in them! This must be a guy thing - I also find ice cream containers with a teaspoon of ice cream crystalizing in them. This crafty plan gives truth to the claims of "I did NOT eat all the ice cream - there was some left". This is a very DH thing and includes many items. This year I plan to make the dough for the pressed and roll out cookies and freeze that. It takes less space, and I can bake just before Christmas when we get back from our Texas run. DS1 said that if I want to bake before we leave, he will rearrange the lower freezer in the milk shed to hold the cookies. He said that there is space, the contents are just not arranged properly. Since he wants to do that, I will have him take some of the 7 pumpkin pies that DS2 made yesterday and freeze them. Maybe my Christmas baking will get done before we leave after all. :) Next Wednesday I will go to Burlington's for shirts for DSILs and DSs. I can also go Christmas shopping with DD1 when I get back.
 

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