Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

Ridgetop

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The sheep chair arrived last week and I finally put it together yesterday. Well, sort of assembled it. I put all the pipe sections together, cursing at Premier who had obviously forgotten to include any instructions. When i went to put on the stretchy webbing I found the instructions crumpled up and tangled in the webbing. Sorry, Premier.

I disassembled the chair since I was supposed to put the webbing on the cross pieces first. DS1 found out what I was doing and said "I would have done it if you had asked" conveniently forgetting the times I had previously suggested he assemble it for me. :rolleyes: Better late than never since I found that I could not stretch the webbing by myself to fit on the cross bars and reattach them to the vertical frame. DS1 stretched the webbing and refitted the cross bar into the frame. Then followed several minutes of spirited discussion about the correct way to attach the support rope. We finally got it assembled. I thought it was a lightweight aluminum frame. Nope, it is heavy pipe and when I say heavy, I mean heavy. It is still going to be a 2-person job to do feet since I'm not sure that I will be able to muscle the heavier sheep into the chair and certainly won't be able to "tip" the rams out of it alone. On the plus side I like the design and think it will work well. I used to flip our sheep to a sitting position, and hold them in that position with one hand hooked under the chin holding a foreleg across the chest. In that sitting position they seemed to sit still and not be interested in moving. Since they will effectively be held in that position in the chair, I can see it working well. We adjusted it at 15" in width but may have to readjust it narrower. I would like to try it out tomorrow and finish Lewis' hooves. DS1 put Moyboy in the barn when their pen was flooded since he looked like he was getting sore feet. I was worried about hoof rot but DS1 thought it was just that he didn't like his feet sinking into the soggy sticky clay. All the sheep need their feed checked and trimmed so we need to start on doing them a few at a time.

Our family has been watching a lot of football since Thanksgiving. DS2 has been home on paternity leave which means that he can sit and watch football all day. DH is not to be outdone so watches with him. When the games are not on Robert watches little kiddie programs. DS1 roots for the Vikings. As a soon to be Texan I root for Dallas. DH roots for the Rams. DS2 roots for whichever team is the underdog. I never know which team we're rooting for.

I watched the Cowboys lose their game tonight. They couldn't seem to hold onto a single pass! I am learning about football. The last time I watched a game our church group bought tickets to watch USC play Notre Dame. A player made a terrific play - running the length of the field to score a touchdown. I leapt to my feet and cheered wildly until I noticed that I was the only person in our block of seats cheering. DH reached up and took my hand. As he gently pulled me back down into my seat, he said "Wrong team, honey".

I have now learned many things about the game:
The guys in black and white stripes are referees, not umpires.
Referees always make bad calls except when they call them on the opposing team.
The yellow rags are "penalty flags" and are only used against whichever team we are rooting for.
The 4 "downs" are not the same as the four quarters that the game lasts.
The seconds/minutes running on the TV screen can be for the quarter, for the time allowed for the team to start their play, or for what is called a "2 minute warning" which I am still not certain about.
When the whistle blows it does something - not sure what.
A touchdown is not worth 7 points unless the kicker gets the ball through the goal posts afterwards.
That extra point is not the same as the kicking thing worth 3 points.
The "yard" lines are the same at each end of the field which is very confusing when you try to understand where the goals are located for each team and how far your team is from their goal.
I have learned that the side that has the ball has a little tiny football shaped mark next to it on the screen.
I have learned that the yellow line on the TV screen is not on the field but is just a visual aid showing how far the guy with the ball has to go to reach the elusive "down".
I am still confused about the TD or down being where the ball or the knee crosses a line since apparently it is the location of the knee that is important not the location of the ball.
I have learned where "out of bounds" is.
I have learned that there is a reason why the players won't catch certain throws.
I have learned to get excited when a player catches the ball and doesn't drop it - unless it is the opponents that drop the ball.
I have learned to yell loudly if our team manages to get the ball into the goal.
I have learned to yell VERY LOUDLY if our team runs down the field and into the goal.
I have learned to ask what color uniforms each team is wearing.
I have learned to ask in advance which team we are rooting for.
I have learned to criticize the referee for any penalties against our team.
I have learned not to ask questions unless I want to hear a long lecture about the rules and strategy of the game.
I still don't understand the game except the bigger score wins.

Oh yes, and to make things worse there is college football and professional football. There are multiple leagues, divisions, etc. for both. AND THE RULES ARE DIFFERENT FOR EACH! Oy Vay!

The stores are selling off their Christmas overstock of hams. DS1 called and asked if I wanted a spiral sliced gold label Farmer John ham for $.99 lb. I had him get it and cooked the 20 lb. whole ham tonight. I cut the cooking time a bit and it turned out super juicy. I also used the glaze packet they supplied with the ham instead of making my own glaze. It was a honey glaze and very good. Tomorrow I will cut the rest of the meat off the bone and package it up. I'll get a couple leeks and I will make potato leek soup with the ham bone. :)
 

Bruce

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The next thing you need to learn is that you don't NEED to care about football and can go do something you enjoy while they watch football ;)

I understand all the things you have learned, and what I just suggested you need to learn ;) Because, for real, I have no idea which teams are playing in the SuperBowl and I don't care.
 

Ridgetop

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LOL Neither do I.

Called the vet and set up the date for the vet check for Thursday, February 9. Dr. Nennecker will do the Certificate of Health needed for the sheep. In a week or so we will sort them out, mark them with livestock paint, put them in the barn, double check ear tags, trim hooves, vaccinations, and do the first worming. Marking with livestock paint makes it easier to separate out the ones we need to bring in on February 8 for the vet check. We will keep them in the barn until we leave for Texas. We'll do the second worming before we leave. Cleopatra doesn't have a flock registration tag at the moment so I'll tag her and then send in the registration papers. She only has a scrapie tag since I was not sure if her black eye liner would disappear enough to register. I suppose I will have to pick up a bale of straw to bed them on during the 2-3 day trip. Normally I wouldn't bother on a short drive but having to stay in the trailer for at least 60-72 hours I want bedding on the floor.

Super windy here today! Heavy gusts! I got up into the barn loft and pulled out 3 rabbit cages (30" x 36"). I have to go out and pull the cage rings so I can collapse them down for transport to Texas. Hopefully this wind will continue to dry out the field and we can start loading the flatbed trailer this week. Our truck is supposed to be finished today. In a couple weeks we will hitch the stock trailer and take half a dozen lambs to the auction. That will give it a test run. :fl

I will have to get another ram in with the ewes and put a harness on him with a crayon. Needs to happen now since I don't want to be breeding while we are gone. I don't trust anyone to write the tag numbers down on the marked ewes. Might have missed our window now with all the rain anyway.
 

Ridgetop

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The wind has died down and it is not so cold outside today. We have 2 more horses, not by choice though. DDIL1 and DS3 sent the mustang and their last horse down with a hired horse mover. The remaining horse, an old Arab, was going back to the previous owner who had declared that if DDIL1 ever got rid of him she wanted him back. An hour after the trailer pulled away, she called DS3 and said "I can't take him back right now. Can your parents take him and keep him until they move to Texas? I just am too busy now to take him here".
WHAT?! :rant:somad
DS3 immediately called me to ask if we wanted him. Not at the cost of hay I said. He said that the horse was already on the trailer and halfway here before he heard from the "owner". The horse would be getting off at our house so could we keep him until he can drive down from Nipomo this weekend and get him back. OK

So we now have 3 horses in the big corral. Skittles, black 15.2hh, Sage, grulla 14.hh and Nyfalcon, bay with 4 white stockings. Not to mention our red mule Josie, 16.3hh. Josie the Mule is enjoying galloping past the corral taunting them that she has free run of EVERYWHERE while these newcomers are prisoners. Nyah Nyah! Apparently we have to keep Sage away from hoses because he likes to chew them up. He also eats tails of the other horses, and doesn't like chickens. He chases them if they get in the corral. He also hunts for their nests and eats the eggs. Nothing normal ever comes to live chez Ridgetop. :rolleyes:

Goody, more work, more hay $$ spent, and I'm not riding anymore. Oh well, couldn't leave the poor old thing at the curb.

Got out and started taking the 3 rabbit cages apart, removing cage clips and rings. Very time consuming and difficult. The cage clips are not so bad, but the rings are almost impossible to get hold of even with my special clip removal tool. I need to remove the tops and bottoms and then the sides will collapse. Did the first one then realized that I could take them apart another way and collapse them smaller. Working on the second one now but decided to take a break for a while. Fumbling with those clips takes it out on the shoulder muscles and back.

I need to go peel and chop potatoes to make potato leek soup. I boiled up the ham bone yesterday. That 20 lb. ham gave us 2 meals, with plenty of ham left and 3 packet in the freezer. I figure a total of at least 6 meals and the bone for the soup. Not bad for $.99 lb. Comes out to just over $3 per meal for 5 adults! :) Does peeling and chopping potatoes and leeks help shoulder and back pain from unclipping cages? I guess I will see.
 

Margali

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The remaining horse, an old Arab, was going back to the previous owner who had declared that if DDIL1 ever got rid of him she wanted him back. An hour after the trailer pulled away, she called DS3 and said "I can't take him back right now. Can your parents take him and keep him until they move to Texas? I just am too busy now to take him here".
WHAT?! :rant:somad
DS3 immediately called me to ask if we wanted him. Not at the cost of hay I said. He said that the horse was already on the trailer and halfway here before he heard from the "owner". The horse would be getting off at our house so could we keep him until he can drive down from Nipomo this weekend and get him back. OK
That is horrible!
 
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