Glad you're okay, and that the plumbing is fixed.
Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along
- Thread starter Ridgetop
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murphysranch
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Thank you for checking in!!
SageHill
Herd Master
Phew!! Glad you're far enough away from that fire. Just knowing how LA county fires get out of control so quickly it was concerning that you're up in that area.
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Ridgetop
Herd Master
Thanks everyone for the concern. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends concerned about me. I love you all! I actually did not know about the fire since I have been watching reruns of The Closer instead of daily news (so depressing). LOL
DH and DD2 arrived yesterday early afternoon. The plumber was just finishing up everything so we have sewer and water again.
Completely new sewer pipes under the house, no leaks, AND RUNNING WATER IN THE FAMILY BATHROOM SINK! Unfortunately I already started removing the wallpaper in the bathroom so will have to finish that horrible job, then paint the bathroom and remount the medicine cabinet before I can have the agents come back for a viewing. On the other hand, once that is done the house will be in perfect condition. Well, except for laying a vinyl plank floor in one bedroom and putting new countertops in the kitchen which I am NOT going to do. May as well have something for the buyers to cavil at when they make their offer. LOL
I am amazed at the progress Annabel has made in just the 3+ months I have been here. Her speech has really improved and she listens and follows directions. She is autistic so these are major milestones for her.
DD2 is very strict with her which I believe makes a big difference in her progress.
DS1's friend Leen is visiting him in Texas. They are having a great time. Leen has decided NOT to buy a deer feeder - instead he has decided to make one. They are shopping for parts. Have fun boys! DS1 said they found adealer in Sulphur Springs that sells food grade reconditioned 50 gallon steel barrels with lids for $36. That is much cheaper than the metal trash cans, they hold an additional 100+ lbs of feed, and are rat proof. They are heavier to move around though. DS1 said that the lids can be sealed in place with a new type of metal ring. Instead of the old bolt type closure on the ring, these new sealing rings have a lever to lock on the ring. He is going to get one and see how much more blended feed it will hold. We will NOT be sealing any feed in them since it will mold, but they will hold more bags of grain so will cut down on our mixing times and work hours. @Baymule if you decide you need some and don't have a source near you, let me know and we will bring you one when we come to see Tatli. I wonder if they would be good to use with dessicant to store other stuff that rats like to get into. With our connexes we don't have that much trouble with our stored items.
Oh yes, while we were gone DH invested $400 in a new electric concrete mixer from Lowes. He used it to mix the bags of corn and oats we use for the sheep. Much easier for him since the Kobalt model he bought stands tall enough that he can tilt the mixer and just pour the blended grain straight into the can. Just thought that he might not be able to do that with the larger barrels. OOPS! Oh well, at least we won't have to do the hand mixing anymore. DH as very plesed with himself since he was ble to mix bags of feed by himself. He has lost a lot of his strength and finds it harder to lift 50lb feed sacks than in the past. He is 83 now but still vigorous and other than his hearing loss (which is a gret trial to all of us) is in great shape. I am so glad we moved to Texas, because in California he was becoming a couch potato while in Texas he heads out to the barn and pastures every day. The steep ground here severely restricted his movements. The views are lovely and we will miss them, but we are much more active in Texas.
DH bought another cradle feeder for the yearling (older group of ewe lambs) pen. He thought he could put the bale into it by himself with the tractor, but unfortunately he did not put the feeder in quite the right position next to the fence. The bale rolled off the feeder and partilaly burst open. LOL Oh well, he amused himself with that project and when DS1 got back they took care of it. I need to make sure that DD1 worms the ewes and the stud ram and puts him in with the breeding ewes. I dont care which ram he uses as long as I have a lamb crop in October-November. He also has to move 4 ewes from the lambing pen over. 3 did not lamb (they still have a week on the calendar but I am not hopeful) and one lost her lamb after a couple days. Those 4 need another chance at breeding before any decisions about culling take place. DS1 said he would have Leen help him. LOL Two of them are FFs I think.
On another note, Leen has bought himself another Lab to train as a gun dog. It is a pretty bitch pup, and he plans to breed her to his dog in 2 years. I told him to put DD1 on the list for a pup. DS1 said they would have to wait at least 2 years for another puppy but I figure it took them 14 years to decide to get the first one so this was good timing for a second.
DSIL1 never had any pets as a child but this Lab has become "his" dog. He even takes him for walks most days. LOL I told DD1 to give him this new puppy as a gift.
I slept very well last night, and enjoyed having DH here finally. I understand how military wives cope, but it sure is hard on them. And I didn't have to worry about DH getting shot or blown up, just falling and breaking a hip trying to do too much. LOL While he was home alone for those weeks, one of his frat bros came by the house and he wasn't there. The frat bro called another frat bro and they all called back and forth looking for Marv. He was at the VA for an appointment. I thought it was very sweet of them. They have a group chat line and are all pretty close and keep in touch. Fun guys too. Their frat was Party Central back in the day. LOL They are having their annual golf tournament June 7. DH has DS3 driving down to play with him. DS3 and his family have taken up golf.
DS2 poured the shower slab and now is waiting for me to come over and tile the shower for him. As soon as I finish the bathroom here so we can list the house I will be going over there to work.
DH and DD2 arrived yesterday early afternoon. The plumber was just finishing up everything so we have sewer and water again.
Completely new sewer pipes under the house, no leaks, AND RUNNING WATER IN THE FAMILY BATHROOM SINK! Unfortunately I already started removing the wallpaper in the bathroom so will have to finish that horrible job, then paint the bathroom and remount the medicine cabinet before I can have the agents come back for a viewing. On the other hand, once that is done the house will be in perfect condition. Well, except for laying a vinyl plank floor in one bedroom and putting new countertops in the kitchen which I am NOT going to do. May as well have something for the buyers to cavil at when they make their offer. LOL
I am amazed at the progress Annabel has made in just the 3+ months I have been here. Her speech has really improved and she listens and follows directions. She is autistic so these are major milestones for her.
DD2 is very strict with her which I believe makes a big difference in her progress.DS1's friend Leen is visiting him in Texas. They are having a great time. Leen has decided NOT to buy a deer feeder - instead he has decided to make one. They are shopping for parts. Have fun boys! DS1 said they found adealer in Sulphur Springs that sells food grade reconditioned 50 gallon steel barrels with lids for $36. That is much cheaper than the metal trash cans, they hold an additional 100+ lbs of feed, and are rat proof. They are heavier to move around though. DS1 said that the lids can be sealed in place with a new type of metal ring. Instead of the old bolt type closure on the ring, these new sealing rings have a lever to lock on the ring. He is going to get one and see how much more blended feed it will hold. We will NOT be sealing any feed in them since it will mold, but they will hold more bags of grain so will cut down on our mixing times and work hours. @Baymule if you decide you need some and don't have a source near you, let me know and we will bring you one when we come to see Tatli. I wonder if they would be good to use with dessicant to store other stuff that rats like to get into. With our connexes we don't have that much trouble with our stored items.
Oh yes, while we were gone DH invested $400 in a new electric concrete mixer from Lowes. He used it to mix the bags of corn and oats we use for the sheep. Much easier for him since the Kobalt model he bought stands tall enough that he can tilt the mixer and just pour the blended grain straight into the can. Just thought that he might not be able to do that with the larger barrels. OOPS! Oh well, at least we won't have to do the hand mixing anymore. DH as very plesed with himself since he was ble to mix bags of feed by himself. He has lost a lot of his strength and finds it harder to lift 50lb feed sacks than in the past. He is 83 now but still vigorous and other than his hearing loss (which is a gret trial to all of us) is in great shape. I am so glad we moved to Texas, because in California he was becoming a couch potato while in Texas he heads out to the barn and pastures every day. The steep ground here severely restricted his movements. The views are lovely and we will miss them, but we are much more active in Texas.
DH bought another cradle feeder for the yearling (older group of ewe lambs) pen. He thought he could put the bale into it by himself with the tractor, but unfortunately he did not put the feeder in quite the right position next to the fence. The bale rolled off the feeder and partilaly burst open. LOL Oh well, he amused himself with that project and when DS1 got back they took care of it. I need to make sure that DD1 worms the ewes and the stud ram and puts him in with the breeding ewes. I dont care which ram he uses as long as I have a lamb crop in October-November. He also has to move 4 ewes from the lambing pen over. 3 did not lamb (they still have a week on the calendar but I am not hopeful) and one lost her lamb after a couple days. Those 4 need another chance at breeding before any decisions about culling take place. DS1 said he would have Leen help him. LOL Two of them are FFs I think.
On another note, Leen has bought himself another Lab to train as a gun dog. It is a pretty bitch pup, and he plans to breed her to his dog in 2 years. I told him to put DD1 on the list for a pup. DS1 said they would have to wait at least 2 years for another puppy but I figure it took them 14 years to decide to get the first one so this was good timing for a second.
DSIL1 never had any pets as a child but this Lab has become "his" dog. He even takes him for walks most days. LOL I told DD1 to give him this new puppy as a gift. I slept very well last night, and enjoyed having DH here finally. I understand how military wives cope, but it sure is hard on them. And I didn't have to worry about DH getting shot or blown up, just falling and breaking a hip trying to do too much. LOL While he was home alone for those weeks, one of his frat bros came by the house and he wasn't there. The frat bro called another frat bro and they all called back and forth looking for Marv. He was at the VA for an appointment. I thought it was very sweet of them. They have a group chat line and are all pretty close and keep in touch. Fun guys too. Their frat was Party Central back in the day. LOL They are having their annual golf tournament June 7. DH has DS3 driving down to play with him. DS3 and his family have taken up golf.
DS2 poured the shower slab and now is waiting for me to come over and tile the shower for him. As soon as I finish the bathroom here so we can list the house I will be going over there to work.
RR Homestead
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So glad you are ok. Glad you checked in. As Sagehill said the fires down there get out of control fast. We've been worried about you.
Sounds like things are going in the right direction. Sure hope it's all wrapped up soon. All in all a great update! So good to "hear".
Sounds like things are going in the right direction. Sure hope it's all wrapped up soon.
All in all a great update! So good to "hear".
Baymule
Herd Master
Ok, you can work at son's house only until your house sells. Then get back to Texas where you belong! Hope your house sells on the first day!
- Thread starter
- #5,307
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Still stripping the wallpaper from the bathroom walls. Almost done. Would have finished tonght but DD1 invited us over to play cards so decided to take a break and go. Tomorrow will finish scraping off the paper and then wash the walls. Once the walls are washed to remove any residual paste, I can repair any drywall gouges/holes/areas that are damaged. Then prime the walls and finally paint. There is not that much wall space so should be finished by Monday. I need to remove the edicine cabiner doors and spray paint the cabinet white inside and out. It's an older cabinet with metal walls which are showing their age. Still it is a large triple mirror door cabinet and expensive to replace. It is still in good condition other that some paint wear. The mirror doors are framed in oak, match the vanity, an are in perfect condition so why buy a new one that is less well made.
The light fiture on the other hand has some rust areas. Unlike the one in the Master BA, the rust specks are not too bad. However, now that I have seen them I am considering removing the fixture and spray painting it too. I don't want to replace it because it takes special light bulbs that Lowes has stopped carrying. DS1 just ordered a box of them before leaving for Texas and the packaging was tossed so they can;t be returned. We have 3 spare bulbs because after receiving the new bulbs I found the box with the extra bulbs.
So paint it is instead of $100 for a new fixture. I think I have enough of the right paint in the shed to do it.
DD2, DGDs 2 and 3 are here. We went to DS2's house yesterday and the kids had a blast in the pool. Tomorrow DGD1 and DGD2 will have a sleepver at DD1's house. They swam in the pool and played together tonight at DD1's while we played bridge. Yes, DD1 suggested we come over and play bridge! We coached her through the bidding but she did ok. She finally admitted that she does not like playing partners in games. Bridge is a partnership game where the bidding is actually a sort of code telling your partner what card suits and points you have in your hand in order to reach the right contract. The winner of the contract must play both hands with their partner's hand exposed on the table (the dummy). The other pair works to prevent the contract winner from making their bid. This means that the opposing pair give signals to their partner with their discards and leads. Great game and lots of strategy involved.
DD1 said that she needs/wants to take another class this summer for her teaching position. She said she also needs to collect the transcripts for several classes she already took but never reported to the school board. The additional classes will increase her salary. She wants to take Armenian since so many of the students in her school speak it. She already speaks Spanish and Japanese. She has 5 years to retirement and the additional classes will also increase the amount she will collect in her retirement. She is looking forward to retiring since she is disgusted with the district and their attitude. Because of the current policy of not "singling out students" or "making them feel bad" she is not allowed to fail anyone. She continues to fail studets that don't do homework, take tests, complete assignments, or make up work, but the principal changes the grades to pass. It is no wonder that so many kids grow up thinking they can get away with anything and don't have to work to achieve anything.
We may be coming back to Texas in the next couple of weeks for a quick turn around trip. DS2 has taken a job through the Union Hall but it is with the company his brother works with. He can stay with him for a cule weeks but DH said we would go back to texas and get the 5th wheel and bring it out for him to live in on DS3's property. It is a big relief to him to take this call because all the work at the moment is in northern CA while this will let him come home on weekends. He was getting worried about how long his savings wuld hold out with the repairs they had to do n the house that was supposed to be in perfect condition. I told him to buy a fixer and save the money but he didn't listen. No surprise there! At least this neighborhood is very nice, the school is close and has improved a lot, and above all the neighbors are really nice and have kids around the same age as the boys. They have already made friends with at least 4 families in the neighborhood. One of the dads is a police officer too which makes it safer.
He did say that California is getting too expensive for him though and he may have to move eventually. I told him to come check out Texas but because of the contract he signed with the union to get his training and journeyman's ticket he has to work out of the California halls for at least another 2-3 years. If he leaves before that he has to pay them a huge sum to cover his training. I think he said about $80,000? Anyway, he has to stay for about 3-4 years anyway to build enough equity in his house to afford to sell it. Again, not listening when Mom and Dad said just rent. 
Anyway, DH said he would make the trip alone but want to see the new lambs and the 6 month old lambs. DH says the ewes to be bred are not very heavy but look ok. Since the last ones were fatter when they bred I think that may be the reason they did not release as many eggs - thus so many singles so being "ok" is a good thing. We also need to do our taxes - even though we got an extension I don't want to put it off much longer. I also have some other business that I need to address that DH can't take care of because he "can't find" the paperwork where I have "hidden" it in the file cabinet. LOL Also, I just want to come home even if only for a couple days.
The light fiture on the other hand has some rust areas. Unlike the one in the Master BA, the rust specks are not too bad. However, now that I have seen them I am considering removing the fixture and spray painting it too. I don't want to replace it because it takes special light bulbs that Lowes has stopped carrying. DS1 just ordered a box of them before leaving for Texas and the packaging was tossed so they can;t be returned. We have 3 spare bulbs because after receiving the new bulbs I found the box with the extra bulbs.
So paint it is instead of $100 for a new fixture. I think I have enough of the right paint in the shed to do it. DD2, DGDs 2 and 3 are here. We went to DS2's house yesterday and the kids had a blast in the pool. Tomorrow DGD1 and DGD2 will have a sleepver at DD1's house. They swam in the pool and played together tonight at DD1's while we played bridge. Yes, DD1 suggested we come over and play bridge! We coached her through the bidding but she did ok. She finally admitted that she does not like playing partners in games. Bridge is a partnership game where the bidding is actually a sort of code telling your partner what card suits and points you have in your hand in order to reach the right contract. The winner of the contract must play both hands with their partner's hand exposed on the table (the dummy). The other pair works to prevent the contract winner from making their bid. This means that the opposing pair give signals to their partner with their discards and leads. Great game and lots of strategy involved.
DD1 said that she needs/wants to take another class this summer for her teaching position. She said she also needs to collect the transcripts for several classes she already took but never reported to the school board. The additional classes will increase her salary. She wants to take Armenian since so many of the students in her school speak it. She already speaks Spanish and Japanese. She has 5 years to retirement and the additional classes will also increase the amount she will collect in her retirement. She is looking forward to retiring since she is disgusted with the district and their attitude. Because of the current policy of not "singling out students" or "making them feel bad" she is not allowed to fail anyone. She continues to fail studets that don't do homework, take tests, complete assignments, or make up work, but the principal changes the grades to pass. It is no wonder that so many kids grow up thinking they can get away with anything and don't have to work to achieve anything.
We may be coming back to Texas in the next couple of weeks for a quick turn around trip. DS2 has taken a job through the Union Hall but it is with the company his brother works with. He can stay with him for a cule weeks but DH said we would go back to texas and get the 5th wheel and bring it out for him to live in on DS3's property. It is a big relief to him to take this call because all the work at the moment is in northern CA while this will let him come home on weekends. He was getting worried about how long his savings wuld hold out with the repairs they had to do n the house that was supposed to be in perfect condition. I told him to buy a fixer and save the money but he didn't listen. No surprise there! At least this neighborhood is very nice, the school is close and has improved a lot, and above all the neighbors are really nice and have kids around the same age as the boys. They have already made friends with at least 4 families in the neighborhood. One of the dads is a police officer too which makes it safer.
He did say that California is getting too expensive for him though and he may have to move eventually. I told him to come check out Texas but because of the contract he signed with the union to get his training and journeyman's ticket he has to work out of the California halls for at least another 2-3 years. If he leaves before that he has to pay them a huge sum to cover his training. I think he said about $80,000? Anyway, he has to stay for about 3-4 years anyway to build enough equity in his house to afford to sell it. Again, not listening when Mom and Dad said just rent. Anyway, DH said he would make the trip alone but want to see the new lambs and the 6 month old lambs. DH says the ewes to be bred are not very heavy but look ok. Since the last ones were fatter when they bred I think that may be the reason they did not release as many eggs - thus so many singles so being "ok" is a good thing. We also need to do our taxes - even though we got an extension I don't want to put it off much longer. I also have some other business that I need to address that DH can't take care of because he "can't find" the paperwork where I have "hidden" it in the file cabinet. LOL Also, I just want to come home even if only for a couple days.
Baymule
Herd Master
EVen if you only spend a couple of days back in Texas, it will rejuvenate you and you will have new energy when you go back to that dreaded place. Plus you can have BLUE BELL IN A BIG BOWL!
SageHill
Herd Master
That is pretty much true in the junior college system as well. Anyone that I gave a D or F I had to justify why. Like not participating (online class not even a single comment) or not turning in any assignments -- didn't really make for a good "excuse" for me to give that grade. It's no wonder everything is such a mess.
