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Bacpacker said:
My grandmas never drove. Either of them. They never seemed to give it a thought.
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Neither did mine but they lived in Germany where even now there is people that don't drive. Public transport is better and you don't need to. My best friend hates driving and always let her husband or kids drive. Her mother never drove at all . I had several friends in highschool who's parents did not own a car , can't even imagine that here
 
It is 8 degrees outside, and I am getting very tired of the continuous cold. If this keeps up we are going to run out of firewood and hay before spring.....

Driving: I grew up in Germany where you can't get a license until you are 18 and then you must go to a school to learn ( several months , expensive) . Your test is much harder than here, you have to drive in traffic and at night. It costs about $3000 to get a drivers license. When I lived there I had a small motorcycle which you can drive at 16

I moved here at 18 and got my license at 19. LOL my ex's dad owned a large car dealership so my first car was a nice Ford Mustang
I taught both of our kids to drive They learned in a large empty office parking lot on Sundays. They both took their driving test in a Suburban. Daughter could not park it between cones, because the cones were not far enough apart. She passed anyway first time . The drivers license tester told here " if you drove THAT thing here , you know how to drive" .

At the moment, we are heating up large pots of water for the animals again. I would invest in a electric water heater but there is no electricity at the barn.
The road still has ice on it. Some of the snow has melted or evaporated but pasture is still mostly covered and we are supposed to get another storm tomorrow , or the edge of it anyway
 
Our grandkids are not putting in the effort to get their license with the required 50 hrs of practice because they don't have a car. They are not great at saving money that they've earned, and we aren't buying them cars, so that's where they're at. Sometimes we drive them where we need to be, but mostly they've had to beg rides from friends that drive. Unfortunately it limits them to where they can work, I refuse to drive 15 miles out to take them to work and then to pick them up, so they both have had to work local. I had to buy my first clunker and pay for gas and insurance, so did my husband, and we expect the same from them.
Not sure what's up for today, but possibly going in to the bigger town to the Kroger Store for some shopping. And maybe finishing up the bathroom baseboard and ceiling later.
 
Having my coffee, looking out my LR window at the woods , yard , squirrels playing and the sun trying to break thru. 25 degrees.
Floor is about half laid.
Gotta get ready to go to big town for wife's Doctor visit.
Then , she said Freddie's for lunch. I like Freddie's , but I like LongHorn better.
Gonna go to Rural king TSC , and anywhere else she wants to shop.

Yep, puppy stuff.
It's only 4 weeks till we bring him to his new home.

May get home in time to lay some more flooring.

Hope all of you have a blessed , happy , successful, productive day.
day.
 
For years i had an international drivers license and then I had a Roratonga drivers license. Except for when I had my license suspended, for no insurance (long story), I've always had a drivers license since I was 16. I dont understand parents that haul their kids around when they are old enough to drive and should have their own car. A parents job is to teach responsibility and a work ethic in their children, starting from an early age. No matter where a family lives there are always jobs that a kid could do to earn some money. I worked on neighboring ranches, helped the widow woman clean out her irrigation ditches every summer, split firewood, ran a trap line, etc. I always had money, and my dad would never allow me to waste it on stupid stuff. I had a bank account at an early age. That was back when the banks issued a pass book with deposits and balances hand written in.
Anyway, 12 degrees here this morning. I need to go out and try to fix the road where the fuel truck tore it up. And work on getting the snow blower working before the next snow storm.
 
Woke up feeling OK, but not as good as yesterday. Laid in bed about 2 hours hoping to get some more sleep but my mind wouldn't shut off so I finally got out of bed. Waiting for my cup of tea to cool down a bit, stoked the fire in the wood stove, and surfing the internet. Only 4 more hours until our appointments at the IV place to get our vitamin drip, I really hope that helps. Doctor friend seems to think so, we shall see. For $69 it is worth the try if it helps like everyone is telling me.
30* here this morning, not as chilly as yesterday but should be clear skies the next week or so and temps should be going up a bit each day.
While in town we will run a couple errands so it will probably be a 3 or 4 hour adventure.
Hope all ya'all have a great day.
 
Uuugghh...waiting

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Jim
 
When you live in the country, even a small town, learning to drive is important, imho. My dad died shortly after I turned 16, and some of the few things that he was responsible for got pushed to me. Also, Grandma wanted to be waited on, so that was something about me now driving. I had just gotten my license when my dad died. By now, both of my brothers were living with an uncle so it was just Grandma, sister and me at home. We had a car and because I was now the designated driver, I drove it. But I wasn't allowed to drive it to school, work, ball games and other events. I could only drive it when I was taking us somewhere, like church, shopping, or road trips to visit relatives, in other words, as the chauffer. After sister graduated from h.s. and went to college, it left Grandma home alone, so she began traveling to stay with her various children. Then I would drive her to some airport, get her off to wherever she was going, and drive her car at college until she came back in the spring. After I graduated from college, I needed my own car, and got one for myself. Grandma actually became a little more independent because she had no one to depend on, except a son who lived in the same community.
 
Hi All. Thank you all for the well wishes and concern. Hubby and I both got this garbage. He got the minute rice version and I got the full meal deal. Don't even think I turned on my computer for 4-5 days. I'm pretty sure I gave birth to an alien life form when I blew my nose & bones were inserted into our bodies as some warped torture method - been a little rough. I was a little more awake yesterday and so far awakish today. Crazy weak and have lost some weight but think I'm on the tail end of the thing.
 
Hope you're better soon @LadyLocust !

Did a video first.
Started lima beans and ham in the crockpot.
Went to Walmart--fairly well stocked today.
Home now and charging fitbit.
Need to do eBay photos.
Grate some cheese.
Grill pork chops for breakfasts.
Bible study at 5:45
That's enough!
 
LadyLocust said:
Hi All. Thank you all for the well wishes and concern. Hubby and I both got this garbage. He got the minute rice version and I got the full meal deal. Don't even think I turned on my computer for 4-5 days. I'm pretty sure I gave birth to an alien life form when I blew my nose & bones were inserted into our bodies as some warped torture method - been a little rough. I was a little more awake yesterday and so far awakish today. Crazy weak and have lost some weight but think I'm on the tail end of the thing.
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Good to hear from you. Hope you get back to normal soon.
 
sonya123 said:
How can they get to a job without a drivers license? Both of our kids got vehicles when they were 16. I signed the titles over to them when they were 18, You can't live in the U.S. really well without driving. The earlier you learn the better. Our son has a friend in Florida that is 23 and still does not have a drivers license. His mother is now disabled and it is causing them a lot of problems that he can't drive.
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I didn't let them get the license unless they paid for their insurance. But, they all got their learners permit and learned how to drive, they just didn't want to pay. Each of the kids worked, the oldest walked 2 miles to a grocery store and worked in the bakery (we would transport him in bad weather), but he still preferred to save his money, he did keep his learners permit active for 2 1/2 years by renewing it every 6 months. We only had 1 family car and were making do (I had a 25 year old rust bucket to drive to the park and ride, but we couldn't call that a car), so they would not have had a vehicle to drive even if they had a license.....

I did spend a lot of time teaching them to drive on a stick (the rust bucket), there was the long dead end road on a hill near our house, I would take them there and have them start at the bottom, drive up about 50', stop and then start up - drive about 50' stop and repeat... When we got to the stop sign at the top of the hill, I would have them drive to the bottom and start over.

Funny story, one day the "good" family car wouldn't start and the wife couldn't drive a stick so she had to have one of the kids drive her using their learners permit....
 
hashbrown said:
Picking up rocks and burning sticks, I’ve spent weeks of my life doing that on this place and it doesn’t look like it has ever been done! I think rocks grow here!

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Rock do actually "grow". I think its from the freeze and thaw cycle the forces rocks to the surface. Every year as a kid I'd pick rocks out of the hay fields.
 
Yep, the twins are holding out because they don't want to pay for anything. And we don't drive them to their friends, to the town for shopping, or anything except for the HS functions. High School is a 15 minute drive. So they get stuck begging rides from friends and paying for gas. When grandson went on his first date last October, he asked if I would drive them. Ha Ha. I don't drive for dates. The girlfriend drove.
Glad you are resurfacing Lady L, I was getting a little worried. It's a pain in the butt to get over, but I'm glad you're coming around. Missed you!
We went to the bigger town to the DMV to get a handicap placard for husband, and grandson's girlfriend's mom was working at the counter, so that was funny. Went to our Kroger Store, and they had food, but nothing much was a good price. They have a pkg of a dozen Ball wide mouth canning lids for $7.99. Glad I don't need any. Went to Chic fil a for lunch. Splurged and had a chocolate shake with my salad.
 
Lesson learned........ do not use straw on floor of chicken coop. Had to muck it out today. What a sticky, nasty, wet mess.

I usually put down a layer of sand then have a layer of pine flock flakes. It comes out easier and isn't as wet and smelly. I had an extra bale of straw and that's the only really I put it down in the first place.
 
Had a soil guy come today and check for a perc site for my daughter, fingers crossed.

It's odd that they go by number of bedrooms instead of baths. Plus, if you don't add a closet, it isn't considered a bedroom. So if you can get a 1 bedroom perc, you can keep building if you don't have closets? Very odd.
 
4 bedrooms and 5 baths...
no perk test thanks to on site treatment.
 
Smalltimefarmer said:
Had a soil guy come today and check for a perc site for my daughter, fingers crossed.

It's odd that they go by number of bedrooms instead of baths. Plus, if you don't add a closet, it isn't considered a bedroom. So if you can get a 1 bedroom perc, you can keep building if you don't have closets? Very odd.
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Sounds good, until you go to sell. I dont know about your state but I don't think a 3 bedroom septic permit costs any more than a one bedroom permit. My son was planning on installing a 2 bedroom septic tank on his place. I talked him in to putting in a 3 bedroom septic. A house with a 3 bedroom system will bring more at resale than if it only had a 2 bedroom system. Its worth the little extra cost.
 
Smalltimefarmer said:
Lesson learned........ do not use straw on floor of chicken coop. Had to muck it out today. What a sticky, nasty, wet mess.

I usually put down a layer of sand then have a layer of pine flock flakes. It comes out easier and isn't as wet and smelly. I had an extra bale of straw and that's the only really I put it down in the first place.
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The wife has used straw and pine shavings. I guess there is one benefit of living where its frozen from October to April, with little to no rain the rest of the year; the coop stays dry. She doesn't like using straw because of the chemicals that farmers spray on their grain crop. Shes kind of a purist when it comes to her chickens.
 
Showing the girls Swing Kids. I want Roo to understand the Nazi references we heard daily(podcasts news etc) and I grew up on this movie.

They caught me singing Mammy's lil baby in the kitchen while making some popcorn. They thought I made it up until I showed them an old cartoon.

 
Mountain trapper said:
Rock do actually "grow". I think its from the freeze and thaw cycle the forces rocks to the surface. Every year as a kid I'd pick rocks out of the hay fields.
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I have a theory about big rocks coming to the surface in our garden field and that is moon tides of the earth. Many times over the years we've had our field plowed and disced and never ran across a stone as large as the one I pulled out of the ground a number of years ago, I've come to the conclusion that the moon pulls them up, don't laugh, I've read of actual recordings of land tides. We just don't get frosts around here that are cold enough to lift rocks out of the soil.
 
viking said:
I have a theory about big rocks coming to the surface in our garden field and that is moon tides of the earth. Many times over the years we've had our field plowed and disced and never ran across a stone as large as the one I pulled out of the ground a number of years ago, I've come to the conclusion that the moon pulls them up, don't laugh, I've read of actual recordings of land tides. We just don't get frosts around here that are cold enough to lift rocks out of the soil.
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Sounds plausible to me. Here's a couple mystery's that maybe someone here can solve for me. 1.) We have snow on the ground from November till the end of April. I keep the road plowed and we're driving on 6-12" of packed snow. We currently have 4 feet of snow covering everything. Here's the mystery; I occasionally find rocks the size of softballs laying on the road. Where'd they come from?
2.) On one section of my road there is a spring that pops up every winter. And it only flows after the ground has frozen solid. There's no sign of a spring in this area during the summer. It flows then freezes. Kind of like an overflow on a river, just smaller. I haven't been able to figure it out.
 
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