What's everybody doing today?

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
As I posted my last comment my Rex doe started fur plucking aggressively. I covered the front of her hutch to give her privacy from the girls and took out her litter box since she was sitting in it like she was going to make it her nest.
 
I'm eating eggs and savoury oatmeal and catching up with y'all while on my break from writing. It's another grey day here.

What do you write, ifbbathena?

Thank you. Making the videos is the easy part. Editing sometimes takes a while but that last video didn't give me much trouble so maybe I finally learned something. I was gonna make a video today changing the thermostat and flushing the cooling system on my truck but seeing the shortage of diesel oil I decided I needed to make a run to Costco and get some before it's too late. That, and it's cold today I kinda don't want to play with water outside.

The sooner you get to cataloging those books the sooner it will get done. Do you have the organized? I would suggest either alphabetically or sort into categories then alphabetically. Any chance you have some young helpers? You can sort them into groups and they can put them in order. One quick though, if you are gonna type the titles into the computer to print out a list make a copy of the list then occasionally when you get a chance search the older ones online and see if they have any value then update the list with important notes about those books so later on the next people wont just toss them or donate them thinking they are worthless.

Diesel is at $5 here in NY >.< The tractor is probably 1/2 full with diesel but we have no money to fill it.

The library is pretty organized by genre, and then each genre is sorted alphabetically. So one section is all my sister's manga; then the regular fiction; the non-fiction is sorted in cubby-organizers by subject. So one cubby has Russian history, another WW1 history, but there is one shelf that is a hodge-podge of non-fiction books that got shoved every which way that we could make them fit. I still tried to keep that chaos somewhat organized but, I think it's hopeless. Lol.

We want to go by title and author and input them into the computer using a columns and rows, because my sister has bought books twice, forgetting that she already owned the one. Ha ha. We don't have any little helpers. At least none we can enslave. My little cousins would be eager for money, which I can't afford because it's such a big job. LOL That's a good idea about adding notes to some of the books. I have one book autographed by an author ^.^
 
We have a library in our house. The room literally houses nothing but books. We have so many; it was always going to be a project to make an inventory list of them all, but. . . .2000+ books and we haven't built up the ambition to do it yet.
You should look at "Calibre" software. It's free. It is made for eBooks, but can catalog paper books as well. Just put in an entry but don't add any file that would normally contain the eBook. Using it's "tags" and "custom fields" you could categorize things however you wanted - room, shelf, hardback/paperback, etc. Calibre can automatically download meta data on each book - author, genre, date of publication, ISBN number, etc. - or you can manually populate that stuff as well. You can also expose Calibre to the web as well (protect it with appropriate authentication though). So you can access your installation from any computer, or your smartphone, etc.

https://calibre-ebook.com/
Here's a screengrab of what it looks like (this is an old version of the software I am running - newer versions will look slightly different):

calibre.jpg
 
I woke up early because my cat was restless. He trashed my bedroom desk and the other one was clawing at the window screen. Going back to bed was hopeless after that, but I didn't want to let them out too early because we have coyotes around here. So I had to suffer with two cats bouncing off the walls for about an hour this morning.

We had breakfast with my brother. He tries to come over to our place every Sunday now for coffee and breakfast; it's nice. His wife came too. My brother works at a plant nursery as the growing supervisor. He basically operates the farm and ensures that everything gets planted. He brought me 9 soapwart plants from his work. :D They were from last year and I probably won't have to pay anything for them. He gets free plants. He doesn't want to take advantage of the situation. I told him to send me the bill for them, but he probably won't lol.

Then we drove a ways away to clean a doctor's office. Got nearly blown away from the wind, but we made it back. Lol. The wind is peeling up the garage roof, so, that's now on the list of things to fix this summer.

Mom sold eggs to her Russian friend and got some inside scoop on the Ukrainian crisis because her friend has family in both Russia and Ukraine. Particularly in that Donbass region. Russian mentalities are interesting. She said, "It's war, there's going to be causalities". They don't hype up the humanitarian side of things like CNN does. My mom is going to see if her friend will send here videos of the bombing.
 
You should look at "Calibre" software. It's free. It is made for eBooks, but can catalog paper books as well. Just put in an entry but don't add any file that would normally contain the eBook. Using it's "tags" and "custom fields" you could categorize things however you wanted - room, shelf, hardback/paperback, etc. Calibre can automatically download meta data on each book - author, genre, date of publication, ISBN number, etc. - or you can manually populate that stuff as well. You can also expose Calibre to the web as well (protect it with appropriate authentication though). So you can access your installation from any computer, or your smartphone, etc.


OOOH. I never heard about that. Thank you. I will for sure go to the browser and search Calibre software now. Lol.
 
Having bulls is generally far easier for breeding season. However we have a neighbor that does not help maintain the fences (his cattle break in several times a year on average) and brings in hundreds of open feeder heifers multiple times a year. It is top priority for us that our livestock never getting out. We made the decision that there was no way we would be able to keep a bulls fenced in this situation. So went to Repro school and focused on that. It’s nice because while breeding season can be more work the rest of the year is no issue. Don’t have to feed bulls and maintain a bull pasture in the off season. Don’t have to worry about inbreeding either. Plus AI gives us so many more bull options. Bulls we could never afford otherwise.
Something happened at my grandparent's ranch that I never knew about. I know there was some history there. One pasture was adjacent to a friend of my grandfather's pasture. Both pastures were for cattle. There was a double fence there, a few feet apart. I have no idea where the boundary line was on the pastures. It is the only place I've ever seen a double fence, that I remember anyway.
 
4 kits born this morning. All alive. Since these are pure Rex they are smaller than the mixed doe's kits. These look more like they are going to be pale coated and not broken or solid. Maybe lilac or gray. No blue ones or chocolate.
 
Oh wow, that sounds heavenly! I've never heard of strawberry mint. There's a neat little nursery in Athens OH (Companion Plants) that I try to make yearly pilgrimages to, and they have sooo many different mint varieties, it's just mind-boggling. I'm going to have to tell them about strawberry mint and see if they can track that down! lol

I hadn’t heard of it either but it definitely is strawberry mint. I looked on the tag and can’t find any information that would be helpful. It just says non GMO mint strawberry and the standard care instructions. It came from Green Acres nursery which I believe is a chain.
 
Well, 3 pages of posts since I was here last. I will go back and read them tomorrow night or Monday but.......
Spent a couple days in Vegas to hang with my son and take him to practice and his basketball game. Gas prices in Vegas ranged from about $4.30 to $4.60 for the cheap stuff and about $4.80 to $5.20 for diesel. NOT A TYPO, I saw nothing less than $4.30 a gallon, and that was the 85 octane., which is fine for cheap engines in higher elevations where you don't need the higher octane levels.
I hit the gas station at the reservation in Utah and their prices were 87 octane for $3.66, 89 for $3.80, and 91 for $3.94, and diesel was $4.24. Ugh.

On the way home I stopped at Auto Zone to get antifreeze and oil to work on my truck tomorrow. The do not have ANY 15w-40 for diesel engines. It was too late to go to another store so I came home and checked online. Costco has 15w-40 conventional dinosaur oil, 3 gallons for $40. O'Reillly's has Shell T6 synthetic heavy duty for $32 a gallon, and I need 3 gallons for an oil change. $96 just for one oil change!!!!! And, the store close to me doesn't have it so I have to drive across town to the other store.
Soooo, will I buy the dyno oil from Costco for $40 or pay $96 for the synthetic? Woooo-OOOO-ooooo, only the Shadow knows. Who am I kidding, probably going to Costco and getting 2 cases to make sure I have some for the next oil change because who knows how this year will turn out.

I am tired, it's been a long couple of days. Shower, bourbon, and bed time for me. Night night.
:mad:o_O:mad:o_O:mad:
After a 4 store adventure today I finally got enough oil for my truck, actually for 2 oil changes but that wasn't my initial plan.

Costco did not have any 15w-40 oil for diesels, but they may have some online so I will go there after this post to see what I can order.
Oreilly's only had their store brand and only had five 2.5 gallon jugs. They had no 1 quart bottles of 15w-40 in any brand. So, buying 2 of the big jugs I had enough for one oil change but that left me 1 gallon short for the next oil change. We went to the grocery store and I found 3 quarts so I bought them, then went across town to the other grocery store to buy one more quart so at least I have enough to do 2 oil changes.

Also, at Oreilly's the oil for gasoline engines was getting slim, some bare spots and some low in supply. Costco only had 5w-30, but at least they had two options, dinosaur and synthetic.
 
I hadn’t heard of it either but it definitely is strawberry mint. I looked on the tag and can’t find any information that would be helpful. It just says non GMO mint strawberry and the standard care instructions. It came from Green Acres nursery which I believe is a chain.
My wife has mint that I had never heard of. Chocolate, strawberry, and all of them I think. You have to take a leaf and rub it in your hands to find out which it is. She keeps my life interesting. :)
 
Something happened at my grandparent's ranch that I never knew about. I know there was some history there. One pasture was adjacent to a friend of my grandfather's pasture. Both pastures were for cattle. There was a double fence there, a few feet apart. I have no idea where the boundary line was on the pastures. It is the only place I've ever seen a double fence, that I remember anyway.

We have a double fence in part of our steer pasture. The neighbor and the previous owner of our pasture both had horses with attitude issues. They put up the second fence to keep them from fighting through the fence.
 
Had hoped to get some major yard cleanup done yesterday - raking up all the leaves & cutting up downed branched from our last storm for the base of the new raised beds in our mini-greenhouse. Unfortunately it started snowing like crazy and forced me inside. My tom-cat, Snacc, who has practically started talking lately spent all afternoon moaning about the weather - like it's my fault and I should fix it ;P Today took a turkey and two chickens out of the freezer to thaw. We'll turn them into soups and casseroles and put the leftovers back into the freezer/cans :)
 
Had a headache most of the day, finally walked down for a leaf of Monarda. Chew a leaf, 10min later, no headache. Monarda... Sweet Leaf

My Monarda is coming up nicely. Some chickweed and spiderwort are growing with it.

Monarda 6mar22 1 a.JPG


While I was out I noticed the Bartlett Pear at the edge of the old garden. It’s tiny white blooms are opening. Every year I say I’m going to cut that worthless tree down, then I forget about it until it blooms again.

Bartlet pear 6mar22 1 a.JPG



Plum tree at the edge of the yard is blooming, some years it has a few plums. I don’t know the variety, something my dad set out years ago.

Plum tree 6mar22 2a .JPG
 
I can imagine that cattle on either side of a single fence can have problems.

Dominate cows and bulls can/will fight over and through a fence. I've seen a horse get tangled in the fence during a fight and get torn up in the wire . Not pretty and took almost 800 stitches to repair.
 
My Hereford bull was fighting husbands Brangus bull and he got pushed through barb wire. He was stove up for awhile and husband felt it damaged his manhood. Fed him for a month and turned him back out. They got to fighting, brangus got too hot, went down to a hole of water, laid down and died of heatstroke. We had 3 bulls and 55 head of cattle on 250 acres.
 
Got all the suckers pruned from around the lilac bush. I probably still have lilac in my hair 🤪 My seeds I planted yesterday still haven't sprouted - geesh! How long are they gonna take? This afternoon, I ironed and/or repaired a bunch of Hubby's clothes. Vacuumed up a bunch of spiderwebs upstairs then the floors since I was at it. Dishes all done. I learned a new way to make my own barometer so am going to "play" and see if I can do it. I miss having one. I had one years ago until it broke (don't remember how it broke.) Hubby just brought me a margarita so life is good!
 
Katie, sorry to see your garage roof got torn up.

Grimm, Glad all the bunnies survived. I love bunnies. We only ever had rabbits as pets. I had a lopeared rabbit named Bluebell who was very sweet. She bred with some sort of white rabbit and had fat little babies that looked like sumo wrestlers. My Siamese cat loved them and would keep them warm and groom them. I also rescued a wild bunny from my rottweiler and had him for about a year until the russell terrier broke through the rabbit run and got it.
bunnyfoo03-26-10_1345.jpgbunnyfoo03-26-10_1346.jpgbunnyfoo05-13-10-057.jpg
I miss having rabbits as pets but I don't miss the cleanup.
Couldn't sleep last night bc my kitty Temjin got out when I was bringing in groceries. I thought she'd gotten outside and kept looking all over for her. 36+ hours later I was sure something had killed her. Even my brother was getting worried. He mentioned to me (after 20+ hours) that he'd brought her into his room and maybe she was in his closet. I looked. No sign of her. Then I asked if he checked under his bed. Sure enough, she'd crawled under the foot of his bed and burrowed under some blankets. She usually comes when called or at least meows.

Pulled my back while cleaning up dog crap (mom's dog went in front of the sink & I stepped in it). Kept searching for the cat outside off and on. Played with puppies a little. Fed kitties. unjammed float lever about 3x. Petted my cow. Went to Walmart and picked up groceries (after my naproxyn kicked in). Got home, more poop cleanup. Got food for mom. And now I'm about to nap.
 
Still waiting on the very last big fat sheep to give birth. She is getting very large also and I am wondering how many she will have. I hope not 5 like the other one.
I am debating on what to do with our oldest goat this year after she gives birth. This will be the last year I am going to breed her. I hope she does ok. I am thinking about just leaving her on the farm until she dies ( she has given us many many goat kids) but then again maybe I should send her to the auction. She has bad hoofs and is not very large compared to some of the others. They pick on her. I wonder what would be kinder.

Grimm : congrats on your bunnies!!!

Sorry I don't have time to read all the posts on here but I try. I like reading what everyone is doing.

We have a wind warning and it supposed to storm today, so we need to get the barn ready and put everyone up.

Yesterday one of our livestock dogs was acting weird. He was fine first thing in the morning running around barking as usual, then when I fed them he didn't want to eat, didn't want to move or go out. It was very strange. Did not see any injuries. It's like he got sick in half an hour from something. I ended up leaving him in the barn and giving him some milk which he likes and did drink. I hope he is ok today if not he needs to go to the vet.
Always something with all these animals

Fencing: we used to have a very large goat buck that would jump or push down the fence and visit the neighbor's goats.....we had to go get him several times. After breaking several barn doors to keep him in we finally sold him. He was not mean to humans but impossible to control when he wanted to get to the girls....
 
Storms overnight.
Limbs all over the yard.
High today 50.

Waiting for gal in Murray(1 hour away) to call me that she has title , signed and notarized, to the little car , my granddaughter decided yesterday, that she wanted to buy, that we looked at Saturday. Uuugghh kids.
So I can go ,with wife. Pay her , pick it up and drive it home. Then the granddaughter will go to bank and get the money to pay me. She's in school today , may get money today , may not ($8k).uuugghh kids.

Also waiting for John Deere dealer to deliver the wife's lawn tractor/mower..

Looking out the window ....grass is green , trees have buds.

Coffee is gone.

Eli has taken care of business. Eat, played hard , passed out. Glad he's sleeping all night .

Y'all stay busy but happy.

Jim

.
 
Mother Nature is having a hissy fit. Tornadoes last weekend, and 4 inches of snow last night. Took me 55 minutes to drive 32 miles to work this morning, and there were a lot of 4x4s in the ditch on their tops.

Mother Nature needs to settle down. She needs some Pamprin and a bowl of chocolate ice cream, cuz I'm not ready to deal with this sh*t...
 

Latest posts

Back
Top