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Peanut said:
Best part, they’ll be only 5 miles away. I drive by the pasture every few days so I can stop and see them if I wish. I do noooot want to do this but my obligations here are changing rapidly. I don’t have time for them now and my time will becomes shorter as the months pass. My cousin is running the farm now and he’s not overly fond of equines and has no use for them. He’d have never asked me to get rid of them but doing so makes his life simpler.
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I am already dreading if and when we get too old to do this farm. I hope I don't have to see it ....it must be sad to have to sell your animals you have had for so long.
We are going to send our first batch of really old animals that have been with us since we started the farm to the auction in a few weeks ( if the transportation situation works out)
I feel bad about it but no other practical solution. I just can't get myself to shoot them and make dog food out of them here which is the only other option. I called the meat processor to see if I can bring a few extra for just that but they are booked up and I can only bring the ones we planned on bringing.
 
Dreading to call the car repair to see what;s new....

Animals finally all stayed out last night no pouring rain, not too cold. Hope they are still all there including the dogs that supposed to watch them ( they are more likely to go wandering off if the fence has a hole than the goats)

Might drive to the car repair and have a look and go to the bank while we are there and hour away
 
Scrambling to get ready for the 1st festival of the season, which starts Wednesday. I still need to dig my canopy out of storage, find all the table dressing stuff and pack my wares. I was hoping to take pictures of everything to list online before packing them, but I don't think time's on my side for that.

Came home the other night to a huge puddle on the basement floor. Looks like the outdoor faucet that feeds my drip irrigation for my garden beds is leaking. I'm rubbish at plumbing, and I want to do this job right & replace a bunch of those Shark-bite fittings used by the previous homeowner, so it'll most likely be an all day job. Fortunately it's been cool and rainy so I haven't had to water too much by hand. Maybe if I make enough $ at the festival I'll just hire a handyman to take care of it for me :)
 
I was tired yesterday so the only productive things I did was mix up some epoxy to fil a few holes and rough areas on the new workbench. The 2 thick coats of oil based paint didn't fill them. Later today I will sand it all again and add one last coat of paint. I also sanded down an old book shelf and wiped it with a wet rag to prep it for spray paint, but I was too tired to do anything else.
I was in bed early last night, slept to about midnight, woke up and had a snack then slept again until 4am. At 7am I made some eggs for breakfast and then painted the bookshelf. 2 cans of spray paint isn't quite enough so I will pick up another can this afternoon. I meet with my accountant about 3pm to talk about business stuff and what I can write off for business expenses and other stuff he is eager to share with me. No charge for the meeting, he just wants me to get the most in regards to tax benefits.
Only two more nights at Home Depot, and I will use my last 4 hours of personal leave to make each night a 6 hour shift so I will be out of there at 1am and home by 1:30am and hopefully in bed by 3am.
 
Up at 4 am as dogs woke me up. Walked at 6:30.
Made dehydrated sweet potato slices for dogs.
Did 2 loads of laundry.
Set up DH's meds for the next month.
Pried up some bamboo roots with my big pick axe. That was rough! More to go, but not today.
Have to take DH's car to have oil sensor something put in.
I'm about done.
 
Snappy1, bamboo is some of the toughest natural material on earth, and digging up a stand of bamboo is a serious task... go easy on yourself while tackling that bamboo, it is some TOUGH STUFF! Probably why they make furniture out of it, not to mention a bunch of other things... I remember taking out a large stand of bamboo in a friend's yard, and that was a tough job! Next time, I'll use dynamite, napalm and Agent Orange, lol. :oops:

Today I am gonna try to finish decorating the second bathroom, so I can think about going for a motorcycle ride later this week. Still no sign of Z-Girl, and I just spoke to the gal who runs our community well service... she said a not-too-distant neighbor (one or two blocks away) lost two goats to a young mountain lion in the area. I hope little Z-Girl didn't meet that lion in the dark, it wouldn't have been much of a contest, small as little Z-Girl was. :(

P.S. The young mountain lion was caught on camera, so if the bobcat rumor is true, then there are two predators in the area who could easily run down little Z-Girl, not to mention coyotes... I never hear the coyotes howling in this area at night, but that doesn't mean they're not out there. Same goes for owls, I haven't heard an owl in a long time, but that doesn't mean they're not around. Poor little Z-Girl, I wish she'd show up again... I miss her. 😢
 
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Working all day outside...animal chores and caging volunteer tomatoes. Planted a few more, up potted a few, too. I'm going to run out of garden space, so I think I'll be doing another tomato area and a new asparagus area. Found 3 squash bugs and some eggs laid on leaves. sp disted woth some Captn Jacks. That and DE, I'm hoping this year will help. Need to clean the brooders and the kitchen, then little granddaughter and I are taking off to the bigger town for some Hobby Lobby and Walmart shopping. Husband is a bit under the weather, didn't sleep well, so he's staying home. Hope a nap will help him.
 
Wingnut said:
Snappy1, bamboo is some of the toughest natural material on earth, and digging up a stand of bamboo is a serious task... go easy on yourself while tackling that bamboo, it is some TOUGH STUFF! Probably why they make furniture out of it, not to mention a bunch of other things... I remember taking out a large stand of bamboo in a friend's yard, and that was a tough job! Next time, I'll use dynamite, napalm and Agent Orange, lol. :oops:

Today I am gonna try to finish decorating the second bathroom, so I can think about going for a motorcycle ride later this week. Still no sign of Z-Girl, and I just spoke to the gal who runs our community well service... she said a not-too-distant neighbor (one or two blocks away) lost two goats to a young mountain lion in the area. I hope little Z-Girl didn't meet that lion in the dark, it wouldn't have been much of a contest, small as little Z-Girl was. :(

P.S. The young mountain lion was caught on camera, so if the bobcat rumor is true, then there are two predators in the area who could easily run down little Z-Girl, not to mention coyotes... I never hear the coyotes howling in this area at night, but that doesn't mean they're not out there. Same goes for owls, I haven't heard an owl in a long time, but that doesn't mean they're not around. Poor little Z-Girl, I wish she'd show up again... I miss her. 😢
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I lost Baby Cake's brother (Twinkie) three years ago to an owl! I hear them every night! We have a resident bobcat, I see her early in the mornings occasionally, and see her foot prints often. She had never bothered the pet cats. There are big cats and coyotes close too, so I always worry! Don't give up on little Z yet, I sure hope she gets back home soon!!
 
Peanut said:
I feel for ya... I once had a factory job with a rolling shift. 7-3/3-11/11-7. Hated when I was young. 4000 union steel workers complained, no one liked it. My view was... pick a shift, any shift and I'll work it. Changing every second week was nuts! About the time my body adjusted it changed again...

Knowing what I know now with cfs... learned a lot about sleep and health, one definetly affects the other as a whole. Switching is unhealthy!!! Owl shift isn't good for anyone.

Sleeping at my age is hard enough already, wouldn't want to try now.
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Odd hours don't help anybody have a good life. My schedule varies by project. Freight schedules can be moved around to accommodate our work, but on any line that has AMTRAK or commuter scoots, we end up working odd hours. I've spent more nights working out in the desert in New Mexico, Arizona, and California than I care to remember, and Chicago is almost always nights because of all the Metra scoot traffic. It really messes with me. I find that after a few days I can't sleep more than 2 or 3 hours straight, and often that's all the sleep I'll get.
 
Watching rain showers popping up and moving away from me! Yay, I know we need rain here now and may not get it all summer, but I'm ready for that time to be here! Got home from work early, the husband of the couple I work for on Mondays is still in the hospital. The wife is at the hospital with him all day everyday!☹️ Got a bunch of laundry put away that I did yesterday. Think I will take a 5-10min nap and then vacuum the pool! Hope the sun stays out!!
 
Pearl said:
Watching rain showers popping up and moving away from me! Yay, I know we need rain here now and may not get it all summer, but I'm ready for that time to be here! Got home from work early, the husband of the couple I work for on Mondays is still in the hospital. The wife is at the hospital with him all day everyday!☹️ Got a bunch of laundry put away that I did yesterday. Think I will take a 5-10min nap and then vacuum the pool! Hope the sun stays out!!
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We don't have a pool, but it's sunny and warm. You could come visit and run through the sprinkler 😂
 
Spikedriver said:
Odd hours don't help anybody have a good life. My schedule varies by project. Freight schedules can be moved around to accommodate our work, but on any line that has AMTRAK or commuter scoots, we end up working odd hours. I've spent more nights working out in the desert in New Mexico, Arizona, and California than I care to remember, and Chicago is almost always nights because of all the Metra scoot traffic. It really messes with me. I find that after a few days I can't sleep more than 2 or 3 hours straight, and often that's all the sleep I'll get.
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I think the older you get the harder it is. I'm glad I don't have a rotating schedule anymore. Now its 5a-5p, 6 days on and 8 days off.
 
Worked on the corral this afternoon. Hadn’t been used in a couple years, brush had grown and choked the loading chute completely. Got it all cleaned out, made a few minor repairs. This might be the last time it’s used… We got rough cut oak planks from the sawmill to build it the last time. Out in the weather in the humid south, even oak doesn’t last much more than a decade. My cousin said he’s going to rebuild it, at least it’s ready to be worked on.

The guy stopped and paid me for the horses but there’s a lot of isolated thunder storms this afternoon, dangerous lightening. Might wait till the weekend to pick them up since… Today I sold him one of the farm trucks, my old 94 Silverado. Can't pick up til Saturday. It’s not even running, got 100K on a rebuilt engine. I’d like to get it running and restored but that’s just a wish, not going to happen. Now I have to get all the junk out of it… unless he wants to buy that too! 😁

All n all a productive day.

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Mountain Lion sightings here are rare, but do happen. I lived where they were common for about 10 years, so I learned all I could about them. I had one pass through my back yard about 3 years ago. Heard on the scanner a couple days ago that one was spotted 1/2 mile from here. They will usually avoid anywhere they can pick up human scent. Then today, I found out that some woman had raised this one and hand fed it. That is when they become dangerous, when they associate human scent with food. And where it was spotted is in town, near a women's college.
 
Well, I am on my second Aldi beer ....( Wernersgruene, my favorite)
The truck: we went to take the trailer hitch off for the rental we plan on getting, and looked at it. My gosh, it's rusted all to hell....no words. He can fix the brakes and hopefully the fuel leak out of the tank somewhere he hasn't found ,but we could see for ourselves this truck is not going to pass inspection much longer. He gave it a few years IF we are lucky. I like the new mechanic ( I think) , he showed us everything wrong and I saw it with my own eyes....manifold is leaking and exhaust is about to fall off also.
Firestone never even looked at it !! I am 100% sure. They lifted the hood and saw the broken brake line and said " oh, needs new brake lines" and didn't even bother lifting it up and looking at underneath. NEVER going back to there...

I think we are just going to rent stuff for now until prices of trucks go down ( if they do) . We went to a dealer, and he told us " I was supposed to get 100 new ones and I got 15" ....so everyone is keeping anything drivable for now and there are no used ones
 
Just emptied the dehydrator of tomato slices.
Got 6 pints of spaghetti sauce in the water bath canner.
Got another 6 pints of the makings of spaghetti sauce going in the crockpot.
Finally found jalenpenos so salsa will be done tomorrow,
Will be doing some hemming of curtains for couple of friends.
Been looking for my favorite corn nuggets recipes so I can get those made up for the freezer.
Hopefully that remove another 2 gallon or more bags of sweet corn out of my freezer.
Will be doing some batch cooking for freezer meals.
Hopefully go to lunch with a friend.
Would like to get 9 quarts of vegetable soup made up this weekend.
Then will put in pint jars for my version meals in jar .
Get those water bath canned for the pantry.
Will be pickling some mushrooms and maybe asapargus.
Not together though.
Kitchen is cleaned again.
Trash has been taken out.
Been busy since I got home from work.
Seeing the surgeon on Wednesday.
Seems my left knee(first one I had replaced is on recall), go figure.
 
Spikedriver said:
Depends on how much beer y'all got...
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Spikedriver I would absolutely hate hate hate your job.....do you ever want to do anything else? I mean, I don't know if I would hate what you actually do, but I would hate being away from home all the time. If it was up to me I would just stay here and not go anywhere except maybe the farmers market every 2 weeks....
How did you end up with this job? I have never met anyone that did this before, and didn't even think about that there needs to be people to fix the track or whatever it is you do
 
rusty said:
Mountain Lion sightings here are rare, but do happen. I lived where they were common for about 10 years, so I learned all I could about them. I had one pass through my back yard about 3 years ago. Heard on the scanner a couple days ago that one was spotted 1/2 mile from here. They will usually avoid anywhere they can pick up human scent. Then today, I found out that some woman had raised this one and hand fed it. That is when they become dangerous, when they associate human scent with food. And where it was spotted is in town, near a women's college.
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Mountain lion is good slow roasted. It’s a white meat. Fried, it’s tough as nails. You might have dinner delivered to your doorstep.
 
Back from the chiropractor. We went by Costco while we were in the city and found a few things. I also picked up harnesses for the puppies, I need to start working with them on leashes. Got evening chores done and all the critters fed. Also put the liquid plumber stuff down the tub so I should be able to take a bath or shower without taking forever to drain or backing up. That's the second time in 6 months I've had to do it though. I think it may be time to have the septic guys out. I'm not sure if the tank has ever been pumped and the house was built in the 60s I believe? Could just be mineral buildup in the pipes too as we have very hard water.

Tomorrow I'm hauling the horse to the vet. She's long overdue for her shots and coggins. They're only open weekdays and I couldn't really take off work to do it during the school year. Need to have her teeth checked too. Think they were last done in 2021. Usually go about 2 years for her because she soooo sensitive to the sedatives, even a light dose. Also want to have her lungs checked because I've noticed that she seems to be breathing louder/wheezing in the last couple weeks. No temperature, coughing, snot or other symptoms. Just seems louder than normal. May just be age, about 20-22, mixed with dust/pollen as we have a lot of both right now. After the vet it'll be back to working on the chicken run. Taking longer than thought because I have to get creative as I'm doing it all by myself.
 
Neb said:
I thought eating predators ( carnivores) was bad mojo. Parasites and such.

Ben
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So bear (delicious and is Hubby’s favorite) has to be cooked thoroughly to kill any potential trichinosis. As far as parasites, have never had any issues as long as it is a healthy critter. If it was unhealthy in any way, I would do some serious questioning before eating it.
 
sonya123 said:
Spikedriver I would absolutely hate hate hate your job.....do you ever want to do anything else? I mean, I don't know if I would hate what you actually do, but I would hate being away from home all the time. If it was up to me I would just stay here and not go anywhere except maybe the farmers market every 2 weeks....
How did you end up with this job? I have never met anyone that did this before, and didn't even think about that there needs to be people to fix the track or whatever it is you do
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Long story short, I never once thought about the railroad until the window factory closed and I lost my job. I knew a guy who was in lower management at the railroad and he said, "Apply right now!" so I did. He vouched for me and I aced the interview.

So, I started on what we call "the division" or "the section". That means your job doesn't travel. You show up to the same place every day. But I was the low man and I kept getting laid off, so I went out on "The System". The System covers all of my employer's 23,000 miles of track, except for the old Missouri Pacific railroad territory. I found out that it pays a lot more than the section, and at that time we worked either 8 on/7 off, or 4 on/3 off. I loved it at first. I was grossing 6 to 8 grand a month, 10 years ago. I've been on the road since late 2010 and I'm kind of over it now. Hopefully I can go back to section to finish my career. I've got a little over 16 years til I can get a full pension so I've got a long time to think about it...
 
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