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Double R said:
Got some more cameras put up. Never thought we’d see the day that I wouldn’t feel safe at my own home. These neighbors are unreal.
Headed out to the garden for a bit to try new earwig traps. Hopefully the catch a lot of them. Still trying to figure out why our tomatoes look so poor. Got a lot more weeding to get done. Temps are starting to heat up. Would like to be on top of everything during the heat.
RXR is diverting the main highway down our little country road. 24/7 it’s a freeway right now. Not sure why they would divert traffic down a well paved main road. Hope they get the crossing done before the weekend. Lots of animals hit so far.
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I assume you're talking about the same railroad crossing from a few days ago. I really wonder what they're doing. Typically a crossing is not out for more than two days...
 
Spikedriver said:
I assume you're talking about the same railroad crossing from a few days ago. I really wonder what they're doing. Typically a crossing is not out for more than two days...
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No. That one (ours) is done. It’s the 4 lane wide crossing a couple miles away on the “main” highway. They decided to divert traffic down our road and down an even narrower road and around. They probably didn’t want to use the nice 4 lane freshly paved road by the school they put in a few years back. Schools closed so???????
 
I finally made it to the big town this afternoon. A weird day, haven’t felt right since I woke up. Didn’t even want food around lunch so I skipped it. Anyway, I got a badly needed haircut. Stopped at my favorite produce market, got some sweetcorn, a big watermelon, a cantaloupe and a few peaches for dad.

I drove across town to pester the geek squad again, got some needed information. Then went a few blocks down the street and got a shrimp Po’ Boy. Best in town and it definitely hit the spot, was starved by then.

A big band of thunderstorms rolled through, it rained hard, had to sit in my truck for a while before getting out at the grocery store. Next, I got a bag of chicken feed, didn’t need it yet but no point in making another trip to town in a few days.

Last stop was at l o w_e s. My 1/4 sheet sander died last fall after 25 years. I got a dewalt today, little projects had started backing up so it was time to get one. I got a deal on a few bags of Quickcrete, price was about the same but those 80lb bags were a lot heavier than the last time… :rolleyes:

Reminds me a story my grandfather used to tell about an old man who lived at the edge of town. He’d killed hog, removed the head and intestines but had to carry the carcass over a mile to the meat processor. When he got there they weighed it. He was upset, said “Your scales are wrong!”. An argument ensued with the butcher who said his scales were certified. Finally the old man said “Tell you what, let in hang there a while, it’ll get heavy!”
biggrin.gif
It’s all a matter of perspective!

Anyway, it had rained over 2 inches here at home. We needed it badly, the garden and pastures were getting a little dry. Thunder is rumbling now, might get another shower soon.
 
I'm thinking I messed up and over did it today. I sure hope not I can't afford days down right now. I did get a lot done by my standards these days. Not much at all the way I use to get stuff done. Got about a half acre planted with corn & soybeans with a earthway seeder. I recently bought an old Cole model 11 that pulls with the tractor for planting corn and it has the wrong plate for that. It's dropping 4 seeds when it should drop one. Found another plate for soybeans after I did them the hard way. Then came in an googled until I found a corn plate and ordered that. Need to work up the ground and plant at least that much more pretty quick here.
 
Took the wife to an appointment this afternoon. We had a 30 minute ride each way and got to talk about the garden and the indoor winter garden. By the time I got home I realized that I need to start seeds for the indoor garden now (within 2 weeks) for it to produce all winter.... I also did some calculations based on the new knowledge that I have gained so far this year that I think will help me make the winter garden much more compact.
 
So what will you be seeding for your winter garden? I'm at that wondering point...still cutting lettuce and spinach from the greenhouse, hasn't bolted yet. I did pull out some of the lettuces for chicken feed. Went ahead and did another tomatoes in ground. I think I have at least a dz more large ones in the greenhouse and a ton of large zucchini. Deciding whether or not to throw the tomatoes or zucchini in an old bathtub on the property and drag it in the greenhouse. Or...save half the greenhouse for the overstock growing now, and start reseeding. Seems too soon, though, the brussel sprouts and cabbage are huge but not ready yet, outside and in ground. Maybe broccoli in there. Rabbits have eaten two plantings of it.
The twins start driver's training tomorrow. Grandson will be starting the job at the seed place soon. They hire teen boys to walk and weed the test fields...ten hour days in heat, we'll see what he can do.
 
cbrianroll said:
Have had zero motivation, work is wearing me down....finally got my new pc built and working.
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Curious... I'm facing computer choices, undecided which way to go. I built every computer I've every owned but the last 2, one a trusted friend built for me, the last was a Dell. With the Dell I had health issues, no time and few choices. It's looking like my best choice now will be to build one.

Anyway, can you give me a description of the parts you chose and why? Where did you get parts? It's a shame Fry's electronics closed, used to shop at the one in San Jose. I've dealt with them and Newegg several times, recommendations? PM me, probably be best.
 
We had a weather front pass through last night,

I woke up a 03:00 with a throbbing headache, sinus pressure at the temples and in my teeth, ears ringing, can hardly focus my eyes....
Today is one of those days when I should not be allowed around people.....
I'm grumpy.. ;)

I have dealt with this as long as I can remember, so it's not something to fret about, but it does make me difficult to be around.....
 
UrbanHunter said:
We had a weather front pass through last night,

I woke up a 03:00 with a throbbing headache, sinus pressure at the temples and in my teeth, ears ringing, can hardly focus my eyes....
Today is one of those days when I should not be allowed around people.....
I'm grumpy.. ;)

I have dealt with this as long as I can remember, so it's not something to fret about, but it does make me difficult to be around.....
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I am sensitive to changes in weather also. When we lived in Florida, and a storm was coming, I would get these really bad headaches and my sinuses plugged up. I get it here also but not as much

Hope you feel better
 
We are planning on doing the unthinkable, take half a day off and go swimming at the nearest lake.

Our to do list never ends but sometimes you have to take a little break. Only , I do wonder if it's worth it. It will be a long drive, and I am sure we will be punished in some way when we get back ( like goats will be escaped, injured or something) because that seems to be what usually happens. LOL, yeah, I am not a positive thinking person....

Wish us luck for a problem free half day off....
 
Have fun, Sonya. Problems are a part of life on a homestead, it seems like every day. A half day of change of pace can be energizing. Go for it! We have a lake about 10 miles out that we really enjoy going to. We just throw some lunch in a bag and go for it. Everyone needs a break. We worked so hard in the garden yesterday...all day long, so after dinner we grabbed the kids and went out for sundaes. Ice cream never tasted so good.
Twins are off soon to driver training, and we'll be going into the bigger town later to the Kroger store to (hopefully) stock up on steaks. Other than that, I've got some garden weeding to do and laundry and cleaning. Rain is forecasted this afternoon, so if that happens, I'll only be watering inside the greenhouse today.
 
Going to the dentist later this morning for a cleaning. I’ve been in a funk lately but maybe I’ll clean out my closet of clothes I no longer wear.
The financial planner came over last night. We have to gather up info for him to work with. I’m hoping to retire early.
 
My irrigation pump locked up last night. The new ultra rollers came apart. Now to see if I can get the pump apart. I saved the original rollers since I didn't like the way the new ones looked. New ones had some kind of plastic coating that has ripped to shreds. I can't remember if I rebuilt this thing last year or year before. Either way time to try it again. Was not in my plans for today but without a water source everything will soon die...
 
Peanut said:
Curious... I'm facing computer choices, undecided which way to go. I built every computer I've every owned but the last 2, one a trusted friend built for me, the last was a Dell. With the Dell I had health issues, no time and few choices. It's looking like my best choice now will be to build one.

Anyway, can you give me a description of the parts you chose and why? Where did you get parts? It's a shame Fry's electronics closed, used to shop at the one in San Jose. I've dealt with them and Newegg several times, recommendations? PM me, probably be best.
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I would avoid Dell like the plague. We had very bad luck with them. There is a specific version of windows just for Dell. We were going through the source code and discovered a kill switch that kicks in when the warranty is up. So right after my brother's warranty ended, his dell wouldn't boot up anymore. I don't know if they still do that, but I will never buy from them again after that.
Cyberpowerpc is expensive, but you can go to their site and look at their customized build options to see what motherboards/processors/ram and video cards are compatible. What you want to use the computer for is a big factor in what specs you need. If you want it for general use, you don't need a powerful graphics card.

@Guardian the pit looks nice!

Snake guy came out yesterday. Turned dark while he was here & still looking around with a flashlight. Said it might be safer since snake would be sleeping. Looked under all sorts of stuff around the house, looked under the house. He wanted to crawl under but was only wearing biker shorts and a t-shirt. I said he'd need something like coveralls or something with longer legs and sleeves to be safe under there. Also recommended a mask to keep dirt out of his nose. The sand under there will chew your elbows up. No luck finding the snake but he said it will warn anyone that gets too close and will likely flee rather than bite unless it feels it's absolutely necessary. Said it is not likely to go after cats or dogs as they are too large to be eaten. But it will go after mice, frogs, rabbits, etc. Went back inside after he left and one of my cats had a rabbit. Made dinner for Mom and the cat ate most of the rabbit-- left the back feet, guts, and butt so I had to pick it up and throw it out.

Today I'm trying to get some rest before I do some cleaning.
 
Took a few hours but I got the pump going again. For now I have my doubts about it lasting much longer. It doesn't owe me a thing as many years as I've used it. I wasn't able to get the pulley off so I kinda had to jerry rig getting the old rollers back in but it's done now. I think I may try and order 2 new ones and see if I can't run two off one engine. I'll have to rig up a different mount and get a tee and a few other things to make it work. But if I can make it work then I could run 2 sprinklers at a time instead of just the one. The pipe I have in place can handle the flow without issue. Best I can tell a small piece of gravel got through the strainer and chewed the rollers to pieces. I need to look around first and see if there are any other options for pumping a volume of water this far (over 2000 feet) with as much lift (175 feet) as what I need. I do have engine options so.... I've gotten exactly nothing on today's to do list done as I spent the day working on the pump. Now it's too hot and I'm too tired to tackle much else.
 
Progress is good. There's been many days that I know something is not going to work around here and I'm going to improvise. Builds character, I guess. Husband just picked up a cordless pole saw, and he's taking off on the scooter he uses to get around and trimming tree branches. Talked him out of using the chain saw that way. Back from the grocery in the big town. A cousin is coming by to pick up excess cucumber and tomato plants and some baby chicks. Another cousin just dropped off 5 old calves for one of our back field areas. They'll fatten up there. Little granddaughter ran back to read the names on their ear tags.
 
Amish Heart said:
Have fun, Sonya. Problems are a part of life on a homestead, it seems like every day. A half day of change of pace can be energizing. Go for it! We have a lake about 10 miles out that we really enjoy going to. We just throw some lunch in a bag and go for it. Everyone needs a break. We worked so hard in the garden yesterday...all day long, so after dinner we grabbed the kids and went out for sundaes. Ice cream never tasted so good.
Twins are off soon to driver training, and we'll be going into the bigger town later to the Kroger store to (hopefully) stock up on steaks. Other than that, I've got some garden weeding to do and laundry and cleaning. Rain is forecasted this afternoon, so if that happens, I'll only be watering inside the greenhouse today.
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The photos your husband is sharing on Instagram are great! You have an awesome garden started.
 
I went to do some shopping for my mother and took the opportunity to get a tray and some parsley and beer seeds to try my hand at growing something. Thankfully I live right across from a vegetable garden and I'm planning on asking the farmer there if he's willing to give me some tips.

I probably should have asked him what are good beginner veggies to grow but..impulse.

I worked a bit today with some students and made some progress with a design job.
 
Newbri said:
I went to do some shopping for my mother and took the opportunity to get a tray and some parsley and beer seeds to try my hand at growing something. Thankfully I live right across from a vegetable garden and I'm planning on asking the farmer there if he's willing to give me some tips.

I probably should have asked him what are good beginner veggies to grow but..impulse.

I worked a bit today with some students and made some progress with a design job.
Click to expand...
I need some beer seeds.
 
We closed a gate that has not closed in 15 or more years!

20210527_171600.jpg


The old one had crumbled and feel its hinges before we purchased the place. It suffered from poor construction and installation quality.

20210527_171618.jpg


It took some detail work to get it to close flush and even.

20210527_171650.jpg


With both gates open we can get a pick up into the back yard.

20210527_171736.jpg


Steel cables and turn buckles should help with the gates sagging over time as well as keep the fence posts straight.

20210527_171749.jpg


A release on rhe inside allows tripping the latch from inside the fence.

20210527_171803.jpg



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After swinging the gate closed the latch engaging like silk I asked my brother "Are we done for today?"

The rest of the fence is a straight shot to where the pond is located. Only vines (and poison ivy) should complicate the rest of the work.

No need to ask.

Yes we are having fun.

Ben
 
Newbri said:
I went to do some shopping for my mother and took the opportunity to get a tray and some parsley and beer seeds to try my hand at growing something. Thankfully I live right across from a vegetable garden and I'm planning on asking the farmer there if he's willing to give me some tips.

I probably should have asked him what are good beginner veggies to grow but..impulse.

I worked a bit today with some students and made some progress with a design job.
Click to expand...
I have never grown beer but beans yes.

Note
When they first sprout bird and critters will jump on them so fast it will make one wonder why they aren't sprouting. Once they set leaves they are safe.

Edit
Oh beets not beans. Oh well.

Ben
 
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