I've been very busy around here. I'm dividing my time between the house in town, and the farm. We have a contract on the house with a closing date of March 15. Everything needs to be gotten out of the house before then. Husband Mike is back in Spain for the next 4 weeks, so I'm trying to get more stuff from the house, and freecycling stuff we don't want. At the same time, there is much that needs my attention at the farm, including a student who takes several riding lessons a week. Add to that, the fact that I'm still working on Friday-Sunday at my job riding Mounted patrol, and I'm trying to insulate the dressing room on my new trailer, to make it more comfy to sleep in.
Two local TV stations have been out to interview the family about the law suit, and you can see we are very busy.
Tomorrow I'm driving to the house, by way of 2 book stores, where I have credits that I must use before the 30th. I also have a box of LPs to sell to Half-Price Books. Then, after I stop at the house to put out more stuff for freecycle, it's off to Lowe's to pick up the floor brace kit for the metal shed we took delivery on today, plus 4 sheets of marine grade plywood for the floor. When the shed is up, we will move the furniture and stuff from the Pack-Rat storage unit, to the shed, and have them come and pick it up, thus saving money each month on the rental.
I have to be back at the farm by 3, for a riding lesson, feed the livestock, unload the plywood, ETC. and hook up the goosneck trailer so I can go to work on Friday. Busy, Busy, Busy...I Love It!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Judge has made his decission...
and we have won! Grandson can wear his hair in two braids, outside of his shirt.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Update...
It has been a busy week since we had Buttercup humanely euthanized. We buried her in the very back of the property. We have an almost finished pump house. It just lacks a roof. It has two doors/gates. They are the gates from the wooden fence blown down by Ike, and the walls are sections of the old fence, too.
I have a riding student. She is a college student I met while sitting outside of Barnes and Noble bookstore at work. She is very enthusiastic! Her first lesson was last Thursday, and she has had 5 so far. Winter break is about to end, but she has been out nearly every day this week.
We had the storage container moved out to the farm last Saturday. We need to buy a storage building and move all the stuff from one to the other, since the container costs $215 per month, and we have decided not to buy a mobile home, but instead, build what we want as soon as we sell the other house. We will continue to live with our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson for the time being. We have had an offer on the house in town. It isn't what we want for it, but in this economy we are kind of stuck. This is a person who will buy it as is and fix it to "FLIP" it. It is costing too much paying 2 mortgages, plus the utilities, and taxes on the house in town every month. It has eaten into our savings so that we really don't have the money we need to fix it up ourselves, so we are letting it go at a loss. Mike is going to cash in a life insurance policy his mom had on him, to pay the closing cost, and the difference between what the man is offering and what we owe on it. I hate to do this, but we don't have the resources to fix it up enough to get what we want for it, and each month we are paying almost $1,500 in mortgage, insurance, taxes, and utilities for it + $1,700. mortgage on the farm. My shorter work week gives me more time to work on stuff, but my pay is cut in 1/2, and if I want to go to an SCA event, I earn NO MONEY for that week, unless I drive 85 miles one way, to work at another property, with out being paid additionally for milage.
A man from the state wildlife department came out to make a site inspection and give us some ideas about how we might want to proceed in getting a wildlife exemption, rather then an agriculture exemption. We are going to convert the pastures, over time, back into native Texas grasses, instead of the more delicate grass that the neighbor's cattle had overgrazed for so long. It will be quite a project, requiring controlled burning of sections and reseeding with native species. This will encourage more Quail to live here. We will also work towards encouraging some of the native Texas water fowl to visit our ponds.
We still haven't heard from the judge in the lawsuit on Grandson's hair.
Husband and I have appointments on Monday to see a gastro-enteralogist for a consult prior to having a colonoscopy. What fun! NOT
I'm working on insulating my new trailer, to make it more comfortable to camp in, when I'm not feeding horses, teaching riding lessons, gathering eggs, grocery shopping, or helping build the well house.
We need to buy a disk-harrow to make firebreakes around the pastures as well as break up the sod for a garden, and a riding arena. The fun never stops.
I have a riding student. She is a college student I met while sitting outside of Barnes and Noble bookstore at work. She is very enthusiastic! Her first lesson was last Thursday, and she has had 5 so far. Winter break is about to end, but she has been out nearly every day this week.
We had the storage container moved out to the farm last Saturday. We need to buy a storage building and move all the stuff from one to the other, since the container costs $215 per month, and we have decided not to buy a mobile home, but instead, build what we want as soon as we sell the other house. We will continue to live with our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson for the time being. We have had an offer on the house in town. It isn't what we want for it, but in this economy we are kind of stuck. This is a person who will buy it as is and fix it to "FLIP" it. It is costing too much paying 2 mortgages, plus the utilities, and taxes on the house in town every month. It has eaten into our savings so that we really don't have the money we need to fix it up ourselves, so we are letting it go at a loss. Mike is going to cash in a life insurance policy his mom had on him, to pay the closing cost, and the difference between what the man is offering and what we owe on it. I hate to do this, but we don't have the resources to fix it up enough to get what we want for it, and each month we are paying almost $1,500 in mortgage, insurance, taxes, and utilities for it + $1,700. mortgage on the farm. My shorter work week gives me more time to work on stuff, but my pay is cut in 1/2, and if I want to go to an SCA event, I earn NO MONEY for that week, unless I drive 85 miles one way, to work at another property, with out being paid additionally for milage.
A man from the state wildlife department came out to make a site inspection and give us some ideas about how we might want to proceed in getting a wildlife exemption, rather then an agriculture exemption. We are going to convert the pastures, over time, back into native Texas grasses, instead of the more delicate grass that the neighbor's cattle had overgrazed for so long. It will be quite a project, requiring controlled burning of sections and reseeding with native species. This will encourage more Quail to live here. We will also work towards encouraging some of the native Texas water fowl to visit our ponds.
We still haven't heard from the judge in the lawsuit on Grandson's hair.
Husband and I have appointments on Monday to see a gastro-enteralogist for a consult prior to having a colonoscopy. What fun! NOT
I'm working on insulating my new trailer, to make it more comfortable to camp in, when I'm not feeding horses, teaching riding lessons, gathering eggs, grocery shopping, or helping build the well house.
We need to buy a disk-harrow to make firebreakes around the pastures as well as break up the sod for a garden, and a riding arena. The fun never stops.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Goodbye Princess Buttercup...
Rest in Peace. We are having to put Buttercup down. She got down in the pasture today, and couldn't get back up. Mike and I are at the house in town, packing up, and sorting out, and Kenny couldn't see her from the house, as there isn't a window on that end. When Michelle got home to feed she found her down and in bad shape. The vet is on his way to end her pain. Janet' is waiting on the other side of the rainbow bridge for her... Good Bye old girl...
Just heard from the farm, it is finished, she is at peace.
Just heard from the farm, it is finished, she is at peace.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
We have had a busy 2 days...
We were running some errands, yesterday when we got a call from the farm, the old mares had been in the pond enclosure, and one of them, Picnic, had broken a pipe on the well, so we had no water in the house. Since we were already out, Kenney sent a picture of the break from his phone to mine, and called me with a description of what we needed to buy. We stopped at a hardware store and bought what we thought we needed. It wasn't.
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the other old mare, Buttercup, fell down, and couldn't get back up. A healthy horse can die if it gets into a situation where it can't get to it's feet. Buttercup is 30ish, and being treated for 2 hoof abscesses in her front feet. She wasn't able to regain her feet without help.
So there we were trying to get the wrong parts to work to fix the well, and Buttercup was lying on the cold ground in s misty rain and cold wind, and couldn't get back up. I covered her with a small tarp to help conserve her body heat.
Michelle left work early, to try and help Buttercup, and meanwhile we convinced Mike to cut the entire connection off the well, and take it along to Home Depot to buy the correct parts, 100 ft of extension cord, and a worklight.
While we were at Home depot, Mike and Michelle managed to get the old mare back on her feet, after scrubbing, medicating,and bandaging her front feet.
We bought what we needed, and fixed the well in the dark and rain. We let the PVC glue dry while we ate the chicken we picked up while we were out, then turned the water back on.
Here are pictures of the troublemakers.
Today, we started building a well house so that nothing like this can happen again. We are using landscape timbers for uprights, and fence boards from our old wooden fence as walls, covered with roofing felt, to make it waterproof. Here are some pictures of the uprights, as we squared them up, and poured concrete into the holes. We will finish next week. We have to finish packing our Pack Rat storage container, tomorrow, cause we only have till Saturday before we need to move it.
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the other old mare, Buttercup, fell down, and couldn't get back up. A healthy horse can die if it gets into a situation where it can't get to it's feet. Buttercup is 30ish, and being treated for 2 hoof abscesses in her front feet. She wasn't able to regain her feet without help.
So there we were trying to get the wrong parts to work to fix the well, and Buttercup was lying on the cold ground in s misty rain and cold wind, and couldn't get back up. I covered her with a small tarp to help conserve her body heat.
Michelle left work early, to try and help Buttercup, and meanwhile we convinced Mike to cut the entire connection off the well, and take it along to Home Depot to buy the correct parts, 100 ft of extension cord, and a worklight.
While we were at Home depot, Mike and Michelle managed to get the old mare back on her feet, after scrubbing, medicating,and bandaging her front feet.
We bought what we needed, and fixed the well in the dark and rain. We let the PVC glue dry while we ate the chicken we picked up while we were out, then turned the water back on.
Here are pictures of the troublemakers.
Today, we started building a well house so that nothing like this can happen again. We are using landscape timbers for uprights, and fence boards from our old wooden fence as walls, covered with roofing felt, to make it waterproof. Here are some pictures of the uprights, as we squared them up, and poured concrete into the holes. We will finish next week. We have to finish packing our Pack Rat storage container, tomorrow, cause we only have till Saturday before we need to move it.
Happy New Year 2009
I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years Day. We had a 2 day party at the farm, with fireworks, a bonfire, a sacrifice, pot luck food, a cookie swap and a beer swap.
All the young women brought cookies to swap, and the young men bought beer that they wanted to try, but never had, and had a chance to try many different kinds.
Everyone brought food to share, and wood if they had it, as well as fireworks, since we live in the country, and there aren't any restrictions against them.
We had a large bonfire in the front yard, and at midnight, we burned our old sleeper sofa. It was quite a fire. Here are pictures of the sofa burning. We didn't burn the mattress or cushions, just the frame.
All the young women brought cookies to swap, and the young men bought beer that they wanted to try, but never had, and had a chance to try many different kinds.
Everyone brought food to share, and wood if they had it, as well as fireworks, since we live in the country, and there aren't any restrictions against them.
We had a large bonfire in the front yard, and at midnight, we burned our old sleeper sofa. It was quite a fire. Here are pictures of the sofa burning. We didn't burn the mattress or cushions, just the frame.
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