Whatcha Up To???

[Mr_Yan]

I wouldn't live here except for I followed a job here then I bought a house. We've about out grown the house and I won't buy another house in this state. On the other hand my oldest is now in a REALLY good public school. We'll see if my second kid is accepted into that program in two years or not.

We have to apply for a firearm owner ID which is a background check and card similar to a driver's license. On the other hand there is no state registration for a firearm as with several states. They know I have a FOID but don't know what, if anything, I have. There are localities that have stupid restrictions like they outlaw a SA rifle with a detachable mag - yes that includes a Ruger 10/22. Also as I understand it you can't deer hunt with a rifle cartridge that chokes down due to worries of over penetration in flat farm country.

There are days where I really want to buy a long gun and vacillate between a bolt action in something like .308 or a lever action carbine in .357 mag. Two big things hold me back on that though: (1)I don't really have the time or space to shoot so it would just sit in the safe (2) Mrs. Yan is cross-eye dominant (left eye, right hand) and won't really be shooting a long gun anytime soon.

 

[wolffman]

I wouldn't live here except for I followed a job here then I bought a house. We've about out grown the house and I won't buy another house in this state. On the other hand my oldest is now in a REALLY good public school. We'll see if my second kid is accepted into that program in two years or not.

We have to apply for a firearm owner ID which is a background check and card similar to a driver's license. On the other hand there is no state registration for a firearm as with several states. They know I have a FOID but don't know what, if anything, I have. There are localities that have stupid restrictions like they outlaw a SA rifle with a detachable mag - yes that includes a Ruger 10/22. Also as I understand it you can't deer hunt with a rifle cartridge that chokes down due to worries of over penetration in flat farm country.

There are days where I really want to buy a long gun and vacillate between a bolt action in something like .308 or a lever action carbine in .357 mag. Two big things hold me back on that though: (1)I don't really have the time or space to shoot so it would just sit in the safe (2) Mrs. Yan is cross-eye dominant (left eye, right hand) and won't really be shooting a long gun anytime soon.

With the right optic she will.

 

[w_r_ranch]

I didn't plan to do anything due to the forecast rain. As luck has it, it didn't start raining until about an hour ago & now it really coming down... (we ended up with 1.70").

Luckily we did receive the 8' LED tubes earlier...

 

[w_r_ranch]

I wouldn't live here except for I followed a job here then I bought a house. We've about out grown the house and I won't buy another house in this state. On the other hand my oldest is now in a REALLY good public school.

Find a better job, sell the house & move. There are good schools in most states. Look at the big picture... a higher paying job in a state the doesn't rape you on taxes & you could easily afford a bigger house & private school for the kids. Not to mention a better climate & better upward mobility. We've done it a few times.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[w_r_ranch]

Did the weekly shopping.

Puttered around the yard... things like treating the fire ant mounds that sprang up overnight & pulling weeds.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Made bread.

Made chicken fajitas & rice for supper.

Rewired the 3 fixtures in the garage & installed the 8' LED tubes. Then cleaned the garage to get ready for winter.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Did the first round of fall leaf clean up.
Cleared out the rest of the home garden peppers and tomatoes.
Trimmed some random stuff in the yard.

Final measurable harvest for the year.
Topped out at 627.94 pounds.
Spent $296.50 after buying a fancy tool
Works out to be $0.47 a pound

Over the last four seasons I have spent $637.82 on my veg gardening hobby (raised beds, tools, seeds, fertilizers, amendments, etc.)
Over those same four years I have harvested 1502.37 pounds.
Works out to a rolling $0.42 a pound

 

[w_r_ranch]

Put together a couple more ClosetMaid cabinets for the guesthouse closet.

Burned the trash before the rain started.

Received 0.53" of the wet stuff.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Moved the cabinets into place in the guesthouse.

Hung a picture in the laundry room per request.

Put 16 rodent blocks around the barn so when I get the Gator back, they don't chew up the wiring harness again. I hate rodents...

Mrs. Ranch threw a 33 gallon bag of leftover material from her past quilts, so I burned it to get rid of it. She still has a lot...

 

[Mike]

The leaves in the back yard was getting out of control so took the mower to them to shred them up nice and fine. Looks much better now.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Mrs. Ranch threw a 33 gallon bag of leftover material from her past quilts, so I burned it to get rid of it. She still has a lot...

Two years ago my mother in law used her quilting scraps as packing material for my kid's Christmas gifts. Give a 2 and 4 year old a box with a million little pieces of fabric. Just another idea to be an "environmentally friendly" terrible neighbor or in law.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Woke up to 28 F outside. This is the first hard freeze of the season.

Spent the day car shopping for a new kid hauler. Found a Dodge Grand Caravan at the third dealership. Never thought I would be buying a Chrysler product.

I hate car shopping.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Woke up to 29 F outside. Looks like the seasons really are starting to change around here.

Blew / raked the leafs in the backyard. Many went into my hoop to become leaf mold but some had to be shredded down as I ran out of room in the hoop.

Drained the rain barrels.

Did our annual Toys for Tots shopping trip. This year it was a four pack of monster truck hot wheels, a tonka tow truck, and a Disney frozen barbie doll. Really proud of my kids. Each year we've been doing this where they each pick out a toy then we put it right in the toys for tots box, we don't even get bags for them at the check out. Never once have we had tears or a fight after letting go of those toys.

 

[RLwhaler]

Had a fantastic week! Made it back home just in time for my girl violin recital( Barely) Made some Tri-Tip steaks.
To top it off..I got this beautiful hand made quilt from a GOOD friend and his special wife. Life is great.

 

[w_r_ranch]

I've been too busy here the last couple of weeks trying to get some chores done before the cold weather settles in... including the normal maintenance like adding salt/replacing the filter on the water conditioner, cutting grass, spraying the grass/weeds, treating the fire ant mounds, killing gophers, topping off the fuel tanks in the ranch equipment, putting out hay for the cattle, refilling the bird feeders, clean the main garden & asparagus bed, etc...

Today I need to pick up more fuel & clean the greenhouse so I can fumigate it so it's ready to go for when I have to protect the porch plants. Very soon, I will also need to move 30 rolls of hay to the home site, pick up a load of cattle feed & clean the water troughs...

 

[w_r_ranch]

Raining here today (0.39" thus far)... The cold front just arrived here & the temperature is dropping pretty fast (5 degrees/hour). Sunday the low is suppose to be 37 degrees.

Disposed of some of the older canned stuff & clean the jars for next year.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Yesterday we were above 70 F.
Today we have HIGH winds going across. Calling for snow flurries over night.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Chilly (60 degrees) & windy here today.... It's time to get the greenhouse ready, so I put the window covers up, disconnect all the automatic window/vent openers, cleaned the circulating fan & fumigated it. Then I got the heater down from storage & ops checked it before setting it in the greenhouse. Now it's ready for when I have to move the plants into it.

 

[RLwhaler]

Just cranked up the Kubota this morning to mulch all the darn pine needles on the lawn. Can't stand them! Bathe all my " Soup Hounds"
Just found out that my leaf blower makes a great hair dryer for them. It's been a great week.Fixin' to head out to Royal Purple Raceway to " Clear" her throat a bit.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Made bread.

Planted 15' of radish & 15' of cilantro.

Got the onion row ready, I hope to plant them on Wednesday.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Took Mrs. Ranch's jeep in for yearly inspection & routine maintenance.

While we were out, I picked up 2 whole pork loins, which will be cured for 2 weeks for Canadian bacon. Also picked up 2 Boston butts that will also be cured for 2 weeks for buckboard bacon...

 

[w_r_ranch]

Ran around this morning: Both of us got haircuts, dropped off 7 Mayan prints for matting/framing (these are for the guest house bedroom), then picked up license sticker for Mrs. Ranch's Jeep.

De-boned the Boston butts for buckboard bacon. Then cut some chops out of the pork loins for Thanksgiving (per request). Finally got the cure ready & put the meat in it where it will stay for the next 2 weeks).

 

[w_r_ranch]

Made bread.

Made fresh whole cranberries.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Yesterday, i took it easy... I went over to the barn to get a tool & found that 'something' ate all the rodent bait Probably a possum... so now i need to get more to keep the rodents from gnawing on the Gator's wiring again. GRRR... OK, time to stop playing nice, I'll modify the leg traps so they have hair trigger & set them around the entry hole. If that doesn't get them, I'll have to 'nuke' them.

Today we went to pick up the Gator, but they were still closed for the holiday, so that was a wasted morning... To make matters worse, there was a bad accident on the journey back & the road was shut down... we had to take the back roads home (~35 miles of gravel roads). Needless to say, we're done for the day.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Made bread.

Burned the trash.

Started doing the Christmas decorating... I put up the big tree so Mrs. Ranch can now do the garland when she feels like it & then I'll hang the ornaments. I put the small tree in her sewing room's window. Mrs. Ranch decorated the fireplace mantle.