Farmerjan's journal - Weather

Consider a hat or shower cap for protection

So you’re saying that you got at and hit?

Mini Horses said:

I got just a touch over 2" soaked right in. The first couple hrs of light drizzle helped to allow later to soak. Of course, overcast/chilly most all day. Sun just coming out at 3:30-4: it'll be dark soon . But clear & warmer over weekend.

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Sounds like what we got for rain, and since it was a steady rainfall it soaked in, which we needed!

Saturday eve. It was a very nice day out. 40 to start, up to 77 in the sun... Next to no wind so quite nice. Too bad I still had that "half-a$$ed " headache which translated into not feeling like doing alot.

I did get the big load of socks that had been soaking, run through and hung out. Weather was great to just be out there. Put in the dirty cow manure jeans and sweatshirt and another pair of real dirty jeans, in to soak tonight.

Went up to do the jersey and calves and after letting her eat grain, and fed the bottle to the holstein, I let her out for the aft/eve/night.

DS had set up the pen at the pasture where the one heifer keeps going through the hi-tensile sire... I went there, they were all down near the pen and the steer was up in the field. Fed them some, and called him and he slowly ambles his way down to the pen... Takes about 10-15 minutes.. he will come for me but has not come for DS. One reason he does not stay with the others is there are 2 that ram him and bully him terribly. One butted him into the panel of the pen while I was there. She is a B#@%h...... I made sure he got some grain too after coming for me. DS is at an auction today with another couple friends... I called to see if they had come home early but they didn't... so I said I would just go up there tomorrow and see about getting them in again... Since the calves know I have feed, I see no big deal to get them back in tomorrow.

I went to DS's house since he is not home, and took a shower and washed my hair. Nice to get a shower that has some decent water pressure. Maybe he will get to fixing mine one of these days.

Not getting done, what I need to accomplish, with this nice weather...with this headache.

Samples in the house to pack later, or tomorrow.

Not overly motivated to make supper... not really hungry.... Going to go to bed early, maybe I can sleep it off tonight.

Oh, also about the cow manure splatters. When the cows are coming in and going out the parlor... they "have to" do manure it seems. When the protein levels are high, it is much looser than when not... and it hits the concrete floors and naturally splatters everywhere. The pit where we stand between the 2 sides where the cows are for milking is only 8 ft wide... not like you can get totally away from them...
Have worn a "farmer's cap" on occasion... but then my neck gets splattered worse... and a hooded sweatshirt does not work... the cows will refuse to come in the barn because it is "different".... winter time I sometimes will wear a knit cap... but I have to be able to see the ear tag numbers, and hear the farmer when he calls them out if I can't see them... and a hat affects my hearing some. I have noticed a little loss of hearing in the last year or 2... in part from all the years of being on tractors and such I am sure... background noise affects me more... I try to not have anything that will further hamper my hearing...
Some days are worse than others in the barns too. Some times you might get only a couple of cows during the whole milking, that "have to sh!t" going in or out of the parlor... some days there is one or 2 in every group that has to do it... Friday was just one of those "everyone had to" kind of days.
Dairy manure has a different smell than say a beef cow... alot of that is due to the high protein, high concentrate feed with the corn silage... it stinks... after it has gone through the cow's system. Beef cow manure is much firmer, and smells more "earthy" like the grass and hay... add to that the iodine and other teat dips used... the iodine permeates your clothes and everything smells like it when you get out of there.

Part of the job... just ticks me off with the water pressure situation here so that washing my hair is such a pita with so little water pressure to just get under a good hot stream of water... so going to DS's today was nice to get it done, and stop smelling like cow sh!t and iodine....

With these weather fronts, temp changes, etc., I have sinuses swell, runny nose, sneeze....headache. I take a sinus pill and it works wonders!! If headache is frontal, maybe try sinus meds to see if it helps. . Nothing to loose but pain.

Mini Horses said:

With these weather fronts, temp changes, etc., I have sinuses swell, runny nose, sneeze....headache. I take a sinus pill and it works wonders!! If headache is frontal, maybe try sinus meds to see if it helps. . Nothing to loose but pain.

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What sinus pill do you use?

@fuzzi just a 4 hr pill, cheap, effective...usually just one clears it. If needed I'll take another, or on another day. It clears for me.

Ooo, worth a try on my front. * borrowing tip meant for someone else *

Sunday evening. Been a nice enough day overall. Mostly sunny and very little breeze so comfortable. Recording thermometer says 73 but that is in direct sun...

Unfortunately, the headaches are often on the right side where I had all the head trauma from the accident back in 1989.... I am sure that the changing weather, and atmosphere pressure changes does not help. Some of it is from just being aggravated some days.. Oh well... you just deal with it.

Today it was better, just a little bit of a dull one. I have had a bit of congestion in my throat and even a little bit of a scratchy throat... hope I am not getting sick.

I got the samples all in the boxes and was going to strap them when DS texted in response to my text of when did he want me to go get the calves in... that I didn't know what project he had going on today. He said that probably about 2:30-3... and he was pounding staples in the first stretch of the new fence at the barn if I wanted to come help. So, I went to the barn and started putting in staples on the woven wire that is stretched there. He had started down at the bottom and had some other things to do, so I took the hammer and did a bunch. This is 13 strand, 6" stays, fixed knot wire.... he wanted something that he is only going to do once and something that would stand up to alot of cattle pressure. This lot is where we wean calves, bring home "strange bought cattle", all sorts of things so it gets alot of "pressure" against it. Heavier than some of the other wire he is putting up elsewhere. It is getting 9-11 staples per post... plus the strand of barbed wire along the top.
My shoulder makes it painful to use the hammer... but it hurts anyway... and I don't have to lift it above the shoulder height... so I may as well pound staples.
Then he needed me to help him tie off the wire on one post... so I got sidetracked with that for a bit. Then I ran out of staples in the box I had, and it was getting time to go get the calves in at hanger's pasture; so I quit for the afternoon. I will go back tomorrow and try to finish off the posts. They are 8 ft on center... so alot of posts... and they are bigger, heavier posts due to the fence having more "pressure" against it too.

Went to the pasture and didn't see any cattle... Uh Oh... Called them and all of a sudden a bunch came out of the trees/woods off the one hillside... 6 heifers came running... and the steer came slower but right behind them... Wait... there are supposed to be a total of 8 here... I called again... Getting concerned... all of a sudden she comes trotting at a fast pace, up from a little swale where I didn't see her... but a ways away from where the other 6 were... they all came in the pen, the steer was slower but he finally came around the side and I got the panel shut and let DS know they were in... I stayed there naturally and helped him load them, then we collected all the panels and put them in the trailer since the 8 didn't take up that much space in the 24 ft trailer.

I asked if he needed me because I needed to go to do the jersey and calves... he said no,,,, so I followed him back til the turn off to go to my house. Came up, got the milk heated up, 3/4 bottle of the milk and 1/4 th of milk replacer... got the grain and headed to do the cow.

Remembered that I hadn't hung the barn clothes, so ran them through a 2nd rinse while I was at the pasture with the jersey and calves.
Got done, came home and went out and hung them... the air is quite dry so they will dry a little overnight... tomorrow is supposed to be partly sunny, so should finish drying I hope. The forecast is for some clouds to come in on Tuesday, so possibility of some rain/showers midweek into the end of the week and temps to drop 20-30 degrees to only the mid 40's to low 50's by Thursday. UGH.... "Taste of winter" they are saying.

So, I am in for the night. Lots of stuff to do in the house....

Just ate a couple sandwiches since I was not hungry earlier... I am going to go in and finish boxing and strapping the samples to go out tomorrow... so they are done.