Just need to talk to my friends (202)
Iris, cutting ice is a really important chore when it's freezing, otherwise either the cows won't have water or they'll walk out on the ice and break through into the icy water and freeze. I remember Charles cutting ice on the pond and when he would cut a big piece he would slide it under the unbroken ice. Usually would cut at least three big holes. Our girls were very good at raking turns drinking!
Glad you got Adam and Seven to the vet. I imagine putting drops in a cat's ear is very hard after the first time. Good luck. I think Stormy needs his cleaned and drops put in, too. Hope Simon gets better.
David, glad your wife was able to come and have lunch with you today.
Time for the world news.
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What an interesting conversation talking about icy cow farm problems. I can’t even begin to imagine big slabs of ice let alone sliding it under unbroken ice, I find it hard to even imagine ice except in little blocks to cool down a drink. We live in far north Queensland in the hot dry tropics. Our problems are more inline with cyclones bringing super strong winds and tropical downpours and flooding. And yet we all have the same commitment and challenges with our LO’s and life.
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Hi Biggles, it gets stifflin' hot and bone chilling cold in Oklahoma and we had 152 tornadoes in 2024 so.it's a State of extremes. It is s beautiful place to.live, especially from OKC east. I loved the movie made in Queensland, the name escapes me now. Also I think you all had a great tennis player ee.lived to watch. Not only does the ponds freeze over but the water troughs, too. In 2021 we had a really.cold winter. I cut ice in the water tanks that was about 6" thick in the mornings and almost that thick in the evenings.
Do you live in a city.or.in the country? I think I have seen your posts on other threads. Come and sit on the porch a while and tell us more about your beautiful Country. Always wanted to.go to Australia and New Zealand but too much water between here and there.
All of us have gone to bed and will watch tv for a while and sleep.in tomorrow morning. Sleep tight, everyone.
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Biggles, we not only get frozen ponds, but we get freezing rain that coats everything and makes walking dangerous and makes tree limbs so heavy that they break and break power lines as they fall. My FIL grew up on a dairy farm near Kansas City and spoke of cattle falling on the ice in the barn lot and needing help to get up. Standing on an inch of ice, trying to lift a cow!
Rural people in the Midwest all have ice stories. I was discussing the weather yesterday with a man who used to raise quarter horses, and he told of locking himself out of his truck while breaking ice from the water tank. He had to walk across an 18-acre field to ask a neighbor to call his wife, and waiting for her to bring him his spare key turned a 20-minute job into three hours in the cold.
The cold weather here has already cost some lives. A farmer put a heat lamp in his barn to keep his goats warm, and they apparently tipped it over into the hay, burning down the barn and killing 25-30 goats. He looked about ready to weep when interviewed on TV.
Mint, my generator is a Generac. I have it serviced once a year. Like any other internal combustion engine, it needs oil changes, air filters, batteries, etc. It starts itself automatically when the power fails, and for 15 minutes once a week just to keep it in good condition.
We have a few round barns near here. One, not too far away, has been converted to a party site for wedding receptions and the like. I think the idea was to avoid prolonged sunshine on any one side so the interior didn't get so hot. I have seen octagon barns too, and the same idea applies.
Lorita, I don't know anything about language, but I think we talk slowly because people around us talk slowly. I suspect if you and I moved to New York, we would soon talk faster (and eat bagels) like the people around us. I have heard of professional linguists who could tell where students had spent their summer vacations by listening to them speak.
I used to think people in the North talked fast because their teeth were chattering in the cold, but Mexicans talk fast too. A Mexican couple own the diner I frequent, and they speak accented English in a manner that shows they think in Spanish and translate their words into English as they speak. Their adult children, who were reared here, speak English just as I do, but speak Spanish rapidly as their parents do. It is amusing to hear them converse together in rapid Spanish and then turn to me and drawl "You all have a nice day." I think they are truly bilingual and can think in either language.
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It's raining and 32 degrees F here, at 1:45 AM, so ice can start forming on bridges and tree limbs. Tomorrow the freezing rain is expected to turn to snow and tomorrow night's overnight low will be about 12 degrees, so we will have that ice/snow parfait we all dislike so much. I plan to spend a lot of time indoors for a few days.
One of my uncles died on the ice, going out to get his mail. His wife told him to wait until the weather improved and he said, "I'm the man of this house and I'm going to get my mail." He slipped and struck his head on the concrete step.
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Morning Carl, it's 2:15 and 48 degrees here. Nothing falling. The cold weather is supposed to get here just before noon. Tragic things happen in the winter when the weather is so cold. How awful about the barn and the farmer losing it and his goats.
I was sleeping good. but had three cats in the bed crowding my feet. Then Stormy decided he wanted to go outside so I let him out and Sheena went out and two cats went out of the bedroom. Right now it's Max,me and Th e High Chapparel, just !missed Leave It To Beaver.
Really.hope your ice storm isn't too bad but any ice is bad. Darwin, the neighbor I talk about, drove his tractor a little way out on the ice on a pond to break ice and the front wheels broke through and he had to cut ice around and behind it to get out. He was running cattle in three or four pastures and had to cut ice on several ponds. That was the winter of 2020 and 2021. He leased his land to Mike and sold his cattle to him. A few months later I did the same thing. That was an awful winter and wore us out. He is 85 and still goes down and cuts up fallen trees to use for firewood. We talk about how we miss feeding our girls.
Better go and let the GPs (Great Pyrenees) in and try to.get some sleep. Fingers crossed that the weather isn't as bad as they predict. Stay safe.
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You stay safe too, Lorita. I'm going back to bed and try to dream of warm places.
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Good morning, everyone in the icee path, please stay safe 🙏
Ron
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Good morning
Welcome to the porch Biggles. I am from Ohio, US. I am a retired respiratory therapist. I lived in the country growing up, but I now live in town. I am a caregiver for my mother, who I recently placed in assisted-living. Hope you come and sit in a rocking chair often on our porch as it be very interesting to hear about your life. We love to learn lots of new things here. We enjoy pictures too if you like to share them.
Carl I appreciate that information. Now I’m gonna ask another probably stupid question but it’s something that I kind of want to know the answer to. Say you’re electric is out for two weeks, Does the oil needs changed after a certain number of hours of use or is it OK just once a year. The reason I’m asking this question is because I would like to have a whole house generator installed at some point. But as a single Older female I cannot see myself out in the middle of winter trying to change the oil on that thing. I’m guessing it wouldn’t be easy to get an electrician here to change it in that type of weather either and that’s the main reason I want one Is for cold weather. Guess I want to know that it can run for a pretty long period of time before the oil has to be changed so that I feel it’s worth the money. I have gas logs and my house is a little different. I actually have doors that I can close between the two rooms that are around my living room, so I think I could stay warm as long as I have natural gas. I’ve not lost my electric for any amount of time since I lived here so it’s just something I think would work for me as i get too hot from them if i leave them in very long.
Carl and anyone else dealing with ice stay in if you can. Ron thinking of your son and family also. You stay alert too as think tornadoes are a possibility today in certain parts of Texas and Louisiana. The whole state of Ky. Is expected to get ice today. I have family there. This is affecting a lot if people.
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@David1946
We've moved to this new thread/ #202.
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Good morning. It's the calm before the storm here today. Because we're east and north of the main action where the midlevel air is drier, we're projected to get about an inch of snow tomorrow. They've been hyping the storm all last week with projected accumulation dropping from 6" to almost nothing. So long as we don't get ice, I'm fine with that. I'll need to run to the market later as I'm pretty much out of groceries. I'm sure it'll be a circus.
Stay safe out there. HB0 -
Mint, I have a Generac whole.house generator and I never do anything to it. There is a light on the side that stays green and turns yellow if service is needed or red if it isn't working right. I have a company out of Tulsa that services mine twice yearly, around $600 or ,$700. Anthony does what is needed and I don't worry about. It comes on once weekly for ten minutes or so.
I think.Judith has hers serviced too. Living in town the cost of service would probably be less I'm not that close to Tulsa.so mileage is adedd. It really gives you a sense of security. We have been out of power in years past for more than two weeks but not since we've had the generator.
Ours was being installed when I lost Charles ten years ago. I see ads on tv where you can pay them out monthly. We use propane for ours.
Sorry, Carl, for answering a question directed to you.
The wind has gotten here and is gusty. Two hours ago it wzs.blowing 45-50 mph around OKC. I think the girls were in the barn because I just saw them headed for the feeding area. Hope they feed and hay them today. I know our girls will be in the barn when it's so bad and Mike's will probably follow ours. Back later.
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ttt
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Need to get this back to the top. Judith, snowflakes? It's 30 here but feels like 14, cloudy and windy. I know t will be colder over there because the front it to you earlier.
Girls are standing around in front and in the barn. I think they were there last night. They knew the north doors were closed - they are not dumb. I will need to go out and fill the water tank before long.
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It's 3:15 temp 28, wind chill 1z1 wind speed a little over 18 mph. I need to go out and refill the water tank in the lot dread it. Girls care standing out front of house and barn. They're .cold.
Just ordered an electric heater from WM- one of ours isn't working. It asked for my CVV number-- what the heck is that? I was about ready to- who knows whst. Finally saw (on your card), then I realized what it meant and the order went through.
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Thank you for letting me know
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Went to church at 10 a.m. but when we came out of church there was an ambulance, firetruck and a police car. There was an emergency in the residence building so we had to wait to go back to our building. I hope whatever happened the person is o.k.
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Carl, what a horrible story about your uncle. I had a terrible accident driving in 40 degree weather in Virginia years ago. My car hit a patch of ice and began to skid, I tried to correct but the car spun around three times and then ran into a ditch! Fortunately my brother and I were not hurt and we didn't hit any other cars nor any immovable objects, and the car was still drivable just dented. I was so scared! This is why I never want to live anywhere there is snow or ice ever again in my life! I guess one might say that I have PTSD about icy roads. I called the highway patrol but they refused to come out since we were not injured. SoCal has a lot of problems but no icy roads where I live.
Lorita, 152 tornados? Ugh! We had one tornado here in 40 years and it was a big deal.
Stay warm and safe, everyone!
Iris
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Eagle, where is Mahomes? Just came inside and was he isn't playing. It is so cold out there. Girls have come out of the barn to try to get a.bite of hay. Water tank is half full so I think I will wait until morning to fill it and might not have to cut ice. I had quick connectors on and had to pour hot water over the frost free hydrant. Glove got wet and it felt like my fingers were frozen.
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Two Mamas (according to DH). 3 new babies. One Mama nursing all three and she will not let the other Mama get close! One of the babies is really tiny. I think there is really only one new Mama. We'll see in the morning when there's better light and everyone has settled down a little. Thank goodness they came before the weather really set in. It has begun a light rain and a good wind but worse expected later. Everyone is safely warm and dry. DeLaw I may have to set me up a cot out there… I just about can't stand them out there alone. DH says I'm silly. Actually, that's a nicer way to say what he really says, lol.
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congratulations on the three new babies. Do they often have triplets? I know how you feel about being with them. I ,usually felt like that about new calves. Glad they were born before the bad weather. It is so cold here but no falling weather, just wind. Girls are in the barn, so glad I closed the doors. Hope all three babies do well.
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Lorita, Mahomes and several others of the starting players were being "rested" during this game - saving them for the playoffs.
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Good. Beth. Thanks. How much did they lose by today? I gave up on them. How much snow have you gotten? I bet it is really cold up there.I'm ready for spring.
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No problem, Lorita.
Mint, my Generac is 15 years old, but I doubt they have changed much. The recommended oil change interval is every two years or after 200 hours of operation. Mine only runs for 15 minutes per week and occasionally a couple of hours at a time, because the typical power outage is caused by one fallen tree in a windstorm and the power company gets right on it. If we have another catastrophic ice storm and I am out of power for more than 200 hours, I will just run the generator until power is restored and call the serviceman to get on his list for an early oil change. If I burn out the generator engine, I'll replace it, but going over the recommended oil change interval doesn't automatically do significant damage to an engine.
I don't let anyone under the hood of my generator except a Generac-certified electrician. There is high voltage under there and I wouldn't mess with it at my age or when I was 22 either.
There are cheaper generators that run on gasoline and are portable, but I don't think they are worth the money. You have to refill the gas tank every day, which can be a problem in an ice storm because the service stations use electric pumps and most will be closed. You also have to sit up all night guarding the generator, because Lowe's runs out of generators the first day and people steal them. One owner woke up in a cold house to find his electricity out but could still hear a motor running. When he got dressed to investigate, he found that thieves had left a lawn mower running in his yard so he wouldn't notice the absence of his generator.
I have quite severe sleep apnea (99 apneic events per hour) and don't even nap without a CPAP. If I didn't have sleep apnea, I probably wouldn't have spent the money for a generator, and I would probably still own a tent. So, I guess it comes down to how much you need electricity, and how likely prolonged power outages are where you live. My great grandparents (my maternal grandfather's parents) lived their whole lives without electricity, because they were 70 years old before the REA brought it to their farm and because they thought it was dangerous. Electricity is dangerous, and so were the kerosene lamps they read by when I was a boy.
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Your husband may have a point, JeriLynn. Those kids aren't alone, they are with their mothers. Goats have been surviving winter snuggled against their mothers for millions of years. Of course, they are your goats and you can do as you please.
DW's uncle told me a story years ago about one of his neighbors. The neighbor's sow was about to deliver a litter and he didn't want to sit up in the barn all night with her. His wife was away visiting her mother, so he brought the sow indoors and put her in bed with him. His wife came home unexpectedly and found her place in bed taken, and she got out the broom. DW's uncle said you could hear the screaming and squealing clear down the road at his place. I didn't blame her. I wouldn't want a sow to give birth in my bed either.
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Iris, I've driven on ice all my life and know how to do it, but I've put a couple of cars in the ditch. Now that I'm retired, I pretty much stay home until the roads clear. I stock up on beans, oatmeal, and canned chicken soup in the fall, so when it snows deep I can just sit indoors and watch the deer play in my yard.
I have driven in SoCal and it was OK. You just ignore the speed limits and keep up with traffic.
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Carl, that must have been one gentle sow. Daddy used to raise hogs and his sows with little ones or just before were most likely not that gentle. I liked to play with the little pigs. One time daddy and I were in the barn and I was holding one and asked him where the sow found her little pigs. There was à little board laying in the hallway and daddy picked it up revealing a little hole. He told me that's where she found the little pigs. Back then girls were pretty protected from things so a cow or sow never "had"offspring, she "found" them. Mother had s pet pig when she and daddy got married.. She called him Willie Pa Pete. She said he used to go with her to pick berries and would pick them.off the vine and eat them.
Did you have snow or ice?
I have no idea when Anthony changes oil in our generator.
Good night, everyone. Stay safe and warm.
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Your mother's pig reminds me of a neighbor in Kansas City who had a Vietnamese potbellied pig as a house pet. They are pretty small, like a medium sized dog. I walked by one day and saw her talking across the fence with a neighbor, and the pig was eating her flowers right at her feet. She was pretty upset when she noticed.
We're getting light snow and don't expect more than an inch. I'm pretty sure there is a thin sheet of ice under it, because we had a rain and snow mix at 32 F at sundown, and now it's 17 F. The evening news reported school closings here and pretty much everywhere north and east of us. We don't expect to see temperatures above freezing until Thursday, but I don't have to go anywhere until Wednesday and I'm sure the roads will be clear before then. We are at the south edge of the storm. The worst was 100 miles north of us in Kansas City, where the Chiefs had to sit at the airport for several hours before the runways were clear enough to fly to Denver and trucks were jackknifing all along I-70.
Hope you aren't getting much bad weather. Cold is bad, slick is worse. Sleep well.
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It is possible that Uncle Henry stretched the truth on that pig story. Pulling the legs of boys and young men is a popular pastime of older men. I recall seeing a crew of men digging a large hole once when I was a child. I asked one of them what they were doing, and he told me they had dropped a nickel in a gopher hole and were trying to get it back.
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I see that the Social Security Fairness Act has passed, eliminating the government pension offset and the windfall elimination provisions that have precluded or reduced payment of Social Security benefits to retired civil service workers and other public employees. Some of you who are retired from the VA, USPS, and other public jobs might want to google it and see if you should be filing applications for widow(er) or spousal benefits. If I understand it correctly, I will get a few hundred a month effective January 2025 without filing an application.
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Good morning
thank you Carl that was what I needed to hear. I have no common sense about these things. We had a Kohler whole house generator at the house I just sold. And I’m the type of person who reads the manual. I was a respiratory therapist and I read the manual of every piece of equipment that I worked with if it was available. I worked with sleep, apnea patients the last few years of my employment. Knew that the oil per the manual needed changed after so many hours of use. So 200 hours would be just a little over eight days. You are right about that. It’s going to take something pretty catastrophic for it to run that long. That’s helpful to know that if it runs longer than that, nothing terrible is going to happen immediately. That always bothered me because I didn’t know what would happen if it ran that long and I couldn’t get the oil changed. I would not buy a portable one if I got one it would be off of natural gas. I don’t have any thing that I depend upon from the electric except the furnace. But like I said, I have the gas logs which I believe would keep me warm. Try to keep a good stash of things that can be eaten without me even having to heat them. The neighbors on both sides of me, that I have a decent relationship with, both have propane grills on their back porches and I have meat so I’m sure we could come up with an agreement😊. My logs get pretty hot, so I think two that I could sit things along the edge of the fireplace and I could get them pretty warm I think.
Was on the northern edge of the storm system here. I woke up about four and when I looked out there was a light covering of snow on my drive, but none on the road but a Little later when I looked out The road was covered too. Don’t think we’re going to get too much.
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Good morning
20 degrees here, yikes. No snow or ice yet. The forecast for the end of the week has that lovely trifecta for us. I can drive in the snow and ice but the issue is the other people that can't. They either think trying to go 75 is a good thing or 10mph, both of which cause other people issues. We'll stay here, nice and safe when that happens. The other issues (not for us personally) is the Cotton Bowl game at the end of the week when the bad weather is to hit. The news stories are going crazy over it with 'which if' stories.
Chief's looked awful, but they were resting all the starters. Neither one of us watched it after the first quarter or so. We love football but it just wasn't holding our attention.
I so want a Generac, but no natural gas here. They do sell them that work off off propane but that opens up city issues. You'd need a large storage container / canisters of propane and the city doesn't permit those. The city also doesn't permit gas generator's to run "constantly." They claim its a noise issue and a safety issue because you'd have to have gas to keep it running. Ugh.
I've got to get busy here. Be safe, stay inside and warm. Back later.
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