SSDreamin Blessings and curses

[SSDreamin]

Thanks for the comments!

I will give cookies a try Right now, they know to come when I say "Pig! Pig! Pig!" cuz there's food If I stay outside the fence, they let me pet them. The minute I step in though :/ Definitely need to steal some cookies from DH to try! (We don't keep cookies in the house, except for DH's lunch. DS and I are waaaaaay too addicted to cookies!)

Lets start with a good thing today, for a change I have lost 15 pounds since being put on the thyroid meds/surgery! The dose is even too low for me, but my body isn't tolerating it very well, so I think it's great! That's 15 pounds in 2 1/2 months, which means it will only take me another 50 years at this rate to be back to my normal weight Hey, better down than up, I say!

Bad news. Has anything about that stupid house or those jerky people gone right so far? No. So, why would I expect it to go right now? DH had a message on his phone to call the court clerk because there were 'issues' with the paperwork (his cell phone is the only number we list, because we don't want the jerks to have our home number). I called today to sort it out - the lady I need to speak to is on vacation until Monday. Which is alright, because the judge who signs these orders is ALSO on vacation this week, and NOBODY'S orders are being signed :/ Oh well, after all this time, what's one more week?
My father called and said I should look in the local paper - there's an ad in there that might interest me. It seems the jerks have put an ad in the paper, looking for a 'rental or land contract' in our area. The ad says they can put down a sizable down payment too. I just bet they can, since they haven't been paying US Keep throwing it in our face, jerky people - I plan to sell everything that's not nailed down, to afford a lawyer, to get our money back! Grrrrrrr! I hate jerks!! *grumble grumble *

I need to mow the front lawn, aka the field, soon. DH is going to build a 'hay bale maker' and we are going to use the old twine from the hay bales to 'bale' it up! He found it online - it is a box type thing. You lay the twine in, then pack down the grass, then bring up the twine and tie it off. It will be a bit of work (especially now that I'm 15 pounds lighter ) to get it packed down, but I think it will be a fun experiment. We already sweep up the grass clippings, and usually just dump them in a pile for the cows. Why not try to make them into a 'hay' bale?!

I dehydrated 3 zukes last night, and a few more hot peppers. The garden is pretty much done Hope I did enough peppers to get us through til next year - all my recipes are modified to include 'five of this kind, 3 of that kind' I have to make bread again today. It has been gobbled up lately! Oh, last night I made an interesting mish-mash for my dinner. Leftover grilled chicken breast (they were huge - I could only eat half!), leftover spanish rice, plus I added diced tomatoes, green enchilada sauce and several dried peppers. Mmmmmm! I also made homemade flour tortillas for me/DS (he was having leftover spanish rice and cheese). Shot myself in the foot with that one! I have tried to make tortillas before, and they are always kinda hard and not flexible. I read to steam them after you cook them. Worked great! Now, I am going to be making flour tortillas instead of buying them :/ Yes, homemade IS my preference, but I really hate making more work for myself! My guys eat 32 corn or 30 flour tortillas, AT A SITTING! Think I need to designate 1 or 2 days a month as tortilla days - make 100's, then freeze them! Part of my problem is I'm still pretty slow at making them. I remember my friend Linda's Mom could make 12 flour tortillas in the time it took us to get a glass of water, then she'd hand us each one and toss us back out of her kitchen Practice improves speed, I guess. DH also likes to say 'Speed kills momentum', and I can attest to the truth of that statement, more often than I care to admit!

 

[Denim Deb]

Ugh, I hope you get some money out of those people. I'd be sure to keep a copy of that ad to show that they have money. And, they should be paying YOU B4 getting into any other deal. That's just not right.

 

[SSDreamin]

Here is a picture of our new pig girls.

They are getting much more used to me, although you may notice that I had to step outside the fence to take this picture.


Today was an interesting juxtaposition for me.

I went out this morning and fed all my animals. They were ALL happily munching away and making contented sounds. I smiled and commented to the dog (who didn't bother answering, as usual ) that everybody was happy in the barnyard today.

Then, I went to the bank, withdrew 99% of the money in our account, and paid the horrendous tax bill which was due today.

 

[pinkfox]

*HUGS*

 

[BarredBuff]

Nice piggies!!!!

 

[Dawn419]

Great pic and your commentary...well...

I have a pic that will out-do your bad do and will get a pic of it posted later (gotta hunt it up first). It earned me the nickname Frenchie and it's totally fitting!

Just wanted to let ya know that I've found my "poodle" pic and hadn't forgotten that I'd threatened to post it!

Love the Bacon and Porkchops pic! Ya'll are so getting me in trouble with all these critters! If I was rich, instead of sooo good lookin', we'd, oops, I mean I'd be adding ducks, goats, pigs and cows in the Spring! Doc had already told me that he'll sign the Reality Check so I can cash it in!

Just wanted to let ya know that I'm thinking of ya!

 

[SSDreamin]

Thanks for the comments everybody! Extended-family drama has kept me away for a little bit, and may continue to going forward. It is a pure nightmare, and there are children involved. :/

The pig girls are finally used to me. I can touch them without so much as a flinch, which upsets DH, because all our animals are supposed to like him best

No news on the other house yet. First, everybody at the courthouse was on vacation, then they called and said we owed more money (extra filing fees). I drove there in my beast, handed them cash, and the lady kinda flipped out on me about it! She didn't want cash, but then realized the fee MUST be paid in cash, so she said "You must pay in cash" Still waiting to hear from the process server :/ Got all the help we may need lined up, for THIS week only - if it drags out into next week, we lose half of our helpers DH drove by on his way home from work last night - they are still there.

I had an incident happen a few days ago that freaked me right out and, by the time DH got home, I had worked myself into such a lather I said "We're moving!" and proceeded to search the internet for a new place to live!
Ice Cream began mooing, which I thought meant Little Man was out again. I looked out the window, and there was a HUGE black and white Great Dane in the pasture with the cows - he was taller than both of my cows, and he looked upset (pacing, and had a panicked look on his face ). By the time I put on a bra (what? TMI?! ) and my barn shoes and get outside, the neighbors - from BOTH sides of us - are IN my yard, one of them is IN my pasture, trying to make the dog jump back over the fence Somebody else is over monkeying with my electric fence charger, shutting it off, while 2 others are standing next to my barn watching!!!! I immediately tell the doofus messing with the charger to stop, walk over to the pasture gate, open it, and the dog runs out. He apparently got shocked on the way in and was afraid to come out - which isn't surprising, since he took down the top wire and rearranged the bottom wire at his entrance point! I asked the lady IN my pasture to exit. They stood there asking questions about my animals (what breed are they? 'Oh, that's a good breed for eating', stuff like that). As politely as I could, I told them that the 'cute little one' that they referred to was AN INTACT MALE - Did they realize they had just entered an unfamiliar enclosure, as complete strangers to these animals, into a confined (OK, not confined, but I was pissed!) space where there is an intact male and his mate - a mate the woman in the pasture kept trying to mess with while she was in there??? Not only did they ALL look at me with blank expressions on their faces, not ONE of them apologized for TRESPASSING on MY property! As a matter of fact, they noticed the pigs and went over there to get a closer look!!!
After 'entertaining these losers with a farm tour (they scared the chickens so bad, all my girls were hiding in the coop and refused to come out!), they finally left - without an offer to help me fix the damaged fence or anything! So, I made the necessary repairs, went inside and started fuming. How dare they just walk on to my property as if it were just an extension of their own! They even had a BABY with them! If Little Man had been older - God knows what could've happened!!! And WE would've been in trouble - THEY would've surely sued - because they are ignorant fools!

I realize we can't move. DH said he wants 6 foot high privacy fence, from the road to the back of both their property lines, then 4 foot the rest of the way. Well, I priced it. $16,000 just for the fence materials, not to mention we would need a survey of at least the Southern property line (the Northern line has posts in place, but no fence up). Needless to say, no fence. To be honest though, as I explained to DH when he asked why I was so over-the-top freaked about it - setting aside possible law suits or trespassing, I got the distinct feeling they were sizing things up! The questions/comments left me feeling like, if things did go bad, my neighbors wanted to know what we had that they could take! Have you ever sold your house yourself? It was like that (where they go through and decide what will stay - what they expect you to leave there for them - and what is hideous and must go). I told DH, at the minimum, ALL the animals will go into the attached garage should things start to look ugly! This incident happened one day after I read about some miniature cattle that were stolen, so maybe I was over-reacting. I seriously feel like the neighbors on both sides are taking inventory - the ones to the North already watch everything we bring in the house when we go to Sam's Club, and they are the SAME one's who have been 'stealing' our internet service! This just creeps me out!!! Ok, rant over.

On an up note, the company DH has worked for the past 14 years sent us a lovely letter this week. 'Layoff's will begin earlier than usual this year and, FYI, we have NO work lined up for 2013' I am doing my best to NOT freak out about it. Well, not freak out too badly, anyway!

 

[Denim Deb]

I'd be upset too. And, instead of a fence try planting thorny hedges all along the outside of the perimeter of the field. Keep them trimmed away from the electric, but that's it. There are different bushes that are good to use for this.

 

[Emerald]

You are so much nicer than I am.. in our area dogs caught harassing livestock are shot on sight. Trespassers messing with fencing and electric fencing and caught inside the fence are arrested as possible livestock thieves. if not just fencing theft or vandalism.
dont' get me wrong.. I don't mind the neighborhood kids stopping to check out the chickens or chat with me about the gardens or even cutting thru the yard to the park but messing with my animals is a no no. Dogs here are a menace.
Your neighbors could also be just the nosy type.. in our small town we all are right up in everyone else's business all the time.

 

[Wannabefree]

yeah, I'd have went out with the shotgun laid casually across my arm and told the lot of them to leave quick fast and in a big rush before my crazy meds wore off *twitch twitch*

people are sooooooo very very inconsiderate of others anymore :/