Never thought retirement would be like this

maggiemae said:
Well, sitting here waiting on the rain. Seems like we live in a "Bermuda Triangle" where it rains all around but we seem to miss it! Same thing last summer! Nancy, did you get more accomplished today? It was very hot and humid!
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I just finished mowing the front lawn when it started raining, about 7pm in town. That Bermuda triangle thing happens here all the time too. I wasted the day yesterday. Today was also a lot wasted, but not for lack of trying. I got a couple of pictures. Maybe I'll explain later.

How about you? Outdoor work is not going to be much fun from now on until fall I'm afraid. I'm not a morning person. Need lots of coffee first to get started. :(
 

I know what your talking about with the outdoor work. If we can't get out before 10:00 in the morning to mow....well, I'm done for the day! But then again, with little rain....not much yard mowing because the grass does not grow much! YIPPEE! I get up much earlier than Mike and will have several cups of coffee before he is even moving! I like it because I don't like to talk a lot in the mornings (I hate "chatty people" that early). LOL I get to sit on the back porch and watch the birds and those pesky squirrels that hang upside down on the bird feeders! Saw a cute brown bunny this morning!
 
Almost back to square one today.

Hit the ground running at 11am. :) Got 5 wooden fence posts in. Took the golf cart down a slight hill, front wheels ended up in bottom of a ditch, and it stopped running. Seems I have a knack for getting vehicles stuck in strange positions.

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The only thing that could pull it out was the tractor, and it had the hole digger attached. {sigh} Took it off, used that newly discovered hitch drawbar (what a coincidence), pulled the cart down level, and it started. :confused:

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Later it quit running again, annoying reverse signal barely chirping. Got battery charger and extension cord, and that was the problem. Good thing I found out close to an electrical outlet, rather than way out in the woods.

My corner fence post is off---way off! :eek: Intended to do a new hole, but I'm not attaching that digger again! All this fuss with the cart took a lot of time, and it's not over yet. I have to go buy a new battery Monday. It's probably long overdue.

Meanwhile the 3 musketeers just stood around looking at me all day, like bored little children waiting for me to tell them what to do. They did not get any exercise, but I did, mostly walking back and forth to the garage.

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I don't mean to laugh but how in this world did you manage to get in the ditch? This is like a bad "I Love Lucy" episode! LOL The goats were probably thinking..."What is she up to know"? You are cracking me up....be careful "Missy"!
 
maggiemae said:
I don't mean to laugh but how in this world did you manage to get in the ditch? ...
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Is that a rhetorical question? :) Too late. I'll answer anyway.:playful:

I was taking a detour around the barn, rather than drive through it. Usually you can just drive over that ditch. I'd been over it before, but possibly not at quite such a deep spot.

That cart has an odd driving system. It runs on gasoline, but there is no starter. You just hit the accelerator and go. It takes a lot of battery power to get moving. I guess the ditch required too much pull on the battery.

Thirty years ago I would be petrified at all the stuff that goes wrong when you own property, but somehow I seem to manage to get out of all the jams I create---as long as I don't panic. So far, so good...

.......

Today it rained off and on all day, evidently heavy rain overnight. Water standing in the fields out in the country. So it was almost a break day for me. Yay!!! Didn't even need to let the goats out. They wouldn't go anyway. They didn't want to get their feet wet.

I did stop by and check fencing. It comes only in big rolls that are too heavy to lift. I may have to get some lighter weight wire they make in smaller rolls. Another option is cattle panels---16' long heavy duty solid panels. OK for stretches of *level* ground. They could be reused later. Maybe a mix of the two. I'll measure tomorrow.

Internet service slow again, and it rained all day. Not a coincidence I think.
 
:lol: Pappy, you ever try putting boots on a goat?

I just noticed, that goat has only one horn. We had one like that, from a sloppy disbudding job. Bought as a kid and didn't find out until later, too late. Had to keep it clipped short. He was a wave of destruction with just that one horn, otherwise.
 
The fencers showed up about 11am with a load of supplies. He only had two helpers. They worked about 4 hours, then it started raining, thunder and lightning. Chance of rain, next two days, both 90%.

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Well of course it would be rain in the forecast for the next three days (with flash flooding) and they decide to show up! Do you think about August getting this finished? LOL Well, I have learned that no one in Georgia gets in a big hurry! I'm still waiting on a quote from the contractor that did our deck for a kitchen upgrade with countertops and back splash. Even printed pictures of what I wanted. It has been a year now and not heard a word! Go figure? I think because it was not a total "gut" job (I wanted to keep my cabinets), he was not interested. And he told us their specialty was kitchen remodels!
 
Maggiemae, I've thought a lot about this subject. I don't think it's Georgia. We may think that, because that happens to be where we live now that we've settled down where we want to stay, and all things eventually need repairs. I have older friends in Ohio and Florida who say it's the same way there.

People that have become successful in a business, like construction, want big projects. I'm speculating that no one wants to tell you they don't want to do a job, because they might run out of big projects, and need to fill in the slack time, so they keep you in limbo. If they have a good crew helping them, they have to keep steady work or they'll lose them. OTOH, it could be just something simple, like they are inconsiderate. Ha!

I do have personal experiences with some people who have tried to start their own businesses over the years. Knew people that financed them to get started. Often some of the reasons they give is they don't want to answer to a boss, and they want to take off whenever they want. Not good reasons. They all tried and failed. It was always someone else's fault. Starting a business is a lot of work. More work than having a steady 9-5 or shift job with a boss, if that's your only source of income.

This fencer keeps telling me the problem is hiring reliable people to help him. He was a go-getter when he first got started, but seems to have lost enthusiasm now.

Here I am getting all analytical, first thing in the morning. Gotta quit that. :) Btw, there is a steady rain coming down right now.
 
In spite of 100% chance of rain predicted today, it didn't rain at all!! The fencers showed up apparently in the morning, because by the time I got there, all the fence posts were in. One short stretch had to be changed. Glad I caught them in time. So what's left is one gate, the fence mesh wire, and the electric wires. Maybe 2 more full working days. Only 20% chance of rain tomorrow. But now I have to make a quick decision about something the fencer proposed to me today. I hate decisions.:p:p:p More on that later. I got to go think. :rolleyes:
 
Small world (again)

Brief history:

Last fall, in spite of posted signs, trespassers stomped down the fence on my property so they could climb over it easily to go fishing on the lake. Left their electronic fish weighing scales on the bank. I kept it. Put up more posted signs right at the edge of the lake where they were fishing. They came back at least two more times after that, that I know of.

Last week:

I mentioned, in passing, the trespassing incident to Mr. Fencer, because he was recommending a new type fence wire to me, and I was wondering how it would hold up to being smashed down, but mostly by falling trees.

Today:

Mr. Fencer asked me if it would be OK if his son (an older teenager) went fishing on my lake---either a Yes, or No, was fine with him. I said if it was just him, it would be one thing, but the problem is he will want to bring his friends. Then his friends will want to come without him. Then his friends may, or may not, ask if they can bring *their* friends. Pretty soon everyone in the county will just assume it's ok. [Plus I'd have to give someone keys to the gate, unless they planned on climbing over the fence again.]

He understood and then confessed that his son and some friends had already been there fishing. I said, "He didn't by any chance leave his fishing scales, did he?" Mr. Fencer grabbed his cell phone and called his son, in spite of me asking him not to, and asked him if he lost some scales out there. The answer was, "Yes." He got angry and told the son fishing there was off limits.

Here's the bad part: His son told him the biggest bass he ever caught in his (short) life was on my lake last fall. This rumor will have spread all the way to the outskirts of Atlanta by now, fish getting bigger with each exchange. It took 20 years to get over the story about a 5 lb bass the previous owner caught. He supposedly had it mounted. I've been telling everyone the lake is full of turtles ever since then. It is, btw.

That decision turned out to be easier than expected, but there's more. This is getting too long already.
 
I cannot wait to hear the rest of this story! Do you keep the pond stocked? So he is doing your fence but his son and friends have access to the lake? Well in my opinion, if you don't mind them fishing, that is one thing but I think keeping the goats safe is the number one priority at this point.
 
maggiemae said:
I cannot wait to hear the rest of this story! Do you keep the pond stocked? So he is doing your fence but his son and friends have access to the lake? Well in my opinion, if you don't mind them fishing, that is one thing but I think keeping the goats safe is the number one priority at this point.
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Maggiemae, the rest of the story is very dull. No, I've never stocked the lake. It had been stocked originally. I'm surprised there are any fish worth catching out there after 36+ years of neglect. The catfish should be all gone by now. They have access to the lake because they can climb the fence. Everyone does, in that sense. Ha! The fencer will not quit the project just because of any decision about his son fishing or not. He is a good guy. I've known him for 14 years. The goats will be fine.
 
Thinking out loud again.

The fencer asked me today if I would consider renting out the remainder of the property for grazing some of his cattle---the part where the goats won't be now, unless I'm with them. First thought was to say No, but told him I'd think about it.

Upsides:

If he had cattle out there he would have to maintain the fence, check for fallen trees, just to keep them in. Rather than charge him rent I could ask him to maintain the fence a little better than would be necessary for cattle, keep the electric working well, maybe even do some repairs on a few places that really need more than I can handle alone.

This would have a time limit, because after October there wouldn't be anything for cattle to graze on. So I could give it a try for one season and see how it goes. Meantime I shouldn't have to check the fence at all. :) He could count the goats when I'm not there, and let me know if it doesn't add up to 3.

Downsides:

I would have to give up any privacy out there for the duration. You'd never know who you might run into, but it would be down at the lake, not up at the house. I'm sure his son would volunteer to check the cattle every day, along with his friends. I don't want multiple copies of keys being made.

It's already summer. It's not pleasant being outside out there June-August anyway, if you're not a morning person.

There is a very remote possibility that the dam repair guy would show up before October. If so, the fence on the dam would be down for a couple of days. Would need a temporary fence around it. He may not like that, and I have no way of knowing if it will happen or not.

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I think I'm going to give it a try one time, with the stipulation that everyone clears out at the end of the season. No more fishing. No more trespassing. No hunting. Anyway I better let him know tomorrow. He may find another place soon.

Btw, I assumed these would be cattle he's either going to butcher at the end of the season, or sell, but one of his favorite jobs is to set up rodeos. He used to do it all over north Georgia in the fall. There is even a Mexican rodeo nearby he's heavily involved with. It could be he would put wild Brahma bulls or Texas longhorns out there for a rodeo. That would be exciting. (Just kidding.)
 
Aunt Bea said:
My only thought is that a large bunch of cattle can make a muddy mess around a soft shoreline.

Good luck!
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That's a good point. I need to know how many. Couldn't be too many, there isn't enough pasture, mostly woods. Where would they congregate, especially when it rains? In front of the cabin? I don't know how much damage a few can do.

It's good to sleep on these things. Sometimes you think differently late at night than in the morning.
 

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