Never thought retirement would be like this
- Thread starter NancyNGA
- Start date
Sheryl
New Member
- Location
- Sunshine Coast
Hi Moofies, I am only a junior member and just retired. Live in Australia. Although I have a husband my life sounds like yours. My husband is 10 years older than I am and is past working around the place. Spends all his time in his shed with his model aeroplanes. By the way, I live in Australia in Queensland. What sort of work did you do before you retired. I was a medical and legal secretary. I also would love a house filled with animals (have one lovely cat) but want to be free to travel, although husband has lost interest with his heart condition and trouble with travel insurance. I lived in Canada for 6 years 30 years ago in northern BC. Have travelled to USA and Canada so many times since . Hope you have better luck with your workers. I have been lucky. Just had a huge tree cut down and cleaned up. Cost $600.00 though but was dangerous and we have just had a cyclone which caused a lot of damage in our area. I see the tornadoes over there cause worse damage. My son and family live further north and we don't really get along for many reasons so since retirement life has changed dramatically. I suffer from depression so hope you keep busy. Where are you going when you sell. I am also cleaning our cupboards, giving stuff to the op shops. Our weather here is turning into winter which suits me. I don't like the heat. Keep busy.; Exercise is good.
OK, maggiemae, no more snakes! It was fun for us. 
This is a short video I took with the phone, just as I was about to leave for the farm today. The sound was recorded from my driveway. It was an Earth Day celebration. Decided to walk over and listen to the band for a while and took their picture from a distance. [Original video was terrible and had fingers showing in it.]
This is why I love the lot my house is sitting on. There is always something going on.
This is a short video I took with the phone, just as I was about to leave for the farm today. The sound was recorded from my driveway. It was an Earth Day celebration. Decided to walk over and listen to the band for a while and took their picture from a distance. [Original video was terrible and had fingers showing in it.
] This is why I love the lot my house is sitting on. There is always something going on.
Oh my, I loved it! Are you right there close to the campus? Lucky Lady! Husband and son usually go to the G-Day Game but decided to watch it from home. Too much traffic and no assigned parking. Well, we finally got the last of the 50 bags of mulch put out today. Good thing, because it is raining now (and goodness we need the rain)! Did you get a lot of work done at the farm?
Fifty bags!!! Good for you! Mulch really helps.
So the G-Day game was today. I forgot about it. The traffic must have been bad, because the bypass had restrictions for traveling, just before I got back. I was gone during the worst of it.
Not much happened today. I'll post something later maybe.
So the G-Day game was today. I forgot about it. The traffic must have been bad, because the bypass had restrictions for traveling, just before I got back. I was gone during the worst of it.
Not much happened today. I'll post something later maybe.
Sheryl
New Member
- Location
- Sunshine Coast
I''ve heard it has been cold down there. Sunshine Coast is perfect weather now after our awful summer.
Good news. Saturday, I only found one little tree down on the fence, and just two other dug out places that were not coyotes. Coyotes don't worry me as much, partly because there isn't a whole lot you can do about them anyway. They can just jump a 4' fence straight out. I've got some ideas once the electrical charge is adequate.
So...I think I need to face up to it, and just *walk* the entire fence, and look carefully at every single insulator to rule those out once and for all. Tired of piddling around with this. I simply cannot look carefully enough and drive at the same time. I'll load a backpack and take some hand tools and spray paint and make an afternoon of it. Maybe Tuesday, if it doesn't rain.
Took a little side trip into the woods yesterday to "Bone Hollow." You might call it the Grand Canyon of the place. Just a long deep erosion ditch. The older neighbors told me it was called Bone Hollow by the old farmer who owned the place, because that was where he would throw dead animals. Or was it where animals fell to their deaths? I can't remember now.
Looking up the gully and down. Maybe 20 feet at the deepest point.
So...I think I need to face up to it, and just *walk* the entire fence, and look carefully at every single insulator to rule those out once and for all. Tired of piddling around with this. I simply cannot look carefully enough and drive at the same time. I'll load a backpack and take some hand tools and spray paint and make an afternoon of it. Maybe Tuesday, if it doesn't rain.
Took a little side trip into the woods yesterday to "Bone Hollow." You might call it the Grand Canyon of the place.
Just a long deep erosion ditch. The older neighbors told me it was called Bone Hollow by the old farmer who owned the place, because that was where he would throw dead animals. Or was it where animals fell to their deaths? I can't remember now.Looking up the gully and down. Maybe 20 feet at the deepest point.
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Meanderer
Supreme Member
Nancy, maybe you need a sheep dog?
...or a Livestock Guardian Dog!
A Great Pyrenees with a herd of goats.
...or a Livestock Guardian Dog!
A Great Pyrenees with a herd of goats.
Meanderer, I like your first idea. Add some more bones to Bone Hollow.
Now you are about to hear my opinion of guard dogs.nthego: (sorry)
Mostly what guard dogs do is just bark and put on a show. They are basically just a warning device to get you out of bed at night. Sometimes only to fight off a skunk or a possum, or a cat. Much like an audio version of my motion detector light at home, which I disabled years ago for that reason.
If a situation goes beyond warning, you have to worry about the guard dog getting into trouble. They need to be fed every day, and you are not supposed to make real close friends with them like a pet, and two work better than one, and they have to be very well trained, and sometimes they freak out and do unpredictable things anyway.
Too many downsides. I'm going to fight that fence this afternoon instead. Should only take a couple of hours. It has been dreary, chilly, and drizzly here for two days, and I haven't done anything. Good incentive for serious moving. I hate to be positive and say I'm gonna solve this fence mystery, because I've said that before, but I'm hopeful today.
Now you are about to hear my opinion of guard dogs.
nthego: (sorry)Mostly what guard dogs do is just bark and put on a show. They are basically just a warning device to get you out of bed at night. Sometimes only to fight off a skunk or a possum, or a cat. Much like an audio version of my motion detector light at home, which I disabled years ago for that reason.
If a situation goes beyond warning, you have to worry about the guard dog getting into trouble. They need to be fed every day, and you are not supposed to make real close friends with them like a pet, and two work better than one, and they have to be very well trained, and sometimes they freak out and do unpredictable things anyway.
Too many downsides. I'm going to fight that fence this afternoon instead. Should only take a couple of hours. It has been dreary, chilly, and drizzly here for two days, and I haven't done anything. Good incentive for serious moving. I hate to be positive and say I'm gonna solve this fence mystery, because I've said that before, but I'm hopeful today.
I could write 5 pages about today. It was a roller coaster ride.
Arrived a 1pm. Loaded backpack ready to walk. Went to lock up the goats so they wouldn't try to follow me, and they wouldn't leave the barn. There was a dog, possibly on my property, yelling, but way off in the distance. The goats were all scared. I wonder if it had been around earlier? Can't imagine them being scared of something that far away.
Dixie was sick, but not down. Just droopy. Won't go into details, but I hit her with everything except the kitchen sink. Only things that can do no harm. One was a tranquilizer/pain killer/fever reducer. She started acting better. Doesn't prove anything.
Couldn't leave until I was pretty sure she was not going to get worse, so took off walking at 4pm. Had to kill time anyway. Long story short, I got half way around and discovered I had dropped my cell phone where I took the first break. Decided to walk back and get it and quit for the day. Could have made the whole loop otherwise. I found only ONE little short---behind a wood post. I'd never have seen it driving.
Got back and the voltage was 8100!!! I don't get it. Almost left without even bothering to check.
Tomorrow the HVAC guy is supposed to come but I don't know when. Will check on Dixie, and finish the cycle around next time I can go with at least a couple hours to spare.
Oh yes. Need at least one picture. There are more new neighbors. Look like ducks or geese. Running loose. Saw a pile of white feathers under a tree near there on my place. Hawks out there love chickens and ducks . See piles of feathers all the time. Don't they know?
(white specks far away across their pond)
Arrived a 1pm. Loaded backpack ready to walk. Went to lock up the goats so they wouldn't try to follow me, and they wouldn't leave the barn. There was a dog, possibly on my property, yelling, but way off in the distance. The goats were all scared. I wonder if it had been around earlier? Can't imagine them being scared of something that far away.
Dixie was sick, but not down. Just droopy. Won't go into details, but I hit her with everything except the kitchen sink. Only things that can do no harm. One was a tranquilizer/pain killer/fever reducer. She started acting better. Doesn't prove anything.
Couldn't leave until I was pretty sure she was not going to get worse, so took off walking at 4pm. Had to kill time anyway. Long story short, I got half way around and discovered I had dropped my cell phone where I took the first break. Decided to walk back and get it and quit for the day. Could have made the whole loop otherwise.
I found only ONE little short---behind a wood post. I'd never have seen it driving.Got back and the voltage was 8100!!! I don't get it. Almost left without even bothering to check.
Tomorrow the HVAC guy is supposed to come but I don't know when. Will check on Dixie, and finish the cycle around next time I can go with at least a couple hours to spare.
Oh yes. Need at least one picture.
There are more new neighbors. Look like ducks or geese. Running loose. Saw a pile of white feathers under a tree near there on my place. Hawks out there love chickens and ducks . See piles of feathers all the time. Don't they know?(white specks far away across their pond)
The HVAC guys did not show up until 2:30. Freon leaking from the coil (?). Coil under warranty, but labor will still be high. Part on order, 1-3 weeks.
Hopped in the truck and took off to the farm. Dixie was the first one out of the barn to greet me!
Her temperature yesterday was 103.9 (102 is normal). Today it's 101.9. She was challenging top goat with head butts. Will keep up the treatment. However, she is looking different in general, starting to show her age more than the others.
Fence charge popped up a little more, drying out---8300 today. I sprayed WD-40 on all the wire splices and jiggled them a bit yesterday. Those would be weak contact points as the wire starts to corrode, I think. Maybe that helped. Anxious to do the other half now.
Picture of the day:
This is the trunk of a large sweetgum tree I ran across in the woods a few days ago. Must be woodpecker holes. They start about 3 feet from the ground and go up as far as you can see. Can't be very good for the tree. Another gum right next to it is untouched. Things like this are interesting (to me :shrug.
Hopped in the truck and took off to the farm. Dixie was the first one out of the barn to greet me!
Her temperature yesterday was 103.9 (102 is normal). Today it's 101.9. She was challenging top goat with head butts. Will keep up the treatment. However, she is looking different in general, starting to show her age more than the others.
Fence charge popped up a little more, drying out---8300 today. I sprayed WD-40 on all the wire splices and jiggled them a bit yesterday. Those would be weak contact points as the wire starts to corrode, I think. Maybe that helped. Anxious to do the other half now.
Picture of the day:
This is the trunk of a large sweetgum tree I ran across in the woods a few days ago. Must be woodpecker holes. They start about 3 feet from the ground and go up as far as you can see. Can't be very good for the tree. Another gum right next to it is untouched. Things like this are interesting (to me :shrug
.
Dang, that is a lot of woodpecker holes. Tree must have insects inside it. We had a tree to die and when they cut it down it had hollow areas all inside. The outside trunk looked fine.
Mike and I mowed grass most of the day. And yes, I was doing the "high step" in the area I saw the snake last week. But no snake appeared, thankfully! We are getting too old for all this lawn mowing. Might check into a lawn service to do just mowing every other week. My son said he would mow it on the weekends but sometimes it needs to be mowed before the weekend. What if it rains on the weekend? And then again, I have a 11 year old grandson that needs to learn how to mow grass and make some money this summer. Ummm, something to think about!
Mike and I mowed grass most of the day. And yes, I was doing the "high step" in the area I saw the snake last week. But no snake appeared, thankfully! We are getting too old for all this lawn mowing. Might check into a lawn service to do just mowing every other week. My son said he would mow it on the weekends but sometimes it needs to be mowed before the weekend. What if it rains on the weekend? And then again, I have a 11 year old grandson that needs to learn how to mow grass and make some money this summer. Ummm, something to think about!
Pappy
Living the Dream
That sounds like a great idea. He is at a good age for that. I would have liked something like that to do as a kid for money. Does he live close by?
You may be right, Pappy. Gum trees have a lot of sap. I bet that tree is doomed. It's not near a fence or road, though, so who cares.
layful:Ed Norton - The Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
Perfect! Problem solved! Oh wait, you will have to ask him if he likes the idea too, won't you? I forgot about that.
The two dogs attacked Dixie this afternoon. Out in the woods. I was lucky to even find her. Looks like it happened a couple of hours before I got there.
She was the slowest. Probably saved the lives of the others. They weren't touched. The dogs were still there. The same two dogs I saw earlier. The beagle looks more like a hunting dog to me now.
I probably should have put her down myself right where I found her, but she tried hard to get up, and drank some water, like she wasn't giving up. Instead spent a couple hours with the vet, IV fluids, cleaning wounds. Back end all torn up, wounds to her neck. Vet said she was in shock---goats do that when they get terrorized, and often give up.
Left her at 9pm like this. Hopefully trying to get some rest. There's nothing I could do short of sleep with her in the barn. Maybe I should have done that, IDK. Will head back out first thing in the morning. If it were any other goat but her, it would be dead in the morning, but she has always been a fighter.
I'm not in a good mood right now. These were not wild dogs. They are neighbor's dogs running loose. It looks like I need to get rid of the other 3 goats and sell the place. I can't live out there. I'm going to bite my tongue, because I'm really angry.
I don't know why I'm posting this. Please don't feel the need to comment. I just felt like telling someone about it. Had to make a lot of decisions quickly today and I'm just going over them in my mind. Typing this helps take my mind off of the whole awful day.
She was the slowest. Probably saved the lives of the others. They weren't touched. The dogs were still there. The same two dogs I saw earlier. The beagle looks more like a hunting dog to me now.
I probably should have put her down myself right where I found her, but she tried hard to get up, and drank some water, like she wasn't giving up. Instead spent a couple hours with the vet, IV fluids, cleaning wounds. Back end all torn up, wounds to her neck. Vet said she was in shock---goats do that when they get terrorized, and often give up.
Left her at 9pm like this. Hopefully trying to get some rest. There's nothing I could do short of sleep with her in the barn. Maybe I should have done that, IDK. Will head back out first thing in the morning. If it were any other goat but her, it would be dead in the morning, but she has always been a fighter.
I'm not in a good mood right now. These were not wild dogs. They are neighbor's dogs running loose. It looks like I need to get rid of the other 3 goats and sell the place. I can't live out there. I'm going to bite my tongue, because I'm really angry.
I don't know why I'm posting this. Please don't feel the need to comment. I just felt like telling someone about it. Had to make a lot of decisions quickly today and I'm just going over them in my mind. Typing this helps take my mind off of the whole awful day.