About Dayphoto

My name is Linda Brown. I live on a farm on the western slope of Colorado, in the high mountain desert. I’ve lived here all my life, hailing back four generations on my father’s side. Today I blog about our farm, the everyday activities that keep the farm going. I also write about my thoughts and dreams and goals. On Friday’s I always write about TLC Cai-Cai. Our sweet kitty who helps keep the farm safe. And Boo Berry Betty, a breeder dog learning to be a Farm Dog! The lovely thing about blogging it opens the world up for all of us to reach out and meet people from many different cultures and different ways of life. You can find me every day (but Saturday) at https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/ Your Friend on a Western Colorado Farm, Linda Brown

Moving on—-and a Fence–Thursday—July 30, 2014

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Dayphoto

Well, the horrible day has finally arrived!

Our youngest daughter, our son-in-law, and the three kiddos will be loaded up and heading out soon.

All of us will have a load …Misty in the van, Kelly in his pick-up truck, and Terry and I with the horse trailer. We need to be in Craig, Colorado by noon! At 2:00 p.m. the kids pick up the keys to their new house. After that we unload.

Linkin will be coming back with us for three weeks. Blade is still trying to decide if he wants to come spend a week with us or not. He is a 7th grader now…I hope he comes —one week won’t hurt anything since school doesn’t start (and FOOTBALL practice) until the last week of August. Tallin will come the third week of August since Mom-mom will be at work full-time.

As you can see it isn’t the LAST time we will see the kids, but it is the time of the move. They will be back to get some of the stuff they couldn’t or didn’t want to pack this time (like the animals…a rabbit, two guinea pigs, two cats, a fish tank…and the summer yard care stuff. We will do kid shuffles off and on for the three weeks. Linkin will stay the whole time as she is responsible for all the pets left behind.

Kelly really will be glad to get his family settled, he has been very busy all summer with his new job as Principal of Moffat County High School. Misty was hired as the physical education Teacher at Sunset Elementary, the two little girls will go to the same school where their Momma teaches. Blade, of course, will be in the Middle School.

Life changes!

Always.

All we can do is change with things and move forward. I am now walking in my Momma’s and Daddy’s shoes since they didn’t get to have their grandchildren close. They worked at keeping them in their lives anyway. Today my adult children have very wonderful memories of their time with my parents. I have an excellent example to know how to achieve this closeness.

Before we head out I leave you with a fence going up Brick Yard Hill—the road that goes to the top of California Mesa…this was once a small farm, but not anymore. The young couple that purchased a few acres kept the feel of the farm with this wooden fence.

Your friend who is now entering a new chapter in life,

Linda

Crop Report—Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Dayphoto

Second cutting of hay is stacked and some is sold. Terry is delivering 60 bales to Delta Elevator as I write this. One more cutting and we are done for the year. Golly, summer is flying by.

The pinto beans have grown shut! See that corn stalk! Grrr! Corn is NOT good in pinto beans. Corn kernels and pinto beans are the same size so they go through the combine together and make a TARE on the pinto beans. Meaning the beanery has to sort the corn out, which they dock the farmer for the time and labor to do so. I am going to have to figure out how to get out there and get that stalk before harvest!!!! And NOT smash or harm the pinto bean plants in any way. 😦

The pinto bean plants are now setting pods and the ‘new crop’ of seeds starting grow in the pod. You can see the seeds developing.

The field corn is starting to grow kernels. The brownish/red silks are showing that the little hairs have been pollinated and the cob is starting to grow the seed. (We eat the seed in some form…ground up for corn meal, boiled on the table, or for animal feed). The white silk shows that the ear has not been pollinated yet. As the wind, or birds, or animals move through the corn the pollen from the tassels will float down and pollinate the silks. Then we wait for the kernels to grow and swell and develop.We have one row of sweet corn along side the field corn. Sweet corn is shorter than field corn. I picked 2 ripe ears of sweet corn yesterday and we had them for lunch. Yummm!
The raccoons and the deer and the skunks like the sweet corn also. 😦 I try to watch my crop closely to grab what I can before they get it. Most the time they beat me.

We heard that there were bears in one of the commercial sweet corn fields two nights ago. Bears think sweet corn is yummy. I hope they don’t come down here..I only have the one row …..

Our rain has moved on, although, they are saying there is the possibly of thunderstorms this afternoon. Still the day is fresh and lovely.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

A Photo Gift of Rainbow — Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Dayphoto

It is raining here!

Joyful drops of cooling moisture!

Our humidity finally swelled enough to allow the sullen clouds and the leaden sky to burst forth with a steady drizzle of rain! (WITHOUT WIND!)

All of God’s Creatures are rejoicing. The little birds are sitting on bare branches taking a shower…fluffing their wings, spreading the cleansing drops of water through their feathers with their beaks and feet all with loud and joyful songs of delight. It seems even little birds love to sing at the top of their lungs in the shower!

Terry and I are also enjoying these life-giving drops of rain— the hay is up and stacked, with the load of hay to haul to the Delta Elevator protected under the carport. (Thanks be to everyone who sent magic thoughts, prayers, and crossed their fingers for dry weather for us!)

Although, irrigation DOES NOT STOP (the rain is not really soaking into the ground just creating a damp top to the soil) we do not mind walking along a slippery ditch banks to change the water. The delight of a heat-decreasing summer shower is a gift!

Today is Tuesday! It is the day I like to post one of the many photo gifts of rainbows from one of my readers.

Vadarae (Va-da-rae) don’t you just love that name! Vadarae sent me a lovely double rainbow she took on her trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota in May. Look at the raindrops on the car window…it so fits the weather we are having today!

Thank-you, Cotton Lady for adding to this special day full of soft, gentle, air-cleansing and refreshing rain!

Your Friend on a Western Colorado Farm,

Linda

P.S. Please remember if you have a wonderful rainbow or even a great photo you would like to share with my readers I will be very glad to post it for you. I post them on Tuesday. And I ALWAYS give you credit for sharing with us!

A Gift! Monday, July 28, 2014

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Dayphoto

Just before noon, around 11:30 that morning, our eldest daughter, Shannon and Jason came driving down our lane. They were bringing to us a very nice gift….

Heat for many, many cold winter days!

They had gotten up at the beginning of light, headed up the Uncompahgre Plateau (Un-come-pah-gray —accent on the pah) to 25 Mesa. There they filled their fire wood permit with wood just for us!

Terry and I were completely surprised. We knew they had filled two permits for their winter heat, never dreaming they purchased another permit to cut and haul to us wood. (Wood permits are for dead wood and beetle killed wood–they cost $25)

We had been working on getting set for the winter; they finished the work for us! (We try to have all our firewood cut and hauled by August…summer is always about preparing for winter, it seems.)

What a wonderful surprise! (It seems odd to being thinking of winter heat, when we are melting now. But come winter we will be every so grateful)

Your friend,

Linda

A Drop By–Sunday, July 27, 2014

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Dayphoto

The heat here has been exhausting. Part of the reason we are are so hot is the fact we have corn fields all around us…all but the five acres of pinto beans right in front of the house.

Since the humidity is high for us, it seems hotter than normal. I know nothing like those of you who live where there is high humidity all the time. (July and part of August is the monsoon time for the high mountain deserts of the Rocky Mountain mountain range).

Anyway, since the humidity is high, with afternoon thunder and lightening storms complete with rain and living in a much higher humid environment A CORN FIELD we are ‘feeling the heat’!

The corn fields effectively block any slight breezes or tiny winds that flow over the top of the Uncompahgre (Un-come-pah-gray–accent on the `pah) Plateau and onto the surrounding mesa’s including ours–California Mesa.

Corn fields by nature ARE hot and humid! Therefore, we are like tall green corn plants maturing in the July sun. Even the swamp cooler doesn’t help; it produces even more humidity.

Yesterday was a ‘sore trial’ as my beloved maternal Grandmother used to say! Being a child I never really understood that saying…but as a Grandmother myself, having lived many days and then some; I do.

(Anymore my Grandmother’s words seem to sing to me in the breezes, to ride with me over the dirt roads as I help change water, or we rest on the patio in the evening. I hear her spirit moving through my own words and in encounters of weeds and plants in the gardens, which we both love.)

The little grandchildren arrive off and on through the days, staying a short while then getting on their bikes to peddle home creating their own breezes as the fly through the fields between houses. I’m sure they don’t understand the term ‘sore trial’. 🙂

Still it is only the humidity that is hard to manage. Everything else is going nicely.

Last week Terry’s brother ‘dropped by’ on his way back to his home in Gilbert, Arizona. Terry enjoyed their couple of hours visit — after a quick ride in the corvette, Roger was back on the road. He had miles and miles to go from here to Utah, then New Mexico, and on into Arizona.

All the hay is in and stacked and some has already been sold. Terry has started water on the very dry alfalfa field as we begin again preparing for the third cutting.

Today we rest…no hard jobs. Just those things that must be done.

Your friend on a farm in Western Colorado,

Linda

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer—A Report of the Land

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Dayphoto

Boomer—Reporter @ Large That’s me! The official reporter for the Farm. Our Colorado Farm, that is! Mom and I have been working in the hay field…whew! It’s a bazillion degrees out there! Mom told Fuzzy he really needed to stay home and hold down the fort. He needed to stay where it was cool and nice. (I told Fuzzy he was actually lucky, it was miserable out there. He didn’t believe me. But it was, it really was!) That evening Mom brought Fuzzy along with us to change water…the corn is starting to tassel out…see the little ears…each one of those silky brown things hanging on the ear will soon be pollinated by the corn tassel creating a golden juicy kernel of corn goodness. (This is NOT sweet corn, this is hard dent corn used for animal feed and for making corn meal—Mom does have sweet corn for the house, but it is just for our use, not to sell.) Blade came over and spent the night with us. We all went with Dad to check on a house… Mom and Blade rode in the back of the pick-up with Fuzzy and I…we had a BLAST! Fuzzy and I have a toad that lives UNDER our dog houses in a cool little hole/tunnel thingy. He comes out in the evening or whenever Mom is watering. I like to put my nose on him and feel his funny skin…feels sorts of cool and leathery like Fuzzy’s nose! Sometimes I still forget to come when Mom calls: ‘HEAD Home, Boomer! We are heading home now! Hurry Up Come ON!’ When that happens I run LIKE THE WINNNNNNNNNND! Just as fast as my Beagle legs can take me….so far I’ve been able to catch up and ride the rest of the way. Mom always stops and lets me get on the Four-Wheeler. Always.Yesterday we had a huge thunder storm complete with lightening and rain. It got Mom and Fuzzy and I wet since we were out checking the water when the wind blew it up. We knew it was around as we could see the crash and flash of the lighting; we still had to check water so out we went. WET! Very wet! But it did feel nice! (Mom and Dad hope we don’t get any more rain since there are still 100 bales out in the field…the bales have to dry in the field ‘now’ before they can be hauled into the stack.) Thanks for reading…I think I’ll take myself off and have a little lay-down. We’ve been up and doing since 5 in the morning. I need to catch a little shut-eye before we head back up to check the tubes. Boomer

A Good Fence—Thursday, July 24, 2014

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Dayphoto

Teresa from A Run *A* Round Ranch in Texas, always hosts a “Good Fences and Gates” Thursday. I have found this most challenging — the looking at my everyday world with new eyes to ‘see’ fences and gates.

It’s surprising how mundane we are with our ‘seeing’. If we have always seen it–such as the fences and gates on your own farm or the neighbors farm you never really notice them after the first true look. From that point on you glance…your brain says-‘Yes, it’s still there’–you go on. Never really looking or assess what is right there in front of you.

Having enjoyed Teresa blog for some time (she is a sanctuary for birds, I do believe) I decided to pick up her challenge to find interesting fences and gates where ever I might be in my world.

The word is CHALLENGE! WHEW!!

I have been rather amazed at all the fences I see and think—nah, just an ordinary fence.

But WAIT!!! Is it really? Sometimes the fence or gate IS ordinary, but what it in compases isn’t. Therefore, I have grown to really like this blog challenge —I offer it up to you to join Teresa and see if you can find a fence or a gate or something interesting within the fence or gate to share with the world.

Monday we went to Paonia, Colorado to visit the Solar Institute’s solar training farm. They had a cool bench…yes, I know this isn’t a fence or a gate—but it still was rather neat.

But they, also, had an most unusual fence….made of bamboo stakes! Now just how different is that!?

Today is NICE! Lots of cloud cover, so far. I hope it stays just as cloud cover we still have bales of hay to haul in; the rain needs to stay in the foot hills and on the plateaus. We sweltered yesterday while hauling and raking and forking hay. Today will be MUCH better to work in.

Anyway…take a wander over to Teresa’s and join in with the rest of us — you will enjoy looking at the world with ‘different eyes’ I am positive!

Your friend,

Linda

A Gift of Rainbows — Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Image

Cheri from My Ranch Life sent me some photos of a stunning rainbow that occurred somewhere on their ranch in Washington.

Isn’t this just incredible? The colors of the whole photo are dramatic and lends excitement to the double rainbow.

I thank -you so much, Cheri for sharing with us this amazing and very colorful bit of drama in your sky!

Please remember if you have a rainbow or something else you would love to share with my readers, please send it to me. I will post it and give you credit. This has been so much fun seeing rainbows and sky photos from other parts of the world.

Terry is baling the last of the hay. Thankfully we are just about done with second cutting. The weather people say there is a 30% change of isolated thunderstorms this afternoon. The storms need to stay away a little bit longer. Once we get the bales hauled and stacked a nice shower or two would be good to reduce this heat we are having. It was 104* at 5 o’clock yesterday evening. Although, it did cool down around 10 o’clock so all is good.

Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm,

Linda

Waiting for Hay—Tuesday, July 21, 2014

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Dayphoto

We have one field done.

Another to go.

The gentleman who called and said he wanted to come down on Friday (of last week) to check out the hay for purchase right in the field.

Never showed up. Hay doesn’t wait. It gets dry to one point and then starts to become crispy sticks…no hay anymore.

Some people just don’t do what they say they will do. Oh, well, life goes on and so do we. 🙂

So we had to go ahead and bale hay. We hauled one field last night. Then probably on Wednesday Terry will get the other field baled so we can haul that evening.

Busy, busy!

Your farm friend,

Linda

Late but at Least I Made it—Monday, July 21, 2014

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Dayphoto

We had to leave the house early today (although we always get up early —there is water to change and other things to get done). I didn’t have a chance to post my daily post.

We (Terry and I) had been invited to Paonia, Colorado, to see a large Solar Training Facility . We were to be there early. Since Paonia is an hour away from us we had to keep moving or be late.