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

Day Length January 2, 2014

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Dayphoto

Once we get to December 21st I eagerly await the moment that our time…the length of the day starts to grow visibly longer.

We are NOT at the point…yet! But it won’t be long now :)!

On December 21st our day was a SHORT 9 hours and 27 minutes.

(Yes, I know that day length is relative to where each and everyone lives, but for me and those who live close to me…this is our day length)

Gradually the day has added 5 minutes of time to the day! We now have 9 hours and 32 minutes of daylight. Rich, rays of sun, even if they must filter through frozen air.

On January 31st our day will consist of 10 whole hours and 12 minutes of daylight.

But, alas this is still winter…not only that it is January. From January we will slide into February…two of the coldest months of the year…

But here is the thing…I can handle the cold if I can see the sun! I can handle the knowledge of winds from the north, winds that tear your skin off your face—- if I know that in 59 or so more days winter will start to abate.

So while we are gearing up for more layers upon layers of clothing those of you enjoying summer will see the temperatures rise. You will walk along beaches, or in forests, you will sit outside on veranda’s an slip ice tea or a cola.

I used to be so selfish I only wanted to go right from Christmas to SPRING! Not any more. Now I have wonderful friends from all over the world from the top side of the equator and the bottom half of the globe… this knowledge makes me stop and whisper to myself—

“Share” They also enjoy summer! I can go and visit their blogs and see tropical gardens in bloom, I can watch others playing in the warmth and I can rejoice for their good.

The gift that now comes to all of us in the northern half of the world is the slowly, but surely shifting of the mighty earth as it swirls and twirls around the sun allowing more light into our long cold days!

Therefore, I rejoice for these longer day!

Your Friend on a farm in Western Colorado,

Linda

IT’S HERE!!! 2014

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Dayphoto

Like a jet stream 2013 has turned to vapor and blown away!

2014 Has arrived announcing itself with banners of red, orange and pink

Together you and I, and all our loved ones, will embark on another year. The year will be full of excitement, plans, new things, trips from here to there. At some point we will travel through darkness; only to arrive again at the light!

Our dreams and goals and accomplishments will lead us to places hereto unknown, our past will open the way to either close a door (or two) or to widen the narrow little trail we have started to blaze so we can travel faster.

To my companions of this little farming blog I send to each and everyone of you wishes for prosperity, wealth and happiness!

Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm,

Linda

2013 in review

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Dayphoto

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 99,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.

Monday, December 30, 2013

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Dayphoto

We have begun the second part of the repair on the furnace—the first step is to get TO the furnace

Terry can get to the furnace by crawling on his belly, and has done that for years. But, now, since we are both old and the crawling seems awful he is digging a trench, by hand, under the house. This way he won’t have to be on his belly but can have space to too and fro, from there to here

This really is a ‘big deal’ requiring lots of work…first he goes in (with my old scoop shovel)

Fills up the shovel,(with another shovel that has a broken handle) hands the shovel back out to me, I load it into the wheel barrow

After the wheel barrel is full (another favorite tool of mine–the wheel barrel! I have two of them and I use them for everything) I haul it to different spots along the canal, or the road, or next to a ditch to fill in holes.

We work until we can’t work any longer, then it takes two to three days to recover. YES, I know that a young person could get this whole thing done in a day…but we aren’t young…Terry will be 70 in May and I will be 65 in three weeks. So we trudge along. Gradually it will get there.

Terry has replaced all the pipe to the furnace already, so that job is out of the way. Once we get the trench dug then it will be time to go to Grand Junction to see if we can find a new valve for the furnace. If we can’t then we have to dig even bigger trench and drag the old furnace out; replacing it with another furnace, which we will have to drag in an put in place.

It will take time, we will do it in stages, there isn’t a rush because we have the wood stove and lots of wood.

We worked the day after Christmas; this afternoon we will start again. We wait until it’s warmer outside—I don’t know why, we get so hot we have to shed our layers of coats before we are done.

SO off I go to help him now! Everyday we gain a little bit more!

Your friend,

Linda

Sunday, December 29, 2013–My Christmas Present

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Dayphoto

I know I promised you I would show you my completely delightful surprise that Terry gave me for Christmas.

All the kids were here and their families; we had just opened all our gifts and watched the kids open their gifts (we don’t give lots…one gift a piece). Terry and I exchanged our presents…Carhart jackets. Perfect for those cold but not over the top cold days.

When Terry went outside for a short while and then came back in.

He walked over to me and handed me

THIS!

A NEW Scoop Shovel!!!

I so desperately needed one, but figured I would just have to use Terry’s Grandfather’s

Until I could pick out the one I want. It’s a nice old shovel, but it’s heavy. Still I was glad I had one to use.

(I’m really picky about my shovels…there are lots of scoop shovels and shovels out there, but I want one with a solid wooden handle, the scoop or the shovel bolted into the wood and the size of the shovel not too big or not too small.) You can buy those things just about any place, but they are cheaply made, the scoop comes off the handle after a couple of uses — I think you get the picture.

My other shovel broke in two…too much use this fall after years and years of use already. (Remember we had to scoop out the pinto bean hopper and the corn hopper because of break downs. Then our neighbor, Sam, wanted us to grind corn for him. He forgot to bring his scoop shovel so I threw him mine—the first scoop finished it off.

I was sick. I almost cried. I didn’t, but I sure thought about it.

I know, it’s just a shovel. But it’s the shovel I use the MOST!! I use it for all sorts of things. I thought about just replacing the handle, but I’ve done that before and it’s never really a good as it could be.

I decided to wait.

******************************************************

Terry said that when he pickup the shovel. When he went to pay for it our oldest daughter was with him and she asked if the cashier could wrap it since it was a Christmas present for her Mom. Terry said that caused LOTS of conversations: one man said he would never give his wife something with a handle on it as she might use it on him. Another man said if he gave his wife a shovel he might as well move on out.. the jokes were rapid and wild.

Shannon asked again if the shovel could be wrapped…the poor checker said she wasn’t sure what to do, then reached down and stuck several bows on it! The customers clapped!

Terry said it didn’t bother him what was going on because he KNEW I really wanted a new scoop shovel! No diamonds for me–nor a fur coat –nothing of that nature, but I will fall for a scoop shovel, or a pitch fork, or a new wheel barrel!!

There you have it…my gift of the year! Have a good one everyone!

Your friend on the farm,

Linda

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — In 2014

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Dayphoto

It’s snowing Fuzzy! Big fat fluffy flakes, the kind that likes to land on your nose and then MELT!

Huh!?!?!? Oh! Gosh! Just a minute son! I can’t get awake really. Humm, I see! Nice snow, no wind! Excellent! Shall we go for a run out to the old tree? My stiff old legs need a stretch and my head needs to clear. Snow like this is just perfect to check out the news beyond the farm yard!

Oh, YES!! LET’S GO FUZZY!!!

AHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! AHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

BARK, BARK, BARK!!

It’s a joyful time, Fuzzy!

You got that right, Kid! ARFF, ARFF, ARFF!!

Pant, breathe, pant, and wheeze! Let’s slow down for a spell, Boom…maybe Freddy Fox or some of his kin have passed through. You take the combines and I’ll sniff out the ditches…I’m sure we can find some mice and maybe some rabbit tracks. Hummmmm, snuff, snuffle!

Hey, FUZZ!! Come over here! Come smell this and tell me what you think.

Okay, just a minute I think I’ve found a really nice track here of some bunnies.

Hurry, Fuzzy! I keep losing it in all the mouse trails. It’s a really interesting smell. It smells sort of furry like a cat, no; hum bigger, like someone from the fox family.

It’s not Sam and we KNOW it’s not Monkey. Have we got any stray cats around here, Fuzzy?

Oh, good you are here. Start right here…no, no, not there…too many mice trails there, sniff right here.

Hummm, snuff, snuff, sniff, snuffle. Ah, yes! Sniff, sniff….snuffle.

What is it, Fuzzy? What’s the smell?

Hummm….Just a minute, Boomer…let me follow it to the end; then you will see, and smell.

Okay…I’ll just follow along behind so I can smell and learn what you know.

Sniff, sniff, snort, Honk, ack! Dirt in your nose is really sort of nasty, isn’t it Fuzzy?

Giggle and snicker, Ah, Yes it is Boomer! Don’t put your nose CLEAR in the dirt!

I know that Fuzzy, there was this really nice smell, but when I gave a huge sniff…well, I got AHCOO some up my nose!

Hummm, okay…here we go, Boomer, we are going over to the fence post pile…yep, just as I thought…keep following, Boom…we are almost to the old tree…THERE!

That is what I thought… a pile of fur and scraps and bones. Well, really a pile of poop made up of fur and scraps and bones!

THAT’S IT!!! That’s what I’ve been smelling, Fuzzy! Following you I didn’t really smell anything on the ground, but yet I could smell it! HOW COME, Fuzz? What’s going on?

Well, I didn’t smell it on the ground (really) either. See the air was just right that the smell was floating above the ground not really on the ground. So I had to keep following the air.

Oh! That’s why I couldn’t keep track of it. I’m a really good sniffer so I should have known this.

That’s okay, Boom, we all learn new things every day…you just learned about ground air. Ground air and smells that don’t happen on the ground.

Cool, Fuzzy! Okay, let’s look this thing over…paw, paw, scratch…hum…it smells like a bird, sort of.

Yep! You are right! Its Owl poop! That looks like dinner from a night or so ago. Fur, small bones, and some other stuff, like, mmmmm, I’m not sure, ….food anyway!

Oh! So this is from one of the owls we hear every night.

Yep! The owl must have sat here talking to us or someone else and, well, you know.

Yes, I do, Fuzzy. Let’s go find something else!

Okay, but not far…my old legs are feeling a little tired right now. Maybe, we could start back and see if we can find cool smells on the way back…if any of the Foxes have been through here we can mark over the top of their mark so they get confused!

COOL! Let’s do it! You take one side of the road and I’ll take another…we will leave HUGE warnings to everyone…dogs, foxes and those nasty Coyotes!

I’ve got two spots done, Fuzzy!

That’s good, Boom. Don’t hit Dad’s metal pile, REMEMBER! You will get really yelled at!

I won’t…just the weeds by it!

BOOM!!! Your stream missed the weed!!!!

YIKES!!! Let’s run for the house, Fuzzy. Maybe, Dad won’t notice!

Good Idea…BARK! ARF! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF!

Hey, Fuzzy…Mom is outside let’s go join her so we can go INSIDE!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS LETTTSSSSSSSSSSSSS WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Pant, pant, puff, puff!
Hi, Mom! We’re here! We were just checking stuff out making the farm better for all of you!

“Good boys! I saw you on the run. Let’s get the chores done and then you can come on in and toast by the fire!”

Woo Hoo…just what we wanted, Fuzzy! Going inside to sleep by the fire!

Whew! Are you hot Boomer?

No! I feel just fine.

Boy, am I ever hot!

Don’t leave, Fuzzy. You know what we need to do? We need to set our goals for next year!

OH! Yes that’s right!

What are your goals, Boomer!

Let’s see….. I’ll do five goals, and you do five goals!

Sounds good, Boomer. I’ll be first, since I’m the oldest and the top dog around here.

Always hang right at Mom’s feet…always. If she has a problem lifting something or needs help I will be there!
Always be ready for a walk!!! It sure seems harder now for some reason, but if Mom wants go…SO DO I!
Take naps. Naps are good. Take lots of naps, but wake-up the second you hear Mom. (Dad says it’s okay if I don’t wake up for him, but I really want to wake-up and be with Mom so I will stay ready for her)
I want to sleep as close to Mom as I can. I get where ever she is. You can have Dad or the fireplace if you want.
Be ready to bark the mailman, the UPS man, the FedEx woman, or anyone that shows up so we can bark them down the lane

Those are really good, Fuzzy! Okay, here I go —-

Every time you see people you love put on a happy face, wag your tail, wag your whole body
Happy is good, always…no matter what
If anyone acts upset I will run right over to them and flop down and roll over on my back so they can give me a belly rub. Makes all of us feel good, instantly!
Dad says I’m not to drag my belly on the carpet or to lick myself whenever I’m in the house. He says I have to do it outside so I got to remember this.
I also need to remember that I can’t roll in wonderful, rich, green dead stuff. It makes both Mom and Dad upset. Rolling over for a tummy rub doesn’t help…I still get flung into the bathtub.

Very good! We did it Boomer! 2014 is going to one great year!

Happy New Year everyone! Happy 2014!

From Fuzzy and Boomer

Wednesday, December 25, 2013 Merry Christmas EVERYONE!!!

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Dayphoto

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We had a small cold front move through yesterday…the clouds dropped little pebbles of sleet, but nothing else.

Christmas Eve was delightful last night….all the kids home and present–too much food, lots of dirty dishes and a surprise Christmas present from Terry to me! I’ll show you tomorrow. I have been wanting one; getting it was a complete and delightful surprise!

Around 11 everyone, except Kimi and Cliff (they are off to his Mom’s for the day), will arrive again for another round of eating and laughing and enjoying each other. The little kids love playing games. We will all participate in games perfect for a little 5 year old, then move up to games that our 9 year old enjoys, but Blade…Blade is good at adult games…pinochle, poker, and his favorite—Monopoly! (I hope I’m washing dishes during Monopoly time…I really don’t like that game :()

Tomorrow…I’m crashing. There is much too this hosting of parties and making sure everything goes well. I enjoy every minute! I also get tired.

Wishing each and everyone of you a Warm and Wonderful Christmas celebrated the way you most hold dear!

With Love, Your friend, Linda

Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Dayphoto

The moon is coming up later and later now, still the dogs and I go for a walk. We go around one to one thirty in the early, early morning. I dress up like a huge abominable snowman—many, many, many layers…its COLD out there that time of night! 🙂

This was taken about 14 days ago.

One a side bar note–I would HATE to run into a Yeti…well, I wouldn’t see a Yeti here but there have been sightings of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch in Colorado.

There is some who think Bigfoot has been seen as close as the Lake City Area (which is not far from Montrose or Gunnison) so far nothing on the Uncompahgre Plateau or around the canyons next to our mesa….but one never knows! 🙂 da,da,da,da ♪♫♫♪

Still off we go. We don’t go for long and we don’t go far.

In the evening we either walk to the old tree site, (a tree the ditch company just had to destroy in the fire a couple of years ago), or we walk to the end of the grain bin field…both are about 15 minutes one way then 15 minutes back. If Fuzzy could move a little faster we would get back faster.

(This was shamelessly taken from the internet-The credits are on the map the web site is here with other photos of Bigfoot in Colorado)

Since I don’t have worry about big furry unknown creatures, and the bears are sleeping away the winter, the dogs and I only have to worry about the coyotes, foxes, and big cats (the skunks are sleeping right now also)—which is why I don’t like to go far. In the middle of the night we just walk down the lane to our house. Boomer has a bad habit of running off after smells, if I contain him to boring smells we both do much better.

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! We will have our big celebration tonight with all the family here. Tomorrow is family day…buffet of snack foods and lots of family games.

Your friend,

Linda

Monday, December 23, 2013

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Dayphoto

We are entering the last of the count down to Christmas now…today I will clean the house and make my deserts. There will be twelve of us for Christmas Eve Dinner, and ten for Christmas day buffet. The cooking is shared by all, which really helps, as you know.

The sunset last night was just outstanding

I love watching the sky. The sky is full of music and the music is made up of colors. When out walking I can sometimes feel the energy of the land and the sky and beings that make up the ‘outdoors’. It lifts my soul up until I feel like I have become one with them. Like listening to a really good symphony…if you are calm and allow the music to surround you then you can pick out certain things that are a part of the whole…the the piccolo, or the single note or a base.

When my brother and I were growing up we had the great pleasure of living at the end of the cherry orchard. In the evenings of summer, we would walk, with our Mother, down through the cherry orchard, then the apple orchard to our Grandparents house. (Our Dad would come home late from work and join us.)

They lived in a beautiful old rock house that had a wide front porch facing the east. As the evening darkened and night softly surrounded us my brother and I would lay on the cement walls connecting the columns of the porch to the house.

It was here that we would play and listen to our family talk about the day. Sometimes Uncle Henry would be there, sometimes Uncle Herbert, or all the relatives from Texas, even Uncle Jay.

Now when Uncle Jay came so did his golden fiddle—as the magic of the Little Brown Church in the Dell, or Red Wing or the Yellow Rose of Texas (to name a few) fill the air, I was lifted to another place and time where the music and I became one.

It is that same feeling I get, now, as I walk upon the land and watch the sky, the land on the farm and the plants and animals –as silly as it sounds…I feel like I and nature are one!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Your friend,
Linda

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Dayphoto

Yesterday Terry and I celebrated our 46th Anniversary! Four more years and it will be the big 5 0! My how time has flown! Like a very wonderful lady told me sometime back-‘there are good years and there are bad years, but as the years go by and you look back they are all wonderful years.’

So true! So very true.

Our house is growing icicles–we have been that cold here. Warm up a tad, melt a little, cool down –bam! Icicles!

For our honeymoon we went to Monte Visa, Colorado…not because it was this special romantic place, because there was the potential of a job opportunity there.

Terry was working at Holly Sugar and Coors Elevator when we got married. Mr. McCart told Terry there was going to a job opening at Monte Vista in January. Since Terry was on his long change-over at Holly and McCart gave Terry three days off we decided to drive to Monte Vista and see if we liked the country, what the housing situation was like, and if we could live there.

What I remember the most about Monte Visa was how cold it was…the icicles were from roof to ground and thick as my arm. Cold was an understatement. We had purchased a trailer house so we looked into the cost of parking it and other things. That night we stayed at a motel whose windows looked right into the drive in theater…the rooms were complete with a speaker to the movie. Of course it was winter so no movie that night. 🙂

The next morning our car didn’t want to start…it was just way too cold. Gradually we got the car going and headed home. On the way back we decided to take our chances at home. In the end it worked out perfectly…Terry and I purchased a farm, he got a great job with the local power company as a lineman and I picked up work here and there until the kids started coming. Then I didn’t work until they were all in school.

My Mother was a great one for trying to ‘control’ outcomes and create positive experiences. A couple of years before she died she started saying: “Everything works out for the best, if you will just let it”. One day, not long before she left this earth she told me that she knew that the major thing she was supposed to learn in this life was to –work toward the good, then leave it alone. “It will work out for the best, if you just let it.”

Looking back on that up and down time of getting established, finding work, paying bills and just plain living, she was so right…It did work out for the best.