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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

Monday, September 19, 2011

I thank everyone who left me comments on the blog and I apologize for not responding to each comment.  It isn’t because I didn’t want to.  Last week I slipped on the very wet, muddy ditch bank and dislocated a rib on my breast bone.   I am getting better every day, but still have to use caution with my left arm.  The worst part is the pain whenever I take a breath, but that too is starting to ease.

The rains have finally left…

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Leaving us will lots of sunshine and warm days with cool nights.  True fall is upon us.

If everything goes as planned we hope to be able to start the pinto bean harvest soon.

Linda

https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday —It’s All About Beans

Lots happening here!

Well there was lots happening here….its’ raining now so everything has come to screeching halt.

Dad has been ‘doing the beans’.  What that means is he pulled all the beans and put them into rows so they can dry.  The beans themselves need to dry, the stems on the beans need to dry and if there are any weeds (and there is always weeds, no matter how much my people try) need to dry.

Then they sit for about a week if the weather holds.

By that I mean if we have lots of really nice sunshine and maybe a slight breeze or so.

In the meantime, while we are waiting for the fields to get ready for the combine…we all get to get the combine ready for the beans.

This is more work that you would think….Dad really is the one who has to get the combine ready so off we go to get the combine.

I sometimes like to run alongside (not very often anymore-but every once in a while).  Going after the combine I decided this was one of those times.

Tally was spending the day with us while her Momma was working at Blade and Linkin’s school so Tallen and Hank/Puff where also along to get the combine.

It was a really nice warm day.

Actually Hank/Puff got hot and had to go for a swim in the canal.  When Mom saw that she said it reminded her that I needed a bath and hair cut.

I really hate the bath and haircut thing…but the brushing out thing is ….

Ahhhh!

…..really nice!

So everything was going along really well…the beans were about ready for harvest (Dad said a couple of more days of drying and he will be in the field and the beans will be at the Beanery), when it

RAINED!

Lots of rain!

Days of rain!

Everything is sitting in mud.  Dad is worried that the rain has pushed the beans down into the mud; if that is the case he will have to go back out there and rerun the blade under them and wait for them to dry…..again!

The hay customers are coming right along in a steady stream.  Boom and I really enjoy barking them down the lane.  We do a real good job too!  Boom gets in trouble because, well…he pees on the tires!  Dad yells at him…I don’t do yelling.  I gave up tire peeing some time back.

Well….unless

There is another dog in the back!  I have to just ignore Dad if another dog is present…can’t be the laughing stock of the neighborhood!

Well, it’s raining again.

Guess we just wait for the sun.  Mom said we could go to town with her, see ya later!

Fuzzy

The Delta County Independent—Thursday, October 12, 1944

http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/

Finally!

Now if the rain that keep hovering around here will just take its little self on down to Texas and leave us a couple of months of sunshine that would be good.

Please everyone find it in your hearts to pray for the land — that rain comes to Texas and other parts of our drought stricken country. Water is the life force of good…pray for water to heal the land and bring life back to the south.

Linda

Visiting Family

We just got back from a small trip to Greeley where we were able to visit with Terry’s family. 


The trip over was good accept for hitting Silverthorne and all of the weekend traffic heading back into the Denver area.

Usually, on a good day, from the tunnel you can get into Denver in an hour

But when there is weekend ‘returning’ traffic that changes….stop and go, stop and go is the norm.

So for a hour drive, we were able to make it in 2 hours and 28 minutes. 

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We thought about going over Loveland Pass, but you would still have the problem of entering horrible slow traffic.

I saw things along the mountainside that I would have never seen going 75 miles an hour.

Now…back to work, we are pulling beans so they can dry.  Then in about a week (if the weather holds) we will combine.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Linda

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday—Hauling Hay

Fuzz and I woke up early this morning; just at the sky was starting to color up a bit in the East.  It was rather cold…that is why we woke up.  Cold, brrrr!  48*!  Mom is going to have to snuggle up our dog houses pretty soon, or let us sleep in the house.

Sleep in the house…HEY that works for me!  Fuzzy doesn’t really like to sleep in the house; he says he gets too hot.

I had to remind him that he sure likes to be in the house when there is fire in the sky.

“That’s different”, he growled at me. “I’m a watch dog, I’m also a cow dog, and I’m the protector of the farm.  I sleep outside so I can SEE and HEAR what is going on, if something bad is happening then I can give the alarm.”

“Oh”, I replied.  “I just thought being in the house, was well, warmer.”

“It is son, it is.  But we watchdogs have real work to do.  Mom will be along and fix us up; she hasn’t failed us yet, has she.”

“Actually, no she hasn’t,” I answered.

So up we were when a huge flock of little twittering and cheeping birds came by and landed in our tree.  They sure were full of chit-chat and chatter, I sat there and watched them and listened in on their conversations:

“Are you tired, Mable?”

“Not yet, but having this tree right here was really good.”

“Ready to go”

“Soon”

“A short rest doesn’t do anyone of us any harm we have a long way to go today”

Mom walked out the house about that time causing about 1/3 of the birds to swoosh up into the air, the rest stopped talking.

Then Dad came out and got on his four-wheeler.  That was the end of the birds resting.  They all flew away.

I wonder where they are going…..

Anyway, we have work to do today.  It the last day of hauling in the hay! I love this type of work.  I get to ride with Fuzzy if I get tired or I can run alongside Mom checking out the bales.  I found a bull snake. WHEW!  That was a trip.

I was sniffing around one of the bales because it had a funny smell…sort of …well, hummm, let me see, musty, wet ….now just what is that odor?  I can’t seem to find a word for it, when all of a sudden —–

SNAKE!!!!!!

I jumped ten feet in the air.

That thing could move FAST.  I think it must have been 50 feet long!  The slithery long monster ran right at me!  RIGHT AT ME!!!!!!!     WOW!   WOOF! WOOF!  BARK! BARK!    I gave the red alarm.  Mom sure took her time getting over to the hay bale.

“Oh, Boom. That is just a snake.”  Come on get on the four-wheeler and leave it be, they do more good than harm.”  She laughed.

Yeah right.  You don’t have to tell me more than once. I know when I need to be on the four-wheeler and right now is one of those times!

After a while I wanted off, so I hoped off.  Fuzzy stayed on. He doesn’t get off much anymore. Heck, he never gets off.  Says his days of getting off and running around are over. It is so much better to ride.  Mom and I can get off, but he wants to just enjoy the sun and having the four-wheeler do all the work.

It only took about three hours to get the hay bales turned right (sometimes they come out of the baler and land crooked or they fall over, sometimes the baler doesn’t bale the bale well.  The twine slips or the knot doesn’t knot or sometime or other, when that happens it’s called a broken bale.  We, Mom and us pick the broken bales up and haul them into the feed bunk.  We also haul some down to the goats.

After we got all the bales straightened and Dad got all the hay stacked it was time to head up to the cement ditch and turn the water down.  One last irrigation for the hay and we are done for the year.

Sure seems to have gone fast.

This reminds me.  It was a year ago this week that I came to live here.  I picked this place.  It’s mine.  They love me and I love them.

Mom sang Happy Anniversary to me off and on all day.  She said since we don’t know my real birthday then today is going to be my birthday.  The vet said I was about 4-5 years old last year, so I guess this year I’m about 5-6 years old.  Whatever doesn’t really matter to me.  I like living here.  I like Fuzzy a lot and I love finding out what each new day is going to bring.

This farm living is the life for me!

Boomer

With Our Boys in Service—October 12, 1944

Wordless Wednesday

Linda

Special Train for War Brides

http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/

Fall is in the Air

We are waking up to cooler and cooler morning, although the day does warm up nicely….around 88*. 

The birds are going…first the robins, several weeks ago, then the Meadowlarks, on August 31st, as I was watching the barn swallows all seemed to gather together and fly away.  It was really cool to see and watch.

The whole thing made me a little sad, though.

Yesterday afternoon a huge flock of geese came honking back, a welcome site after losing all the summer birds.

We still have hummers, any day now I expect to see them gone.  It will be just like the robins….they will leave, I will miss seeing them and realize they have left.

On the upside of losing summer the cottonwoods are starting to color up here and there, just a limb or so, but if you look you can see the yellow starting to appear.

The rabbit brush is blooming and the golden rod.  If you look at my yard it still looks like summer, but I know better.  I know better.

Of course, Wal-Mart has switched over to ‘Back to School’ and I noticed yesterday that that was going by the way side and Halloween and Thanksgiving coming in.

I guess I had better get my head around it….Fall is here.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Linda

Pass Out the Pills   http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday—the Post Man

Fuzzy and I have been helping in the fields lots. We always go irrigate, three times a day, early morning, 2:00 in the afternoon and then as it is getting dark.  I love to go irrigate…there is just so much to learn out there.  News of the world, so to speak!

Last night Dad was clear across the BIGGEST corn field setting tubes in the dirt ditch, and Mom was at the cement ditch between the bean field and the second largest corn field.  Fuzzy was in the cement ditch trying to catch bubbles and I was in the corn field looking for that huge bone I buried four days ago.

Like I said it was just starting to get dark, the sun had set and the shadows were growing darker and darker.  When I smelled something ….

Coyotes!

I came running out of the corn field as fast as I could go…my nose in the air when we heard them….Loud, long yipps and a bark howl.  Jeepers weirds me out!

Then it happened again!  Only this time more of a chattering yips.  Mom told Fuzzy and me to get on the four-wheeler…. “Let’s go!” she said.  “Hurry, Fuzzy, get out the water, we need to see what is happening with Dad.”

“Boom do you want to ride or are you going to run?”

Ride!  I’m not running through the corn rows with that wild smell out there and that big noise, no sireee.

I hopped up before Mom even had Fuzzy picked up and placed on the back. I could feel the back of my neck all prickly with my fur standing on end.  Fuzzy didn’t really seem to know what was happening, just that Mom was in a big hurry.

As Mom was turning around I told him….Coyotes!

Fuzzy growled real deep and long.  Mom told him “Shhhhhhh, Fuzz, we will get there and scare them off.  They won’t do anything when they hear the four-wheeler.”

Dad was supposed to be at the dirt ditch waiting for the last of the water that Mom had let loose, then he would set the tubes there and come on home, we would meet him at the barn.

Wheeeew, Mom was flying!  It was sure hard to stay on, but we made it.  Dad was at the dirt ditch with four more tubes to set when we flew up…. He said four coyotes were hanging around warning him to not come any closer.  He didn’t have a gun with him, so he was glad we showed up.  Mom wouldn’t let us off the four-wheeler.  She didn’t have to worry about me, but Fuzzy kept growling and pointing toward the equipment area.  Mom had her four-wheeler turned around so the lights were hitting in the general direction while Dad finished up.  Coyotes can and will defend their pups if they think someone is too close to them.

With lights on and darkness almost complete we all headed back to the barn and the safety of the house.  I was so scared I jumped right off and headed to my dog house…its safe there!

After jumping inside the dog house that was closest to me, I turned around a few times and settled in.  Mom and Dad had already gone into the house and Fuzzy was heading into the other dog house.   I was really tired. Getting really scared sure can take the energy out of you!

“We scared them off, Boom!  We did a really good job.”

“I agree, Fuzzy!”

“Well, Good Night!  I don’t know about you, but I’m beat.”

“Me too, Fuzzy!  I’m really tired.  Good Night!”

We were dozing real good when I heard Mom come outside.  It was dark, of course, for it was still night. I got out of my nice warm bed to see Fuzzy standing next to Mom shivering and shaking all over.

BOOM!

BAM!

CRACK!  There was fire in the sky!

Rain came down really hard in great big drops.  Mom completed picking up our food dishes, placing them under the carport so they wouldn’t get wet from the rain.  Fuzzy and I were so tired when we got home neither one of us finished our supper.

BAM!

CRACK!

We were all getting wet!

“Come on,” Mom invited.  In we went to spend the night in the bedroom right next to the bed.  Fuzzy got under the bed; I stayed close to Mom’s side.  This is really nice, sleeping inside.  You can’t see or hear anything going on outside, like you do when you stay in the dog house.  Dad says dogs need to be outdoors, they are for guarding the house and the property, inside they don’t know anything that is happening.

“Shhhhh,” Mom put her fingers to her lips.  “Now this is only until the rain stops.”

That works for me!

We got up early…Mom ALWAYS gets up early…and went outside to check things out.  The world was new again.  Made me so happy I had to twirl around and around and around!  Then I ran just as fast as I could to the haystacks and back.  Fuzzy stayed with Mom while she did the chickens and threw some hay out for the cows.  Dad went to irrigate, but it was too muddy for us to go…so Mom said.  Besides she was going to fix breakfast.

I LOVE breakfast!  I love anything I can eat, I like dry dog food and canned dog food, I love people food, I give it a good sniff and whooose down the gullet it goes!  Fuzzy is particular.  If he waits too long I try to sneak over and see what he is not eating.  I have to be careful because he will get really mad at me for taking his food, but I wait.  I can wait a long time, and then when Fuzzy dozes off to sleep BAM I’ve got the food!

HEHE!

Around ‘that time’ Fuzzy and I decided to head on down the lane so we could be at the mailboxes when the mailman comes.  Barking at the mailman is one of the most important functions any dog can have.  I just love barking at the mailman.  We have a really cool mailman, he always has a dog cookie just for us…we bark, he tosses out a cookie, we head home…..after we eat the cookie.  Pretty Neat, huh?

MAIL MAN…Come on Fuzzy!  We are about to be late!  MAIL MAN…he’s coming up the lane, WOW! I love it when he drives all the way down the lane to deliver the mail.  We get to bark him home.  To our home, that is.

BARK! WOOF!  HOWL!!!

Mailman!!! YAHOO!

Our mailman is really neat, he has never killed a chicken, broke a sack of feed like the raccoons do, or stink up the farm like skunks do, he doesn’t seem to run in a pack like the coyotes, he just well, delivers the mail!

Off we ran…barking and howling and baying….HERE COMES THE MAILMAN!  HERE COMES THE MAIL!  HERE COME THE DOG COOKIES!

And there he was…handing a package to Dad, along with two dog cookies!

Now this is what I call a really nice day!

Boomer