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

The Middle of Summer

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Dayphoto

Terry finished cultivating the corn and the pinto beans.

He likes to use the 730 because the clutch is a hand clutch and not a foot clutch.

There will be one more cultivation of the pinto beans, but the corn is too tall now. As soon as the bean shoot feelers all tractor work is done until harvest. The only thing left (on tractor work) is making alfalfa into hay.

Of course we will continute to irrigate, changing the water every 8 hours. Water is short, with reports that it could get shorter.

It’s hot. But we are having some moisture flowing in from Mexico after noon.

We cool down when it comes in which is really nice.

But we heat back up after the storm moves on.

That’s summer for you in our part of the high mountain desert!

Here’s how I cultivate! 🙂 This hoe never seems to leave my hand…I have it my yard, in the garden, and helping remove Canada Thistle, Star Thistle, Sticker Weed, Nodding Thistle, and other nasty stuff, which gets between the bean plants. Once the beans shoot feelers I won’t have to be out there, but until then….

Summer is lots of work, but I would rather have summer than winter. Terry, now, he would rather have cold, dark, dreary, drab winter. Oh, oops! I think those are my words.

The Fourth of July is tomorrow. (and then by Tuesday they should have the part to fix my internet receiver! YEA!)

Happy 4th, everyone!

Linda

More on the Nature of Things

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Dayphoto

I’m having internet problems…hopefully they can be fixed by Tuesday. That’s the date to have it fixed anyway. I can randomly blog, but I can’t send emails. It’s driving me crazy.

Anyway, I lost a chicken last night to a nasty skunk!!!! I heard the chickens hollaring around three o’clock in the morning…off I ran to the hen house, filpped on the red light and there the nasty thing was ———–Right in the process of chomping down on one of my hens!

Made me so mad I threw a stick at him. (I didn’t want sprayed) Then I ran in and got Terry and he came with the gun. By that time I was back out in the hen house, the other hens flew outside or into the run. Quick count told me I was missing one. Which meant the nasty bugger got one hen already.

How he got it would have to be dealt with in the morning, in the meantime the problem was to get the darn thing OUT of the hen house.

We could have shot it in there, but then the skunk spray would distroy the hen house and I didn’t want to have to rebuild a hen house.

So long story short…the skunk got away!

I only lost one chicken, I have a damaged hen, but I think she is going to recover, and I’ve set a trap for the skunk. He will be back… they always do when they know there is easy pick’n for food.

Which reminds me, a neighbor who lives a few miles from us on the Plateau lost 3 goats to a bear one night, the bear returned the next night and got three more. The government man gave them permission to shoot the bear if it returns. (Yes you have to ask permission.) He returned, the bear hide left with the government men, the rest of him was buried with a backhoe on the property.

A ride on the Uncompahgre Plateau showed us that the nasty pine beetle has made it’s way into our woods The Ponderosa and Yellow Pines are dying off just like the lodge pole pines from here to Denver.

I hope you can see all the little holes in the bark, that is where the beetle bores into the tree. I wonder what it’s going to take for something to finally be done to save the pines? It takes years and years and years for a tree to get this big.

I guess I had better stop now, this post is really rather negative.

Sorry,

Linda

The Nature of Nature

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Dayphoto

Sometimes nature seems harsh and hard….

The crow is waiting to snatch one of the newly hatched baby birds

I’m with the smaller birds…the crow can just go eat something dead and leave thier young alone.

Yesterday I found were a porcupine lost his life. The fight was hard and long…quills were everywhere. Sort of sad really.

But that is the law of the natural world.

Linda

Weed to Some and Flower to Others

Posted on June 26, 2010 by Dayphoto

I have let a patch of Milk Weed grow in my yard…yes I know…it is a weed, but I love it.

Not only does it smell good, it attracks

Bees!!!!

I also like the big, busy

Bumble Bee!

Linda

A Happy 6th Birthday

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Dayphoto

Linkin wants to grow-up and be a Paleontologist. If she can’t do that then maybe she could look into Archeology, but that is only a second choice. She has a huge (HUGE) collection of dinosaurs and knows as much as she possibly can about them. She can say thier names, tell you what age of time they lived in, where you are more than likely going to find them, and what they eat. She will tell you, if you want to ask.

So for her 6th Birthday we took everyone to the Dinosaur museum.

She was delighted!

The roar and movement of the ‘models’ didn’t bother her, all of the demonstrations were exciting

And on top of all of this…

She is now old enough to ride her bike all the way over to Grammy’s all by herself.

Linda

New Friends

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Dayphoto

It’s always special to meet people with whom you have been blogging with for some time.

Tammy her husband Steve and thier darling daughters

made the long trip to see us one hot Sunday day. We took them to the tractor pull and then toured the Pioneer Town privately owned by the owner of the Tractor Pull track.

They moved to Colorado a year ago http://andersonadventures.blogspot.com/2009/04/final-post-of-day.html from Wisconsin. For Tammy it was a sort of coming home and a new adventure for Steve.

Meeting new friends for the first time in person is really special! But after all the times of blogging it feels like they are old friends.

Linda

Momma Deer and the First Cutting of Hay

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Dayphoto

We had a very busy four days off, Terry got the beans harrowed off (you have to do this or the crust on the top will prevent the little beans from coming through), it’s been so hot and windy that everything has dried out all over again. Irrigating is a constant.

We celebrated Evan’s 39th birthday. Gosh I’m getting old, Shannon is 41, Evan 39, Kimi 35 and Misty 32 where does time go?

Memorial Day we took flowers to graves, looked at where our family plots are and celebrated

With lots of food and family and cooking.

Tuesday, Terry cut the hay…first cutting of the year

The ditch rider came by and locked the gate on our headgate. The spring run off is over so any extra water is done for the year. If it stays as hot and windy as it has been we will be changing water every 10 hours instead of 12. We do get a reprive every once in awhile when a cold front blows through, but that doesn’t last long.

Of course now that the hay has been cut we want the hot weather to stay and rain to come again some other day. 🙂

The following Archaeological Rock Art I call “Momma Deer”. The white chip-like markes are from people vandalising the ‘sign’ by shooting it with guns.

I have several furlough days in June, but I get to work on my yard (and do some things I can’t get done when I’m getting a pay check ). It all works out in the end.

Linda

Everything is Now in the Ground

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Dayphoto

Planting is done for the year.

These are Bill Zee pinto beans. By the end of the growing season they will be heading to someone’s cooking pot.

This is my corner of the field, where the garden usually sets– four rows from the top of the field to the bottom.

But NOT this year!

I’ve cut back when the wind beat what I planted to death. Now it’s all planted to sweet corn…well only 2 rows and only half-way down the field.

I graciously let Terry have the rest of the field for pinto beans. He graciously planted my sweet corn with his planter…we are both happy!

The tractor will weed for me and I only have to pick and can it.

Not a bad trade off!

Linda

The New Project

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Dayphoto

A 1948 Willy’s Jeep

Pretty Cool, isn’t it!!!

It’s one year older than me!

Linda

Four Days of High Winds

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Dayphoto

What a long weekend, four days of very strong, 50-60 m.p.h. wind hit our area A.G.A.I.N.!!

This sure has been a hard spring for wind.

My poor garden plants didn’t survive. I tried covering them, but the wind blew off the covers. I guess I will settle for just stuff growing in my yard instead of the garden spot in the field. I will just turn the garden spot into a sweet corn patch and be done, sweet corn is always good.