All the crops are looking good!
What a joyous blessing to see!
Your friend on a western Colorado Farm
Linda
Baby Alfalfa—-Sunday, June 26, 2016
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Category Archives: Life on a Colorado Farm
The Adventures of Boomer on Friday—Farm News
I thought I would show you some of the things I’M interested in…you know the real NEWS of the farm. The very stuff that makes the whole place tick…MY sorta thing.
We have lots of raccoons…they are pretty brazen little creatures; coming right into the yard at night. RIGHT IN!!! I peal out of the back door and run howling after them (sometimes). Well, not lately…running anywhere is out the question. Although, my knee is coming along. I can trot on it a few paces, lots better than a week ago.
There is always the going to and fro and back again. I like those times…Mom picks me up and places me on the four-wheeler right behind her and we are OFF!
Morning, noon, mid-afternoon, and late evening (plus sometimes way in the night) then off we go.
I always get the same old boring talk when we get to wherever we are going: “No, rolling in anything nasty, Boomer. Remember if you do you have to sleep outside in your dog house”. Then she picks up both of my long, flappy ears and brings them to the side of my head, when she does that I always think I must look like a bird or something. Then she looks me right in the eyes and says: “You come when I call or you hear the four-wheeler start. If you don’t you will have to walk all the way back in by yourself.” With that she gives me a kiss on my very cute and loveable beagle nose and carefully lowers me to the ground. Mom is very careful to put my front legs down first then my back legs. I appreciate Mom!
As soon as I’m down I OFF!
Hummm, sniff, snuff…yep…raccoon’s washing their dinner off. For some reason they like soggy food. Ick!
Sniff, sniff…
OH! OH!
As we were going home, when it was almost dark we saw a buck! I haven’t seen any deer, so far, but here is one of the bucks! Dad says there is a doe and a fawn up on the Sagebrush Hill, but I haven’t seen or smelled them yet. Although, to be honest I haven’t made it up that far…soon though, after the old knee gets better.
Anyway…this buck isn’t even afraid of me or Mom or Dad. Mom says we are his people (and dog). She says he has probably been born here and lived here all his life and knows we aren’t going to do anything to him.
Mom always likes to see the sunset…last night the sunset was on the water in the irrigation ditch. She told Dad and me it was beautiful.
Just as it was about time to leave one field to go to another field to set the water I FOUND IT!
Yes! I DID!
OH THE JOY!
OH THE WONDER!
Forgetting everything Mom admonished me with I zoomed over and gave myself a huge roll in something really stinky and nasty! IT WAS DELIGHTFUL!
Brought a huge smile to my face! HUGE!
Did I have to sleep outside? Ummm, well, yes. But, OH WELL! It was hot inside anyway and the roll SO WORTH IT!!
Boomer
P.S. Sadly I got a bath this morning.
Spring Work is Winding Down—Thursday, June 23, 2016
The header is the photo of the flat lands, our cows LOVED being up there and just hanging out. We like to go to the Rocky Point and ‘take a break’, there is something really restful about this part of the farm.
We call spring work—everything that must be done until the tractor can’t get in there anymore. After that we just irrigate, until harvest time.
Summer work is irrigation
Fall is harvest, although, the corn harvest the last couple have years has been way into winter. Still we consider it fall, until the corn is in.
This is the last cultivation of this field—I call it the Middle Field, Terry calls it by it’s acres.
Cultivation has to stop when the corn is as tall as the bottom of the tractor’s little wheels, to try to run the tractor down after that will result in killing the growing corn.
No more tractor work on this field. The next time something big is on this field will be the combine at harvest time.
This field has a little more growing to go, then it will be done.
The pinto beans are looking GOOD! There is still tractor work–cultivation–on these little guys, but it will stop once the plants are bushy. With this heat it won’t that long.
Our alfalfa hay is getting up to eight leaves. (I forgot to take a photo of it)
Then, of course, there are always those things that tend to slow ya down… (The tractor making the ditch slipped off and got stuck.
It didn’t take long to get him out. Just a little slow down.
Then back to the house I go!
Your friend on a farm in western Colorado 🙂
Linda
A Gift of Sunlight—Wednesday, June 22, 2016
The day wore on, yesterday, the heated air hot and heavy.
bearing down on us and the land.
The sun gradually climbing higher and higher in the sky- taking from us any bit of shade.
By noon the shadows were gone, the heat ringed us in, and sat brooding, like a bad mood.
Then a blessing of a thin rush of air — first in starts and stops, then in little puffs, swelling in strength strong enough to cause the towels drying, on the line, to flap and fling themselves over the other wires full of clothes
The air cooled, as clouds rolled in, first in the east, then the south, finally in the west.
All the while the wind rose and fell whispering secrets to the earth; to those creatures and objects that can understand.
There was a hint of thunder a splattering of rain enough to rinse the air clean.
Boomer and I walked out upon the farm, hoping to see a rainbow.
Instead a shock of sunlight splashed in the north, for just a few minutes, leaving the world reborn.
From my heart to your world.
Linda
The Summer Solstice —-Tuesday, June 21, 2016
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. THe sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.”—Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tracy and TIb
It has been hot here. Very hot! The thermometer read 106* yesterday around four o’clock in the afternoon. And supposed to be even warmer today.
I love the heat! Yes! Really I do. Although…. walking outside is like pushing aside those heavy curtains on stages…the ones usually made of red velvet with gold trim.
The air is perfumed with the incense of rose.
This morning sunrise is a visible promise of more sun-heated shadows under trees and along buildings.
As the sun set, last night, the birds and insects started falling silent—until it was
just us, Terry, Boomer and I–the running water, the cooling earth
And the Strawberry Moon.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
All the Way from (Near) Rapallo, Liguria, Italy, Monday, June 20, 2016
No rainbow yet but something else that might interest you. My daughter spotted what I believe is a little Kevin Helmholtz cloud…
http://earthsky.org/earth/kelvin-helmholzt-clouds
Charlotte
(See that little wavy cloud? What a neat find)
Here you can see it better!
Charlotte from the blog, THE DAILY CURE sent me this series of cloud photos. (And a tiny little peak into the wonderful world of Italy!)
I always, always, always enjoy getting photos from you. I promise I will post them and give you credit—that way even more people can see this big, wonderful world we live in!
And I truly believe the earth, sky, and all of nature are a magical things! A treasure we only need to stop and ‘see’.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
How Neat is This—-Sunday, June 19, 2016
Last year we saw many other heavenly wonders, now this–this year!
How very blessed we are!
Your friend,
Linda
The Adventures of Boomer on Friday—It’s Summer Time
And the living is getting easy!
First things first, Mom says: “Our boy left today.” But for a small space in time I got to be petted and loved on by the two girls. The littlest one had broken the ball in her elbow and wasn’t feeling very well (they had been to camp and she fell off the top bunk during the night).
I understand about bad limbs…I blew my knee out again. It’s been taking lots of time to heal this time. Mom says it’s because I’m elderly, now, so healing takes longer.
I’ve been sleeping lots and lots so my knee WILL heal. (Mom says I’m silly sleeping like I do in the dog house. She makes me come in so I will lay flat.)
Mom rubs DMSO on it once a day. I really like how it makes my knee feel. Afterwards…like in about an hour, I usually feel good enough to go outside and do ‘doggie things’—you know sniff around and gather up all the news in the farm yard.
Yesterday Dad was gone so it was just Mom and I doing the irrigation. I actually felt good enough to go with her. I had just been wagging my tail and watching her drive off, but not today.
Today I beat her to her four-wheeler and waited for her to get there and lift me up so I could GO!
I even wanted down so I could check out everything going on, on the farm!
Mom said she was “DELIGHTED” I was feeling much better!
ME TOO!
Boomer
Time is Winding Down—Thursday, June 16, 2016
Sadly our time with Bladen is ending.
Just a few more hours left
Then his Dad will be here.
Coming back from training for School Principals in Snowmass, Colorado.
I’m not complaining. Just sad. The time went so fast.
Still I’m so very grateful for the time we have had.
He said it’s been great. He got together with all his friends from Delta. Every last one of them.
His family is moving closer to us…Kelly will be the Middle School Principal at Parachute, Colorado next year. Blade says that is only one hour and 22 minutes away.
I’ll take anything that gets them closer. Blade says he agrees!
Love,
Linda
All the Way from the Land Down Under —- Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Kate, from Australia sent to me
TWO beautiful rainbows taken at Town and Far Beaches, Mackay, north Queensland
Lucky me, lucky her, and, now, Lucky YOU!
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 