Beans are Planted —Now for Cutting Hay

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Dayphoto

The smoke from the fires is still thick here. You can see it all around even close to you. I can not imagine what it would be like to be in the midst of the fire itself. This is bad enough.

First Terry opens the field

Then Misty cuts while Terry watches

Then on her own.

This is not an easy machine to drive since you don’t use a stirring wheel, but

levers!

One field down. One more to go. But first the corn has to be cultivated and the rows packed so the water can be set in it.

The smoke filled canyons

Watching the setting sun through the smoke.

Linda

Indian Scout Homesteads at Harts Basin; Valley Still Yields Artifacts (May 1958)

Wind, Smoke, Alfalfa and Planting Beans

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Dayphoto

The ground is at the right moisture for planting the last of this years crop…the pinto beans

It will take Terry about two days get the pinto bean fields planted.

Of course everything always comes together at the same time

The alfalfa has just the right amount of bloom to be cut.

First things first. First the pinto beans, then on Monday or Tuesday the alfalfa will be cut. It take alfalfa about a week in hot drying weather to turn into hay. Then there is the baling the stacking and the hay customers.

We really like our hay customers, everyone that comes out is fun to see again. Terry also sells his hay to the Delta Elevator.

The smoke you see blowing in is from the fires in Utah and Arizona. It’s always sad that summer has to bring with it forest fires.

Anyway, I’m glad its summer!

Linda

Fish Laws and First Wardens in Delta County

The Last Day of Work

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Dayphoto

Friday was my last day at work.

We have a new Director so he asked me if I would be interested in coming in on Friday instead of Monday as my last day of work.

I said SURE!

Today is the start of the rest of my newly retired life!

Linda

A bit about Paonia

The Beauty of “Old Glory”

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Dayphoto

The girls and I decorated graves yesterday and stayed for the VFW Memorial service. Always a moving time. I can never see or hear Taps and not think of those who gave thier lives to keep us free…

Linda

Sunday May 29, 2011

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Dayphoto

Outside of irrigating there wasn’t a lot we could do on Sunday. The wind was horrible..two days of hard wind. Blowing in gusts from 45 to 80 miles and hour. You have to walk bent over just to make it across the ditch bank.

We lost some of the shingles off the chicken house and some tin off the cow shed. They can all be fixed, nothing like what others have had to go through.

Anyway, we decided to take a little ride up on the plateau to see what the snow melt looked like (which reminds me the weather sites say this wind is being caused from melting snow and warm air-I’ll be glad when it stablizes).

We met water going up. The rivers are running full-wide and scary. Creeks are full and roaring, water in lots of places that will just be a memory come July.

The cattle have not be allowed to enter public lands as of yet, still to wet. But the grass was starting to look good on top.

The wind was bad up there also. But not like down in the valleys.

This is what it looked like on our way back down. Wind full of dirt.

The road we were on is call Cottonwood road (501) Terry says it really needs to be called dry as a bone road. 🙂

Even so, some of the wild flowers were starting to bloom.

It’s still blowing today, but the sky is blue. It’s also cold. 80+ yesterday and only around 60 today.

Tomorrow this is suppose to out of here and then the heat settles in.

I still enjoy this time of year lots better than winter. I really don’t even mind the wind, but when the long dark dreary days of winter comes … I just endure.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Linda

Austin E. Miller

Odd Cloud

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Dayphoto

I wasn’t sure what I was looking upon….

A jet stream,

Maybe…

(More than likely)

Linda

Big Cattle Spreads in Delta County

And Then I Saw ……………………..

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Dayphoto

Our corn is looking good

The wind rose up and brought in another batch of rain clouds and rain

Irigating in the rain is really not fun.

But before we were done it looked like the storms were leaving the area.

As the storms left I saw it…a little rainbow!

We woke up to beautiful blue skies this morning and a world smelling fresh and clean.

June 6th is rapidly coming. My assistant has been picked to be my replacement at the Paonia Campus, which is just wonderful. She and I have always worked well together. I wish her lots of luck.

All of my other administrative duties for the main campus have been added to two other administrators work load.

Since I have several days of vacation time left to take, after today, I will only have two more days of work. I wake up worrying at night that I’ve forgotten something that I do or have done in my seventeen years of work, something I need to tell people how to handle. Oh, well, I’ll give them my phone number and they can call me if they really get stuck.

So just like the storms leaving our area, my years of working are rapidly passing down to just days

It has been good.

I look forward to whatever the rest of my life holds.

Linda

$50 for a Wormy Apple

One Thing about Storms

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Dayphoto

They CAN produce beautiful sunsets!

It’s raining here, but the weather man says we are going to warm up this weekend. That will be very good. The farmers are all having trouble with the crops, too much rain (and wind), the ground is still cold, and the irrigation water has been cut back a month too early.

Oh, well…that’s how some years go.

Linda

Delta County Highlights During Year 1908

May 22, 2011

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Dayphoto

Mornings are still cold, so I get up before Terry, start the fire and by the time 5:30 rolls around the house is toasty warm.

Sure seems late in the year for a morning fire, June is hovering just around the corner.

By the evening it has warmed up enough we have shed our jackets and can work in shirt sleeves. Then those storms you see gathering in the background make it to us and we are cold and wet again.