Transmission Pipe and Sunny Skies

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Dayphoto

The sun is back! Yeah for the sun! What you see ‘sparkling’ in the foreground is the sun bouncing off the old corn stalks.

Isn’t it beautiful!!!!

While I sit in a warm office, staring at a computer screen, Terry is burying, by hand a transmission pipe.

So after work he took me up the canal bank to see how much he got done.

As you can see this ditch can be a problem. The cows walk this ditch bank to come into the barn; they stomp down the edges, walk in the ditch itself and generally make a mess.

Water can be its own problem, because if you turn down a head of water and you don’t get to the end fast enough it will start to form little channels and run over the sides. THAT is something you don’t ever want to have happen. The water gets into the field or the road or back into the canal somewhere it should Not Go!

We have wanted to lay transmission pipe for some time, but as most of you know, pipe is expensive and the hand work needs to be done before water starts and after the ground thaws.

It also has to be done before the tractor work; because once the tractor work starts little jobs like this are put to the side. (The -we’ll get by another year- thought process sets in.)

Although, there was a sharp, cold, northern wind, the ground is lending itself well to hand-digging.

In a couple of days tractor work will begin. Providing it doesn’t rain.

Linda

HELP! A Dog Tried to Kill One of the Chickens!

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Dayphoto

Honey Hen here. We have had an almost murder on the farm! It was terrible I might say. Just horrible. It didn’t happen here, which I am ever so very grateful for, but it did happen down at Misty’s house.

Fuzzy had gone down to Misty’s to see how things were going.

(He stopped traveling down there for a long, long time after Checkers passed)

But he told me he missed seeing the little kids and he felt like he better help out Mom-Mom by guarding her place as well.

When he got down there he found out that a stray dog had been dumped out and was chasing chickens

Just as Fuzzy got into the yard the stray black dog got one of the black chickens in his mouth and took off down the road

Lucky for the black chicken and for Fuzzy the neighbor guy was out in his yard and saw the whole thing.

The neighbor guy took off running and caught the dog, just as he was about to have lunch.

This whole business just sends shivers up a hen’s spine don’t you know.

Well, anyway, the hen was saved, and the stray dog is also saved, he is now living with another neighbor way, way down the road, who has a fenced in yard. (And the fence is one of those things that shock the dog if he tried to leave….YEAH!)

Anyway, Fuzzy told me he was really glad the neighbor saw everything, because otherwise they might have thought he was chasing chickens.

Fuzzy says he is just too old for the utter nonsense!

Honey Hen

A Tiny Bit of Green

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Dayphoto

Taking the advice of several of you I brought a bundle of twigs from the pruned Lilac inside and placed them in a bucket of water

I am waiting for the roots to appear and then I will take them outside and plant them. But of course I can’t plant them until the weather settles and the ground warms up. At the rate we are going now, I think I can plant them on Memorial Day.

Anyway, I want to plant them on the canal bank.

This is a main artery of the canal, of which we get our irrigation water. As you can see the mad, rushing, and roaring water has a tendency to eat away the bank. (All photos were taken before the last big snow storm. The snow is gone now, melted with the rain.)

The canal runs right by our house and yard so I plant trees and bushes to protect the bank.

Since I need to cut down the ancient (un-pruned) Standard Delicious tree, the lilacs will fit on up the bank perfectly.

It is still raining here. Still muddy. And cold 41*. There is nothing we can do but wait. But just as soon as the ground is ready, every tractor in the land will be either ripping the soil or plowing.

Come on sun!

Linda

It’s Raining

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Dayphoto

The early sweet corn farmers and the onion growers are really starting to get more than concerned. Those seeds need to be in the ground next week. It’s not going to happen. We are still way too wet.

It’s all a little daunting. It’s going to take lots of sun and some wind if our crops are going to make into the ground on time.

March is sure acting Lion like!

Linda

Spring Babies

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Dayphoto

The rancher whose cows visit our farm every year, are just about done calving out. Once every cow has calved and all the calves are at least one week old, they will go to another pasture, coming back next February to calve out again.

For awhile there everyone was wearing shoes, that’s what the grandchildren call the mud that collects on their hooves

But we are dry now, there is snow clinging only to the mountains. The ground is still too wet to plow, but if the weather holds maybe next week we can begin farm work.

Momma cows give orders to their babies to stay put, so many times I can walk right up to one, if the dog isn’t with me.

But the second the Momma hollers “MOOOOOOOOOVE”, the calf does! And quickly too!

This momma gave birth to twins, on the hill where we store our equipment. So far she has proven to be a really good mom, keeping both babies and feeding them. Often time mothers of twins will abandon the weaker of the two. This one seems to really enjoy both kids.

Linda