Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Happy Easter to Each and Everyone of You — Sunday, April 17, 2022
15
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
The Adventures of TLC Cai-Cai on Friday —How it all Begins, Friday, April 15, 2022
It all begins with snow. Lots and lots of snow.
That snow then melts way, way up there in the high, high mountains. Taylor Park Reservoir is owned and managed by the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users.
(I don’t really know these things, but Mom does, so I’m letting Mom write this for a little bit. TLC Cai-Cai)
The melted snow, which turns into water, flows all the way down to the Blue Mesa Reservoir whereby it then flows into all the canals, which water all the farms along the way from here to there.
Uncompahgre Valley Water Users has one storage dam, several diversion dams, 128 miles of canals, 438 miles of laterals, and 216 miles of drains.
Now that Mom told you that…I’ll tell you, come to Spring. The Ditch Riders open the canal so Dad and lots of other farmers can get water onto their farms and start irrigation.
That means my days of catching mice IN the canal are over.
(Ditch riders burning the trash in the ditches)
Water—this is the life-blood and the backbone of the farm
(cleaning out the trash)
(Trash heading to the bridge on a wave of water)
Lots of muscle to keep from flooding
Through the bridge!
A Big Day is the day the canal is open!
TLC Cai-Cai
Working in Wind and Wind and More Wind — Thursday, April 14, 2022
Terry and I spent time working in a most terrible wind (60 m.p.h. gusts)
We had to get the siphon tubes out and the ditches, sorta kinda cleaned because it was time to start the water.
Hair flung so high I look like I could take off
Then the storm arrived so the next morning we moved water (running water) with ice on it.
Baby, it’s cold!
BRRR!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
The Adventures of TLC Cai-Cai on Wednesday —The Back Bone and Life Blood of the Farm, Wednesday, April 13, 2022
The backbone of the farm is not Dad—although, he does put lots of backbone into making the farm what it is. Nor is it, Mom. Mom doesn’t make the farm go; she helps Dad make the farm go. Mom says there is a difference.
The backbone isn’t the land, the land IS the farm.
Nor is it the seeds, fertilizer, or crops. Those are extensions OF farming.
The backbone isn’t animals with backbones…we all have backbones, so living breathing things don’t count as the farm’s backbone.
The Back Bone and the Life Blood of the Farm is WATER!
It takes Water to make the farm and it takes water to make the farm grow so for this last series of FARMING—We are going to learn all about water on the farm!
TLC Cai-Cai
Who are Those, Ethel? —- Tuesday, April 12, 2022
“This hunting for bugs is fun, Skitter Bug!”
“Yes! Bugs and a nice fluff in the dirt, Ethel.”
“WAIT! ETHEL! WHO ARE THOSE BIRDS?”
“WOW, Skitter I don’t know!!!”
“RUN!! RUN INTO THE HOUSE, ETHEL! DANGER!!!”
ETHEL! DANGER!!!”
“No. Not danger. Just some big birds stopping by for a rest. Which I think we need to do. Rest in the dirt and the sun……………..zzzzzzzzzzzzzz”
“Oh. Nothing to worry about then. Back to looking for bugs.”
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
When the Work Starts to Over-Whelm —- Monday, April 11, 2022
When the workload starts to over-whelm
And exhaustion starts to murmur and whisper
Then begins thrumming throughout your body
Then it’s time
To give yourself a little treat.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Each Day Brings Something Different — Sunday, April 10, 2022
Spring is here now
Bringing to us a different type of day
On a daily basis.
Sometimes the morning feels like we are still in Winter
Then after a long day of Spring-time work
Our bodies feel like we’ve joined a gym
A gym that requires you to move at top speed
Gradually, gradually the last bit of winter is leaving
The plowing is now finished
The rolling, the leveling done
Terry and I cleaned ditches yesterday
Then while he worked on the land
I raked and cleaned in my yard
So, the work will hitch up another notch
When we start the water on the land.
Soon, probably Monday or Tuesday, depending on how much we get done.
Our simple life…but well treasured.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
The Adventures of TLC Cai-Cai on Friday —Farm Life Series, Chapter 9, BUGS, Friday, April 8, 2022
We have BUGS!
Sometimes I try to catch them.
Sometimes I try to eat them.
We have bugs of all sorts: crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, ants, and spiders.
- We have:
FLIES—flies I try to kill! I chase them, I pounce on them, I swat them—there are all sorts of flies: house flies, horse flies, deer flies, biting flies, blowflies, fat flies, skinny flies we got them.
They all buzz, bite, and get in your ears! ALL OF THEM!
You know what? They don’t get in my ears! Nope, but they do get in the equine’s ears and in the dogs’ ears. I don’t know why they don’t bother cats, but they don’t.
Heheheh.
- Mosquitoes—monsters, each and every one of them!
- Gnats—Mom and Dad think these are the most obnoxious, annoying, creatures. They can even chase Mom and Dad on their four-wheelers. (Right along with the giant Horse Flies)
- Giant Horse Flies and slender little horse flies. These winged monsters eat anything walking around with warm blood in it. And they will chase you down to get the blood.
- Wasps—Mom is very allergic to these and Honey bees. Their harpoons have been known to knock Mom down and out. Until the Benadryl kicks in and she can get her get-up and go going again.
Well, I think we covered all our wildlife,
what a farm is,
how to live and
work on a farm…
I think the next and last thing I’m going to talk to you about is the life-blood of the farm.
WATER!
So, see you soon!
TLC Cai-Cai
I Was Sent a Heart —- Thursday, April 7, 2022
I received a very nice gift in my email—
“I think of you whenever I find one; the photo is yours to use any way you wish.
I like that we share the heart rock connection. I have always looked for them!”
Marianne
Look at this perfect heart. She said it was frozen solid to the ground and not moving, so she photographed it instead.
Photos are perfect!
Gosh, I am blessed with so many lovely friends!
My heart goes to each and every one of you!
Linda
The Adventures of TLC Cai-Cai on Wednesday —Farm Life Series, Chapter8, Those Things that SLITHER and Hop, Wednesday, April 6, 2022
First, there are
SNAKES!!
(this is a snakeskin)
We have two kinds, that Mom and I know of
(This is a bull snake. Photo is by Linda Pierson in Alberta, Canada)
Bull Snakes and Water Snakes.
Bull Snakes are non-poisonous…they can get BIG…Long…and they are fast. Mom and Dad see them, once in a while in the alfalfa fields, but Mom said they haven’t seen one for a long time now. She doesn’t know why.
Then we have
WATER SNAKES! They live here, there, everywhere. We have them in the farmyard, on the ditch banks…in the fields.
Mom has two that live in the hen house with the hens. I see them once in a while when I’m in the hen house.
They don’t bother anything, but the mice. One snake can eat one mouse a week.
They seem to eat everything whole, so if you are in the hen house and see a snake with a bulge in its tummy then you know said snake was helping me keep the mouse population down.
That said—they do scare me a bit and I have seen Mom jump a little jump when one of the snakes comes slithering out from under the nest boxes.
Mom and Dad try to take care of the water snakes, if they are laying on the bridge taking in the sun and the warm cement…then one of them shoos the snake off the bridge so the vehicle can drive on over.
If there is a snake on one of the farm roads – yep, Dad or Mom takes a shovel and lifts the snake off into the weeds so the tractor or four-wheeler can pass by.
Snakes. Fuzzy hated snakes, he would shake and snap them to death. Me…I just go the other way.
Other Things that are a creepy factor to them are:
Lizards—we have little greenish-gray lizards with strips along
It’s back and sides…I think they are called—six-lined race runner. I call them “FUN TO CATCH!” which is exactly what I try to do when I see one!
Frogs and Toads:
We don’t have lots of frogs
Once in a while, one or two will float down in the irrigation water,
but that’s all.
What we do have lots of are toads.
Mom LOVES toads.
She has little toad houses for them.
She tells me to leave the toads alone
She tells me to leave the toads alone they eat lots of bugs.
Mom doesn’t have to worry about that…they don’t even look good enough to chase.
TLC Cai-Cai
Life on a Colorado Farm 