Happy Easter! And Happy Spring! — Sunday, April 12, 2020

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Dayphoto

I had a most wonderful experience…my second time to Face Time with a blog friend from way, way far away.

Julie, from Frog Pond Farm in New Zealand and her husband…had a wee chat with Terry and I, Thursday evening.

Julie has been a faithful reader for many years now, finally meeting her face to face was a huge and wonderful delight.

I love how this technology has opened up the world-wide world to each of us in very unique and wonderful ways.

So here I am, on Sunday, Easter Morning, wishing for each and every one of you a glorious

And Marvelous Easter near and far

And, if Easter isn’t part of your celebrations, then I wish for you a most marvelous and wonderful Spring!

Your friends on a western Colorado farm,

Linda, Terry, Boomer, and Mindy-Cat

The Adventures of Mindy on Friday—April 10, 2020

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Dayphoto

“Hey! Boomer! Hey! Whats’ya doing?” I hollered at Boomer.

“Umm…Nothing!” Boomer replied as he headed down into the dark side of the bridge.

“Come on I know you are up to something.”

“AAAAA, Not really”

“YES, YOU ARE! WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR MOUTH?”

“Ah, ummm, a wee snack…that’s all.”

“YUCK! You like the nasty’s stuff!”

“Slurp, chew, slobber. Spoken by a cat who eats MICE!”

Light, Lively, Alive, and There For Us to See —-Thursday, April 9, 2020

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Dayphoto

Well, here you see what happens when trash comes down the canal, lands in the headgate and then comes onto the land

Everything plugged up and flooded all things it shouldn’t

What a mess…Now, this field will have to dry out BEFORE work can begin on it.

While we were sorting out the trash, moving dams, setting up dams and tubes I noticed the leveler (landplane) waiting silently and calmly for its turn (again) — this is an early morning shot

I thought the sunlight treading its way over the sky (this was around noon) lite up the brown manured filled ground perfectly

Then, as the day wore into the evening, where shadows stretched long and wide, I noticed how pretty the leveler looked so strikingly green as the sun started its relaxed downward turn toward the Uncompahgre Plateau.

The slow-spreading shadows of light—seeping onto the ancient land.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

For Just a Beat of the Heart—-April’s Pink Moon — Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Dayphoto

We were out setting the water for the last time of the day when I happened to glance to the East

There I glimpsed the Pink Moon of April showing itself behind the Paonia mountains

I had to hurry and get my camera out, for the Moon was rising as if a rush of wind was pushing up, up, up

It truly looked pink–coloring the moon-scape and outlining the moon

The sudden burst of moonlight, in the very quickly growing dark

Spelled contentment (in this soon to be cornfield).

We were patiently working in a moon beamed dream.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

A Sparkle which Really is Brilliance— Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Dayphoto

Terry is checking the moisture in the furrows—we want the water to sub over under the top of the soil, deep inside of the furrow

You can see the top of the soil showing wet

It seems simple, doesn’t it? And in theory, it is; in practice, it takes lots of monitoring and paying close attention

Sometimes you can walk out on a dry looking row and suddenly sink right up to your ankles…sigh.

The water running beneath the dam is good…this is the water going to the next field — if the water was coming over the top of the dam we would need to start more tubes

The brilliant rays of sunlight on the furrows, in one of the alfalfa fields

It was so pretty, the glow of the rays, the sparkle of the water, the rich green of the alfalfa plants coming together in a perfect way.

Then when I looked up, in the bluest of blue skies, a sweet little bird flew over-head

The work is hard, still nothing to hide from,

I truly could not ask for more.

From my world to your heart,

Linda

Inspiring and Amazing, Swirls of Light —- Monday, April 6, 2020

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Dayphoto

I’ve been wanting to show you this for sometime

But Friday’s with Boomer came first, then the start of the water on the farm came second

But one-day last week we had rain

Which is an essential part of spring, bringing vitality to all growing things (and mud, but that is a very different story than this one)

What I wanted to share with you is this!

As the sunset, the mist created by the rain was the color of rose

I have never been blessed to see such a sight in all my life

The whole hazy effect was very enchanting. Even when the rainy mist turned into shadows.

What a joy! What a blessing!

From my world to your heart,

Linda

The Sound of Water —- Sunday, April 5, 2020

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Dayphoto

After Terry marked out (put furrows) the cornfields, and the alfalfa fields

He made all the earth ditches, which carry the water onto the fields

Then he went back to the bottom each and every field to make the shallow waste ditch….this is the ditch, which catches the water, then moves the water to the next field or to the canal.

Then it was time for us to start the water onto the land. You are looking at Terry opening the headgate and the water starting into the headgate

The water starts down the cement ditch where the trash is forked out by Terry and me

There is always lots and lots of trash; thanks to the cows (it gets caught in their hooves) and the wind.

There are lots of cement ditches on our place, so lots of forking out of the trash.

I always think how grateful I am for my arm muscles and for the ability to straddle the cement ditch — still, at my age. 🙂

Now we start setting the siphon tubes. (See that pooling of water—not good, we have to go out there and dig the furrow out and dam up the spots where the water broke out.)

There is no wasting of the water. Ever. Please don’t think that. We water several fields all at the same time…water that runs by one field is put on another field, the water that goes to the end of the field goes onto another field.

And we work at it constantly. Water checks every two hours to make sure nothing is happening, which shouldn’t be happening—like trash in the ditch causing the water to spill over the side, or trash in the furrow causing two (or more furrows) to run together, or trash in a tube stopping the water altogether.