A Big Fire—Thursday, April 9, 2015

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Dayphoto

I was looking out one of the bedroom windows Sunday afternoon, thinking how much I missed the Grandchildren (they had just left, driving away, going back to their lives in Craig) when I saw a HUGE plum of smoke break out to the north west of our place.

Just then then Misty called and said they could see a huge fire probably close to the Correctional Facility, on Sawmill Mesa road. (Five miles away from us).

Not wanting to be in the fire fighters way, we stayed home. The next afternoon we took a ride over to see the damage. It was vast. There were still firefighters mopping up hot spots…we even saw forest fire Hot Shot vehicles along with the local fire fighter trucks.

The fire was in the Colorado Escalate Wildlife Area. This is the train bridge, all of us locals call it the Black Bridge.

Later we learned that Cedaredge, Olathe, Delta, the Correctional Facility, and the Wildfire Hot Shots were all fighting this HUGE fire.

The flames were being fanned by the 40 m.p.h. winds we were having and had up until last evening around 8 p.m. The air is calm this morning.

No structures were damaged, thankfully! As for the cause of the fire…no one knows yet.

Today we start water on the place. The winds have left and a cold front has replaced it. That water is going to be cold to be putting our hands into. But no matter hot or cold the irrigation water must go on.

I leave you now to head up to the head gate with Boomer and Terry. It’s going to be a very busy day.

Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm,

Linda

Finished!—Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Dayphoto

Finally we are finished with all the gated pipe! What a long job. Although, to be fair we didn’t work at it steady, but here and there until the wind got to be too much or we got tired.

Then we would stop and go work on something else. Blade helped us lots. A thirteen year old boy really is a big help.

Thank heavens for 4-wheelers! To have to carry… by hand… all those pipe would have been over-whelming, although, when we started out farming Terry and I DID lay the pipe by hand.

Anyway, Thankfully we are finally done with the pipe. NOW next step is to mark out the alfalfa, clean the cement ditch, lay out the siphon tubes and start water! Once the water is started it won’t be turned off until harvest.

Twice a day every day (more times, if the water is short) we will change the water. Terry says moving water is just like milking a cow…twice a day no matter what! 🙂

Your friend on a western Colorado Farm,

Linda

A Wee Visit in the Middle —Monday, April 6, 2015

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Dayphoto

A phone call announced that Terry’s brother and Charlotte were in Telluride, Colorado, and would be coming our way by two or so in the afternoon. They were traveling from Gilbert, Arizona, back to Birmingham, Alabama taking the scenic route. 🙂

They were here a very short time, but we did enjoy them very much.

Today our lives settle back into our regular routines. I don’t know about you, but I do so enjoy routines. I always feel like I get a lot done if I have a system. Otherwise I feel scattered and pulled.

Terry is making ditches and marking out the alfalfa field. It was fertilized this morning in the pre-dawn, BEFORE the wind starts blowing this afternoon. We will start the water in that field either this evening or first thing tomorrow morning.

This afternoon I will be working down at the other house in the yard and up here in my yard. Sure seems to be lots to do this time of year. (But you know something, I’m loving every minute of it! 🙂 )

Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm,

Linda

A Little of This and a Little of That—Sunday, April 5, 2015

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Dayphoto

The eclipse was really cool to watch the other night. Because we are way out in the country, and we live down a country lane, we don’t sleep with our curtains or drapes pulled. On full moon nights the moon beams stream into the bedroom right onto the bed and in my eyes. Therefore, I was awake and ready to watch the Super Moon be eclipsed.

The eclipsed started close to five in the morning…turning a dull brick red around six or so. We never had a full eclipse because the sun started coming up before the moon could be completely covered.

That’s okay…I enjoyed watching every minute of what we had anyway.

The kids got all their Easter eggs dyed ready for the big hunt today. It was fun having an egg dyeing party once more in my kitchen. It’s been a long time since the last time eggs were dyed here. 🙂

We’ve had several nights of freezing weather—I’m sure the apricots are gone, and now the pears. The plums, sour cherries and the apples just might make it this year, but only time will tell. Still the blooms on the pear trees are pretty.

Easter morning is beautiful. Today is our last day with the kids, they will go back to Craig, Colorado, late this afternoon. But first we (all of our daughters and son-in-laws and grandchildren and even Jason’s Dad) are all going to the Uncompahgre Plateau for an Easter Picnic.

I am wishing for each of you a marvelous and wonderful day today!

Happy Easter my Friends!

Linda

CANAL is FULL!–Thursday, April 2, 2015

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Dayphoto

Yesterday was a very busy day and full of lots of new things.

First rattle out of the box I saw a sundog or sunshine on ice crystals in the sky. Sundogs mean cold weather is coming…and SOON!

Today is cold. It’s supposed to get colder, then by Sunday (Easter Day) we will start another slow warm-up.

Around noon the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users worker bees showed up (Ditch Riders), which meant the canal was filling up with water. The above photo show us the HUGE amount of trash which collects in the canals over winter.

Above this tree is our ditch rider, in a backhoe, trying to take out as much of the trash as he can so the bridge will carry the water.

You can see by this photo that the trash is thinning down.

There clean…sorta!

Then I saw this on a blog friend’s site and thought it was cool. I also thought all you would find it interesting (if you don’t already know).

Sota makes a person wonder if a big change really is about to happen, doesn’t it?

We are supposed to have high winds this afternoon (to blow in the cold front) and then again on Saturday and possibly Sunday to blow out this cold front.

Off now to keep working on my yard…what a huge mess it is this year. I hope each and everyone of you have a really nice day!

Your friend,

Linda

Greening Up—Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Dayphoto

Terry is leveling the farm ground, even as I write. We are getting closer and closer to starting water.

Speaking of water the irrigation company is supposed to start our canal–The Ironstone– sometime this week. It is the last canal on the system to get water. Putting water into a canal is a HUGE project, it takes several men and a back hoe, because of the trash collected into the canal over the winter. Canals are gigantic transmission ditches, from the head gates of the reservoirs way above us –Blue Mesa and Taylor. The transmission canals move into smaller lateral canals which then flow onto farms for irrigation water.

Our main canal is the Iron Stone, but we live and receive water on the FNC lateral. Today, or no later than Friday the water will be in the FNC lateral, the Uncompahgre Water Company worker bees–called Ditch Riders– will be following the water through our canal taking out the huge amounts of trash.

This is ALWAYS an exciting event for me! (Silly as this sounds, I like changing and setting the water.) For Terry it means hurry, rush, get done, because we need to be getting the fields wet…time is marching on.

The first field we will start the water on (OH! MY! GOODNESS! I just remembered we still have two gated pipe to fix) is the alfalfa field. It’s greening up nicely and is ready for a huge growth spurt once we get the water on the field.

The little family is still here…YAY! Tonight we will have at least Blade and maybe one or two of the girls spending the night. I’m absorbing as much of them as I can. 🙂

Off to work in the yard..I’m tried of looking at a drab and winter weary yard!

Your Friend,

Linda

My Little Project—Sunday, March 29, 2015

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Dayphoto

Finally my little project is done! After we took out the two unused chimney’s in the other house I had piles and piles of bricks. (All made by the Brick Factory in Delta eons ago. :))

Not only did I have piles and piles of bricks, I had piles and piles of bricks complete with cement still stuck to them. AND they were piled in front of the propane tank, which meant I really had to do something with them quickly.

So gradually every day, I would chip off cement– load the bricks into the wheelbarrow, and push them to their new spot in my yard.

It was a long slog, but I made it.

I now have brick walkways between my flower beds which reside along side of the entrance of our farm…all laided out on weed barrier and sand. My hope is this will keep the weeds down and my need to have to chop weeds between the beds GONE FOREVER!

It looks pretty rough right now, but over time I think everything will soften up. The plants will green up and fill in and cover over some of the bricks, making the lines not so harsh. Then the bricks themselves will settle. The wind will bring in dirt and fill in the cracks.

That’s my hope anyway!

The Craig, Colorado, kids are here. They came in yesterday. It was pure joy to look across the fields and see a light on in that house.

Two of the grandchildren spent the night with us, Blade and Tally…the oldest and the youngest. Which reminds me Bladen has a blog now…it’s a cooking blog. This grandson of ours loves to cook—pretty interesting for a 13 year old boy, I think. He is also very active in sports: football, basketball, and track, plus top of his class in academics. Gosh did this sound like bragging…I guess a tad. Please forgive me.

We are warming up. Today it’s supposed to hit 80* (26 c) YAY!

Anyway, I hope each of you have a great day!

Your friend,

Linda

A Cold Front Moved Through—Wednesday, March 26, 2015

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Dayphoto

A very chilly cold front moved through our region yesterday, complete with freezing temperatures this morning. We will have a steady warm-up after tonight, but right now it’s still cold.

The wind was very strong, 30 m.p.h gusts! Most of the apricot blooms have landed on the ground or turned brown on the trees—if we have apricots this year I will be surprised.

I worked down at the little house all morning…dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, cleaning…come Saturday the kids from Craig, Colorado, will be home to spend 9 days in the little house. I will start a fire in the wood stove tomorrow and keep it going until they get here on Saturday…a nice clean, toasty warm house to spend Spring Break.

The tree house will once again have life in it, and the swing in the front yard will fly through the air with little kids upon it.

I will stand outside and hear (again) the joyful laughter of delighted children at play. Off and on there will be grandchildren walking over to see us…to check out the snacks (prepared just for them, but they won’t know that), hang out with either Grandpa or myself, maybe climb into our tree, or see if Grandpa will either take them for a ride, or let Blade —now age 13–drive the 4-wheeler, so they can ride.

9 full days…9 full days! What a delightful thought.

Easter Sunday all our children and their mates will come for Easter dinner and a egg hunt.

This Grammy’s heart is sure to to be full unto bursting!

Your very excited friend,

Linda

My Eighth Year of Blogging–Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Dayphoto

This month I have been blogging for eight years! Over that time I’ve learned much about blogging…the first posts were so dismal…I just posted a photo with the word (for instance) Terry plowing and under the photo I wrote–plowing.

Over time I began to understand how to blog so it was at least a tad more interesting. 🙂

Although, this started out as a farming blog, in reality it really hasn’t changed much. It still is a farming blog, but it is also a tiny peak into our lives and the lives of the animals that live with us on the farm.

You get to see the struggles, and the successes. Yesterday we worked on ONE of the broken gated pipes (we still have two more to go).

DONE!

You’ve met our children, and our grand children and all the dog grandchildren.

You cried along with me over the loss of my Fuzzy.

And now you are reading a fictional serial with Boomer as the Star.

I have grown older in the eight years

and so has Terry. Every year he says he is going to stop farming…then comes Spring and he begins again. This year he said: “I guess I really can’t stop, I think my blood is really made of dirt”. We had a big laugh at that, but you know something, it just might be true. 🙂

Anyway, thank you, each and everyone of you, those who comment and those who just drop by and visit for a spell. I appreciate you…it makes blogging extra fun.

Very humbly, your friend on a farm in western Colorado,

Linda

Rolling Along—Monday, March 23, 2015

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Dayphoto

Terry has started rolling down the plowed earth. Thankfully the rain and the sun and the wind did not damage to the soil. By damage I mean it didn’t cause our clay type of soil to turn into bricks, ready to be fired. 🙂
It’s always nice to see the soil smooth out and start to look like a seed bed. He will still have to level the field, fertilize, and then mark it out. We always irrigate before we plant–it’s called ‘wet planting’. Some of the farmers around here do ‘dry planting’, which means they plant first then water.

We have also been moving the gated pipe around, we had three pipe break over the winter so now we have to do some adjusting.

You can see the broken pipe on the left, we will set this good pipe in it’s place. (One down two more to go 🙂

We have to have the pipe set before the fields are done with the tractor work—-everything has to be in place to start the water…time is moving along fast now. By the first week in April we hope to have the water on the land.

Our weekend was outstanding! The whole family from Craig, Colorado was here, then on Sunday we were (all) the two sets of kids and their spouses, the Craig family, Terry and I were at our son-in-law’s 43 birthday party. Good food and family, really who could ask for more?