We were sitting on a soccer field Saturday, when Terry noticed one of the lights had a giant nest on top.
As the game played out we kept an eye on the nest seeing the little head of the chick inside.
Suddenly an Osprey parent was there, the chirps from the chick were so loud we could hear them over the shouting on the field.
Then (after the food had been passed to the little one) the parent took flight —off to find more food.
It was a glorious site to behold.
Love,
Linda
I finally finished this HUGE project. It took me months to complete!
Whew!
Love,
Linda
After winter we are back in the world of ‘real’ leaving behind that time of dreaming…of planning—a sort of make-believe time, whereby we think of all the things we want to do ‘come spring’.
Saturday Terry got the two new culverts put in and under the driveway. These culverts carry the water from the neighboring fields under our road back into the canal, on it’s way to the other farms below us.
The Red-Winged Blackbirds have decided to live in our thicket of trees and ‘hunt’ along the grass of our lawn…filling our days with restless and constant movement and joyful songs.
Although, the morning air still has the collected cool from the night before I open all my windows giving myself the gift of their songs.
The days are changing rapidly now…more warmth is arriving on the land. And the wind…the wind has come (also)…starting as early as mid-morning; stopping after the sunsets.
It will be this way until all the snow is melted on the Uncompahgre Plateau. By the first of June the wind will have died and the Plateau will be alive with spring flowers and….PEOPLE!
Finally, after last light, we are home. That welcoming refuge of strength and serenity, the soft glow of a few lights, as we settle down for an hour of exquisite delightful relaxation—Terry with a favorite TV show and I with some hand sewing.
Even with all the ‘stuff’ to do….I am so grateful and thankful for the coming of Spring!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
The rhythm of our life
The Joy upon our faces and
the sunshine on the land
Morning, noon, and night.
This is the rhythm of our days
The rhythm of the land
The daily rhythm
Even in the way dark of the night
We spend it chasing water
This is the rhythm of our lives!
(Pretty bad, but I couldn’t get that song the Rhythm of the Night out of my head—tee hee)
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Easter Sunday was really, really nice. Full of those things that break us out of the gray shroud and bring us forth into the Golden Light of Love.
All our children, those wonderful grandchildren, plus Ivy and Norm, came for an Easter Day Meal. We ate, hunted to Easter eggs (adults and teenager also), played games, enjoyed each other, ate…..then, suddenly, it was time to go home.
Terry and I looked at each other and told ourselves—this is what living is all about.
Cherished in the heart of love and (and for Terry and I) farming!
Love,
Linda
We went through a long spell of chilled nights last week, resulting in the thinning out of the pears and possibly the prunes and plums. Which is alright, as fruit must be thinned to produce large sized fruit.
But the last two evenings and days seem to have moved into a much nicer contrast of warmer temperatures.
We are gradually getting the corn ground wet—Terry wet plants. What that means is he waters everything up first….wet clear through—called subbed over. Then the ground sets for a few days drying out. After it reaches a certain point in dryness he will go in with the planter and plant the corn.
While that field dries out we move the water to another field. The water flows non-stop until harvest now. This field, that field, always moving and changing. (Just so you know the water is never wasted, it flows back into the canal to be taken out by the farm just below us…repeated for several more times until it reaches the Gunnison River. Just has it has been repeated to get to our farm.)
Where the water merges with the Gunnison RIver. The Gunnison river then flows on down to Grand Junction, Colorado, where it meets the great Colorado River then flows on to California.
The early mornings and the last of the day—evening—are still cool enough we wear jackets…the daytime warming up to summer time temps.
All the time, day after day…the work steadily progresses.
But throughout each moment there is amazing beauty…from early morning sun,
to the calmly arriving night; reinforcing Terry’s and my joy of living on the land.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
We had one last ditch on our place that was a dirt ditch.
Dirt ditches are a pain to work with…they fill up with mud, weeds and water plants, which go crazy happy in them; the water is soaked up in their little feet, the bank leaks making the farm road a mud mess, and the setting of the syphon tubes a huge job by the end of the summer. (A hole has to be dug in the mud to set each and every tube…
Anyway, after much thought and deliberation we decided (at our ages) the cost of a new ditch made of cement would be the way to go.
.So we had the ditch grated in, surveyed and then opened up for the pour.
A huge great line of wonderful new ditch in the making
This is the ‘boat’ the cement will be poured into…
Here they are making the pour.
It took three loads of cement
By four o’clock yesterday afternoon—
It was done! What a huge financial expense, but what a wonderful ditch we will have starting Friday! (The cement has to cure first)
YAY!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
We got the ditches all cleaned and then
Turned in the water!
We started small…20 tubes, so we could manage the setting and the digging out of the ends
Gradually we added more water, more rows, and more tubes
Nothing like the smell of the dry earth, as the water soaks into it.
Terry dug out the ends and I started the tubes. In a wee break I stopped and looked at Terry, who had a huge grin on his face.
“You are sure happy” I commented.
“Yes!” he replied. “Being out here, doing this, makes me happy!”
“Me thinks”, I smiled at him….”You love being a farmer.”
“I think so too.” he stated.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
We started work on the cement ditches. Picking up the stacked tubes and placing them in every furrow, cleaning the ditches of trash and mud, and building the dams. Later on this morning we will start water. It will be a jumble of rushed minutes to stay ahead of the rushing, gurgling, bubbling, water—-crazy minutes to get the syphon tubes started and to make sure the water doesn’t run over the sides to ruin the farm ground.
In first light there was a peaceful little star, shining forth so bright I had to take a photo
While at the very same time that gorgeous April Moon was swiftly descending in the deep azure sky.
The trees were just coming to life with the sound of birds…
The sky in the east burning was off, as the setting silvered moon light splashed peacefully on our on the farm, striping the ground with a drifting dust of white glitter.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 