While out irrigating, last evening
I found a Sandhill Crane feather.
Feathers are from the Heavens, from a loved one or an Angel.
A lovely gift—
from a beautiful bird
And those who love me from across the Veil.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
WAIT!
I hear something!
SHHHHHHHH!
OH!
I know…it’s DAD!
Dad has come outside to do something.
I’m going to go and help DAD!
Dad and I are Buddies!
Mindy Lou-Sue
The Spring winds have arrived. They come after the air warms
The mountains surrounding us are still chilled and full of snow
They are a delight to see with the sun shining on them–
But, they too, need to warm and melt—-bringing water to cities, towns, and farms
Therefore, the wind blows.
Sometimes bringing more snow (The Universe is very thoughtful….it would not be good to have the snowmelt ALL AT ONCE)
Sometimes bringing rain;
Helping the trees bring the sap from the roots to the tips of branches.
Wind…,here where we live, blows from now until the middle of June (or so)
Bringing freezing cold, dusty warm, heart-stopping beauty back to our land.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
We had to put out all the siphon tubes
Which was a big, big, back-bending job
Some neighbor up the road a-ways was burning off a field. Scary.
Then it was time to open the headgate. See that little long chute-like box with the little waterfall. That is the headgate to our farm. This is where the water is taken out of the FN Lateral Canal (just our amount) flows into the headgate, where there is a tin dam stopping or letting the water through the long box going off toward the edge of the photo.
That is our allotted water. The water is measured and monitored by the Uncompahgre Valley Water Ditch Rider assigned to whatever ditch.
Water is expensive, much more so than the taxes for the farm—and it is precious.
This is our fork to clean out the trash which collects in the headgate.
Once we turn the water onto the farm, we have to clean out the trash in the ditches.
The easiest way is to let the water push it into a pile, then take your pitchfork and lift it up and over the side.
We do this all the way through all the cement and
dirt ditches until we get to the end of the farm, where (then) the water flows back into the canal. Cleaned of trash; moving toward the next farm.
Terry takes the first stand and I take the second stand. In other words, Terry lifts the most and I pick up the trash that gets away from him as he is flipping the big wad out.
Then back we go to the Upper End, where we cleaned and planted a new pasture. Here is where we started the first of the irrgation.
Then (as the pastures water started flowing back into the transfer ditch, we laid out the siphon tubes in the Middle Field.
Once the water got to the Middle Field Terry put in dams and we set the tubes
Water! Gurgling and flowing, shimmering across one of the alfalfa fields.
A whole long day of hard work, but a perfect result!
Thirsty ground, happy plants.
Perfect!
The water will be changed twice a day—just as the sun comes up in the morning and then in the evening before the darkness descends.
Every day from now on out. And if we have our water cut (which they might) then we change it even more…sometimes even in the night.
I suppose some would say it’s a hard life, but honestly, Terry and I love it.
But you know that, don’t you? 🙂
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Terry made the ditches Saturday for the whole farm.
Then we worked on the new section of ditch, which will hold gated pipe.
It took some doing,
But we ‘got’er done’, as my Daddy would have said.
Lots of leveling, lifting, and pushing together.
Whew! Long day, but it felt good to have everything in place.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Terry took the shed down with the loader
It wasn’t too hard, just a little on the concern side of things
Then once down we hooked it to the loader
Where he took it over to a ‘spot’
After that, he went back to work,
and I dismantled the whole thing.
Saving the tin and tossing the braces….well, most of the braces.
Finished.
No more shed. 🙂
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Mindy gets to go outside!
ALL THE TIME!
I want to go outside!
YES, I DO!
So, Mom hooked me up with something that chokes me and we went out.
The wind was blowing.
It was coooooooooold.
We came back in.
Later on, it warmed up; Dad took me out!
I HAD A BLAST!!
Then I had to come back in.
Mom says I can go out gradually, a little bit every day.
She says she doesn’t want Mindy to get mad at me and fight me. (I feel strong, I told Mom, I can fight Mindy. —that is exactly the problem, Mom replied.)
And, Mom went on to explain—I don’t want Mindy leading you off into the depths of the farm and you won’t know your way back. And, YES, Mindy would do that.
You can go out with either Dad and I, then when we feel comfortable you can go out on your own. The time is coming, TLC, soon. Very soon. Mom said.
Sigh!
TLC Cai-Cai
A beautiful Downey Woodpecker
Sandhill Crane feathers are just lovely
They look grey until you see them in the sunlight
The red-mask is a lovely touch
These are very large birds…they stand about four feet tall.
These Quail are just darling —see the pheasant running off at the top of the photo?
I love the hawks and falcons who hunt across the farm.
But the most unexpected, (and lucky for me) thing was seeing a flock of Western Bluebirds!
They stopped for a search among the weeds for a bite to eat and I got a photo!
That was so exciting! Not a good photo, but still one!
Living here on the farm is such a good life for Terry and me.
We love it.
The work is hard and never-ending, but here is the secret, we Love it. The work, the farm, the everything—making up our daily life.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
They are back…WASPS!!
Anyway, I got a notice from WordPress, that I have been blogging for 14 years now!
WOW! Time really does pass quickly when you are having fun!
Thank you for being part of our daily life on our western Colorado farm!
From My Heart to your World,
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 