The canal was eroding clear into our road.
A big load of broken cement and sand was delivered and an amazing backhoe operator
Created the perfect bank!
YAY!
Trouvaille—(n.) A valuable discovery, or a lucky find; something lovely discovered by chance; a windfall.
A very polished canal bank!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Crazy wind.
65 mph gusts.
Then the next day we had squalls of snow and wind and grapple.
A rough Spring-time storm, that is for certain and for sure
Monday and Tuesday…terrible wind.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
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
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
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
Every season has it’s own set of rules…it’s own ‘way’ of being and doing. I’m sure this is true, not just on a farm, but for everyone.
Yesterday we hand-worked (or back worked) on the forever and ever amount, of ditches that can NOT be cleaned by the blade or the ditcher.
Terry worked in the lemon colored sunshine, using the shovel to clear last year’s mud and this February’s cow patties.
While I go first with the pitchfork…lifting and stacking the myriad assortment of weed collected in the ditches over the winter.
The pungent odor of dried stems, the faint whiff of dust…all adds to the slide of the pitchfork under the debris, the fling of trash to the other side; making a little pile to dispose of later.
The fresh gusts of spring-time wind give me a tiny burst of celebration, since the breeze helps move the dried out weeds off my pitchfork helping me move faster.
In the evening I walk Romeo back to his barn–he and I are great friends. Min-Min Lou and Boomer going with us.
Spring…the word is work! Small and sturdy. A passage of the season of winter, where the word is wait. Summer will be the word Growing, and fall Harvest.
The circle of life– Inevitable. Eternal.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
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
Life on a Colorado Farm 