Mom says we will get back to all about ‘Running a Farm’ next week, but for right now, there is REJOICING in the House and on the Farm.
It started raining and
it hasn’t really stopped.
As for me—
I’m not sure about this rain stuff.
TLC Cai-Cai
Smoke still fills the sky, day and night, night and day…and the heat wears on and on and on…Wednesday we hit 104*f ( 40c)
But, in spite of all that
Fall is in the air. Yes, I know it’s still August, but the signs are still there
The Rabbit Brush is blooming…three weeks early
The trees are starting to lighten up, with bits of yellow poking through here and there
The pinto beans are turning yellow. Once all the plants are yellow the pinto bean harvest will begin.
The daylight is shrinking (sob)
The corn is starting to dent
Although we are still irrigating. Once the corn is totally dented the water for the corn will stop. There will not be a reason to keep the water on the corn; the plant stops taking in the water, the seeds are now made.
The only thing we will keep irrigating will be the three alfalfa fields. Those we keep irrigating until sometime in October.
For you never want alfalfa to go into the winter thirsty if you do…you won’t have a field next spring.
Yes, Fall is in the air, (although this reluctant to break heat, would have a person think differently), 
even the light has changed.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
(From Pinterest)
I watch the skies all the time now. (Well, actually, I watch the skies constantly)
Always, searching, looking, gathering clues
The Barn Swallows are starting to gather
We have around 50 or so, I can’t really keep count. They are migrating in and gathering with the ones who have lived here all summer
They rest on the electric wires, in the bushes and the trees by our house in the nighttime.
The daylight hours are full of swoops and twirls as the Mosquitos and other flying bugs become supper.
It’s very nice for us. We can sit outside into —way dark—without even a thought of a Mosquito bite.
Our Swallows still have a nest of baby birds which need to fledge.
But it won’t be long now. I sometimes wonder how those last little fledglings do it. Out of the nest, off they go. Way, way far away.
For a short time they practice, flying high with the other Swallows; everyone gathers, near and far…suspended on the wires. (Sometimes they rest for a few days, only flying off to gather food for a full tummy)
Then they all lift wing as one —-and are gone. Fading away in the sky
I hope I am home when the ‘Great Lift Off’ occurs. I’ve missed it the last two years.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Come sit with me…let time slow down…
Let the hummingbirds be the only whirlwind
Enjoy (with me) our now fall days…summer is quickly passing
Morning air is crisp if not clear, and the plants have dew drops like rain upon their leaves
The crows are back a sure sign of soon to be harvesting and I heard two owls in the wee morning light today
Moisture is even in the air —above the smoke-filled clouds
Either a slight rainbow or a sundog…cooler weather is coming our way
Terry has stopped the water on the pinto bean field…in one week he will start pulling the beans. In two weeks we harvest.
Still for a short while…sit with me
Let the summer day pass into fall with peace and joy
Quietness and comfort as the day winds down
And the little hummingbirds drink their fill
In that hour between day and night
Just before the sun sets.
From my world to your heart, My Friends,
Linda
“There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever.”— Elizabeth Lawrence
If I had to pick a favorite season….I think I might struggle a bit…the early spring days lift me up after the thin winter sun, which painted long blue shadows void of warmth and color. Spring lifts me up like the greening of the trees color the brown drab landscape.
Then summer with all it’s heat, which sits heavy and still, on the land, and swarms of chores—which seem never ending.
After which comes fall with the crisp, clear days and immense bursts of color; bring the world into life, in a way none of the other seasons can.
But if I am forced to pick…I would pick SUMMER!
For beats with a song only the humming of the stars in the heavens, (and in my heart, my mind, and my soul), can understand.
From my heart to your world,
Linda
We are picking up all the loose ends today–
Terry and I ran down early, early this morning to cut some tree limbs, which were too close to the roof on the other house.
A hay customer just left
We checked to see how the bean crop was doing at the early morning irrigation –the pods are now at the green string bean stage…we need at least three more weeks of growing weather for them to ripen and strip.
The corn is looking good. This is not sweet corn, but the kind of corn you have for cereal, corn bread, and animal food. Harvest for the corn is not until late October or sometime in November.
The alfalfa is coming along nicely. It looks like around Labor day will be third and last cutting of hay.
Boy, the growing season is fast coming to a close!
I’m pleased with my canna bed. This is where we cut down a dead pine tree this winter. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with this area, but I think having the cannas here was a very good thing.
Like most of you, we are having cold temps. It was 47* this morning when we woke-up. Sure feels like fall. Although, we are NOT ready for a freeze. We need the heat to return to be able to get the crops to maturity.
I guess I won’t worry about it…there is nothing I can do anyway.
Your friend as always,
Linda
We are ‘truck’n’ right along here. All the little tykes went home by 5:00 last evening. Leaving us with just Tally and Linky. They both had huge dark circles under their eyes, but were still wound-up.
Terry was also restless since it was raining and storming and generally nasty….(the above photo is from Sue in Cedaredge, Colorado. You can see Hart’s Basin on the far left of the photo…Cedaredge on the right hand side of the photo…and the storm which moved from the Uncompahgre Plateau (Un-come-pah-gray—accent on the pah) over the top of us toward the towns of Hotchkiss and Paonia.
Jolyne is now here…(all the way from Grand Prairie, Canada). Jolyne will be marrying Evan, our son, in three weeks. Terry and the little girls thought it was time to see Aunt Jolyne (almost aunt 🙂 ) so we took off to visit them for a short spell.
After which ice cream was in order.
Today we must take a huge shopping trip to Grand Junction, Colorado, for parts for the hay swather and a door for the garage. Our time is ‘flying by’. We are in the middle of the week…even the little girls are saying the time is going to quickly.
Time has a way of doing that doesn’t it? Flying by…but only when you are having fun. I’ve had time crawl…but not right now, not this week, nor today.
For today we will enjoy each and every second!
Your friend,
Linda
The day’s are shorting now…around 7:30 in the evening we head out for the last check of water for the day.
We also are monitoring the pinto beans. The field is turning yellow, which means the pintos are now ripe and ready to be pulled.
Probably next Friday Terry will pull the pinto’s so they can start drying.
We will need the days to stay hot and dry once they are pulled.
(see the nasty bull thistle seeds)
(The steps for pinto bean harvest is — pull the plants and leave them lay until nice and crispy, combine the plants, which is taking the beans out of the dried plants and putting them into the hopper then the truck to be delivered to the Beanery, have the beans sacked and the sold—DONE for the year)
He is baling the new cutting of hay as I write this. The first of second week of September will be the third cutting of the old hay field. Dry weather needs to prevail for at least a month now. 🙂
The moon was lovely last night.
I also saw a small rainbow from the storms playing around us.
My four o’clock photo of the Daily View features my Sun dial garden… rich and lush with 4 O’clocks. The Hummingbirds love this area!
A very contented friend, Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 