The Second Day

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Dayphoto

I was excused from work this day.

Told I wasn’t needed.

Said it would go faster now and I could stay at the house and get ‘stuff’ done there.

I didn’t complain.

He was right.

When I went up in the late after noon he was over half-way done.

He thinks he will finish up today…tomorrow at the latest.

Which is good, because we are supposed to have a rain storm Thursday(tomorrow) and snow of Saturday.

If he can get done today the rain will help settle the soil around the pipe and into the trench. After that we will know how much dirt we will have to bring up from the back side of the place to fill in what has settled.

Linda

Laying Pipe-Next Year Moving Water will be Great!

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Dayphoto

We have decided that, to ease the work-load for next year, all of the transmission ditches need to be put underground.

Transmission ditches only carry the water from one place to the next place, they don’t have to be open ditches for a person to use siphon tubes to water the actual fields.

The time in managing the open ditch is huge, you have to make the ditch, keep the ditch clean of trash and weeds and deep enough, with enough slant, so the water will flow. It’s an all season job, which sometimes gets away from us. The water, with the weed seeds gets a start and then this is what you get.

A mess.

The mess takes up some of the water for themselves and the sun takes more, so by August how many tubes or gates you get to use starts to shrink.

We have several transmission ditches.

Gradually, every year (pipe costs lots of money) the transmission ditches have been going underground.

The first two years Terry dug the ditches by hand, last year he rented a backhoe and dug it that way. But this year, after putting pencil to paper, we hired Troy Wells to come out and dig this ditch.

~~(Besides I don’t think – at our ages – we should be doing all the work!)~~

Terry got everything ready so all that had to be done was the digging.

The work was excellent!

All the top soil (because we are going down a road-the one that goes to our head gate and to the upper end of our place) was put on one side of the trench, the good farming soil on the other side. The sides were squared and the bottom flat…very little hand work had to be done. Just at the top where the transmission pipe connects with the first artery of that system.

And that WAS a job!

The it was up to us. Get a pipe, lay in the trench, get another pipe, glue them together, make sure the fall of the land is still good, if not take a shovel and shovel the spot until perfect, put another pipe in,

(Jump out so a picture or two could be taken. But don’t do it too often or the “Boss” will get upset for goofing off!)

Then…THANK HEAVENS FOR BIG MACHINES…Terry would start dumping the good farm soil back into the trench. Here the test is to make sure the dirt lands on TOP of the pipe, not on one side or the other causing it to roll.

A good job! The pipe did not roll and we did not have to get back in and shovel off the dirt and re-align the pipe.

Thank goodness!

We had lots of help!

I guess you know what we are going to be doing the rest of today and the rest of this week.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Linda

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Dayphoto

The morning sunlight is always a welcome site, when a person gets up before the dawn.

Gradually the sun starts to light up the sky. (The flash of the camera made enough light you can see all the fore-ground ‘stuff’)

As I open up the hen house, feed the chickens, put out new water for them, the sky show more and more light.

By the time I get all the firewood loaded and heading back to the house to start up the fire

The day has arrived.

Then I forgot to go back out and get the sun actually up, because I got busy with the fire and starting breakfast.

What a glorious world we live in!

Tomorrow we start digging up ONE of the transmission ditches and laying down pipe. Should make for a lot easier season farming next year.

(Oh, yes, Terry has decided to farm one more year. ~~Are we surprised?~~ Although, he is still pondering if he should do pinto beans..they take a huge amount of energy (his) at harvest time.)

And, of course, if there is water to farm with!

Have a really nice Sunday!

Linda

Age 10 and Age 63

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Dayphoto

Bladen and I are born in January, one week apart. We are both gaining a year this coming January!

He is a delightful little boy, but growing rapidly now. I can see huge changes in him. The changes really started in the fourth grade, but now he is in the fifth grade and the changes are immense. Next year will be the 6th grade and then onward to Jr. High and High School.

The years are going by.

It makes me really sad to see him growing so fast, but it is also really exciting to watch him developed into the young man he is going to be.

He is always willing to come over and help me with really hard yard work, or to help Grandpa with some sort of chore.

For instance when we were putting the roof on the house he helped scrap off the old shingles and then helped pull the nails that were left after the shingles came off.

Having grandchildren close by is full of lots of good, for them and for us!

Linda

Walking With Grandpa

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Dayphoto

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I know we are giving the grandchildren memories. I so remember both sets of my grandparents.

As I grow older I have even clearer memories.

Like our grandchildren we lived just up the orchard from our mother’s parents and a mile from my father’s mother and her second husband.

The small things are the real joy…they are memories that stay forever.

Linda

Let Me Introduce You to————-

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Dayphoto

Tommy!

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Tommy is a Royal Palm Turkey!

Isn’t he beautiful?

Tommy is also a rescue turkey.

He isn’t my turkey, he belongs to Shannon. Our oldest daughter that has the two Rottweilers and Princess Houston the Mountain Cur.

Shannon also volunteer’s (with me) at the Animal Shelter as a dog walker. Although, she has been known to be a kennel cleaner and a vet runner. She likes to be there to just love on the dogs and cats so winds up doing many other things. (She does have a full-time job, just to let you know)

But this is a tale about Tommy.

One day, when Shannon and Buddy were driving around in the countryside they saw a sign that said turkeys for sale. Not ever having a turkey (or three) they thought a cool thing would be to get a live turkey.

There were many turkey’s , you could pick out what you wanted, pay for it and go. As they were looking around they saw Tommy and two hens in a very tiny, itty-bitty wire cage. It was so tiny they were stacked in there together–hen, tom, hen. The feathers were wore off of Tom and his chest was bare of all feathers, the hens were scrawny.

When asked why these three were in such a tiny pen, they were told there wasn’t enough room for all of the turkey’s so he had them in this pen until he could make room for more birds.

So….for a price– the cage and two hens and Tommy came to live in animal heaven with the three dogs, two cats, 8 hens and just found rooster-Jethro.

Sadly the hens didn’t make it. But Tommy did!

What a wonderful turkey he is. I have been around very mean turkey’s, but Tommy isn’t one of those kind. We all pick him up, carry him around, the little kids pet him, and he even walks over into the onion fields and drums from the workers over there.

We do have to go get him and bring him home because Tommy is never destined to be on someone’s table.

So, as you can see, he is now a completely healed and a very magnificent bird!

Linda

Clear Skies and Warming Up Some

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Dayphoto

The windy, sleet-filled, blustery, bitter cold storm has moved on. The last two nights have been very cold but beautiful. When out getting wood or checking on something the sky is a delight of twinkling stars in the deep, deep frozen sky.

The dogs always sleep in the house when it’s winter time, but Fuzzy much prefers outside in his dog house, he will open the back door and go out — I will find him there and ask him to come back in. He always comes, but if he gets too hot out he goes again.

Boomer has very little fur so he very much enjoys the house routine.

As it warms up (at night and in the daytime) they both like being outside, as there is so MUCH to do while others sleep, you see.

I have to force them to come in, soon Fuzzy is outside and Boomer is panting at the door to be let out. (He can’t figure out how to open the door—just push Boom, just push)

Anyway, as the storm played around with our area, a gentle little rainbow glowed over our neighbors metal building.

We were lucky enough to see it!

( I hope you can see it)

I was lucky enough to have the camera ready.

The temps this morning were around 18* (at 5 A.M.). The weather guy says we are going to have a small warm- up before the next storm comes in sometime next week.

Thank all of you for your support and also for your understanding of what a fool and a jerk that man was Sunday at Wal-Mart!

Linda

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Dayphoto

It’s terribly cold here! As you can see….wind chill is zero. Not much snow and it’s a dry snow right here on the farm.

Although, we can see lots and lots of snow on the mountains surrounding us….which is wonderful! The farmers in our area have been told that, unless we get lots of snow in the mountains there will be no water for the farmers next year.

Towns and cities come first, then however the call of the water happens in the rank of seniority.

Please pray and cross your fingers and your toes and whatever else that we get lots and lots of wet snow in the mountains. Please also add in that this horrible drought, which has effected all the states in the mid-west and the west ends. Food is a precious thing.

Yes, I am well aware that food will still come in from other countries, but local food is always best.

And Yes, I know that I am also saying, that with local food the local industry of farming stays solid and whole. Another dust bowl is not something the United States needs or should ever want.

But I should not preach to choir, as all of you loyal readers know and understand the plight.

So I will get off my soap box and show you….