Life on the farm

Picking Rock – first wagon of the year

Posted on June 4, 2015 by farm2011

With the fresh spring air, warm sunshine, and grass growing, this time of the year also means checking out the fields for rock picking. If you remember Daryl had the wagons all ready the other day and with the weather perfect for hanging out in the field – we were off for the first of our many days of rock picking.

Now I know that it’s kind of a crazy thing to say, but with the first day of the ‘season’ it’s kind of exciting. You know that you get to be out in the fresh air and sunshine and it’s not hard work but just really time consuming. So like I said… we were off. The wagon was hooked up to the tractor with the bucket just in case we found some super duper rocks that will need a little bit more encouragement than we can give with our sand shovel.

As we were heading down the road sitting on the rock wagon and with Daryl in front us on the tractor, I had to wonder if something so common this time of the year around our area is something that a lot of people probably have never done before. And maybe they would never want to either 🙂

Now once we got into the field and it was our first time out, like I said it’s something that is kind of exciting. But then…. well after about the 85 gazillion rock that you’ve bent down to get and so much dirt in your fingernails and in your shoes, well let’s just say the newness wears off. And I might say it wears off pretty fast.

But the reason that we do it is to protect your farm equipment from picking up the rocks, so it’s a good thing. And for me? Well I can use all the exercise that I can get so I need to stay focused on the job and to try not to whine. Well at least not out loud.

The first field that we decided to do this year is where a long time ago there was a small creek that ran through the field and somewhere along the line the creek was straightened out. But what does that mean for rock pickers? Well it means that you’re now picking the rock that someone had on purpose put there when the creek was there. See you put rocks along the side of the creek to keep the sides from eroding. Crazy stuff!

Oh well, we just barely made one round and the wagon was getting too heavy for the field. If the wagon gets too heavy, you end up leaving some pretty big tracks in the filed and also you might blow a tire on your wagon. Either way, after one round and a couple of hours later, we were done. Well done for tonight.

Tonights load

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Off to the Vet – it’s Kaiser’s turn

Posted on June 4, 2015 by farm2011

It’s that time of the year again when we need to get the dogs tested for heart worms. I don’t know if everyone does this and to be quite honest we have only started to do this within the past few years. When I was growing up if someone said that they were testing the dogs for heart worms I’m positive I would not have had a clue what in the world they were talking about. I mean we dealt with worms before, but they were earth worms and were good for fishing! But now…Holy Smokes! The Vet will show you the heart that they took out of some animal that had heart worms and tell you just terribly gruesome stories. I’m not sure if it’s to get you to bring your animals in or to drum up business. Either way it works!!

So we had Reno in for her tests some time back and she was so good and I was thinking the other day that Kaiser is on his second summer, it’s time for him to get checked. No big deal right? Well, not so right. After work the plan was for Kyle to take the truck and the dog to the Vet while I got some other stuff done on the farm. But the problem was that the dog was absolutely positively not going to go anywhere. So we thought, OK we’re going to put a collar on him and lead him to the truck. The reason that we had to put a collar on him was because he lost his other one somewhere. And who knows where. I found a larger one that I had in the closet and soon found out that the reason that it was in the closet and not on Kaiser was because it was wayyyyy too big. By now the clock was ticking and we had to get him in or we’ll miss his appointment. So we took Reno’s off and made it larger and onto Kaiser’s neck it goes. Well let me just say that this is one stubborn dog. Even though he had a collar on and we had the lease, he was NOT going to go anywhere by being lead. So finally I took his front legs and kinda walked him to the truck. And where was Reno all during this? She was literally hiding on the porch trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

So now Kaiser is in the truck and Kyle was trying to get going and Kaiser thought it was so much better sitting on Kyle’s lap instead of any place else in the truck. I finally gave in, and hopped into the truck and we all went to the vet tonight. Poor Kaiser was so scared that he was literally shaking when the truck stopped and it was time to get out. So of course here is Kyle carrying the dog all around the Vet’s office because the dog went frozen on us and for some reason was’t going to walk anyplace!

The appointment finally came to a finish and Kyle picked up the dog again and back out to the truck we all go. We laughed about it later because we said if Reno was there, Kaiser wouldn’t be acting like this at all. Girls Rule!!

But what a simple task turned into such of an ordeal. I guess we’ve got another year to get ready for the next Vet visit.

Our big baby – Kaiser

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Baling hay

Posted on June 3, 2015 by farm2011

Well I didn’t get out in the field to snap a picture of the nice hay all raked up, so this is the closest that I could come. I got into the field when the hay was all baled into round bales. We debated if we were going to small square bale them or not, and with rain in the forecast the big round bales won the contest. And honestly that’s OK. Daryl just puts one big bale in the cow yard and makes a lot of friends. For some reason our cows think that the grass is so much better on the other side of the fence and if they get a new bale of hay, well they quit sticking their heads and their whole upper body through the fence to get to the grass. At least they haven’t found my little tree again. I was having the most worst time with the cows reaching under the fence and eating my flowers and trees a couple of years ago, so if they just stretch out the barb wire fence one in awhile… yea, that’s OK with me.

So the pictures that I am sharing tonight are of the hay looking so nice out in the field.

Hay bales just waiting to get picked up to be stored in the shed

When I was out in the field taking the hay photo I also noticed all the flat wagons in the yard. At first I was worried that Daryl was getting ready for picking rock soon, but he needed them to haul the hay to our farm …. and then we are going to pick rock 🙂 With the rain in the forecast, Daryl hurried up to put the hay bales into the cattle shed before they might get wet. For some reason it feels the best if you can get the first crop of hay baled without it getting rained on. Maybe a little superstitious or maybe a little proud – not sure which one? Maybe it’s just a little bit of both.

Close up of a hay bale

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Mystery Photo 6-3-15

Posted on June 3, 2015 by farm2011

Let’s test your skills on this one Bwaaahaaahaaahaaa!! (evil laugh interpretation)

Here is the clue

Posted in Wednesday's Challenge Photo | 5 Comments

Results for Mystery Photo 5-28-15

Posted on June 3, 2015 by farm2011

There is no stumping you guys is there? Elaine you nailed it!!

Here was the clue

And here is the answer. It was a vise-grip! We have a LOT of these on the farm because Daryl uses them for just about everything. You have to check his chore pants pockets before you wash them because 9 out of 10 times there is one in there!

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Sunday stuff

Posted on May 31, 2015 by farm2011

It was so funny this morning because we all woke up and felt that we overslept. The sun was shining so bright and I don’t know if we haven’t seen much sunshine lately that it kind of freaked us out, but it was only 5:30 am. Crazy!!

First things first. This weekends soap is called ‘Fancy Chickens’ and is a yellow soap (I hope the color stays!) and has the fragrance of Lemon Verbena. It smells pretty good, so I guess we’ll see. It should also turn darker, so I’m hoping it won’t loose the yellow color. I’m not the best at this coloring stuff yet. And for the name? I wanted to really call this soap ‘Chicken Legs’ but it sounds like something that you’re supposed to be eating instead. Not really the way I was going with this…

Fancy Chickens

The rest of the day was spent having an Irish Fest meeting at our house in the morning and then another one later in the afternoon. Whew! It’s a good thing that everything is coming together and we should be ready.

Daryl cut hay most of the afternoon and he said that it looks pretty nice. I didn’t go out and look at it yet, but hoping to get there before it gets too dry. Now I know that you want the hay to dry and all, but it’s so much prettier when it’s green 🙂

Ready for the first hay crop of the season

Ready to cut hay, grind feed, and also pick rock! Yup it’s Spring in Iowa

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Catching up

Posted on May 30, 2015 by farm2011

Trying to catch up, that is exactly where I’m at today. For some reason I got behind and I’m hoping that I’ll get caught up soon because some things seem to be getting out of control.

So on today’s agenda my plan is to get the upstairs cleaned and finally switch out the winter for summer clothes. Now even though it’s going to be June very very soon.. you could literally see your breath this morning. Not good at all!

I was on a pretty good roll and once the clothes were switched out (which is a very good feeling let me just tell you ) now it was time to tackle the downstairs. Vacuuming and dishes, along with some laundry was on board. Then I got to our recyclables. For a small family, I’m always amazed on how much we can gather in a short amount of time. I loaded up the car and was off to town to bring them back.

In the mean time, Daryl and Kyle was busy grinding feed and working on getting the rock wagon ready to pick up rocks. We haven’t started to pick rocks yet this year because the fields have been too wet, but I’m thinking it’s going to come soon.

And as long as they had the lumber out, Kyle made a new ladder for the hay mound. Our old one was in pretty bad shape.

Old barn ladder

Next thing to do was to get some flowers for the yard and that meant heading to a different town. I wanted to go to a Mennonite colony that isn’t too far from us and see if they had anything left.

Armed with a Diet Coke and my wallet, I was off. The funny thing when I was driving was that I got behind a semi that was also a wide load. He was kind of a pain to be behind because he needed to always take the whole road in some cases, so I wanted to get around him the sooner the better. I finally made my move and I was just tooling on the highway when I realized that I completely missed my turn off. Seriously? So I turned around and then had to meet the semi driver again and I can just about imagine what he was thinking. But I saw a sign that was for flowers and it was a place that I haven’t been to before so I thought why not? And what a good choice it was.

The place was easy to find and when I pulled into the driveway I knew that I would like this place. I parked beside the little calf pens and I noticed that the laundry was strung across the yard up high from the house to the barn. You hang your laundry like this using a pulley to move the laundry back and forth from your upstairs window. For some reason this really intrigues me. Can you about imagine if I did this one afternoon and then Daryl came home and saw it? Hahaha haaa – too funny! I’m guessing that I won’t try this.

I went into the first of the three greenhouses and saw that even though they were at the end of their flower season, that I should be able to find some stuff. And I was right! I started to make a pile of what flowers that I wanted and found out later that some of the other people were coming to this greenhouse because the others were pretty much sold out. And when they saw my pile and were eye spying it, I went over and said that I was sorry if it was getting in the way and I could move it. They pretty much gave me the stink eye and seriously I even saw this one lady gave me a smirk. It’s a good thing that they didn’t know that I had talked to the owner before I started and she even was giving me a better deal than the all ready 25% off!

Once I got them all loaded and I had a chance to talk with the owner. Both her and her husband started the flower business less than 10 years ago and she said it was good for her family and that it taught their 5 kids good work ethics. They have to work on the flowers all year long and she said that they even start 15,000 plants for other greenhouses for the spring. With 6000 mums that needed to be replanted this week, I’m guessing this mom of around 30 is a very busy mom!

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Incriminating hoof prints

Posted on May 29, 2015 by farm2011

You know when your kids would do a certain noise, that meant that either one of them was sitting on the other kids head or you better get a band aid handy because there’s probably blood involved. There is a third kind of sound that catches your ear just as fast and that’s the ‘What in the world are they doing sound’. It’s not as loud as the first two sounds and it’s almost undetectable, but it’s there. Does this ring a bell for some of you? I hope you know what I’m trying to explain because I have a cow story for you.

By now your’e thinking where in the world is she going with this! But here is my story with the ‘odd noise’ from Sassy.

Friday night at our house was pretty uneventful. Everyone is just chillin’ and I’m upstairs working on stuff. Then all of a sudden I could hear the dogs just barking and barking. Well by now you know that I CAN NOT stand when our dogs bark, so down the steps I go and head outside to see what was going on. I looked around and couldn’t see anything, so after scolding the dogs, in the house I go and back upstairs.

Well it wasn’t 5 minutes and they start barking and barking again. Now for some reason I am the only one I swear in the whole universe that can ever hear our dogs bark. So down the steps I stomp and I’m back outside. I could hear another dog barking in the neighborhood and by this time – yup I had it! So into the barn the dogs go for the night. And that should take care of that!

Back into the house and stomp stomp stomp up the stairs I go again and I’m hoping that this is the end of it for the night.

So about now I’m settling in with a good movie upstairs when something caught my ear. It was one of those times for some reason you stop and squint your eyes and tilt your head to listen more closely. Honestly when do we squint? Crazy thought isn’t it? Anyway, it was Sassy and she sounded like either she or No Ears was in trouble.

Down the steps I go and ask Daryl to go with me to see what was the problem. I said that the cows made a funny sound and something was up.

On go our chore shoes and outside we go. Daryl grabs some hay and I head out to the pasture with a flashlight to see what was up. It didn’t take long and then I realized – – – no cows! Yup, that is what was going on. Both with the dogs barking and the funny noises from Sassy were the clues they gave us that they had indeed escaped!

So now Kyle is getting his chore shoes on and found another flashlight and we’re off to find the cows. All I could think of was that the dogs were pretty smart and instead of yelling like a crazy person at them, I think I should have paid more attention to why they were barking.

Finally the escapees were found in our grove and rallied together and eventually were back in their pen. We found out that Ed pushed on a gate until he broke them all out for the night.

And they would have gotten away with until they made just that one small wrong sound.

Saturday morning picture of our lawn

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Mystery Photo 5-28-15

Posted on May 28, 2015 by farm2011

As you know by now this Wednesday post is being posted on Thursday. Why you ask? Well we’re still working on our town’s book and the only time that we could get together this week was on Wednesday night. We met at 8:00 and I was hoping that we could get done by 10:00, and honestly figuring it was going to more like 11:00. But we finally called the meeting at midnight because we didn’t even have supper yet! The good news is that we got a lot done with the book, the bad news is that we were starving and just shoveled the food and went to bed. Probably not the most figure friendly method for any meal now is it?

Oh well, we’ll try better next time.

So here is this weeks clue. Can you guess what it is? I’m even going to give you another clue and here it is: The bonus clue is that it this ‘thing’ is something that is very common not only on our farm but I’m guessing on many other farms in Iowa. Now do you know what it is?

Posted in Wednesday's Challenge Photo | 3 Comments