Trying to get in some saddle time

Posted on July 16, 2017 by farm2011

We’ve got our annual bike ride coming up and we seriously have not had much time to get out on the roads and have much saddle time on the seats. I’m not so worried about us being able to do the ride, but you have to ‘condition’ your body to sit on those tiny little seats for many hours a day and then for 7 days! 

So of course we had about 10 million things to do this morning, anything from going to meetings and setting up displays to hauling hay into the sheds and doing chores. But once that was all done and we got some food in our bellies – well there was no more excuses that we could think of so we loaded up the bikes and went to a local town to get started. 

It was very hot out and I guess it’s kind of like cramming for a big test when you were younger. You just get it all done at once and well that’s kind of what we were doing. We wanted to do a longer ride and we picked the hottest part of the day to do it. Some call it conditioning.. but others call it crazy 🙂

We had a great time just hanging out together even though it was pretty hot out! We started the ride in Fort Atkinson and took the back roads to the nearby town of Spillville. I just had to take picture of their town’s square because it seemed like something out of a Norman Rockwell picture. The town was quiet with the exception of a couple of ladies who were out working in their flower gardens. And the gazebo in the middle of town was decorated beautifully with flags and flowers. How cool is that? I think it just waits quietly until someone like us comes by to check out. 20170716_140744_resized

We then headed north to the next town to get some fast fried food that probably isn’t the best training food for us, and then to also refill our water bottles. We weaved around town and soon found ourselves on the bike trail that connects all these towns together. It’s a very cool trail and even literally when it’s hot out it’s a ‘cool’ trail. The trees seem to block a lot of the sun’s mean rays during the hot days. Now normally we don’t ride on trails that often, but it seemed like a good idea today. IMG_20170718_063353_473_resized

Then we hopped back on the county road and headed to the town that we started the day in. I didn’t realize just how hot it was until we stopped. Yikes! So once we got home I got out the ice from the fridge and filled up the bird bath in front of our house for the dogs. See our dogs normally like to drink water from the bird baths for some reason and when it’s got ice in it – well it just kicks it up a notch! 20170718_181446_resized

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Perfect Day!

Posted on July 15, 2017 by farm2011

Did you ever have one of those days when you wake up and just know that it’s going to be a great day? I mean you can almost feel it in your bones that you are just going to have fun!

Well that’s just how I felt on Saturday morning when I got up. See I was meeting some of my friends for breakfast in town and then we were going to spend the day on the water. YEA!! I’ve been wanting to go kayaking now for about a million years now and I just knew it was going to be the best day to do this.

And I was right! One of my friends husband helped haul us and our gear to the river and once we got on the water we seriously couldn’t have asked for better weather. There was a breeze that seemed to blow down the river and come to think of it I’m not sure if we even paddled much this day. And with the temperatures in the high 80’s to low 90’s, we would never had guessed that it was that hot out.

Just check out the picture that I took of our group. It was a Perfect Day if I must say so myself!!20170715_142110_resized_1

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Trouble on the farm

Posted on July 12, 2017 by farm2011

When Daryl pulled the feed mill out of the shed it didn’t take too long to realize that there was going to be trouble. What happened was that the 3 peahens were just screaming at him!! And if you have ever heard a peacock  – you know that screaming is the correct word!! 

Then he remembered that Sally the peahen was sitting on eggs onto of the mill. Now both you and I know that we don’t have any males around to help her with getting any new babies for the farm, but she’s been insisting on sitting on those eggs. 

So Daryl hurried up and drove very carefully through the yard with the eggs just laying on top of the mill and was able to get the feed ground and unloaded without any problems. Seriously, this was a feat in itself. These eggs are just laying on top of the mill without any protection so how they didn’t fall off is just short of a miracle. 

Can you see the eggs on top of the mill?

Can you see the eggs on top of the mill?

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The funny thing is that the peahens were just watching to make sure that they weren’t too far away from the mill and Sally’s eggs! Oh yea, they also kept screaming at him too ! 

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Now it was time to put the mill back into the shed and just like that Sally jumps back on top the mill and is sitting on her eggs again. The only difference this time is that both her kids (the other peahens) were perched up on the machinery on both sides of her. Maybe to keep Daryl away 🙂 DSC_0141

I keep saying this, but I really do need to get them a boyfriend! 

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Ballgame

Posted on July 8, 2017 by farm2011

We are planning on heading out for awhile to see if we can get some more of the rocks picked up in the bean field by the creek today. And when I went to get the gloves that I’ve been using I realized that I had a hole in one of the fingers. So not cool! So I grabbed a BRAND new pair of black farm gloves and to be honest they felt pretty good. Now I’m not sure what they’ll look like and feel like when we’re done, but for now? Shazam! 

So out to the field we go again. Same scenario, Daryl is driving the tractor and I’m beside him sitting on the fender of the tractor and we are making our way out to the bean fields. Our plan for today is to just get picked up what we can and possibly call it done for this field. Wouldn’t that be great? Well after another 1/2 of a round of picking rock in this bean field, we think we’ve got most of what we need to get picked up and are going to call it good. Yea!! 

I took this picture quick before we headed home and honestly it almost looks kinda cool doesn’t it? Well for a load of rocks that is. 🙂 IMG_20170708_144451_964_resized

And how did my new gloves hold up? Not so good. So I’m glad that we’re done for the day! 

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Next on our list for tonight is to head out to a ball game. I’ve never been to a ball game at one of our local towns before, so a quick jump into the shower and I threw on a little makeup – we were off! It was an absolute perfect night for a ball game and with the moon still pretty full and bright, it was fun to just hang out. 

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And how can anything be bad when you have this to look forward to with a cold beer while you’re watching the game? Nachos in a hat. And who won the game? I guess I’m not quite sure but the nachos were great!  20170708_193507_resized

 

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Getting the bean fields ready

Posted on July 5, 2017 by farm2011

Do you ever feel that sometimes there is so much to do and not enough time to do it! 

Tonights job was to keep working on picking up the rocks. The last time we went out we wanted to get in a couple of rounds but we only were able to get 1/2 of a round in. So needless to say there was more rock in the field to pick. 

Well after we got home from our ‘town’ jobs and got chores done,  we quickly changed and headed back out to the fields with our flat rack wagon. When you see a clean wagon going on the road you just know what they’re going to be doing.  Tonight as I sat on the tractor fender beside Daryl we did end of meeting a couple of people on route to the fields.  I noticed these people they just waved at us and looked pretty solemn. No smiling. Just waved. I figured they must have been farmers and knew what we were going to do. 

So out in the fields we go to see if we can get a bunch of these rocks picked up. And without any disappointment there was a lot of rocks that needed to be picked. They were the ones that were just big enough to get into the bean head of the combine and wreck it if we left them out there. 

But even though I was ready to get the rock picked up, I was also there for another reason. See I sit in an office all day with air conditioning and seriously not used to heat. The only time that I have been in heat was mowing the ditches on our farm, and well you just hurry up and get that done. So I wasn’t too upset that the temperature was in the 90’s earlier this afternoon and by the time we were in the field it was in the mid to high 80’s. And seriously it wasn’t that bad. But my body was trying to adapt to it and with sweat literally dripping off my nose, chin, elbows (gross right?) and other places that I won’t mention, I’m thinking that this probably is a pretty good way to get exposed to heat.

And once again we only got a half of a round in. 

And know what else I realized? I realized that you are truly married to a farmer when the moon comes up and it’s still pretty light out around 9:30 at night and you find yourself in the field smiling to yourself because you know that it’s been a good day. 20170706_210507_resizedBut now it was time to head home and get some of this dirt washed off of me.20170706_212031_resized

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Happy 4th!

Posted on July 4, 2017 by farm2011

We weren’t sure just what we were going to do today and with the chores done, it was time to make the final decision. 

Since we haven’t had the Chevelle out yet this year, That was our plan. We were going to ‘stretch her legs’ as Daryl calls it and head to a 4th of July carnival about 70 miles away. 

We’ve been to this towns celebration before but it’s been awhile. We thought we’d go check it out and grab some dinner. 

The weather was perfect for it, not too hot but still sunny. Without air conditioning in the car, that’s pretty important! 

It was a fun ride over and after making the loop to see what our options was for dinner, we decided on a local spot in town that we haven’t been to before. Good decision because our food was really good! 

Then to make the loop again through the park. I was so amazed on how many rides and activities this town of Clear Lake puts together. Just knowing what our town has to do for Irish Fest, I can’t believe how much work it takes to put on a 4 day carnival!! This picture shows only one of the 5 streets that was full for the day. And even thought it looks like there wasn’t too many people there –  take my word for it, they had a great turnout. 

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There was people swimming and singers and dancers in the pavilion, along with tons of rides and carnival food. We really wanted to buy a Funnel Cake because seriously how can you go to a carnival and not get one? Am I right?  But we were so full, we just couldn’t do it. I know we’ll be sorry later tonight for not getting one to share but then we also might be sorry tonight if we did buy one too 🙂 20170704_135522_resized

Now what ride should we go on? There was so many to pick from and after scoping them all out we made our decision. We were going to go on the Hurricane. It was fast and it seemed like fun. We did notice that people were kind of leaning out of the cars when we were watching them, but maybe that’s just because it was going so fast? Well my friends that isn’t the reason. 

We bought our tickets and was all tucked into our car and even smiled for a quick selfie before taking off. 20170704_140634_resizedThen we started to move. And move we did! We were going so fast that I was literally smashing Daryl straight into the side of the car. I wasn’t sure if I was cutting off the oxygen to his lungs or not and I found out later that I was! For me I was just trying to keep my head somewhat straight because I was worried that I was going to have to wear a neck-brace back to work on Wednesday. Well I gave up trying not to smash Daryl because it wasn’t working and now my focus was trying to save my own neck. Literally! I ended up taking both hands and tried to hold my head somewhat straight to keep it from flopping around.

Finally the ride stopped and I knew that I had smashed Daryl into the side of the car. Even though I don’t think Daryl liked the ride much (really sure that was the case) I thought it was kinda fun. We must have looked bad because a complete stranger who was watching the ride came up to us and said that she was watching us and how did we like the ride? That just confirms the thought that we must have looked really bad. 

But guess what? I had a massage appointment the next day and for the last few months I’ve been having the worst time with my neck being out and really bad headaches.  And as I was laying on the massage table she asked what did I do to my neck since I’ve been in last? She said it was so much better!!  That is so funny!!! 

And what is the photo of the day? Well seeing if the corn is knee high by the fourth of July of course20170704_182515_resized

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July 3rd, 2017

Posted on July 3, 2017 by farm2011

With the weekend starting out pretty busy, just how did we spend the rest of our time? 

Well I was lucky because my work has Monday, July 3rd. Hooray!!!  So guess what fun thing that I did today? Well the day was spent mowing our lawn. Now you would think that this would just be a quick mow here and there, but there is PLENTY of grass to mow on our farm and along with that comes enough trimming to keep you busy for hours it seems.

So that’s’ what I did all day Monday. I started to mow the grass probably even before I should have because it still had dew on it from the night before,  and mowed into the afternoon. Some of it wasn’t too bad to mow – just thick. Others .. well not so fun.

The worst was our ‘snake’ ditch. There was water that hasn’t moved out yet from the rains and the grass was pretty high. I wasn’t sure if I would find snakes (AAAHHHH!!) in there or snapping turtles or maybe even some bullfrogs. But it was on my list to do today and by golly it was going to get done!

 

I kept this ditch for last and now it was time to bite the bullet. It seriously wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and as I was trying to pull the lawnmower through the water that was above my ankles I kept thinking to myself… please don’t let me see a snake, PLEASE don’t let me see a snake, PLEASE DON’T LET ME SEE A SNAKE. Now was there snakes in there? I’m sure there probably was a garden snake but since I didn’t see it and I was working like I was going to literally catch on fire or something, I mowed that ditch pretty fast without seeing any critters. 

With today being a vacation day, it would have been so much more fun spending it on the river with my kayak. But the lawn needed to be mowed and tonight it looks so nice. Hopefully next weekend we’ll be able to get the kayaks out. 

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Long and busy weekend

Posted on June 30, 2017 by farm2011

It’s no secret that we’ve been getting storms around here lately and with us borrowing my brothers enclosed trailer – well let’s just say we’ve been watching the weather pretty close.

See it’s a really nice trailer and we for sure don’t want anything to happen to it, especially having it get hailed on!

So like I said we’ve been watching the weather and have tucked the trailer inside the machine shed to keep it safe. It literally justs fit between the Oliver tractor and the skid loader. Thanks goodness!! The weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend with only a slight chance of rain. So after Daryl takes the trailer of the machine shed and pulls it up front of the house, I knew that we were set to head down to the kids to help them move. We debated just when we were going to leave and the decision was made – we’re leaving Friday night. With a wedding in the area on Saturday afternoon by the kids, it was going to work out just perfect.

Let’s see, the trailer was filled with the kids wedding & shower gifts and we had clothes and stuff for us for the weekend  .. well the last thing to do was to actually go!

As we started down the road with the trailer in tow we were really happy that we knew that the weather was going to be good and it should be just perfect for moving the kids to their new apartment.

yea…

We didn’t get that far when we noticed a few clouds that turned into a few more, and well you can see by the picture just what was literally brewing. Yup it was another storm. Crap! I keep thinking to myself PLEASE do not turn into a storm and especially with hail!!

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Luckily we skirted the edge of it and we just got the top of the trailer cleaned off for what the barn swallows left us while the trailer was in the shed.

We continued to watch the sky and it literally didn’t know what it wanted to do. I kept taking pictures because it was absolutely beautiful!!

Finally as we got to the kids it settled down and the sky was magnificent!!20170630_204934_resized

We spent the rest of the night helping the kids pack up where we could and by morning the trailer was loaded and we were off to their new apartment unloading it there. 20170701_085506_resized_1What a fun new adventure they’ll have and we couldn’t be happier for them!

Then it was time to get cleaned up and head out to the wedding and hotel in the neighboring town with some friends and family.20170701_125651_resized

And what a fun wedding it was! I never was at a wedding where the dance was outside in an open gazebo before. TONS of fun!! Next on our list  was to head home and hurry up with the chores so we can get to my brother and sister in laws by the lake to watch fireworks. 20170702_215635_resized20170702_215706_resized

What a really fun & busy way to start out the weekend!! 

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Storms go away!

Posted on June 28, 2017 by farm2011

I needed to run some errands after work, no surprises there right? Well I was all ready to go when I saw that the clouds were literally starting to roll and turned black as I was watching them. 

Not really a great time to drive around when you just can feel that there will probably be hail some time yet tonight. 

With the temperature only being in the high 60’s it’s hard to believe that there could even be any bad weather, but I’ll soon find out that you can get bad weather no matter what the temperature is. 

So as the clouds started to really gather almost above our farm, I grabbed my phone and started to tape the storm brewing. And as the clouds were swirling back around itself, I knew that this whole thing might not end so well. Now was standing out in the rain taping a storm that was brewing literally in our backyard a good idea? OK, probably not. But I thought you are not taking this farm without me! I think my stubborn German heritage comes out more than I know.   

Well the clouds were getting very black and while I was taping the clouds you can literally see a couple of small funnel clouds coming out of the large black mass just still hovering over our fields. 

Then just like that, the black clouds started to go away and the rain came. And boy did we get rain! I think we ended up with a little over 4 inches today and our fields and roads are really taking a beating

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20170703_202243_resizedThis picture below is the one that was after the storm clouds went away and the rain came.  

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But after the rain went through the sun came back out and the water went away again for the night. It sure looks like we won’t be picking rock for sometime again. 

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Picking Rock

Posted on June 27, 2017 by farm2011

We haven’t had much time this Spring/Summer to get out and pick rock so we thought that we’d better go tonight and pick off the bean field. 

With my very fashionable green gloves in my pocket and jumping up on the tractor with Daryl off we go down the gravel road with the flat wagon trailing behind us. 

Seriously I think the best part of this whole gig is riding on the fender of the tractor 🙂 

But it was the first time that I’ve got out there this year and honestly the exercise will do me some good. See for my job I sit almost all day using a computer so any exercise is better than none. EVEN if it is picking rock! 

Well our plan was to make at least one round and hopefully get two rounds done tonight (a round is back and forth in the field) and guess how many we made ? If you guessed that we only made a half of a round then you guessed right! I swear some years that these rocks must grow and multiply in our fields during the winter!! 

The reason that we only did a half of a round was because even though the rocks that we were picking up were not huge ones they were still heavy on the wagon and we knew that we didn’t want to overload the wagon and possibly get stuck in the field. That would be so not cool! Just saying. 

One of the things that always seems to happen when we pick rock is that we can find some pretty unusual rocks to lug home. I think that I’ve got enough rocks in my flower gardens so the dogs and chickens won’t dig them up, but heck a couple more won’t hurt anything. These two are the ‘treasures’ that we found tonight. They look shiny because I washed them off before I put them back outside. OK, even that sounds kind of silly to me! But check them out – pretty cool huh? 

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So I hop back on the tractor once again and after a couple of hours of picking up a half of a round  and we were heading back home just as the sun was starting to set. There’s a good chance of rain tomorrow so we’ll see if we will get out there again this week. There seems to be a lot of rock to pick yet out in the field. 

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