Life in the farming lane

2011-12-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

December 1st! 16° this morning. Clear and sunny. Gorgeous crisp winter morning. Love them. Only 23 days left to shop shop shop! I'm so not anywhere close. Have a few things purchased, but still have quite a bit to do. Still gotta decorate the house too. Oh there are sooo many things to do this month! Better get started! Have a great day!

Time...

2011-11-16T10:08:00.000-08:00

Time has a way of getting away from you. Boy how time flies. Just to mention an few quotes. Geez... I can't believe my last post was almost 2 years ago. ??? Really? Huh... Well, what prompted my posting today is..... IT'S SNOWING!!! And I had to tell somebody! I am soooo not ready for it yet. I don't have the studded tires on my car yet. I want to go visit my mom again this weekend and go to some more holiday bazaars. I may have to run to the Dr. today, or tomorrow. Surprise bladder infection attack. UGH. Ok, sorry. Yeah, I agree... TMI. Ok, so back to the snow. Rich is loading out a hay truck right about now. In the snow. Better than rain I suppose. At least it's all in block stacks and it only takes about 45 minutes to load these days instead of the 3 hours it used to take. Today looks to be a mess in the making. Snow now. Changing to a "wintery mix" around 11:30 or noon. Then to regular old RAIN for the afternoon and evening. YUCK! Maybe... everyone that hasn't gotten their snow tires on are doing that today and when I decide to do it the mad rush will be over. HA! Yeah right. Ok, that's all I got for now. Later!

Somebody buy that groundhog some sunglasses!

2010-02-03T08:55:00.000-08:00

Dang! Back to yucky wet winter. Not cold and snowy, just wet and rainy. We're in an el-Nino weather pattern, so I've been told, so that means warm-ish winter weather. YUCK! If it's gonna be winter for 6 more weeks I want snow and below freezing temps!!!

Tantrum over.

Moving on........................

On an up note.... Today is Wednesday, tomorrow is Thursday, and Friday is my day off!!! Yay!

Sunshine!!!

2010-01-14T13:16:00.001-08:00

I see it! Beautiful, glorious sunshine! And blue sky! And the mountains! Gorgeous! Oh how nice it is. People are actually smiling today. What a wonderful cure for the winter blues. Simple sunshine. Ahhhhhh it's great. How long will it last? Who knows, but enjoy it while you can. : )~

Winter Blahs.......

2010-01-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

Do I always have to have a Title for each blog? It's really hard sometimes to come up with one. Well, anyway.

Another day of fog. I should've posted yesterday! I actually saw blue sky and possibly some sunshine! But, I'm not really sure. It's been so gray outside lately (almost every day) that I really don't pay much attention to what it looks like out my window. But yesterday, at about 4:00, as I'm thinking...."I get to go home in 1/2 an hour"..... I happened to look out my window and low and behold............ BLUE SKY!!! This is why I'm not sure if I really saw sunshine or not. It was 4:00 and the sun had already started retreating to the west. It was kind of bright out so I'm assuming it was sunny. At least for a while. Maybe.

Back to the fog today though. Darn! Wish I would've paid more attention yesterday.

Now I understand the winter blahs though. So much Gray, so much fog........ I'm almost hoping for spring. I would like to see some more snow though before winter goes away. You know, one of those Beautiful winter days where the blue sky and sunshine reflect off of the soft pretty white fluffy snow. One can only hope. No more of this wet, sloppy, gray, foggy stuff.......please.

Blogging..........

2010-01-11T14:53:00.000-08:00

Ugh. I'm so bad at this blogging thing. I would like to post every day or at least once a week! I'm lucky if I get a post on here once a month! That's not even possible it seems. Obviously, since my last post was waaaay back in October. So, maybe just a few daily comments would be better than nothing.

Christmas was good. Seemed to pass way too quickly to really enjoy. New Years came with the big debate........ TwentyTen or TwoThousand Ten........ what's your preference??? Me, I'm a TwoThousand Ten person....... so far.

Today..........

Icy, foggy, general blahhhhhhhh..... The fog never cleared all day. The freezing rain we got on Friday is still hanging around. Oh, the roads are clear for the most part, but the driveway and yard are almost impossible to navigate.

Hoping to see some blue sky and sunshine soon!

I could really use some chocolate today.

What happened to Fall?

2009-10-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this??? Yesterday was October 13 and it snowed! Around 9:30 AM I'm sitting at my desk at work and I look out the window to see it blizzarding! It was really coming down... for about 1/2 an hour. Everything was covered in white. It was all gone by 11:00 AM, but wow! We went from 90° temps about 3 weeks ago straight to winter with 40° temps. Crazy. We've completely skipped fall and went straight from summer to winter. Wonder if the trees know that? The leaves were just starting to turn.

It has warmed up some today. It's probably around 50° or so, but the wind is blowing so the wind chill will make it somewhere around the mid 40's. It sure was gloomy looking this morning though. Yuck. The sun has come out this afternoon (along with the wind) and it "looks" more cheerful outside.

Rich finished tarping the hay stacks yesterday.......... just before it started snowing. So I think the farm is all hunkered down and ready for winter. The woodshed on the other hand is not. It's pretty empty. Gonna have to find wood somewhere! Baseboard heaters get too expensive to run all winter so the woodstove is usually roaring nicely. It keeps the main part of the house nice and toasty.... bedrooms get supplemented with baseboard heaters just before bedtime.

John is doing much better. He just has a cold now. Thank goodness. I was afraid I was gonna have to go live with him just to keep him from falling apart. Maybe a little bit for my reassurance too.

Tim is well into Football season with Rich coaching. This weekend is Homecoming....... hoping for a win! as always. Tim is going to the dance..... maybe slightly under protest. Boys don't ever seem to know the details of the evenings happenings. They've just been told they're going. I just want to take pictures. : )

Me, I'm still chugging along. Most days are the same......... work, home, supper, tv, bed........ repeat. Except for Friday nights and Monday nights when I go to the football games. Or when I have an ill child 2 hours away and I'm resigned to sitting and worrying my time away wondering if everything is ok or if I should just get in the car and go to him.

Time goes on, kids heal, games are won (hopefully), and moms survive to do it all another day.

Children

2009-10-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

Is it ever possible to let them go? To totally be on their own? I really don't think so. Not only is it hard for mom to see them go and not want to run right after them "just to make sure" everything is ok, I think it's hard for the child to leave that security too. They want to make sure Mom (and Dad too) are still there "just in case".

Yeah, I thought it would be easier when John went off to live by himself, go to college and get a job. I was wrong. Now I have to wonder if he's getting up on time, getting to class on time, getting homework done, getting to work on time, getting enough rest/sleep, eating right......... UGH! Thank goodness for cell phones and texting otherwise I think I might go nuts! Physican and insurance issues have been a hassle too. Something I hadn't thought about either. John hasn't had the best time since he left a week and a half ago to start college. He had his wisdom teeth (all 4) out on the 18th of Sept. School started on the 28th. Seemed like enough time for recovery. Two days after he got to school one of the extraction holes got infected. We had to find an Oral Surgeon for him to go see. Thankfully the Oral Surgeon here called around and got him an appointment near his town. Got him some antibiotics and pain pills. Had to fax insurance info to the pharmacy. Thought we were on the road to recovery. Not so..... On Thursday he started feeling sick, was better over the weekend, but this week he REALLY felt bad. Went to urgent care only to be told he might have appendicitis! So again, I'm faxing and calling in insurance info to the hospital. He went through a mess of tests. Turns out to be a viral infection. Thank goodness....... I guess. More pills and lots of rest. All this in a week and a half! He's ready to throw in the towel and come back home. The mommy in me says "Yes! Come home and I'll take care of you!" The rational side says "It's only been a week and a half. Come on........ give it more time. You can do it!" Still, it's soooooooo hard. What's that saying? A mom holds her child with her hand for a little while, but with her heart for eternity. Or something to that effect. So true.

Indian Summer

2009-09-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

Oh it's been absolutely GORGEOUS these last few weeks. The first day of fall was just a couple of days ago, but you'd never know from the weather we've been having. Highs in the upper 80's to 90's. Nothing but blue skies and sunshine. Mornings have been quite chilly. We've had 30° the last few mornings, but it's still beautiful. That's been the only indication that Fall is definitely on its way.

We do have about 20 acres of 4th cutting alfalfa on the ground waiting to be baled up. Rich is going to try to get it up by Sunday. We haven't been haying this late in the year with this good of weather for a while. It's nice.

John has moved off to college........... well, sort of. His classes don't start until Monday the 28th. He cleared out his bedroom on Wednesday and took all of his stuff to his apartment. He will be back today, Friday, to watch the High School Football game. He'll probably go back to his apartment on Sunday. Then, who knows when we'll see him again. I'm expecting it'll be when he runs out of cash......... which could be quickly.

Speaking of football, Rich is coaching the high school JV team this year and coaching the wide receivers on the Varsity team. Tim is playing on the JV team mainly but has suited up for 1 varsity game so far and is suiting up again tonight. He actually got in on about 10 plays in last weeks Varsity game! He's having a lot of fun.

Rich has been quite busy these last couple of months. Trying to get the haying done and keep up with football practices and games. As soon as this last cutting of hay is in the stack things should calm down a bit. All we'll have to keep up with is Tim's sports then. Only one child to follow around this year. Only bad thing is, Rich now rides the team bus and I'm left to beg rides from other parents or drive myself. Not really liking that. But Rich does seem to be having a good time coaching and that's very good.

That's all for now. Enjoy the wonderful weather for now because next week Fall comes in with a vengance.

A Cool Down Period

2009-08-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

Whew. We've had a nice break in the weather for the last couple of weeks. It's been much cooler with temps in the 70's to 80's. Even had a sprinkle overnight night before last. Sure was refreshing. This nice cool weather is going to come to an abrupt end I understand though. We're supposed to be back up in the high 90's to 100's by next week. Just in time for the Klickitat County Fair!!!

Speaking of the fair.......... Tim said goodbye to his steers this morning. Rich hauled them to Toppenish to the auction. They were in no way "fair ready". Tim was just way too busy this summer to spend any quality time getting them show trained. So, we get to sleep in every morning next week (well, if you can call 6 am sleeping in). We don't have to be up at 5, washing a steer, cleaning out stalls and keeping the barn clean. We will just get to enjoy the fair as spectators. Tim actually enjoyed doing all the barn chores. He'll still be hanging out in the barn with his 4-H club buddies though. I'm sure they'll put him to work.

This cooler weather kind of messed with finishing up 2nd cutting too. It was really strange. Rich only had 40 acres left to bale. He tried to bale several morning's but there was no dew! You would've thought with the cooler weather there would've been too much, but nooooooo. He finally finished and then the next 2 mornings in a row there was PLENTY of dew. Go figure!

Water is going on for 3rd cutting. Rich get's his daily summer exercise walking the wheel lines to keep them straight. Hopefully 3rd cutting will be just as big or bigger than 2nd. The machinery is behaving now..... so far. We purchased a new tractor....... Tim has claimed it for his self. It's a newer model so it has all the "perks". Rich gets the old new tractor... still has a cab, but the radio, air conditioning, and seat aren't anywhere near as nice as the NEW one.

Cows are being their usual spoiled selves. The're never happy.......... or one could say, "the grass is greener........". We had a cow have twins last week. She didn't breed when the rest of the cows did before the bull got shipped to a freinds place for the winter but when he came back earlier this year she must have......... anyway, SUPRISE! We have 2 new babies... one heifer and one bull. The momma doesn't seem to have enough milk for both so Rich is trying to supplement the smallest of the two with milk replacer. Trying is the key word there.......... the little bugger won't drink from a bottle. We'll keep trying though.

What else............

Oh.... along with our county fair starting next Wednesday, football practice starts for Tim. Another reason Tim won't be showing a steer. They will have daily doubles (2 2 hour practices a day for 3 days, then regular practices start on Monday the 24th and THEN school starts on Wednesday the 26th! Woo hoo!

John tore the transmission out of his truck......... again, and is putting in a new one. He really hates driving the "wascally wabbit" as he calls it. It also has no air conditioning. Gets really good fuel mileage, but with no air conditioning, it's not a fair trade off. So he will be putting in the new tranny tonight with the help of some friends (dad's leaving him alone on this one for the most part) and hoping it works because he REALLY wants to drive it to his apartment in Pendleton this weekend. Yeah, I hope it works too, because I don't want to have to go get him if it doesn't.

Work has been a zoo for me the last 2 weeks. We have a program deadline tomorrow and people just decided LAST MONDAY it would be a good thing to sign up for. AND in the middle of last week I was called for Jury Duty and actually got picked to serve on a jury! Nothing major... just a couple of guys joy riding through the Wishram Curves (a very dangerous part of Highway 14 through the Columbia River Gorge) on sport motorcycles, or as some call them.... crotch rockets, at speeds in excess of 100 mph. Good grief! Anyway, at work, the phones were ringing off the hook... people were coming through the door faxes coming in... e-mails burning up the wires. Just nuts! We're still not done! Can't wait for September to come........... oh yeah another major deadline then too......... Job security right?

Well, that's about the jist of it. Still busy, busy, busy..... wouldn't want it any other way..... or so I've been told. I'd sure like to try it though.

Have a great weekend!

A Midsummer Day's Reality

2009-07-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

Second Cutting started coming down today! Wow, summer is half over, well, according to Tim anyway. "And we still haven't done anything fun" he says. Flying to the other side of the country, 2 football camps, and a baseball championship don't count I guess.

Rich and Tim got the smaller, more efficient, loader put back together and running again last night after waiting what seemed like eons for parts to arrive. Too bad it wasn't in time to load the 2 trucks that came in yesterday afternoon. But it will be ready for the next one!

John has parked his awesome cherry red "Clifford The Big Red Truck". Too many transmission problems. It's all because of the big tires and has NOTHING to do with the way he drives. Or so he says. He is now driving a 1980 VW Rabbit that he was given by my nephew. It's nothing to right home about, but it runs. That's the most important aspect of this car. It does get much better fuel milage. It's a diesel. He has made some "modifications" to it. Some too scary to mention. He's 6'2" and has to kind of fold himself up to get in, but........... it runs. He's just hoping he doesn't have to take it to school in September. We'll see............

Monday Tim and I leave for Pendleton for the 14 year old Babe Ruth All-Star State Championship Tournament. We'll be there all week. It's gonna be HOT! It will be fun though. Another "vacation"!!!! I would like to maybe go to the beach sometime though. Somewhere that doesn't have a tour guide cracking his whip or that we have to be at a certain place exactly 1 hour before game time. Maybe later this summer.

The cows have been quite well behaved so far this summer.......... oh, except for Monday morning. They decided the single wire "gate" wasn't good enough to hold them in and made their escape. Rich put them back in and so far, they've stayed put. I suppose the grass (or in this case-alfalfa) was greener on the other side.

John is still working for the county trying desperately to save money. It's difficult when there are so many toys you can buy these days. He just got a call on an apartment that's available in Pendleton so now he has something tangeable to save for. RENT!!

So............. summer goes on. Hot, dry and windy. Until next time...................

Busy, busy, busy........

2009-06-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

Made it to DC and back. What a wonderful, whirlwind of a trip! Tim and I had a great time. Saw LOTS of history, learned a lot, walked a lot and decided that there's no place like the Pacific Northwest to call home! I don't know how the people live there with that humidity. You could be dripping just standing still.

Rich and Tim survived Football camp in Spokane. John and I held down the farm while they were gone. John moved irrigation and I fed steers. It's nice to have them back home. They had a great time too. Tim was the only Freshman that went to camp this year. He said they all made him feel like part of the team. It was a good experience for him. Both of them said the food was the best part!

This week is back to some what "normal". Back into the hay business. First cutting got off to a rough start. Plugged up swathers and balers, broken baler, rain storm.... Finally got it finished and stacked. Ready to be hauled out. 4 hay trucks coming in this week. One today, one tomorrow, and 2 on Friday! It's good to see it going out. Makes room for 2nd cutting.

This week is also the start Football weight lifting for Tim as well as the beginning of Babe Ruth All-Star team practice. There is another boy from here that made the team so we get to carpool this year! Practice is in The Dalles at least 3 days a week if not every day from 7-8:30 pm.

Next week Tim is attending an Offense - Defense Football Camp at Reed College in Portland. They actually have Pro-Football players in attendance and it is led by Pro coaches. It should be fun and very beneficial for him. I will miss him again. We take him down on Sunday and pick him up on Thursday.

It will be back to baseball practice when he gets back. By then Rich will probably be ready to cut hay again.

John has a full time job this summer working for the county Public Works/Road Dept. He's supposed to be saving the money to pay rent for his apartment when he goes to college this fall.

Babe Ruth All Star State Tournament is in Pendleton, OR this year! Hopefully John will have his apartment by then and we can stay there! I can also be getting it ready for John to move in when school starts in September! That tournament starts July 20 and runs through the 25th.

I know there's more to look forward to this summer. More football stuff as well as the county fair. I'll save that for another post. Have a great week!

Here we go!

2009-05-29T12:05:00.001-07:00

Rich started laying down the alfalfa today. The weather has be absolutely beautiful the last couple of weeks. He's had the irrigation on that whole time. Shut it off on Wednesday and the hay is ready to cut. Temps have been in the 80's the last few days and is supposed to stay there for a few more. Things are going to get very busy around here now.

Next week is the last week of school for both boys. John is graduating from High School and Tim is graduating from the 8th grade. Tim's grad ceremony is on Wednesday with his last day on Friday and John's graduation is on Friday with his last day on Wednesday. We're having a BBQ get together on Friday afternoon before John's graduation. Family and friends will be here to congratulate both boys.

On Monday June 15th Tim and I leave for Washington DC with a group of kids from Tim's school. It will be a whirlwind trip. Lots to see in 6 days! It will be fun though. Something we will remember for the rest of our lives. Rich and John get to stay home and take care of the farm. John will hopefully have a job somewhere this summer too.

Tim has a busy summer ahead of him all on his own. The day after we get back from DC (Monday June 22nd) he leaves for a week of football camp with the high school team (he will be a freshman next year) in Spokane, WA. When he gets back from that he is going to a football camp in Portland, Or for 5 days. The first week of July will be Babe Ruth All-Stars practice then the tournaments for that starts on July20th in Pendleton, OR. The end of August is fall football practice/camp for High School and our County Fair. Tim will be showing a steer again this year. Whew! What a busy kid!

So anyway, here we go............ Our busy season is just starting. Hope you have a wonderful summer!

Spring is here?

2009-03-18T16:15:00.001-07:00

Looks like it today anyway. Sunshine, blue skies, fluffy clouds, slight breeze. I even went for a walk on my lunch break. Wore my coat... shouldn't have. It's that nice! Hard to believe yesterday was 25° in the morning then rain/snow in the afternoon. Spring officially arrives about noon on Friday. I'm hoping the "in like a lion, out like a lamb" thing rings true this year. First high school baseball game is tomorrow. We have sat through games in the snow... that's not fun... but it would be really nice if tomorrow could be like today. As for the farming........ we're all calved out....... well, except one cow that insists on being the VERY LAST. Not sure what satisfaction she gets. I think Rich is getting the itch to get outside and do something. He's even helping the neighbor feed his cows! Tim, our 14 year old, is also helping the neighbor feed. He made a deal with him for a beat up pickup truck. They towed it home a couple of weeks ago. It actually runs now. Tim is sooooooo excited! Cracks me up. It's the ugliest thing you've ever seen. Well, I guess that opinion could have something to do with my gender. It's Dukes of Hazzard - General Lee orange, missing one tail light, no tail gate, one of the doors won't stay shut, numerous dents, rust spots..... But, in Tim's 14 year old eyes........ IT'S BEAUTIFUL! He can't wait to drive it to high school in a couple of years. I'm sure all the girls will be soooo impressed. Things are starting to green up around here. Haven't seen any of my bulbs sprouting yet though. Still too cold at night. Still have some water standing in the Swale too. Hopefully the grass hay crop will be good this year. The low land in the Swale flooded at least twice this year! Before we know it, we'll be complaining about how hot it is and when is winter coming.............. Yeah right!

Winter Blahs..........

2009-02-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

It's been eons ago since I last posted. Sorry. Yeah, yeah. I know. Just 'cause it's winter doesn't mean life on the farm comes to a screeching halt. There's still cows to be fed, snow to be shoveled..... er... pushed, hay trucks to be pulled (out of the mud post loading). That actually only happened once this winter. My oldest son, the all knowing 17 year old, spent most of his winter pulling his friends out of snowy, muddy ditches. Seems he's the only one for miles around with a 4-wheel drive truck. Or maybe it's because they don't want to call their parents. ??? Not that he minded at all. Nothing like giving the teenage ego a boost! His shiny bright red truck however, has been in a perpetual state of mud covered-ness. Teenage boys, what are ya gonna do? Today we're finally getting some sunshine. After 2 1/2 months of temperatures in the teens to mid 20's, 40° feels like a heatwave! Sure looks pretty out there. Calving started at the first of February too. Out of 17 cows, we have 3 left to calve. I'm such a horrible farm wife! I've only been out to the pasture once and that was right after the first baby was born! Shame on me! I might get out there today..... since it's nice and sunny. Ok, so I'm a fair weather farmer's wife. Shoot me. I did finally get a new pair of barn boots though!! My first pair of my VERY OWN!!! But, alas........ they've still got that "new boot" smell. Barely out of the box. Someday.......... (sigh.......) Ok. So the boys basketball season's have ended.. albeit badly. High school won one game and my younger son's middle school team won 4 out of 8. Thank goodness that's over. On to baseball!!! We'll see how that works out. Baseball season means spring is right around the corner........ after sitting through the first half of the season all bundled up like we're Nanook of the North. The second half of the season we break out the sunscreen! Watch out for those metal bleachers!!!

Who says Happy Cows only come from California?

2008-09-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

Well, 2008 hay crop is FINALLY done! Irrigation is off. Equipment is stored away. The cows are free to roam! Talk about spoiled pets! Good grief. You would've thought they were starved to death the way they kept busting through the fences and gates, not that they were the best fences and gates to begin with......... Chasing them around bales, through wind rows and back through gates into their holding pasture in the dark is not my idea of fun. God should've given cows some patience. OR Ma Nature could've cooperated a bit more and given us some great late haying weather! Oh well, now they can eat to their little hearts content. All the fresh alfalfa they could ever want. At least until the snow flies......... and with the weather we've been having lately, that could be tomorrow!!! Oh I hope not! Gotta get that wheat seed in the ground...............

Fall is in the air!

2008-09-10T14:51:00.000-07:00

Good grief. Here it is, September already. The boys are back in school, football games have started, and we're STILL doing hay! Yes, 3rd cutting is slowly becoming a reality. This time of year it's slow going. Waiting for enough "warm" days in a row to guarantee a "no rain" window of cutting time. THEN, making sure the hay is actually dry enough to bale so that it won't mold or burn the barn down after being stacked inside. THEN, waiting for the proper amount of DEW to be on the wind rows to that we can actually bale! Oh my. It's a painful waiting game sometimes.

Oh, then you have to factor in FOOTBALL. Yes, we only have 2 boys, but they both play. We have a nephew that plays on the PeeWee team that my Brother In Law coaches and Rich is an assistant. Plus College and Pro Football on TV. So, we have.......... Tim's games on Thursday afternoons, John on Friday nights, Jesse (nephew) on Saturday mornings (sometimes we get to watch his sister's soccer games then too), College ball on Saturday afternoons, Pro on Sundays - all day, JV High school games on Monday afternoons (home games only), Pro on Monday nights. So, that leaves Tuesdays and Wednesdays to "get stuff done". Except for the fact that since Rich helps with the PeeWees, he is at practice Tue, Wed, & Thurs. from 5-7. Soooooooo........... you get the picture.

Fall is just as busy as Spring and Summer. Oh, heck. Winter is busy too. Maybe that's just for me. Rich seems to have more down time during the winter. All we have then is Basketball.

So, yes, we are STILL in Farming mode. For another month or so. Then we can put the tractors, mower, rakes, and balers to bed for the winter. Except for that Fall Wheat that needs to be planted............

See ya next time! Hopefully sooner than later!

Go Timberwolves!

Time Flies..............

2008-08-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Wow! Has it been a long time or what? Well, let's see last I left you, we (I say "we" figuratively) were having baling problems, or I should say tractor problems. All has been taken care of. First cutting is baled, stacked, and sent on it's way to Tillamook! Second cutting is done, baled, stacked, and about 1/4 of it has been trucked out and on it's way to Tillamook. Still have about 6 more semi-truck loads to go. That's not to say 2nd cutting went without it's share of problems. Ended up purchasing a new baler. After breaking more bales than tying, the old baler just had to go! Sad to say good bye to an old friend, but............ The new one is sooooooo cool!!! LOL! Currently watering for 3rd cutting. The ooooollllllld combine was taken out of the barn last night. Unbelievably, it started right up!!! Rich was shocked, as was I. We have 6 whole acres of wheat to cut this year! Prices are still up for the little golden nuggets. Hopefully they will stay that way or even go up more! At least enough to pay for the fuel to run the dang combine!! Oh, yeah, I forgot......... gas prices are falling! Yeah, right. I won't be celebrating until I see $2 something gas again. Aaahhhhhhh........ the good old days. Well, I must leave you now. I'll try to get on here soon to update how the big harvest went.

So much fun.........

2008-06-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

Who said farming is dull?? They must have never owned farm equipment. Hay is all down, been raked and is drying quickly. Rich and John have been baling every morning and night, even Tim has done some. Yesterday, John blew a tire on the big, good tractor. Of course the tire shop does NOT keep these tires in stock so they have to order one and it will be in next week. UGH. Ok....... the OLD-EST tractor still works so Rich will use it and John can use the Old-er one until the tire comes in. Well............. I guess this morning Rich blew up the OLD-EST tractor. It won't even move! YIKES! So, they're down to 1 tractor and 1 baler and the weather is supposed to change this weekend. Man am I glad I had to go to work today! I'm sure home will not be a fun place to be today. My poor boys. Maybe the outlook will be better by 5:00 this evening when I get home. I should probably have something good planned for supper. Even if nobody is there to eat it.

Summer is here........ I think.........

2008-06-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hay is all down. Being raked as we speak. Looks like a good crop for first cut. We've had temps in the 80's for the last few days. Plus a little wind. Good hay drying weather. I know it's summer because I finally got my first sunburn of the year. Always unintentional...of course. We had a double header baseball game in The Dalles on Saturday. I knew I didn't want to get my legs or shoulders burned so I wore a t-shirt and capris............ flip-flops and had my hair braded. Duh......... I never even thought about my neck and the tops of my feet. YOWCH! Woke up with a headache and felt sick all day Sunday. I'm guessing a slight case of sun poisioning. Felt better about 6:00 last night. I did manage to get a bit of laundry done and made a pineapple upside down cake (Rich's favorite) for Father's Day. Barely saw him yesterday though. He was on a tractor most of the day cutting the rest of the hay. He did come in for a nap in the early afternoon and let John mow for a couple of hours. Tim and I stayed in the house most of the day. We watched movies on the HBO free weekend. Tim actually did do a bit of work outside. He changed the oil on his 4 wheeler and then took Rich's phone out to him in the field. Tim has hay fever really bad, go figure, and by the time he got back to the house, he was a mess. He recently got some medications to help with it though so he used it and was feeling better. John is working on a Demolition Derby car that he and some friends are putting in the derby on the 4th of July this year. He said they almost have it done. Guess I'll have to go this year. Life on the farm is just starting to get busy. We have the whole summer ahead of us. Hope the good weather stays around.

2008-06-10T07:42:00.000-07:00

It stopped raining! Rich cut hay like a mad man. I think we have about 150 acres down. And then................ the weather turned bad again. OH NO! Yeah, last night the wind blew so hard I thought the roof was going to come off! I think even the wind mills up on the hills above the river called it quits last night. I thought sure with the black clouds that were coming in last night would open up and just pour on us, but guess what! It barely sprinkled! Well, maybe it did rain, but the wind was blowing so hard, the drops either evaporated or got blown clear to Montana. Very cloudy this morning and praying for NO RAIN today. See, farmers are very fickle. First they want rain then they don't. Crazy people.

It's still raining.............

2008-06-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

It's a sad thing.............. A true farmer is never happy. Rich is chomping at the bit..... ready to cut hay......... AND IT WON'T STOP RAINING! If we were wheat farmers he would be jumping for joy. We do have 6 acres of the golden nuggets, but not enough to warrent all this liquid sunshine. The hay is ready....... the alfalfa weevil is gorging himself on the luscious green leaves and it has become a game of who can clear the field faster......... the bugs or the swather. For now the bugs are in the lead. DARN! As soon at there's a little sunshine icon in the 10 day forcast windows on Weather.com............ the hay will be a-flyin. But until then...... Rich has to have a little patience. Very hard for a man who gets excited about going in circles all day on a tractor.

We got RAIN!!

2008-05-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

A little bit anyway. Enough to settle the dust. We could use a LOT more. Crops around here are really suffering. We are lucky enough to be able to make our own 'rain'. Warm today. Thunder storms are in the forecast. Don't doubt it the way it feels outside. Muggy. Rich and Tim worked calves today. John worked on his Junior project. It's an old Dodge flatbed truck that he rebuilt the motor in. He's supposed to take it to school on Tuesday for his final grade. Hope he makes it! LOL. I think Rich is going to follow him in with his pickup.

Yup.... It's spring.

2008-05-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

Rich started the irrigation on Monday. Wind has been blowing hard ever since. I think we watered the road more than the wheat! The boys now have something to do every morning and afternoon........... moving hand line. They're so excited! Yeah, right. Oh, and we had our mini heat wave. High 90's over the weekend and now we're back into the low 60's. Still won't plant any flowers yet. I'm sure we haven't had our last freeze of the year yet. Spent the whole weekend on the road. Tim played in a basketball tournament in Yakima Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and John was at State High School Basketball playoffs in Wenatchee on Saturday. Rich went to Wenatchee and I drove back and forth to Yakima. It was a good weekend, just hot!

High School baseball is over. On to Football. Spring practice starts in a few weeks. Just getting into the meat of Babe Ruth baseball. Had a game last night. Our boys won. It was a good game. Babe Ruth goes through June so we've got a while to go with that.

Memorial Day weekend is coming up this weekend. No real plans. We've been invited to camp with Rich's mom and brother. Might go visit them for a day. We've also been invited to a picnic with Rich's Aunt and Uncles at his Aunt's house on Sunday. Might go to that. We don't really know what we're doing. The only thing we know for sure is Rich will be moving water!

Have a great day and a wonderful Memorial Day!

2008-05-12T12:06:00.001-07:00

Wow! Been a few days. Well things are going........ Weather is still wierd. Still cold in the mornings. Getting warmer. Mid week is showing 90's!

The trees are really starting to bud out now. My lilacs are getting more and more buds on them all the time. I'm just hoping they have a chance to bloom and we don't get a major freeze in the next few weeks. I look at all the pretty flowers in the stores and want to get out and get some planted, but I know that if I did, we would get a killing frost and they would all be gone! I just need to be more patient. I look at all the pretty trees and flowers blooming down on the river and long to see them at our house, but it's just a different world up here! We're like 2-3 weeks behind.

The cows have decided that the grass is definitely greener on the other side of the fence. They have escaped their little pasture 6 times in the last 2 weeks! Now that they have had a taste of the sweet new grass in the fields, THAT'S where they think they need to be. They do go back to their designated area pretty easily still. They must wait until the grass has been harvested for hay before they can have the run of that field. NAUGHTY COWS!

Hay truck was coming up the driveway at 5:30 this morning. Rich was ready for it. Sure is hard to go back to sleep with a loader running right outside the windows and you only have another 1/2 hour to sleep anyway.

Got the boys up and off to school. Thought Tim was gonna miss the bus. It's like he has no concept of time! Is this a common 13 year old trait? I'm thinking yes. He went out to feed the 4-H steers at 7:10, had to tie up the dog and be out to catch the bus by 7:15. Thankfully the bus was late and didn't show up until 7:25 because he didn't make it out to the bus until 7:20! Kids! And people wonder why moms are stressed!!! It's because they have teenagers!

My kitchen is FINALLY getting done........ Maybe. The lower cabinets are in. The counter is being installed today. Was supposed to be Saturday, but the counter guy almost cut his thumb off while making the final cut on the back splash Friday night! YIKES! He's ok and is at the house today. I'm hoping that Rich has enough motivation to install the sink and dishwasher today too. Then it's on to installing the upper cabinets so I can get all of my dishes off of the dining room table!

No baseball today! I'm thinking I can actually cook a proper supper! Pork chops, potatoes and peas sound good.

OH! There is a nest of mice that have decided to take up residence in my stove. More precisely, under the oven. I baked some cupcakes Saturday night and the heat from the oven must have warmed them up and woke them up! They peeped and chirped all night long then. Also sounded like the mother was trying to tear apart the whole unit. Scratching and chewing all night. My guess is she was ripping out insulation to make more nest. Gonna have to get some more bait! I think they're coming in from the hay stacks. Rich has really been disturbing their homes among the bales for the last few weeks in order to feed the cows. Yes, the same cows that seem to think they're starved to death! Anyway, I didn't hear the mice last night so either the mother decided that the oven wasn't a proper place to raise young'uns or they didn't wake up because I didn't turn the oven on. It was a peaceful sleep last night. Aaaaahhhhhhh..................

An early morning jog around the farm............

2008-04-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

Or sort of.

Got home last night about 10:30 after Tim's game. Went to bed about 11:30. Last time I looked at the clock was about 11:45. About 12:30 AM I heard cows....... Loud.... which means they are not out in the pasture....... no...... They are right outside the bedroom window!!!! Up we go! Throw on some clothes.... get John up (let Tim sleep)... Out the door we go... John and I with flashlights and Rich jumps on the 4 wheeler. Sure enough....... There they all are (thank God there's only about 30 of them... each with a calf) standing in my back yard and in the Wheat field! Of course the moon is not out so it's pitch black. Here we go....... running through the field and yard trying to get these 4 legged beasts turned around and headed back to the pasture in the dark. It's almost a miracle I didn't run into something (no contacts in just my glasses on and they're not very good). Ok, so they get turned around and of course there's no casual walking to the gate, they take off on a dead run in John's direction. He thought he was a gonner. But... they decide to head for the gate... good cows... except..... they didn't get out through the gate so it wasn't open for them to go through. Again, John has to wade through them, carefully so as not to spook them into another stampede, and open the gate. Ok, gate's open.... Rich and I shoo them through and he closes the gate. Oh no! They're heading back around the barn to the place where they got out in the first place! Rich takes off on the 4 wheeler at Mach 7.... barely misses the dog, who by the way, isn't much of a cow dog when it really matters. Rich gets to the back of the barn just as the ring leader gets to the hole. They had pushed through some panels that were tied shut with the ever indestructable baling twine. Rich was able to keep them from going through again and got the panels closed. All back in, safe and sound....EXCEPT... 2 rogue, naughty calves that decided they didn't want to head back with their mothers. They got stuck, or so they thought, behind a fence and hung out there ALL NIGHT... crying and whining when they realized they were alone. Of course all they had to do was turn around and go back through the yard and over to the gate and they would be fine. But NOOOOOO........... So.... not only were they bawling all night, so were their mothers (trying to get their babies to come to them), and because of all the noise they were making... the dog, who originally didn't even notice the cows were out, decided he needed to bark at them all night, or what was left of it. As it started getting lighter, the birds and quail started making their morning wake up calls. The alarm went off at 5:50 AM. Why even try to hit the snooze. Up and at'em. Short night..... long day...... 20 oz mocha required. Ahhhh....... Life on the farm.

Aaahhh sunshine.........

2008-04-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

For a couple of days anyway.

Actually got a bit of a tan line on my arms. Went from watching Babe Ruth baseball Thursday and Friday nights in 35° to watching High School Baseball on Saturday in 73°!

Today has been nice.... or what I've seen of it. Haven't been outside since 7:15 this morning when I went from the house to the car to go to work. Sun is shining, sky is clear and blue, but the wind is blowing - typical spring in the Columbia River Gorge.

Hay truck came in at 6:00 again this morning. Gotta get last years crop out of the barn so we can start on the 2008 crop! Hubby and the driver were done with the first trailer and just starting on the 2nd when I left.

Off to another baseball game tonight - Babe Ruth. Tomorrow is another one - Babe Ruth, but it is at home for a change! This traveling stuff is getting quite expensive what with the price of gas and all! Sheesh!

Better sign off...... Gotta go pay my property taxes!

Global Warming???

2008-04-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

Good grief! What happened to spring? We actually had a skiff of snow on the ground. It was 23° when I left for work at 7:00 this morning and the high for today is supposed to be about 50°. This is not good for the crops! Calf crop is good though! Only one left to arrive! No hay truck this morning. Thank goodness! Too cold to load. Rich's new flat bed 5th wheel trailer arrived last week. Since he was at baseball practice, as was DS#1, I was the only one available to meet the guy out on the highway. He arrived amidst multiple sherrif vehicles, state patrol vehicles, and an ambulance flying by. I was getting worried something had happened with the trailer! I was relieved when he actually showed. He unhooked the trailer from his rig and I proceeded to back up to it myself. It only took twice!! After his few instructions on what NOT to do and receiving the paperwork, I was hooked up and on the road in less than 10 minutes. Got home just fine, parked the trailer and headed back into town for practice. Ahhh...... the life of a farm wife.

2008-04-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

Hay truck came in at the crack of dawn (well, 6:00 AM anyway). Looks like the one above. Thank goodness hubby is the one that has to load it. Well, he runs the loader anyway, the truck driver is the one that actually handles the bales. Whew..... was it ever windy too! Thought the poor guy was gonna blow clean off the truck! I left for work at 7:15 and they were almost half done! They move fast when it's cold. We had temps in the mid 70's over the weekend. Back to the low to mid 50's today. Sun is shining though and at least it's not raining.....today.

2008-04-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

What a gorgeous day! Up at 5:30 to get Tim up and off with a friend for a mini baseball clinic in Yakima. Back to bed. Up at 8:00 to get John up and off to baseball pre-game. Back to bed. Up at 9. No wind this morning so the crop dusters were flying as soon as the frost was off. Our new bull was delivered today. He young so he looks small next to the cows. But he should get the job done! Wind was picking up by 10:00 am. Rich felt better about going to John's game since he wouldn't be able to spray. Went to the Double header vs. Zillah. Our boys won both games. John played well and had a couple of good hits. Was a looooooong couple of games. Some coaches just have a hard time controlling themselves when it comes to calls made by the umpires. Makes you wonder sometimes. Mowed the lawn when we got home this evening. John is working on the Dodge truck he's fixing for his Junior project. It hasn't run in a couple of years and he's bound and determined to drive it to school..... soon! It's a good project for him. He's learning all kinds of stuff about motors and such. Well, suppertime. What to have........ Hmmmmmm.............. why is it always such a chore to figure this out? Maybe grilled burgers.

Day one

2008-04-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

Alright, I just signed up. Not sure what I'm doing. Maybe I'll get the hang of this blogging thing someday. Look out........ I may just be back!