Yesterday we had a dust storm blow through. It was a little bit creepy to see a big wall of dust coming our way. The dust storm brought rain, blessed rain. Except we have four pivots of hay down and two pivots full of baled hay. Not the ideal situation but somehow it feels okay. […]
This Week Part 3
Last Monday was the first day of swathing for the year. Let the farming season officially begin! It was a windy day as you can see from the alfalfa blowing in green waves. Hershey and I waiting for the swather to make its way around the pivot. Here it comes! Kind of amazing there’s a […]
This Week Part 2
The men are building four more hay barns this year. They’ve set all the side poles for each and are now finishing welding the huge trusses on the final barn. After each truss is completed it’s moved to the barn where two more brothers are waiting in “genies” to weld the trusses in place. Uncle […]
Haying is Done!
The weather cleared up enough that the teens (and two 12 year olds) were able to finish raking the rest of the hay and the men were able to bale it shortly after that. They are currently hauling the last five pivots of hay bales as I type this. Hooray! My sister-in-law took these pictures […]
Baler droppings
This is the view from my deck this morning. Bales and bales of hay waiting to be hauled, with mist and snow on the mountains, and a slight drizzle of rain in the valley. This was the view from my deck yesterday. With the impending rainy weather coming, as much hay as possible was put […]
Laying Pipe
A few weeks ago a new well was drilled so there would be enough water to irrigate a new section of land the farm purchased. The are four pivots on this section but the current well wasn’t pumping enough water to run them all at the same time. After the well was drilled new pipe […]
Five Minute Friday: Beautiful
Today I’m joining Lisa-Jo Baker for Five Minute Friday. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing, no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation. Join us! This week’s topic: Beautiful Go! My oldest says it on the way home from the family BBQ. “Is it just me or was the sky particularly beautiful this […]
Lightning Sparked Wildfire
This is the view from our house tonight before going to bed. The dim lights just left of center is my sister-in-law’s house. The three lights just right of center are our shops. A little too close for comfort! Here’s a closer look at the fire above my sister-in-law’s house (the two dots at lower […]
Sights of Summer
Summer. The word used to mean swimming at the neighbor’s pool, chasing fireflies, red Georgia mud squishing between my toes. Now I associate summer with swimming in the redneck pool, crazy farm work hours, and in the early summer stories of fawns and baby antelope being accidentally mown up. Ganache was telling the fawn hello. […]
Home on the Range
How did you spend your Saturday? Here’s how we spent ours {after we cleaned the church}. © 2007-2012 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reserved © 2007-2013 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reserved
Sweet Ol’ Summertime
Summer seems to be officially over. Kind of. We just started swathing {mowing} our fourth crop of hay which means a very busy time for the next two to three weeks. The weather is definitely beginning to change. The evenings cool down so by morning it is downright chilly outside. In the heat of summer […]
Keeping Busy
Summer farm work is in full swing around here. Which means, for me, the three oldest girls are gone helping their dad so the younger kids and I pick up the slack at home. Taken on their recent trip to Florida with my parents Can I just tell you how much I forget those older […]
Branding Time
Last Saturday was the annual branding of new calves. It was cloudy and cold! The cowboys/cowgirls in action. We have friends who come and do this because we are not as skilled! Instead we do the branding, vaccinations, ear clipping, and castrating {if necessary} Fudge watching the action from atop the corral fence. The smell […]
Flying High
On Saturday I had the unexpected opportunity to ride in a small airplane over our valley. I am terrified of heights but surprisingly was not afraid to fly in this tiny little thing. It was a lot of fun! My only remorse is I forgot to get a picture of my four younger children (Special […]
Corn Chopping
Corn chopping started on a cloudy, rain-in-the-morning, misty Thursday. This year we are making earlage instead of silage. What’s the difference? Corn silage is every part of the corn plant, while earlage is just the grain, cob, and sometimes husks. Both are chopped, packed, packed, This pile is only about five dump truck loads of […]