Winter Project

Yep, there it is. Our winter project.
 I don't know why I"m saying "our". Ha. I just get to take pictures, talk about it and maybe boss or give an opinion (or two).

Country Boy has decided that although this barn is usable in it's current condition, it could be more practical for today's uses.  So, Here we go....

These built in feeders were taken out on one side before I could even take any pictures! C.B. doesn't just talk about doing stuff I guess....

These pictures are great I know. Barns are so... well... photogenic..  :)
I just love them though.

 My little pile of stuff that I wanted to save is right there. The old window frames and an old pulley. I think I really did have more but they "accidentally" got thrown on the trailer and hauled away.  Hhmmm.

Not that I was being a pain or anything. I just wondered what this or that was. What in the world did they use THAT for. You know. Stuff like that. I had gloves on and was "helping"...  I just don't think I was the kind of help C.B. was wanting.  LOL.

As I was touring the barn taking pictures I had a little helper. Lucy was so excited to run around out there. I think she was crouching thinking the barn swallows were still out there though.
Whew.
Dive bombing barn swallows drive me crazy too!

Okay, so I did get a little side tracked as I was out snapping photos. It was just such a nice 60 degree day that I just couldn't help myself.
I had to be sure and get a picture of this:

Around the back of the barn is this "1900".  It's so cool to have a piece of history in my yard!

As I went around the back of the barn I decided to check out the creek.
It's a little slushy on top.
Then I marveled at this big tree that fell over. It had to have happened last summer when we had a 6in. rain in about an hour.

Crazy.
In the background of this picture you can see the bridge on the road.
Who said Kansas was flat? ;)

When I turn around I can barely see the barn....

Good grief.
C.B.'s project is not out here.
Like I said... I'm just taking the pictures. ;)

I'm just too busy being side tracked. With this for instance.
There's our cute little tree.
It has all new decorations. Because I lost all of our original ones.
Yep. All the lights, ornaments, star and everything.
Except the tree. Somehow I managed to store the tree in a place I could find it again.
I've been a little blue about it.
All the ornaments from when C.B. and I were little. All the girls' ornaments from when they were babies.
All gone.
That's why I took this picture.
It's just ornaments. And memories.
My house didn't burn down. Everyone is healthy.
It is Christmas time.
It's just so frustrating and all I have to blame is myself.
I know, I know. The Christmas message isn't about my ornaments.
So, I'm going to quit looking now.
While I"m trying to organize in the house this winter. C.B. is going to be organizing the barn.

 Happy winter and Merry Christmas.
May the Christmas spirit fill your hearts with the true reason for the season.

The Leaves are falling

The Leaves are falling, the leaves are falling... seems to be the countrysides cry....

Actually, it's just harvest time. Time to cut the beans and milo, hopefully the corn is already picked. Maybe you need to pick pumpkins. Maybe it's apples. Maybe, just maybe it's coffee time.  How 'bout Apple cider?
The list is growing... ha.

Okay, I"m getting a little sidetracked. The beans have been cut at our house.
 Thank goodness. My Country Boy has turned into Farmer Man Who Worries A Lot.

The wheat has been planted.
It's all good.

We have started feeding the cattle at our house. As we were getting a bale of hay I snapped this photo.
The blue sky and cool crisp air have been so refreshing!
Those 110 degree days are starting to fade from memory.
Just a little.

It's hard to be upset with sunshine on your face and the cool breeze messing up your hair.

I'm sure that's what my girls think. Here they are, all ready for Homecoming week!

The fall season is full of beauty. This is the sunrise...

My plants aren't dead yet. My pumpkins haven't become mush. All is well.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Fall Harvest.
May you enjoy the season to the full.
I'm having a cup of coffee...

Happy Fall Ya'll!   :)

Hot summer countrytime

Well, It's been awhile. The farm has been here and so have I. I guess I just haven't had much to say. Probably because I'm too hot. It's too hot to do anything. Let alone farm. Geez. Mr. Country Boy did go out and chop weeds with a corn knife the other day. It was only 102 or so that afternoon. I know why he did it... but why did he do that?
Hmm, the heat effected his decision making skills. I'm sure of it.
Who else in their right mind does that anyway?
We don't know.
Well, we did have some fun early this summer. We went fishing....

This is our friend Al. The fish he caught are on the right... the fish the rest of us caught are on the left. Okay, so yes he had a good day. And there's a picture to prove it. The end.
Ha. (Can you tell we haven't stop hearing about it since?... Remember that time..... oh my)
There was some wheat harvesting that happened around here too.

I think there was more visiting about harvesting than harvesting at this point. We had some hail damage on our wheat. It had to be discussed I"m sure.
It all came out fine. Thank goodness it was discussed about first.
Darling daughter #2 had a birthday the first part of June and big sister baked her a cake.
Of course I had to get a picture of that.
Proof of sisterly love!

Darling daughter #1 did a good job! A camo cake... who would have thought? :)
The cows are still hanging around here.

Gosh, You'd think we fed them or something.
Actually, they are out to pasture. C.B. just has a plan.
He has fresh water, mineral and salt blocks up in the corral. They come up quite regularly to get their tasty treats. Some day this fall they will come up and ... whammo..C.B. will shut the gate. That will be that. He is just too smart.
C.B. is just too handy too. He can do anything. He did this...

That, my friends is a beautiful new sidewalk.
C.B. didn't like the old one. So, one day he decided to change it.
Voila....  (don't look at my ugly broom I forgot to move.) Oh dear.
C.B. has actually had some time to do some other things too.
The screened in porch is so awesome I think I could rent it out for parties now!
I don't have a picture of that yet though. It's coming.
The current heat wave is, well... it is hot. ... ha.
There's been so many days over a hundred now we've lost count.
I think it's over 12. Maybe it's been 10. No, it has to be at least 14.
There's more in store I guess. That's what they say.
Who is "they" and how do "they" know... that's what I want to know.
At least in the country it doesn't seem to be as hot as in town.
Our little town has just been hot.
We're on our own schedule out here you know... it's country time!
It still hot though....

Stay cool! :)

Super Cool

The past month has been a flurry of activity. The nice weather has everyone out and about. Including me! I've been out. Out of commission, out of touch and out of my mind. haha.
So far, Country Boy has only had 3 or 4 injuries.
Darling daughter #1 went to prom.
Darling daughter #2 won 3 awards at an FFA banquet.
I've only done 32 loads of laundry, cooked 12 meals (haven't been home) and planted a little garden.
That's it.
Nothing else happening.
ha.
Okay, so C.B. had concrete smash his ankle, an auger fall on his arm and an accident involving his wrist. Nothing fatal. Not much blood. Just soreness and stubbornness. That sums him up.
I don't have any pictures either. Man.
Now this last weekend was fun..... this is darling daughter #1:

I think a good time was had by all at the "Empire State of Mind" prom and the "All About Tonite" after-prom. C.B. and I helped with the after prom party and I've still not recovered. Something about being out until 4:30 in the morning messes up the sleeping schedules.
Oh man.
Now for #2.... daughter that is...

They were all so happy to get their rewards.
Good job kids!!
Now for the Super Cool stuff....
The cooler than cool stuff...
I just happened to be home.. it truly was a wonder.
And I heard Lucy .. she was barking around in the yard so of course an investigation was required.
AAhhh yes, she's just barking at the airplane.

The airplane buzzing by..
the cropduster guy.

It was hard to get his picture.
It just happened so quick.

You can even see the spray...

Ok.. so everthing that's happened has been super cool.
It's the little things .. and the big things.
Oh yeah, since the wheat is getting sprayed I'll have to go get a picture of that now.
C.B. has been gathering information from other local farmers and the consensus is that there could possibly be an early harvest.
Bet you hadn't heard that one before.
lol.

Super Cool.

Our Hearts are Full

Spring. AAhhh, nothing like a windy spring day in Kansas. The temperatures have been in the 70's. Even a few 80's. It's just been beautiful. The tulips are almost blooming, the trees have little leaves on them and the animals are frisky.
The farm has come to life. We had a new baby calf a couple weeks ago. It's so cute running and jumping around. The birds are back. And Country Boy has been working around like crazy. He fits right in. That's what this whole blog was going to be about until yesterday.
Yesterday really got crazy.
Let me tell you about it.
It was an average normal day until mid afternoon. C.B. had decided to do some work in the pasture, fixing creek crossings. Which had gone well for him until he got the skid loader stuck.
Yes, stuck in the creek.
In the mire and the muck.
You see, there's a creek that runs through our farm. It winds around. It divides up. It becomes two separate creeks. It becomes one again. It's a maze of creek beds and trees and stuff.
The thing about it is that it is spring fed. One of them doesn't ever go dry. (don't ask me which one, I'm already confusing myself.)
Anyway, this day that was the problem.
When C.B. throws bog boots at me as soon as he walks in the door, that is my hint.
He wants me to put them on.  haha.
So out the door I went.
We hopped in the truck and he took me to the sight of the problem and I saw this:

Well, ok. We hooked up chains to the truck and the back of the loader and started in.
A couple hours later it looked like this:

The bucket is now buried. I think we broke a few sets of chains by this point. We started calling for help. People started coming and the work kept on....

The mud and the muck just wasn't going to give up it's prize without a fight. I'm not sure of the events in the next few hours. People kept coming to help. Equipment kept showing up. Poor C.B. just felt terrible. I think he just felt so bad about getting it stuck in the first place. Then you feel bad inconveniencing people when you ask them to help. If you notice the cab, C.B. sat in there most of the evening covered in water.

Some of these pictures aren't too good. I was snapping photos with my phone while running around. I was in the creek for awhile trying to help move rocks so the water would flow downstream instead of into the cab.

Hours later we had 3 tractors and a back hoe and several men running around trying to get that darn skid loader out. We had kids, dogs and watchers too. I held a dog and ran around and watched. Then I would just run around.
It looked bad from every angle.

It just kept getting worse. C.B. was in there. Earlier my Father in law was in there. They had to get in and out by using the back window.
Well, by the grace of God, no one was hurt and we finally got it out.

Thank you to all our friends and family who helped!!
Our hearts are full.
It's times like these that the farm is the best place to live.
Friends will drop everything at the drop of a hat to help another.
Family is always close by.
We are blessed!