more rain, fat, and marshall.........

drizzle, rain, drizzle, will it never stop??? Chores, breakfast, shower and onto Marshall to join Weight Watchers. I figure it will be cheaper to pay them then to buy new, bigger clothes. I am giving them and myself 16 weeks to see what they (and I) can do.

Home, chores, pictures and bed..............

Rain, camping, honeymooners............

Rained again........up to 4 inches now. Time to start building the Ark. Chores in the morning, a good nap, wasted much of the day away. Chores, and down to Sanborn where Rob, Bex, Jason, and Amanda were camping. Ryan, Robyn and the kids were down for the afternoon also. It is so pretty down there, lots of trails to 4 wheel on, and a nice little lake. I'm sure it is man made from the gravel piles, but the water is so clear and there are fish in it. By evening Jack decided he wasn't tenting so he and Bex headed home. Little Kate was coming down with something so she and Amanda headed home. It was just Rob, Jake and Carter who spent the night. Can't wait to hear how that went for Carter.

Got a call from Cory and Stacy. They are now back in MN and were anxious to head home. Stacy picked up a bug in Mexico and had a dandy chest cold. Sounds like they had a good time.

3.5 inches of rain so far......

Woke up Friday with 3.50 inches of rain in the gauge. Crazy thing is I slept through the storm that went on all night.
Addisyn and Fynn hung out here today. Little Fynn is getting over some broncial issues.......We had fun. Went for a walk, got ourselves all muddy, but it was worth it. Had to see the "really really deep hole".
Woke up again this morning to more rain...........

time to start posting again

Gearing up for a long winter of calving. Thought I would start keeping track on here. We brought in our first heifer xmas eve day. She walked right into the barn, then took us an hour to get her in a stanchion. She had her calve the next day. Calf didn't make it, looked like her little neck got twisted. Heifer is a honey.

Brought in two more heifers this morning. Bull is acting up. He wants to get Dave in the worst way.

Tuesday

Started early. Dave decided to pick the other corn dryer full, so will be a big work day. Cory here at 6:00am, helping Dave with morning chores, getting machinary ready.........

They worked last night till 9:00. Ryan came over and fixed something that was wrong with the combine. Rob stopped in for a chat, he had been working for Ron all day.

I just try to keep the home fires burning. Did sneak to town and get some groceries and take Burn's children's pictures. Wow, beautiful blue eyed kids.

Time to go stoke the "homefires".

Another big day ahead.

Starting corn harvest

Wayyyyyyyyyyy late. Started yesterday, even though the corn is wetter then it has ever been, just have to start somewhere. Cory helped haul loads until he had to work, Ryan came about 11:00 and stayed till 7 combining. Had to shut her down then, enough wet corn in the bin at once. Corn is testing about 22-26% moisture. Wet, wet, wet.

Cory, Stacy and I snuck away for an hour in the afternoon and finished up engagement pictures. Light was perfect, got some great ones. I am happy now!

Robyn came over with the kids, tried to do some kiddo shots, but no go. They went and road in the combine with Ry. All stayed for supper. Had ribs cooking all day, yummy

Today dave is out chopping stock, then him and Cory are going to get the last 3 loads out of the field. That will officially finish up the 40 acres by Strand.

It was trying to stay sunny today, but that didn't last long.

Safe harvest the most important thing!

harvest day 3

Today we took out about 60 acres of beans. Had to stop because beans were not fit on one side. Cory stayed and helped till 8:30, Ry came after work and stayed till 8:00. Good day. Woke up to rain. Going to be a lazy day today. Shoulders hurt.

Tuesday, day 2

Of bean combining. They got the field at home done. Worked until 10:30, ran a few green ones through, but it's done. Dave is happy it is finished. That field drove him nuts all year, fighting weed resistance and yellow beans. Today working up at the cometary field.

Let the fun begin

Harvest is here. First day in the bean fields. Cory came to help and spent the day hauling, unloading and combining. Ry came after work and ran combinefor 3 hours. Got our first 80 acres taken out. Yield disappointing.

Hay day

Today really started last night. Dave went to bed at 9:00, I crawled in at 9:30. I was sleeping by ten, but Dave lay awake thinking of all the things he had to do the next day, couldn't sleep, so he got out of bed and went out at ten and tipped hay for 3 hours. Bet the neighbors thought he was goofy.

It worked for him though. This morning he was able to get up and put spray on all the dirty fields of beans at home. After dinner he went out and baled hay. Rob brought the swat team over to work on drills in our grove. Again, bet we got the neighbors talking.

Rob, Bex, and the boys came over and we went out and picked up hay while Dave milked. I grilled a quick supper and then after they all headed home worked on Kate's pictures. Busy day.

A Very Blustery Day

The winds were gale force today. Clocked at gusts of 58 miles an hour. I did chores then stayed in the house all day. Did some cleaning, baked and decorated a cake for Angela, also one just for us.

Dave decided to go to Redwood and record his acres since he couldn't pick rock.

Fried pork chops for supper.

Was 97 degrees tody.

Got two inquiries about taking wedding photos.

Rob stopped to help Dave bring our old table to the truck. Adam is moving and wants to use the table in his new place.

Worked on Amanda's pictures.....

Laundry, laundry and more laundry...........

So busy

I don't blog when I get busy. It should be a priority to stay on top if blogging, especially when we are busy. The stuff we want to remember happens during busy days, not down days.

Yesterday was one of those busy days. Up for chores, then sorted 2 dry cows, one heifer with health problems and 1 steer, off to Pipestone to sell them. This will be the first dry cows we sell, if they do well, we will keep selling, if not, who knows. It could mean we continue milking till god knows when.

From Pipestone we headed to Marshall, picked up a few groceries, ate a quick dinner at KFC, then home. Took a little rest then out to pick rock. Got the home place picked. Chores and then an early bedtime.

Ok, we went from winter jackets 4 days ago to 99 degrees today. The winds are so strong it is hard to walk across the yard. Dave had to feed cows silage in the barn because the wind would blow it in the air instead of in the bunk where it belongs.

Today picked rock by Strands in the morning. Home, hotdogs, Dave moved calves and I worked on getting my picture orders done. Wanted to plant garden but the winds prevented that.

In between chores I mixed up a cake for Angela S. and made a small one for us.

Going to work on pictures for a while again tonite, watch the Mentalist, then bed.

Monday is a bum day

Dave's silo unloader needed to be fixed, so a trip to a place by St. Cloud to get it fixed was on the agenda for today. We got up early and did chores, on the road by 7:45. I wanted to do some shopping in Willmar, so Dave dropped me off at Target and we agreed to meet in front of the mall in 2.5 hours. I could have used an hour more. Didn't even get to Herberger's. Oh well. Got baby presents bought and tried on some clothes for myself. How absolutely depressing that was.

Home, chores, Dave went to Pitzles to dehorn a calf. Now bedtime.

Pictures from Addisyn's 3rd birthday party on Sat.

Thursday is spray day

Up early again today. Got chores done and then Dave went out spraying. He got 250 acres of Surpass sprayed today. Put his last tankful on after night chores. So we are officially done with corn planting. I am working on my obsession. I have an unhealthy obsession with magazines, I have them all over the house. I am starting to worry that I am going to be one of these old ladies that just have paths through her house. So I threw out lots and lots of them.

Finished planting corn

The winds were horrible today and it reached 91 degrees. The weird thing is there is a rain/snow advisory for Sunday. MN weather has gotten more fickle every year.

Dave planted 115 acres of corn today, that was then end of corn planting. Things went well today, no major or minor breakdowns. He really wanted to get a sprayer tank on yet today, but with the winds that is impossible.

I cleaned house this morning. I am trying the "flylady" way. I went through with bags and threw away 27 things about 3 times. That is what I am suppose to do, throw away 27 things a day to help get rid of all your "stuff".

I also boiled eggs and made deviled eggs and egg salad. After dinner I went out and got the truck clean. What a dirty job that was in this wind.

Ryan came after work and put in a gps system for our sprayer.

Rob stopped and brought back the flatbed trailer. He was nice enough to haul my old freezer to the recycling center. Makes my garage look so much bigger.

Now I need a shower, some supper and my bed.

Wednesday

Chores, and then Dave started planting corn. He was back home in a half hour, radar thingy didn't work. He switched the radar from a different tractor and off he went again. Got the 55 acres planted at home and 80 acres up on the cemetery field. Ryan came after work and ran the planter while we milked. He stayed for a beer, but wouldn't eat supper (butthead).

At evening chores the silo unloader stopped working and we could smell something burning. There is always something going wrong in that barn lately.

I made my Redwood run today for the weekly essentials. I dropped off Krysta's engagement pictures and picked up a few groceries and birthday presents for Addisyn. It is 9:30, I'm ready for bed.

My pictures today are a sunrise the other morning. So pretty. Then Cookie had to be in todays blog. I was unloading the car after I got home from Redwood, I kept the basement door open for maybe 1 minute, then I went outside for chores. Here Cookie must have gone into the kitchen, took a little Cookie poop, and ran back outside. That dog is a pain in my side!

It must be Monday

Dave has had a heck of a time today. He is trying to dig the ground up by the cemetry. Has had to stop twice and come home. The filters keep plugging on him. It is so cold and windy today, feel more like fall then spring.

I have had a productive day. Finished the last in the Twilight series (the best) and got bread mix done, baked buns, did laundry, ran to JD for Dave. Now I am going to clean in the kitchen for an hour, then pop a beef roast in for supper.

Easter

Thought I better write a few words about Easter while there are a few still rattling around in my head. Got up and did chores as usual. Then after chores and breakfast Dave and I drove to Ry and Robyn's house to play Easter Bunny. We had fun hiding the eggs all over their yard. We went in and told the kids we saw the Eater Bunny and he left eggs. They were so cute, running all over gathering the eggs. Addisyn and Daman's little baskets were so heavy they had a hard time carrying them. Dave offered to carry Addisyn's for her but she wasn't going to let anyone carry her hard work! We had an awesome dinner of ham, potatoes, scalloped corn, salad, buns and 2 desserts. Talk about being stuffed! I visited with Paula then went down and played a few games of bean bag. Home and chores........Adam, Cory and Stacy made it also. Rob had to work and Bex took the boys to Red Wing. We missed them!

Celebration!!!

The cows got to go outside today for the first time since last fall........Time to celebrate!

Snow and Twins

A late spring snowstorm has brought us 6 inches of snow since last night. Was so pretty I had to go out at 10:00pm and snap some pictures. Yesterday had a cow have twins. That isn't very common here and to tell the truth, I don't like twins. Not because it is double the work, but because they are usually a little harder to get started. These two seem to be doing well. One was a girl and one a boy. That combination is not what dairy farmers like to see being born. When it is 2 girls they are both going to be fertile, but when one is a boy, the girl is usually not going to be able to conceive, then we have to raise her like a steer.

Went to Marshall Friday. We had to stock up on baby presents. Suzanne and Mark had a little girl and Sarah and Eric had a little boy. Got some groceries and then had dinner at the Hitching Post. Was OK, but nothing exciting.

Here is a picture of the snow on Sat. night.