Dirt Work

J has been having a bit of fun with the new (to us) scraper.  We are going to have some new bins put up so he has been leveling the sites.  He has also been doing some road work.  He worked at the creek crossing and will do more of that when we get a culvert put in there.  We are a bit afraid that he's having too much fun and that we may have created a dirt-moving monster.  Yesterday he was working in our yard and asked if he could take the dirt pile that was in front of our house.  I answered with a hearty "yes"!  That dirt pile is from when we dug the basement for our new house, almost 17 years ago now, and I've wanted it gone ever since.  Finally!  Good things come to those who wait....and wait....and wait.

Starting to take away the dirt pile

 

 

 

Working up the site where the pile used to be

 

Finished!

 

 

The only bad thing is that it will be a weed patch for awhile until the grass grows in.  M says I should plant some trees there for a shady retreat.  I'm just happy that pile of dirt is finally gone!

Thank God for AC

So much for my plan to stay inside my nice, cool, air-conditioned house today since temps were going to get close to 100.  M asked me to take salt and mineral to two groups of cows.  I took a walk first thing this morning and then went to do that chore before the heat of the day.  The first group of cows seemed perfectly content and the bulls were still where they were supposed to be so all was good there.  Then I went to the other pasture where there are a bunch of heifers.  They usually come running when they hear or see someone.  I moved the tubs and filled them with salt and mineral and didn't see a critter.  I rode up onto the top of the hill and looked all around and still saw nothing.  By that time I'm beginning to panic that the whole group had disappeared and I would have to find them and try to get them back to the pasture.  I checked all the gates and they were fine.  I just thought it so odd that I couldn't see even one animal.  Finally I found them hiding in some trees.--whew! 

From there I took lunch to J, M and Jared who were all at the hay field.  J was on his way to Opheim where he was doing some dirt work with the new scraper.  He had a flat on the skid steer so needed the service truck and tools to get it off and get it fixed.  Jared had broken the grapple on the loader tractor.  Actually, it wasn't the first time it had happened so it wasn't really his fault.  It was getting too dry for M to bale so he and I headed to Opheim, too.

R had noticed a couple of calves out of the pasture in the adjacent wheat field while he was swathing and found a broken wire but didn't have anything to fix it with.  M and I got the calves back into the pasture and fixed the fence.  R had also found a washout that had gotten worse this year where calves could just walk out under the fence.  We had the wrong pickup since we were on our way to take fuel to R so didn't have a post.  We tried to find a rock to tie wire to and couldn't find one.  What are the odds that we couldn't find a rock when we needed one--unbelievable.  So, Marty found an old guard in the pickup and hammered it into the ground and then tied wire to it.  Pretty ingenious, I thought.

After that we needed to take a pickup to R.  He had moved the swather to cut for a neighbor.  M wanted to take the route cross country but decided there was too much tall grass to get through so we had to go by road.  I had R's work pickup and the AC didn't keep up.  I was wringing wet by the time we got to our destination.  We fueled the swather and helped R change some guards and sections.  He wasn't very happy about where he was cutting since it was rough and full of rocks.  Typical of that neighbor to have someone else cut the crappy stuff.  If it was me, I'd tell him I had better things to do.  Oh well, R needs the money!

I got home about 5:30 and headed straight to the shower.  I'm hoping the heat melted off a few pounds!

Holy Horseflies.....and Hotness!

I hate to say it but I'm missing the mosquitoes.  A little itch and it's over with.  Not so with horseflies.  Big red welt that can bother me for days.  This evening I had to walk about 100 yards from one pickup to another and was swatting the whole way and came away with a welt on my leg.  I have never seen them this bad.

Our temps were well into the 90s today and tomorrow is supposed to be the hot day.  We've had thunder boomers the past three nights, just a lot of noise and wind and very little rain.  It's been a bit humid for our neck of the woods so we're longing for some "dry heat".

We had cows out this evening down at the river.  Some cows went under the wire strung across the river and then one finally broke it.  Glad Jared was the one who had to wade across to stretch the wire back up.  He was probably glad for the little dip in the water to cool off.  We don't use our AC very often, but I think it will stay on for a day or two.

Making Hay

R and M have been busy haying, R on the swather and M baling.  Jared has been helping move bales.  It's nice to have that done as soon as they are made--makes us feel like we're that much ahead of the game.  Things haven't been going so smoothly, however.  A couple of days ago it was too damp to bale so M and Jared were going to haul some bales.  It was so rough that a bale fell and bent the fairing on the truck and bent the hay rack--oops!  They decided that wasn't going to work so rigged a rack onto a low flatbed trailer.  Works much better.  We had thunderstorms two nights so I was surprised that M was able to bale yesterday..  He wasn't happy last night when I went to pick him up, though.  He had trouble with his new (to him) baler and plugged it up which took forever to clean out and then ate a willow post that had somehow found its way into the hay field.  This afternoon he ate a wheel rim with the baler.  Not sure how that made it past the swather, but the baler didn't like it much.  There was much cursing and gnashing of teeth, but it didn't turn out to be as catastrophic as M thought it was going to be.  A little heat and a hammer (and a cold beer) and he was back in business in no time.  I have helped with combine repair and drill repair, and now I can add baler repair to my resume.  John Deere and Company may come calling for me any day now.

R is in Rapid City for orientation for school and was worried about being gone, but M hasn't caught up yet so it's okay that the swather is sitting for a few days.  I'm thinking he should enjoy his time away since it may be his last chance for awhile.  I'm happy that Jared is gone to the lake with his parents for the weekend.  He's good help, but you have to keep him busy.  I'm not used to having a hyper 14-year-old boy around anymore! 

Feeling Sorry for the City Folk

As my sister and I were driving to our mom's on the 4th I commented that I feel sorry for people who have lived in the city all their lives.  My sister agreed because "they just don't get it."  It was the most beautiful summer day with a clear blue sky and beautiful green pastures and fields.  I can't imagine living in a concrete world. 

My sister and I took some "nature walks" while she was here. We went down to the pasture near where we grew up and where we used to go to swim in the summer (I'm not sure I did much swimming but I do remember my brothers throwing a frog at me making me fall off the inner tube I was floating on.  That was probably the end of my swimming) and a fun place to sled in the winter.  I was disappointed that my sister didn't get to see it when the creek was running high, higher than I have ever seen it.  There was still more water than normal.  These photos were taken by my sister.

Mama duck and her babies at the creek

The spring where we used to swim

Today was another beautiful day, and I had great plans to get my house back in order after the busy weekend.  I washed sheets and towels and hung them on the clothesline--they will smell so good!  M arrived as I was doing laundry and was headed to Richland to start swathing hay.  I rode along to bring a pickup back home and as we were driving along he gave me a to-do list.  I told him I was going to have to write it all down so I wouldn't forget something.

First, I ordered 4-wheeler parts.  Then I went to feed the cats at the barn and get the 4-wheeler to take salt and mineral to some of the cows.  I felt like the Pied Piper because they followed me around the pasture--they are a bit too domesticated sometimes!  Then I filled in a hole in our road.  As I was doing that J called to see if I was home and could help him and R get stuff moved back home.

R called to let me know he was on his way and asked if I could make them some sandwiches.  I was out of bread so I ran to my in-laws and stole buns out of the freezer, made sandwiches and picked R up in Richland.  J had finished spraying west of Opheim and was moving back here so we needed to get the water truck.  We helped J load the sprayer and then took the truck to the next place to be sprayed.  Then I had to take R home.

I visited my mom for a few minutes and arrived home about 7:00, five hours after I had left.  So much for getting my stuff done today.  Oh well, in the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara, "tomorrow is another day".