A Bright Spot In a Dreary Week...

Let's face it...too much of one kind of weather gets old, no matter how much you've needed said weather...

Earlier this spring we had ten days straight of rain, resulting in +-7 inches of rain and soggy fields.  Crops were planted late, first cutting of hay was late, but eventually it all worked out.

Then we had several weeks straight of hot, dry weather, resulting in stressed crops and worried farmers.

This week we've had four days or so of rain, resulting in +- 6 more inches of rain.  I don't want to be a complainer, because in the long run, all the rain is great for the water table!  Needless to say, it's been a little frustrating.  "Feast or famine, so the saying goes". 

The rain lilies, however, are quite thrilled! 

Yesterday...

Today...

Their true name is Zephyr Lilies, but we call them rain lilies because they push up shoots and bloom right after a heavy rain.  You can trick them into thinking it's rained, by dumping a bucket...yes, a whole bucket full...of water over them every few days.  In the fall, you just take them to the basement before the first hard frost and forget about them until spring!

They are a bright spot on these dreary days!

3rd Cutting...

The weather, the weather...it's all about the weather! 

We've had such a unique summer, weather wise.  A cool, wet spring got the corn and beans in late...1st cutting of hay was a little later than usual...and now we've gone about three weeks without any measurable rain.   Earlier this week we had less than 1/10th of an inch while folks almost within sight had at least 1/2" or more.  The crops are getting a little bit stressed, but the forecast is calling for rain over the next week.  We sure hope they're right!

One thing positive about having no rain, is that Jim was able to get some dry hay baled this week.  He mowed a couple of fields on Tuesday evening, and baled it this afternoon...

I never seem to time my pictures right, so that the bales are in the air between the baler and the wagon.  Oh well...

I had the easiest job...

We're very thankful for several loads of nice, dry small square bales of hay.  Yes, balage is easier and faster to bale, especially when the window of nice weather is short...but no one likes to feed it...and we liken dry hay to gold.  There's not much better than dry hay to keep a cow's rumen happy!

Now it can rain.  Please?!

"Marching" In Like a Lion...

March has come roaring in like a lion here...

The winds started early this morning, and are picking up as the morning progresses.  We're supposed to have gusts of up to 50-60 mph all day and through the night. 

The dogs all "helped' me feed the calves this morning as usual, and the rain didn't stop Phoebe from begging to play ball on the way to the hutches.  You can see the path the wagon has made through the grass this winter. This morning I was slipping in the mud as I pulled it back to the barn...                                                               

We've had lots of puddles like this, this winter.  February on average around here, brings about 2.5" of rain.  We've had over 5"!

 

It's pretty difficult to see in this picture taken out the dining room window, but snow flurries are now blowing sideways!  They're melting as soon as they hit the ground, but it's snowing! 

I for one am thankful that it's not freezing cold and blowing like this.  The mud is a mess, yes, but a lot less trouble than a cold west wind, frozen water lines and plowing the driveway!

I'm hoping that if March is blowing in like a lion, that it will go out like a lamb! 

Watching the Corn and Beans Grow...

A couple of years ago, I did a series of post throughout the growing season, following one particular corn stalk...from seed to harvest.  You can read that series of posts here...

I decided to do it again this year...but I'm going to compare the corn and soybeans.  They were both planted on the same two days...last Monday and Tuesday (May 15 and 16).  Over the weekend, I noticed a few shoots poking through the soil, and this morning you can clearly see down the rows.

Here are the soybeans...

...and the corn...

It's clear the the first time I did this (2012) that the corn was planted earlier than this year!  The weather has so much to do with it...but by Memorial Day, which is fast approaching, the corn that year was already several inches high.  We'll see though...with the rain we just had, and the warm temps to come...it's going to grow in leaps and bounds!

Beginning Corn Harvest 2015...

Boy oh boy, has the weather sure changed in the past few days!

Last week we were shrouded in gray clouds, with soaking rain.  We weren't sure what would happen with Joaquin.  I didn't realize just how much my mood is affected by the weather, but over the weekend I was feeling a little bit depressed.  Too much gray and rain, I guess.

Thankfully, the hurricane went out to sea, and on Sunday afternoon the rain stopped, and the sun came out!  We've had beautiful blue skies, and milder temps yesterday and today. Flannel shirt weather, yes, but it's so much nicer than shivering under blankets.

Last night our corn harvest began.  After evening milking, the combine started shelling corn at the other farm.  When Jenna and I came home from her violin lesson later in the evening, they had moved to Esbenshades.  I settled in on the sofa with my kindle and Monday night football...and before long I heard the equipment moving in here.  I only got one picture from last night...from an upstairs bedroom window, because I was too lazy to go outside and walk down the road to where the action was.

Don't get too excited...you can't see much, but the lights on the left are on the combine...the ones in the middle are from the tractor and grain cart...and the grain truck is parked along the road on the right.  There's no missing him...

This field is where they stopped around 10:00 last night. We shell our corn and send it away to be dried, toasted and stored until we need it.  If the moisture in the corn is too high, we are charged a fee for drying. As it turned out, the moisture of the corn in the fields here at home was too high to make it worth continuing for now.  We'll let it dry a bit longer before finishing up. The yields were great, though.  One field at Esbenshade's showed a yield of 230 bushels per acre!

This morning I took a few pictures.  I like this view down the rows of the corn field that you don't usually see...

So happy to see this beautiful blue sky again!

At least this field along the road is finished.  It was hard to see pulling out from the stop sign with the corn still standing.  Next on the list is getting these corn stalks shredded, and baling corn fodder...

We could use a long stretch of dry weather now!

This Lovely Weather...

We're having some lovely weather...

...and we couldn't be more thrilled!   It's been a nice break from the heat and humidity of the summer.  Today it was (maybe?) in the mid 70's.

I just had to tell you!

:-)

Sunrise...

Sometimes it feels like we'll never see the sun again.  We've had blah weather ever since last weekend, before Sandy blew through.  A few glimpses of the sun here and there, but mostly a gray cloud cover...and  we might get a little sloppy snow later this week.

Yesterday morning however, we were treated to this gorgeous sunrise...

After a few minutes, the sun was again obscured by clouds, and I haven't seen it since.

But I know it's up there, and for that I am thankful!