Jolyn...

Jolyn. 

She's just a kitty...and a calico at that...which means that she's an unlikely choice for me to fall in love with.  She's independent, smart, a good hunter, and has the uncanny ability to run underneath the cows without spooking them!  They ignore her time and again, as she runs anywhere she pleases without getting so much as the swish of a tail.  That's asking a lot of a cow.

This morning I found her curled up in a pile of hay in front of this first calf heifer.  You can barely see her, but she found a warm spot to take a quick snooze...

This picture was taken a couple of years ago...

She makes a warm scarf on cold mornings!

The Mid-January Thaw...

We're in the midst of a mid-January thaw here...

Temps this month have ranged from -2 to near 60 degrees, and I must say, I'm enjoying the spring-like temps we've had the past few days!  In fact, Saturday was such a nice day that Jim and I washed the barn windows...

Don't blink or you'll miss them.  When the next delivery of toasted corn comes...and is blown through that pipe alongside the barn, they will be dust covered instantly!

On another note...did you watch the NFC championship game last night?

(not my picture!)

There are a lot of happy Philadelphia Eagles fans!

We're Still Here...

Well hello!

Yes...we're still here, although you might wonder why there haven't been any blog posts since the beginning of December?!

It's called life.  The kids were home for a nice break from college...the bitter cold set in for a week or so...I started thinking about the book work that needs to be done for taxes...and I got lazy.  Plain lazy.

Enough of that.  And enough excuses! 

We have a cow in the barn that seems to be a bit under the weather.  We're a bit uncertain as to her specific diagnosis...no fever, no twisted stomach, no winter dysentery, no milk fever...

She got some special treatment today in the form of hand pulled rye grass...

I kicked the snow off of the rye grass and pulled a bucket full to see if it would entice her to eat...

Initially, she grabbed a big mouthful, which is a good sign...

...and then she decided she'd had enough.  However, an hour or so later, the trough in front of her was empty, so somewhere along the line she got hungry again.  We're watching her closely, in hopes that it was a temporary issue that has resolved.

Aren't you glad you're not getting grass for supper tonight?  :)

All In a Day's Work...

For your entertainment...

Here's what happens when you walk behind a coughing cow...

Sometimes you just have to say "oh crap", and laugh at yourself. 

Oh...and do some laundry!

Random Farm Photos...

I recently took part in a Facebook challenge to post black and white photos of things that are a part of my normal, everyday life. 

Here's a sampling...

Empty wagons, waiting for Jim to fill them with baled corn fodder...

The old tile silo at the other farm...

Jolyn, just being herself, hanging out on the windowsill near the heifer pens...

The ladder leading to the hay mow at the other farm...

Dust Bunny, patiently waiting for milk drippings after morning milking...

Milkers, cleaned and waiting...

Goof ball Phoebe, who thinks she's part human.  After all, that little picnic table was made for sitting at on, wasn't it?

The barn cleaner elevator...

Thanks for humoring me with your time!  There's something unique about black and whites, I think!

Filling the Corn Crib...

Like I mentioned in one of last week's posts about combining corn, Jim left a few acres of standing corn to pick and fill the crib.

He had to figure out just how much to let standing in order to fill the crib full enough that the level of corn was at least above the roof line without having any left over.  He wanted to keep the rain and snow off the top of the corn so it could remain dry and mold free, just like it's supposed to be!

So here's why we all had to take math classes in school...

First figure out how many bushels of corn the crib holds...then figure out how many bushels of corn yield from an acre...then look at your field maps and look at the remaining corn and decided how many acres are remaining...then ask yourself if it will be enough or too much?

Then you start  picking...

Oh wait!  First you get the corn crib ready.  You set up the elevator so that the corn goes inside the crib and not out over the roof!

Then you start picking and unloading.

Jim's friend Phil came on Saturday morning and unloaded wagons for about 4 1/2 hours!  Thanks Phil!  (I can move a two wheeled cart like the cow trailer just fine, but haven't ever practiced on a four wheeled wagon, so I was a bit helpless here)

After Phil left, I unloaded a couple of wagons that were set up for me.  This is Jim unloading one of the last bin wagons, just before milking time.

When I was a girl, I remember climbing up into the wagon on top of the corn, pushing it down towards the open door with my feet to help my Dad unload faster.  Our kids did the same, years ago!

Coming down the home stretch!  I love it when I can see the road again!  That's a two row picker pulled by the 170, which is hidden by the corn.  One complete round, up and back, filled a bin wagon...

One of the last loads going into the crib.  How do you think Jim's estimate was?

I'd say it was just about perfect!  There was only enough room remaining under the peak of the roof for a partial load.

It pays to pay attention in math class!  :)

Soybean Harvest 2017...

Two posts in two days...it's a recent record!  Ha!

Yesterday after the corn was finished, the headers were switched and they combined the soybeans.  I hope none of the neighbors had wash hanging out...or had just washed their windows!

(actually, I deed peek at the wash lines, and they were all empty!)

Phoebe watched intently from the barn hill...

See what I mean...a cloud of dust!  The beans were definitely dry enough...

And off they go.  The loaded truck heads east around the corner to the mill...the combine heads to the next farm, trailing his grain header behind...and the tractor and grain cart bring up the rear...

(a note of interest here...that huge grain cart holds 1000-1100 bushels, which when full, is about the same as a tractor trailer load of grain!)

The bean yield wasn't quite as spectacular as the corn yield was this year, but "mid-seventies" bushels per acre is still good!

Now it's time to bale 6th cutting hay this afternoon...pick the rest of the standing corn...shred  corn stalks and bale fodder...and clean out heifer pens, now that there's a place to spread the manure.  Fall is definitely our busiest time of year!