Photo gallery from the past year...

It's that time of year...we're in our slow mode...and if I don't keep myself motivated, I can waste a lot of time! 

I'd like to think, though, that blogging is NOT a waste of time...so I've compiled a collection of pictures from the past year that I found interesting. 

 Some of them are directly related to farming, some of them are of family, and some of them are just beautiful scenery.  (Some may be repeats from earlier blog posts, but if you see them twice, you know I really like them!)

Enjoy!


2010 began with a bang!  In February we had two major snow storms a week apart, resulting in 40+ inches of snow...

Our neighbor's farm to the west always makes a great photo, no matter the weather...

Several years ago Jim bought a Honda 50 dirtbike like he rode when he was a kid.  Last winter he found a Honda 100, so now the kids each have a dirt bike to ride.  They use them for fun and for work...

Spring arrived, like always, and I was thrilled...

These particular chickens loved to sit on top of the fence around their pen...



Of course there was also work to do...my nephew from Chicago loved gathering eggs...



And Murphy blessed us with nine adorable puppies...but they wore her out!  They were born in June, during one of the hottest weeks of the year...



Our neighbor Joe came over every day to see them...

The laundry never ended...

Some beautiful scenes shot by Jenna...

And then of course there was some more work...baling round bales...Jim drove the tractor while the Amishman who owns the baler rode behind and operated the mechanism that released the bale into the field...

Fun...it doesn't take alot to be entertained...

We just can't seem to get away from those cows!   (photo by Jenna)

More "real" work...Eric unloading hay...



The east hay mow is almost full...



Jim's dad on his old (1950 something) Ferguson 30, just before he sold it...he used to use it for cleaning out pens...

After a dry summer, we had a LONG day of rain...over 8 inches of rain...(I forgot to empty the rain gauge before bed, so we aren't sure just how much we had, but it was a lot!)

We chopped corn the next day, and left no tracks in the field or mud on the driveway!  The ground was thirsty...

And there's our neighbors' farm again...taken out the west barn windows...



We found a little time to play...we spent an afternoon picnicking with friends at a park...

Fall work was upon us...combining corn, and loads of corn fodder waiting to be unloaded...

My dad repaired our cow trailer...he doesn't look 81, does he?!

This is where the dogs hang out while we're milking...right under our feet...

And this is where Slinky the cat hangs out...high above the dogs...

Self-service balage...or so they think!

Me and my next-oldest sister...Look behind us...I just can't get away from those cows!

And I couldn't let this one out.  We all gathered after Christmas to watch my brother in law start his old 1936 John Deere D that he, with some help from my Dad, restored.  It started up, he whooped and hollered, we cheered, and he's still grinning!  This one's for you, Marty!

And to round out the year, here's another picture of the sunrise on New Year's Day 2011...

Thanks for humoring me...do you have any favorites?

Waiting...

It seems like in the past week, we've done alot of WAITING...

Last Thursday we WAITED for the (much needed!) rain to stop.  By evening, we assumed that it was finished;  the rain measured 4 1/2" by supper time.  It was more than we had expected, but less than disastrous.  Jim was WAITING to chop our late corn; hoping that it wasn't already too dry for the silo.  Too much rain would make it impossible to get into the fields any time soon.

We went to bed, WAITING for morning to come,along with the sunshine!  However, the next morning, it was still raining!  I had forgotten to empty the rain gauge, so we aren't certain how much we got, but people around us had measurements of up to 8 1/2" total.  Wow!

We WAITED some more, and finally the sun came out, and we had a beautiful drying day on Friday.

Saturday arrived, and this is what we did...

We still can't quite believe that the chopper was able to get into the fields after 8+" of rain, without making any ruts, and no mud on the driveway!!

We chopped a few loads of silage to refill the one silo, but needed to WAITuntil Monday to do the silage ag bag. (Several peoples' schedules have to mesh in order to get this done!)

Monday arrived, along with more rain.  So, we WAITED some more...

What do we do while we're WAITING?

We had a little time in the afternoons to do some reading...

I did some baking...made my first apple pie from scratch in ages!  (Sorry, no picture...it didn't last long enough! :)  

I made a wreath for my front door with some ladies from Church...

We WAITED to see if our best milking cow would recover from what we think might be "hardware".  (see Dairy Farming 101 - part 1)  The jury is still out on her fate...

We watched a cross country meet on a muddy course...

We enjoyed supper with our Life Group...

And as we WAITED out was seems now to be the last evening of (three consecutive days and another 1 1/2") rain, we were given a beautiful gift...this rainbow!  I think it might've been  the most beautiful, complete, double rainbow that I've ever seen!  Thanks God!

And now...after all the WAITING we've done this week, the sun is once again shining beautifully, a strong breeze is blowing, drying things out, and we hope to finish up chopping corn tomorrow!



I guess we'll WAIT and see!

Enjoying the view

A week or so ago, a visitor to our house commented on the beautiful view that we have from our yard; flowers, fields, grazing cows, Amish buggies, etc. Typical Lancaster County scenery. She then continued to say…”Oh, but I guess you really don’t have much time to sit and enjoy it, do you?”

How right she was!

Keeping that in mind...yesterday, I did a horrible thing.  :)  I forced my kids to sit on the porch with me. It was a gorgeous day; low humidity, sunshine, a gentle breeze, a puppy playing at our feet! But alas, I ruined it! Shelling lima beans was on the agenda. My kids despise the job. They LOVE to eat them, but shelling is sheer torture!

I know the feeling. I disliked it as a child too! My three older sisters and I were subject to hours of slave labor ( just kidding!), sitting under a tree at the picnic table, singing silly songs at the top of our lungs, shelling lima beans until our fingers were numb. All the while, our Mother was bent over like a hairpin in the hot sun, picking lima beans until she could barely straighten up! Finally, she would come and sit under the tree with us, and help finish the horrid job.  (and you know what?  It really wasn't all that bad after all!)


Now the tables have turned…I am the horrid mother who forces her children to shell lima beans. But I know how good they will taste in the winter, served with milk and butter…and I can hardly wait to finish picking, so I can finally have an excuse to sit on the porch and enjoy the view!