Friday's Hunt #7 (just a little behind schedule!)...

I know, it's not Friday...and I'm a day late for Friday's Hunt with Teresa at Eden Hills!

It's been a busy couple of days, and I wasn't sure if I'd get a post finished or not, but finally there's time to sit and relax, so here goes.  I'm also going to go a little out of order this week, which goes against my grain, but oh well.

First up is "in my kitchen".  There's been a lot of hot tea consumed lately around here, and the tea box just got refilled.  It sits on my kitchen counter right beside the stove.  What's your favorite flavor?

Next up is "week's favorite"...

Tonight was the county orchestra concert, and Jenna played in the Sinfonietta.  We were sitting in the balcony, which gave us a nice view of the whole group.  They're warming up here, waiting for the concert to begin...

Last but not least is "starts with G...

I'm tired, so I chose "good night" for this one.  This picture was taken last night, just as the sun was about to go down.  The last couple of days have been long and hard.  We've been blasted with some frigid air and strong winds, and finally we are in the warm house and ready to say good night!

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A Beautiful Sunset...

It's milking time here, and hard as it is to leave the comfortable sofa and put on my barn clothes, here's what greeted me as I stepped outside...

...it's our "most photographed" neighbor's farm to the west, once again bathed in the colors of a beautiful sunset.

Catching Up...

Well hello!

It's been a while, but I thought today might be as good a day as any to catch up on what's been happening here.

First of all, I promised that when the new barn cleaner elevator was put in, that I'd post about it. It finally got finished on Thursday morning. However, all I have is pictures of the finished product, not the process.  I wasn't able to be out when they were working on it. It took longer than expected to put it in place because of some glitches, but it's finally complete...

It doesn't wobble or shake...there are no rusted holes for manure to leak through...and it's the cleanest now that it will ever be again!  In case you forget what the old one looked like, you can see it here...

Late this afternoon, I was piddling around the house, doing random clean-uppy things, when I happened to look out the window to see a beautiful sunset. This must be the most photographed view I have...the silhouette of our Amish neighbor's farm to the west...

Soon after, I heard the dogs barking and looked out the window again.  Our neighbor Ruth Ann came on her scooter to deliver a Christmas gift for our family.  She's always so creative.  This looks like something you would see on Pinterest, but of course that's not where she got her idea!  I like it, and I think I might have to copy it sometime.  The bottom jar contains hot cocoa mix...the middle jar contains candy canes...and the top jar contains marshmallows...

And now I'm in the warm house while the rest of the family is out doing the milking and feeding.  I ended up having surgery on my back this week to "clean up" my herniated disc.  By looking at the MRI's, the doctors seemed pretty certain that although the pain had subsided, it would return at some point and so we opted to do the surgery now, when it's not quite as busy for us, as opposed to waiting until it became an emergency in the middle of one our busier times.  It went well. Other than the expected aches and stiffness, I'm feeling pretty good, but have some restrictions on lifting, bending and twisting for awhile.

So for now, I'll work on having supper ready when they come in from the barn, and I'll listen to the Eagles game on the radio.  Right now they're trailing the Redskins by three.  Hopefully that changes!

First Week of Fall...

I love living in a part of the country where we have four very distinct seasons.  By the time we get tired of one season, another one comes along!  

I'm having a little trouble letting go of summer this year, though.  We had a fabulous summer, weather wise...just the right amount of rain...lower humidity and lower temps than normal, with just enough hazy, hot and humid days to remind us that we do indeed live in southeastern PA.  I don't ever remember a summer like this, and oh how I would love to see another one like it next year!

There are some definite signs of fall here, and I've captured a few.

The corn fields are disappearing, and the soybeans are turning yellow.  Soon they'll be ugly and brown, and it will be time to harvest them.  Give them another three weeks or so...

These bales were from last week's 5th cutting of hay.  Some of you have commented on how many cuttings we get.  Five cuttings are typical for this area, and occasionally we get a sixth off of a few fields...

Jim's been busy spreading manure on the fields, now that some of the corn has been chopped for silage.  There's still a lot of standing corn.  Some of it will be used for refilling the silos and the rest will be shelled out and stored until we need it...

I can see my neighbors again!  And no...I'm not spying!  She likes it too!

Last but not least...tonight's sunset was so pretty.  It was raining all day, but I think there's better weather coming, at least if  "sky red at night" is true.

Three lonely corn stalks, left by the chopper...

...and the beautiful sunset...

What does fall look like where you are?


*an update on my back issues...
It's been six weeks since I herniated a disk, and it's been frustrating to say the least.  I've waited for doctor appointments, had tests, and waited some more for doctor appointments.  In order to avoid surgery, we've decided to try the epidural steroid injections, followed by physical therapy.  Finally, yesterday, I saw the doctor who will do this.

The last few days were horrible...I think perhaps the worst two days in the last month. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise, though...because when I saw him yesterday, he looked at me...looked at my chart and said..."I can see how long you've been dealing with this, and I can see that you're in a lot of pain.  I'm leaving on vacation..."  and my heart sank.  And then he said, "I'm going to fit you into the schedule tomorrow, so we can get started on this now. I don't want to make you wait any longer."  I am so very thankful that we were able to start doing something, even if it doesn't work.

This morning I had the (virtually painless) procedure, and everything went smoothly.  We should have a pretty good idea by the beginning of the week if it is possibly going to help, and we'll go from there.  But for now, I'm thankful for strong pain meds that make me sleepy, and for finally seeing  a doctor who was willing to go the extra mile for a patient.

Happy Anniversary!

On a beautiful sunny October day...exactly twenty years ago today...

Jim and I got married!

Here's how some of our anniversary was spent...

Jim and Daniel (our neighbor helper) buried the end of the ag bag permanently. They dug a trench about twelve inches deep and buried the end of the bag, covering it with dirt to give it a tight seal...

I only got back out with my camera after milking tonight, so it's a little hard to see here, but Jim packed the dirt by driving back and forth with the truck. If it's not packed tightly, the end can pop out...

As the silage ferments, it creates gas.  Stinky, potent gas.  I made the mistake one year of putting my nose to the slit and sniffing.  Bad. Idea. !!

The slit in the bag allows the gas to escape...

It was pretty much a normal day.  That's how it is this time of year...there's always something to do, no matter if it's a birthday, anniversary, or holiday...but it was a good day!

And this is how the day is ending...with a beautiful sunset!

I love October!

Finishing Up...

I think I can safely say that we are now officially finished baling corn fodder for this year!   The good weather stuck around and cooperated quite nicely. The rain and snow that we were supposed to get last week never materialized...yay...and Jim baled all the fodder that he wanted.

I didn't keep track of how many wagon loads he baled, but it's somewhere right around a dozen.  The last four, he didn't unload, but just backed them into the barn at the other farm, full.  Since we don't need those wagons empty until next spring, why not?  It takes some maneuvering to get those wagons into place...it's a tight fit, and I sure couldn't do it, but he makes it looks pretty easy.

After school today, I drove the truck while Jim and Eric picked up the last few bales that didn't fit on the last wagon...

...and we got to see this as we were finishing up...

All around us today, neighbors were baling fodder, baling and wrapping hay and rye, trying to finish up all that they could before they ran out of daylight and nice weather.

As I write, the wind has picked up and the temps have begun to drop.  It's to begin raining over night tonight, and I think our mild weather will be history. I'm bummed about that...I'm a fair weather fan, and there are still flower beds to clean up, and lots and lots of leaves to rake.

I guess I'll have to pull out the coveralls and get to work!


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