Life of a Farm Blog

All is well here in Kentucky. Wow the skies have finally opened up! I am glad to see it even if it does mean the contractors will be delayed in the building of the poultry houses. We need about 2 weeks of this steady rain, but I’ll settle for the 5 days that are forecasted. I had almost forgotten the sound of the rain on the metal roof. Sure is some good sleeping weather. If only I had time to sleep!

I decided to sell a few of the horses so we could concentrate on our best horses and keeping them ridden. It’s sad to see them go, but I just don’t have the time for them all. I really would like to turn away from horses and more toward cattle or goats. I really enjoy the goats. I have some great places for them too! On the other hand cattle are a lot easier to deal with and it’s hard not to like calves. I geuss we’ll try to get more of both!

The leaves are gradually falling from the trees and the nights are beginning to have a chill. Highs aren’t getting into the 80′s much now and the 90′s are gone. Soon it will be time to light a fire and have cocoa with the kids by the stove. I have a basement full of projects that will need my attention this winter. I’m unsure of whether to sew grass seed in the clearings this fall or wait for spring.

The rain has kept the 6000 on the sidelines, but my mind has been racing about buying that 7010 cab I’ve been kicking around for over a year now. I’m in a better position to buy now and may just do that if the deal is right. Sure would make winter feeding a lot more fun inside that comfy heated cab.

Really not a whole lot happening on the farm this week. I’ve been trying to put more of an emphasis on my fatherly duties for the moment. Having the weekends to spend with the kids was great. Now we are back on regular shifts at work and I am dreading not being able to get out with them this weekend. This Sunday we finally took our hike we’d been planing to the “horse cliffs”. It was a good walk and produced some tired children by the end of the afternoon. It also provided me with some great photos of the kids and the opportuity to teach them a few things. I think it’s important to learn about nature and it’s signs so we spent a good bit of time learning tree names and studying animal tracks. I even got to teach a bit of a history lesson as these rock shelters were used by confederate soldiers to hide their horses as they scouted for sign of union soldiers. I feel very fortunate to have them on our property.

The farm still requires the daily watering and feeding duties. I have got to find time to work with our horses more. They are getting a little out of hand since they haven’t been ridden much lately. I saddled up and rode around the farm for a couple hours one night last week and it is obvious to me if I don’t do something I’m going to be breaking them all over again. Still no rain to speak of here and the dust is terrible. The pad is done for the poultry houses and the building should begin this week.

I have been experiencing a little trouble with both our computers this week, so I bought a new one. Our previous computers had all been Dell for the last several years, but with having to replace the monitor and the modem on the last one at less than 3 months old I went with a Gateway this time. Just seems Dells quality went down lately.

We’ve been selling the topsoil that came from the area the poultry houses will go by the dump truck load. That means the 6000 has seen a pretty steady workout. Dave Rose has been hauling it for us. He couldn’t believe the loader on the 6000 would reach high enough to get over the sides of his big dump truck. He has a Kubota M4900 and the loader will not reach high enough to get over the side. Sometimes I just don’t know how I got by all this time without the 6000 and it’s loader.

Well I think I hear the school bus so I will go for now. As always be sure to check the site for pics I’ve added and check back soon. Thanks for reading!

What a difference this week has made in the landscape of the farm. We continue to clear more land every day. It should wrap up this week. The decision was made not to take a chance on the poultry house site. We moved it to the front of the farm. It will be a little closer to the log house, but the excavation costs will be much less. They began work on the pad for the houses 3 days ago and have already removed all the topsoil and begun getting it on grade. They expect to be ready for the builder by the end of next week. That’s moving on. We will need to move the double-wide and have cleared a place on the back of the property to move it to. It will be at the end of a county road with only one neighbor near it. An older couple. Should be very peaceful. I am amazed at the transformation of the land as it is cleared. I can almost see cows, goats, and horses grazing. It will be a real job to get it all fenced, but worth the effort.

All is well with the kids. Madison and Kaylee stay busy cheering, while Garett is busy with after school programs that help with his reading and homework. He’s going to be a little bookworm. All the children went to the McCreary County Public Library this week and got library cards. Earlier in the week they all had been sick. Everyone had a stomach bug.

We finished up the hay this week. What little there was. I made a deal with our neighbors the Phillips’ to get it square baled and put in our barn instead of rolling it. That will give me a few hundred squares and about 40 rolls to get through the winter on. Hopefully I can get some fencing done and won’t need so much hay. I’d like to buy some cattle this winter if they get cheap enough. I thought I had found a square baler that would suit me, but waited around and let it get sold. I did pick up a New Holland 258 hay rake though. With folks going to V rakes with their rollers there are some deals out there on rolla bar rakes. Since I want to do more squares the rolla bar rake fits me. I will go next week and look at a New Holland 311 square baler. Don’t know much about the New Holland knotters as opposed to what I know about the other designs. I just know I need a square baler that the 6000 won’t be waiting on.

We are heading into fall shutdown at work so I get some much needed time off. We all will be working day shift with weekends off. I can use the time since I’ve been working seven days a week for too long to remember.

Hope all is well for you and remember to check out the pics I’ve added! Better get working on something with this time I have.