Spare time has been virtually non existent for me lately. Both BJ and Madison celebrated birthday’s this month. The work on the chickenhouses continues. A different problem arises everyday. My mom called me from Owen county to tell me that my late brother’s dog was sick. She told me that if Rebel stood a chance I needed to come take him to a vet. Of course I went to get him. Rebel was just a cute little boxer pup when Josh brought him home. He’s 8 or 9 in people years now. He’s developed skin cancers and now testicular cancer. This last round he had to have a 3 pound tumor and both testicles removed. I just couldn’t stand to see him put down. He’s all we have left besides the memories of Josh. He seems to be doing real good here on the farm.

Madison didn’t have such a good birthday this year. BJ was taking her to pick out a cake when she lost control of the car on slick roads. Thank goodness noone was hurt seriously. Mattie ended up with seat belt burn on her belly and BJ bumped her head. Makayla is a little sore. She took a pretty bad fall at cheerleading practice last week and now the car accident. The car didn’t fare so well. I believe it’s a total loss. We’re trying to decide what to do for transportation next. We still have “old blue” (the Chevy truck) and the Trans Am, but neither have very much room in them. I’m leaning toward finding another Pontiac Grand Prix like the one we had and keeping the wreck for a parts car.

The weather has been brutal. We’ve seen lows in the single digits twice now. Several nights have been in the teens as well. That’s just too cold for me. Makes me ache all over when I come in and finally get warm. Got lots of wood split to keep warm though. With the move of the double-wide we’ve yet to get the underpinning back up. Bj called this morning to tell me the water was frozen there. Took it until almost noon to thaw out. After not paying the rent for the last 3 months the folks renting our rental trailer finally moved out. That’s a huge relief! It will mean more work, but maybe I can get someone in there that is willing to work on the farm to pay their rent.

Even in the winter weather, rain, and snow feeding hay to the animals has not seemed like work. The cab is great! I don’t know how I made it all this time without it. The loader on the new 7010 has the skid steer quick attach and that makes changing between the bucket, bale spear, and pallet forks a breeze. These new pallet forks are so much better than the old floating ones I have for the 6000. I like them so much I doubt the bale spear will get much use. I’ve only put a little over 20 hours on the 7010, but I absolutely love it. If the new 8560 is as nice as the 7010 I’d say Mahindra has a real winner on their hands. Hopefully I’ll get to see it at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville Ky. next month.

Well as always I have so much to do it’s ridiculous so I’ll stop typing and get to work on something. Thanks for reading and come back soon. Be sure to check out the pics I’ve added to the site.