Wow, can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted. I’m sure those of you who follow regularly have wondered how BJ is doing. First off I want to thank all of you who said a prayer and sent well wishes. She’s getting better slowly. At her last doctors appointment she was finally allowed to get out of her braces for a few hours at a time. I’m very grateful to the doctors at the University of Kentucky for all their skill and compassion. I’m sure Bj would agree with me when I say she couldn’t have been treated better. The last couple months have been awfully rough on all of us, but more so on BJ. She has had to have on a back brace and a cervical collar any time she was out of the bed at all. I am now thoroughly convinced that she’s a lot tougher than me.

Seems when it rains it pours. As if Bj’s accident wasn’t enough to slow us down. We’ve had a bit of tractor trouble. One of the wheels supplied to Mahindra by Titan for the 7010 developed cracks all around the lug holes. I was going to be without the 7010 for about a week so I had a neighbor weld in the cracks so we could keep going until the replacement came. Good thing too, because I had finally put the 6000 in the shop to have the clutch replaced and the next day the loader curl cylinder started leaking on the 3316 HST. Without the 7010 in limp mode I would have had no tractors. I loaned the 6000 to a friend when it had about 200 hours on it and he ruined the clutch pushing trees down. Through adjustment and being careful I was able to make it last almost another 800 hours, but during the chickenhouse cleanout it got used a lot and it was getting bad. I’m still waiting on a replacement cylinder or a repair kit for the 3316 HST. Hopefully Mahindra will get me one soon.

The second set of chickenhouses seems to have sprung up from the ground like a spring flower. I know it’s been a couple of months, but it seems like just yesterday we started the actual building. Now the builders are finishing up and the equipment and electrical has started. Cobb is pushing for a disinfect date of April 20. I feel confident my part will be done, but the equipment install is going to be too close to call. The 7010 has found itself in the role of a forklift just about everyday as the equipment shows up. The more I use it the more I like the fact that it is so compact for a 70+ hp tractor. It fits my needs perfectly! Some of the equipment installers mentioned to me that they were considering a Mahindra for their farm and that using the 7010 has removed any doubt they might have had about the quality of these tractors.

Spring has sprung, leaving us baby goats and thunderstorms. The goats are cute as can be, but I can do without storms like the one we had a couple weeks back that blew off part of the barn roof and took out 3 or 4 large oaks. Somehow during all the madness here we found time to get to a special cow sale up in Somerset Ky.. I picked up 4 more bred cows. 3 of those have 200-300 pound calves by their side. All are black except one and she’s a big red cow. The heifer we had from the last red cow is just so beautiful I couldn’t resist buying another. The steer born to our hereford cross cow last year is set for a date with the butcher on May 20th. The pigs are growing by leaps and bounds and they too will soon meet the butcher or find a new home. They have done a wonderful job of making all our scraps, feed spills, and broken eggs disappear. Part of our spring seed order arrived today and the rest is scheduled to ship on the 20th. Everyone here thinks I’ve gone a bit overboard this time. I have strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, rasberries, grapes, and apple, pear, peach, and mulberry trees all on the way.

Well like always there is lots of work to do so I’ll get to it. Be sure to check back, I think this is going to be an exciting year here on the farm. Don’t forget to take a peak at the pics I’ve added and thanks for reading!