« May 2008 | Main | July 2008 »
Posted on Saturday, June 07, 2008
Hay Baling Across The Road
Pauline and Brent came over early on Saturday since we had Julie
Thursday and Friday. After playing with Julie for a while Brent and I
went to hook up the tractors to the hay baler and hay wagon. We finished
that, then went back inside to cool off and have a sandwich before
starting the actual hay baling. We left the house a few minutes after 11
AM and drove the tractors to the hay field across the road from the
house. I started the hay baler and we made a few bales and adjusted the
bale length, then Brent brought the hay wagon to the back of the baler
and we hooked it to the baler.
I
drove the tractor around the hay field baling hay and Brent was stacking
the bales on the wagon as the baler pushed the bales out of the chute to
him on the wagon. After about one round, Steve Riddle drove up with
Steve Anderson and they climbed on the wagon and started helping with
the bale stacking. We busted three or four bales but kept going. After
another round or two, Steve and Phil Garmon stopped and helped me adjust
the baler and told me to drive the tractor in the next faster gear.
After that, we didn't have any more busted bales and the baling went
smoothly. We filled the wagon, then unhooked and pulled it to the back
of the barn and inside the barn loft. The four of us unloaded the hay
and drank a cold can of pop, then headed back to the hay field for
another load. The temperature was near 90 degrees and quite a bit of
humidity. In other words, it was scalding us. Another wagon load and
back to the barn again, this time with a longer break in the shade after
unloading the hay. Once more we went back to the hay field and filled
the wagon, but this time we simply pulled the wagon in the barn and left
the hay on it. Brent went inside to shower, I thanked Steve R and Steve
A and they left about 3 PM after making plans to bale Steve Riddle's hay
on Monday. I finished baling about ten more bales to clean up and let
the bales drop in the field. I parked the tractor and went inside to
cool down, then took a shower. Pauline, Julie, Stacey and Linda had been
watching us from the front porch for a while, then they got too hot and
went back inside after taking a few pictures when we first started
baling.
I
rode a 4-wheeler up the road to Garmon's farm and thanked Phil for
helping us get the baler setup and doing some extra raking. We talked a
while and he said they had made 74 rolls in the fields across the creek.
I said that was the best cutting they had ever done in those fields and
told him we had hauled 183 bales out of the small field, then I went
back to the house just in time for the hamburgers Linda fixed for
supper. We ate, then Brent and I went outside and put up the tractors
and baler, picked up the bales laying in the field, closed the hay shed
door and started back to the house. We found Julie and Pauline feeding
Daisy, so I walked to the house while Pauline, Brent and Julie took a
ride in the Mule.
No
one lasted very long after dark and I think we all went to bed around 9
PM.
Posted on Monday, June 09, 2008
Friendly Baling
Linda left early for the day care job and around 9:15 AM a vase of flowers and a teddy bear was delivered from Jason. At 10 AM I went down to fill up the tractor with diesel fuel. I drove it over to the tank and shut it off. Then I heard a hissing noise and noticed the left front tire was leaking fluid. I went back to the house and called a tire service, but they said it would be the next day before they could come and fix the tire. Since I was supposed to bale hay for Steve Riddle, I called to see what he wanted to do about the hay. He said there was a place in Columbia that would fix the tire, so I called them. They said it would be the next day before they could come down, but if I would bring the tire up there they could fix it right away. Stacey drove the Mule to the front of the garage and I put the jack in the back and the 3/4" socket set to remove the wheel. I removed the wheel and tire after jacking up the tractor. I pulled the truck into the ditch and used one of the small ramps to roll the wheel and tire into the back of the pickup truck. It must have weighed near 200 lbs. Stacey and I went to Columbia and dropped off the tire at Hancock Tire, then went to eat lunch at Wendy's. We returned to pick up the tire and paid $53 for the repair. Two guys and I lifted the tire into the back of the truck and Stacey and I headed back to the farm. On the way back, Stacey began having problems with involuntary movement of her arms. I pulled the truck to the front of the garage and helped Stacey inside. Linda was home, so Stacey set down with her and shortly Linda gave Stacey 10 mg of Valium to stop the movements. Stacey's involuntary movements stopped so I went to put the wheel and tire on the tractor. I slid the tire off the truck and rolled it over to the tractor. It was heavier than before. I let the jack down a little and positioned the wheel over one of the lugs, put on a nut and jacked the tractor back up and replaced the remaining lug nuts and tightened them once the tire was back on the ground. I went back to the house to cool down and check on how Stacey was doing. Linda said that she was OK, so I headed up on Jone's Ridge to bale the hay for Steve. After about a 25 minute ride, I was there and Steve met me and helped get the baler ready to bale. I baled a couple of places along the road and then we moved to the field. Steve Anderson was using the tractor and rake to make the wind rows for the baler. As I was baling, Steve needed to leave to take Steve Anderson home so he could plant some of his tobacco plants. I finished baling, set the baler for towing and headed back to the farm. Once I was back home, I had a lot of stuff to pick up from changing the tire on the tractor and I needed to put the hay baler in the shed and some other stuff away too. Linda said Stacey was still doing OK, so I did those things. We hooked the trailer to the pickup truck and drove back to help Nancy and Steve pick up the hay bales. They had been picking up the hay and had most of it already in their barn, but we helped with the last load. Nancy and Steve said they had over 90 bales of hay. We talked a little while, then it began thundering and we headed home. Stacey was OK the rest of the evening.
Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008
Evaluation Lap
After Linda and Stacey left this morning, I decided to take Daisy for a
run around the farm and see what I needed to do. I let Daisy loose down
by the creek and then drove the Mule around the hay fields and back in
the 'holler'.
The
hay has been rolled and I have used the scoop on the tractor and the
bush hog behind to slide all of the big pieces of debris out of the hay
fields and bush hogged the smaller pieces so that the fields are ready
for the next round of hay. I need to use the bush hog around the edges
of the fields and mow back in the 'holler'. Next, I rode down to the mum
patch and checked out the work I did yesterday morning from 5 AM to 7 AM
tilling the mums. We had lost a few due to the hard rains, but I believe
we still have over a thousand alive. Regina and Linda had planted the
pumpkins yesterday and also cleaned out the cabbage and tomato plants.
I
finished my ride by going around the hay fields across the creek and
watching a deer graze on the hay. I returned to the farm and put the
Mule in the barn after taking the garbage cans to the edge of the road
for pickup later today. As I walked towards the door, I snapped a
picture of the flowers along our front walk.
Posted on Friday, June 20, 2008
Julie Is A Year Old
Linda came home from PB&J's house and said she had taken some pictures
of Julie while giving her a bath and wanted me to post them.
It
was actually Julie's 1st Birthday and she was learning to drive her car
on the driveway while watching the neighbors mowing.
Julie
was also helping Linda pull grass out of the pavers when her shoe fell
off and caused a crisis. Pauline and Brent are having a Birthday Party
for Julie on Sunday, so I will get to see her then. Until then, I will
just say,
"Happy Birthday Julie!"
Posted on Sunday, June 22, 2008
Celebrating Julie's Birthday
We were going to PB&J's house to celebrate Julie's birthday, so we had
called Jason on Saturday and asked his dad, David Strange, to see if
Jason would be able to join us. David agreed and said he would bring
Jason out to Pauline and Brent's house Sunday for the party. We left the
farm and arrived at PB&J's house to find Jason and his dad waiting in
the driveway, but Pauline, Brent and Julie were gone. We talked a short
time and David told us he had talked to Brent on the phone and they were
buying Julie a pair of shoes and should return home shortly. Jason
grabbed his bag of clothes and said good bye to his dad, we thanked
David for bringing Jason and then David left. We went inside and
Pauline, Brent and Julie returned about 20 minutes later with Julie
wearing a new pair of shoes. Pauline began the party by setting in the
floor and helping Julie open some of her birthday presents.
After
opening her presents, Julie was playing with a few of them while Pauline
and Brent used their air compressor to blow up the swimming pool they
had given Julie. They sat the pool on their patio and filled it with
water from the hose. Linda carried some buckets of hot water from inside
and dumped them in the pool to warm the colder hose water. After a few
minutes the pool was filled and at an acceptable temperature for Julie
to be placed in the pool.
Brent
set Julie in the water and Pauline talked her through the initial shock
of being in the water. They splashed a little water around and then
Julie seemed OK with being in the water. Pauline was able to call to
Julie and get her to walk across the pool and soon we were playing ball
and splashing her a little more each time until she was OK with it.
After at least a half hour of splashing and standing in the pool,
Pauline brought out drinks and the birthday cake she had baked for Julie.
Brent
lit the '1' candle and then helped Julie by blowing it out. Pauline cut
the cake and served Julie a piece and Julie knew what to do with it from
then on. She loved the cake and ate it with her hands and a few times
with a spoon. The spoon was new for her to use by herself and pieces of
the cake ended up everywhere but in her mouth. It was cute! We all ate
cake and talked as Julie continued to eat. When she finished eating they
let her get back in the pool a little until she was getting tired and
ready for a nap. It seemed Julie enjoyed the entire party and we were
glad we made it to see her first birthday party. Since Julie was going
to take a nap, Linda and I decided to make a quick run to Sam's Club to
pick up some groceries. Stacey and Jason decided to wait at PB&J's house
while we went. We were gone a little over and hour, then returned to
pick up Stacey, Jason and Missy. Jason checked in with his mom on the
way to Glasgow by phone and told her we were going to stop and eat at
Mancino's Restaurant We called in our order and they had it ready when
we walked inside. We ate, then drove back towards Burkesville and
stopped at Stephanie and Tommy's house to drop off Jason. We talked with
them for a while and then came on home.
Posted on Friday, June 27, 2008
Property Appraisal and Night At The Hospital
Linda had found out that Betty Garmon was selling some of her lilies
flowers because the highway was taking their property and she was going
to have to move them. So, Linda went down there in the Mule and bought
enough to fill the rear of the Mule completely full. The next morning,
Stacey began having trouble around 6:30 AM and we began giving her
Valium. I had to set the flowers out of the Mule and behind the house so
Linda could water them before transplanting to their permanent location.
At 12:10 PM we gave Stacey more Valium for a total of 35 mg. An
appraiser for the KY State Highway Department had made an appointment
with me for 1 PM to look at our property. He arrived and showed us a few
drawings of what their plans were going to be. 
I
immediately told him there were some new things on the plans that I
didn't like. One was a temporary easement that would cause them to
remove several trees near our fire pit where the old house used to
stand. We talked about that a while, then a few other items I was unsure
about. Next we walked from building to building while he took pictures
and made notations of the measurements he took with a laser device. We
eventually had all the building photographed and measured and he also
took pictures of the hay fields, our picnic area and fire pit. My
feelings about the road project are that we are going to get the shaft.
After the guy left, my attention returned to Stacey. Linda had been
keeping an eye on her during the appraisal. After a couple of hours,
Stacey began having more involuntary movement in her arms and shoulders.
Linda and I had reached the limit of the Valium the doctors had given us
to administer, so I called Dr Rice's office and they talked to the
doctor and he advised we take Stacey to the ER at the hospital. We
loaded Stacey in the HHR and drove to the ER. The ER doctor had an IV
started and was monitoring Stacey and was able to observe her
involuntary movements. He was concerned about the amount of Valium she
had been given, so he administered Adavan to stop the involuntary
movements a little after 4 PM. They admitted Stacey for 24 hour
evaluation and Stacey was visited by Dr Rice around 7:30 PM. He gave her
5 mg Valium through her IV at 8 PM and that stopped her involuntary
movements. Stacey was wide awake and talking after taking 40 mg of
Valium and 10 mg Adavan during the day. I stayed at the hospital and let
Linda go home and change into some warmer clothes as the AC was cranking
out the cold air. She returned about 10:30 PM and I went home to sleep.
I woke and returned to the hospital around 4:30 AM and let Linda go home
and sleep. Stacey slept without incident through the night and was very
sleepy during the morning hours. Linda returned to relieve me around
noon and I left for about 2 hours, then Linda called and said Stacey had
been released to come home. I returned to pick them up and bring them
home.
