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Posted on Sunday, July 01, 2007
Relaxing Sunday
Linda fixed pancakes with sausage for breakfast to begin the day. Brent
and I went to the hay shed and used an extension ladder setting in the
back of the pickup to tighten two sheet metal screws in the roof where a
leak had developed. The job took us about 20 minutes including setup and
putting up the ladders, then we rode around the farm in the Mule picking
and eating the ripe blackberries we could find. Back at the house, we
took turns holding Julie and watching her sleep most of the day.
We
watched the start of the NASCAR race and then I mowed a little where the
old house used to stand while Linda and Brent gave Julie a bath in the
tub as Stacey and Pauline took naps. After the race, Linda pounded out
pork tenderloins and fried those for sandwiches along with mashed
potatoes, peas and baked beans for everyone to eat. When everyone
finished eating, we went to the pond and set around feeding bread to the
little fish.
After
dark, Linda made a chocolate dessert and we played cards until P B & J
packed their stuff, loaded their dogs in their HHR and left for Smith's
Grove shortly after 9 PM.
Posted on Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Pumpkin Tilling and Mum Trimming
Yesterday afternoon, I tried to fill the FarmTrac with diesel fuel and
found the tank to be empty. I had been waiting on that to occur so I
could move the tank to a spot we had fixed right next to the gas tank at
the end of the hay shed. I used the Mule with the black trailer and
Linda helped me lay the tank on end on the trailer. I drove the Mule
over to the new spot and we set the tank up and 'walked' it in place on
top of 4 cement blocks.
Around
6 AM, I left for the mum patch in the Mule pulling the trailer with the
tiller on it. I started the tiller and began going through the pumpkin
patch to get rid of the grass that had sprouted. I had went lengthwise
through about half the patch when Stacey and Linda drove inside the
fence in the Mustang. Stacey set in the car and listened to the radio
while Linda used battery powered trimmers to cut the tops off the mums.
In the previous years, Linda has used scissors to trim the mums. The
battery powered trimmers make it easier, but it still looks like a
monumental job when she first starts.
I
continued to till the pumpkin patch and finished going through it
lengthwise and took a break. After about 20 minutes, I started going
across the patch with the tiller and completed the job in about 2 hours.
I
loaded the tiller on the trailer and picked up Stacey in the Mule and we
went back to the house, where we took our pills and then I took a
shower. Linda arrived a few minutes later saying she had done almost
half of the mum patch, but the batteries had run down. I called Newcomb
Oil in Columbia and ordered diesel fuel and they said the truck was
already on it's way to Burkesville with a load. The dispatcher called
the driver and he dropped off 200 gallons about a half hour later. The
price was $2.348 per gallon for a toal of $469.60. We decided to drive
to Glasgow for lunch at Mancino's and then to Tractor Supply to buy a
100 gallon tank in case we need to water the mums later. We had a coupon
for 10% off and I figured that would pay for the extra gas the truck
used. We also stopped at Big Lots, K-Mart and Wal-Mart looking for a
music CD that Stacey wanted to buy. It had not been released yet, so she
picked out a different one, then we drove back to the farm.
Posted on Wednesday, July 04, 2007
4th of July
Linda finished trimming the mums and came back to the house. We had
received a phone call from our friends in IN, Bonnie and Donnie Cox, and
they had invited us over to their cabin near Star Point on Dale Hollow
Lake. They were going to cook out and wanted Linda to bring dessert, so
Linda made two pies, a chocolate and a lemon. I mowed a few places that
we had missed earlier in the week and sprayed vegetation killer around
the driveway and hay shed areas. I'm not nearly as busy as the bee in
the pictures below, but anything I do outside causes an immediate melt
down and I sweat profusely in the nearly 90 degree temperatures that we
have been experiencing for a while.
I
finished my jobs, took a shower and we left for Byrdstown around 4 PM.
We arrived at Bonnie and Donnie's cabin a little before 5 PM. We all
said hello and sat outside on their deck for a while catching up on what
each had been doing. We heard about the activities of some of our
friends that lived in IN and we told stories of Julie's birth and Linda
showed her baby album to B&D. Donnie started the grill and a little
later we ate burgers with plenty of side items and then enjoyed pieces
of those pies. After we ate, we cleaned up the table and went inside as
it was starting to get dark and the 'no see ums' were starting to bite
us. We chatted inside till a little after 9 PM and we said our good byes
and left for home. As we drove through the countryside we were able to
watch fireworks going off all over the place. We passed through Albany
just as the town's fireworks were ending, so we saw the finale and were
out of town before the rest of the traffic.
Posted on Friday, July 06, 2007
Breakfast At Grumpy's
Linda went to Smith's Grove to stay with Pauline, Brent and Julie on
Thursday. Stacey had talked to her friend, Jason, on the phone and set a
time to meet at Grumpy's Friday morning for breakfast. We drove in to
town and parked, then went inside and sat down with Jason at his regular
table. Stacey had told me, if I didn't have anyone to set with that I
could set at their table, so I did. We talked about what Jason had been
doing, if his brother had came home from camp and a few other things
while waiting on our breakfast to be fixed. The waitress brought the
orders and we ate while continuing our conversations. Jason works at
Houchen's Grocery and he and I talked about the fact that I used to work
at a grocery store too. We finished our breakfast and Stacey grabbed the
guest check and told us she was supposed to buy breakfast for my
birthday. She said that Linda had told her to do that if we went to eat.
She paid and we were leaving as some of the customers were talking to
Jason. He eats there a couple of days each week while waiting to go to
work, so people know him and talk to him a lot.
Stacey
and I said 'see ya' to Jason, then we went to the bank and the County
Clerk's office to renew our license plates for some of our vehicles.
Linda came home around 6:30 PM with 2 new mp3 players, one for Stacey
and one for me. The one for Stacey is an iPod
Shuffle and mine is a RCA
Opal. The Rio
Nitrus I had used for at least 3 years finally bit the dust when the
hard drive in it quit functioning a couple of weeks ago.
Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007
A Few Flowers And Lunch At The Lodge
The mums have received a rain shower to freshen them up after Linda
trimmed the entire patch, but the sun has crusted the ground. This helps
some to keep weeds from sprouting.
You
might notice that my rows aren't very straight this year, but at least
the area between the mums is barren of grass and weeds right now. We've
probably had the best survival rate this year of any year we have
planted mums. Watering with the stock tank and the hose made a big
difference in the amount of water we used and that was actually
delivered to the plant. The cone flowers and a few others in the area
where the old house used to be are blooming. They keep multiplying and
spreading out in the flower bed.
Stacey,
Linda and I take rides in the Mule during the day, but it's been around
90 degrees for a while and I have been doing most of my farm work early
in the morning or waiting until after 6 PM. Linda still ventures outside
and does some of her stuff in the heat of the day. Linda wanted to go to
the Dale
Hollow Lake State Park Lodge for lunch, so I drove us out there and
Linda and Stacey went inside while I parked the car.
I
sat down at the table and we all ordered, then I stepped outside while
our lunches were being prepared and took a couple of pictures of people
having fun on the lake.
I
went back inside and our food was delivered to the table, we ate and I
took another picture. There were more people eating as we were leaving.
Linda and Stacey took a short side trip through the gift shop to check
out what was being sold as souvenirs this year.
Posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Somerset Trip
We started the trip with breakfast at Grumpy's, Stacey talked to Jason
while they ate. Linda and I ate at a separate table and when we were
done we all talked for a little bit. We headed to Somerset on the
Cumberland Parkway with Linda driving, Stacey running the radio and me
in the back. Linda drove to Paul's Discount store and we went inside. I
bought 2 boxes of 22 caliber shells loaded with bird shot and we left.
It seemed like we had just ate, but Stacey was 'about to get hungry'. I
put her off for a while as we looked through Home Worx and Peebles.
Around 12:30, we stopped at Fazzoli's for lunch, which made Stacey
happy. We stopped at a few more places including Goody's and Office
Depot. After that we headed back to the farm and ran through several
scattered showers along the parkway, but when we drove into the driveway
at the farm it hadn't rained at all. Later, Linda went to town to attend
a meeting and Stacey and I went out on Jone's Ridge to see what Steve
Riddle was doing. I helped him a few minutes with stretching barbed wire
and then Stacey and I headed back home as it was starting to thunder. I
parked the truck in the hay shed and we ran towards the house because we
could see the rain across the creek at the back of the 'holler'. We
almost made it to the house, but big drops of rain started hitting us as
we ran across the driveway. Cooter met us and he went inside the house
as we did because it was thundering. It rained about a half hour and
then the sun came back out.
After
the rain, I let Cooter back outside through the front door and noticed
that the humming birds were swarming the feeder. I opened the bathroom
window and took a few pictures from inside the bathroom. I've numbered
the birds, that was the hard part, getting them to hold still while I
pinned the numbers on them.:)
The
most I could get into a picture was 14 humming birds, I know there were
more, but they are wild after a rain shower.
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007
Deer Crossing, umm, Not Today!
I was sitting at the PC in the study this morning when I noticed
something moving outside. I turned and looked, it was two deer about to
come across the highway into the front yard. I grabbed the camera and
stepped quietly out onto the front porch. As I stepped outside, our dog
Cooter was laying on the porch and heard me. I took a picture of one of
the deer about to cross the highway.
Cooter
stood up and walked towards me and I started to reach around his neck,
but as I did he saw the two deer and made his move towards the road. I
was unable to hold him back and as his feet hit the grass he began
barking. The two deer immediately turned and took off running towards
the hills.
Cooter
ran towards the highway, barking the entire time, as the two deer ran
through the hay and across the creek, then through the hay field on the
other side, then into the trees on the hillside.
Cooter
never did cross the road. He just runs things off of the farm, at least
from where he can see from the porches. Cooter also chases rabbits that
live around the farm, but never tries to catch them either. We have
coyotes around here and I think he barks quite a bit during the night at
them.
P B & J Arrive Early
A little after 9 AM, Julie, Pauline and Brent drove in the driveway and
turned their dogs loose on the farm. They came inside and I held Julie
for a bit while Brent and Pauline unloaded their stuff for an overnight
stay. They are planning on taking Linda and leaving for IN early in the
morning while Stacey and I will be dog sitting. Around 11:30 we loaded
Julie in her car seat and placed it in their HHR and went to Hamilton's
BBQ for lunch, then stopped at the day care and let Linda show Julie to
the kids and the women. We went back to the farm and waited on Linda to
come home from working at the day care.
She
arrived around 1:30 and took over on holding Julie. Later in the
afternoon, Linda and I went to the mum patch in the Mule and began
pulling the grass out of the mums that was too close to get out with a
tiller. Pauline, Julie, Brent and Stacey came down in their HHR and
helped Linda finish cleaning the patch. I was using the tiller and going
through the rows. I stopped when they finished and we went back to the
house. Linda fixed hamburgers for supper and we played cards until time
to go to bed.
Posted on Sunday, July 15, 2007
While They Were Out
Pauline, Brent, Julie and Linda left for IN Friday morning leaving
Stacey and me to take care of things around here. First on our agenda
was to go to Grumpy's for breakfast. Stacey was hoping to meet Jason and
talk during breakfast, but he wasn't there. We finished breakfast and
returned to the farm. Stacey began her chores while I went to the mum
patch and tilled a little over half the patch. It was too hot to finish,
so I went back to the house and we took the truck to town and dropped
off the Mantis tiller at the NAPA parts store to see if they could get
it running right. Back at the farm, I used the FarmTrac tractor and the
finish mower to mow until I couldn't take the heat any longer. Stacey
and I had lunch meat sandwiches and then stayed inside until evening. I
tilled the mums until I finished right before dark.
Saturday, I mowed
the lot behind the trailer after we took our pills at 8 AM. It was still
wet and clumping the grass, so I decided to mow around the mum patch
where it didn't matter how it looked. I finished that area and we went
to Columbia to eat lunch at Sonic. After eating, we went to the grocery
store and picked up some stuff, then stopped at McDonald's for 4 double
cheeseburgers, two for Cooter and two for the little dogs. Once again,
during the heat of the day, we stayed inside until around 5 PM, when I
went back out and finished mowing the area where the old house used to
stand.
Sunday morning, Stacey and I had cereal for breakfast. Then
Stacey decided she needed a shower, so I sat and listened. I noticed she
was having problems, so I checked and she said she was starting to
twitch. I had her get out of the shower and I helped her get dressed. We
had trouble with her bra, I'd never had to help someone put one on like
she had picked out to wear. After two tries we had it on and pulled her
teeshirt on and Stacey was able to put on her shoes. I had gave her 5 mg
Valium at 9 AM, another 5 mg at 9:15, seeing as I was by myself, I
decided to walk her to the car before she was unable to walk. I set
Stacey down on the steps in the garage, backed the car out of the garage
and then helped her to the car. During times like those, she has fallen,
so I don't let her walk by herself in that condition. We buckled up and
headed to the hospital, I gave Stacey a 10 mg Valium as we left the
driveway because it seemed like the others hadn't made any difference
and her twitching was continuing. We made it to the ER, put Stacey in a
wheelchair and pushed her into the ER at 9:30 AM. Stacey was still
having involuntary movements and I watched to see if I was going to have
to give her another Valium. It was a close one, but I held off, as Dr
Rice was in another room with a patient, but I knew he was available if
Stacey needed an IV. Dr Rice came in and took a look at Stacey, who was
beginning to show the effects of the Valium. He said that he wanted to
watch her for a little while, so I went home to call Brent and Linda in
IN and let them know what was happening with Stacey. I talked to them
and went back to the hospital. Brent called me back, at the hospital,
and said they would be home late that night. Dr Rice set Stacey up with
a lunch, then let her "go to the house" about 1:30 PM. I sat around with
Stacey the rest of the day while we watched the NASCAR race and several
other things on TV. Stacey came through it fairly well and was walking
and talking OK before the day was over. I woke Stacey when Pauline,
Brent, Julie and Linda came home and we set and listened to their
stories about their visit in IN.
Posted on Monday, July 16, 2007
Rain Causes Growth Spurt
Last week we had three and a half inches of rain fall on the farm. It
caused the creek to rise a little and clear out some of the downed tree
limbs. Now, I've noticed that the mums, gourd vines and pumpkin vines
have really surged in growth. After tilling the mums and the grass being
pulled, the mums in the patch are noticably bigger.
The
pumpkin vines have almost completely covered the ground in their patch.
The
apple gourd vines on the left and the small birdhouse gourd vines on the
right have grown and are covering their section of the patch.
The
sweet corn has started making ears, now if we can keep racoons and deer
away while the ears mature we will be lucky and have some good eating.
I
have already picked three ripe tomatoes off of these vines and you can
see there are a couple about ready to pick.
I
just wiped one of them off and bit in. That is the best kind of tomato,
the one I pick and eat right out of the patch. I took two of the three
back to the house though.
Posted on Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Bowling Green Trip
Linda had chatted with Brent and I had a hard drive blow out in the PC
that serves the web cam pictures, so we decided to take a trip to
Smith's Grove to visit Julie, Pauline and Brent. We loaded Missy in the
HHR with us and headed out around 9 AM. Pauline was holding Julie when
we arrived and Brent was at work. We played with the dogs and took turns
holding Julie while Pauline took a shower and dressed. Linda and I fixed
Julie a place on the floor on a blanket and I took pictures.
Once
Pauline was ready, we loaded Julie, Pauline, Stacey, Linda and I in the
HHR and headed to Brownsville to meet Brent for lunch. We ate at Laura's
Hilltop Restaurant with Brent. He had brought Bill, a guy that was
helping him with some network switches. We all chatted during lunch,
then we paid and headed to Bowling Green. Pauline and Linda had worked
out an itinerary of shops we needed to hit. First we took Pauline to her
job and she went inside to let her fellow employees see Julie. Linda,
Stacey and I made a short hop over to Big Lots for about a half hour,
then back and picked up Pauline. I drove to Trees and Trends and we all
went inside with me pushing a cart that was holding Julie. We shopped
there for a while, then left and I drove through Steak n Shake so we
could all get shakes to drink while looking through Hobby Lobby. I
happened to see Mrs Dillard from Warren East Middle School and we said
'hello' to her, then had to take Pauline to her hair appointment. After
dropping off Pauline we went to Aldi's and bought groceries, made a
quick trip back to Hobby Lobby, then over to Sam's Club for more
groceries. We left Sam's Club and Pauline called and said she was done
at the hair salon. We picked her up and headed back to P B & J's house
where Brent was just finishing fixing the PC I had left at the house. We
talked for a while and checked out the pictures on the big screen TV.
Around 7:30 PM we headed back to the farm in Burkesville.
Posted on Saturday, July 21, 2007
Cooter's Gone
I'll not have much to write about this event. Our dog, Cooter was hit and killed on the highway in front of the house while Linda was watching from the yard. I heard the thump from the study and quickly looked and saw him rolling down the road. I could tell he was dead before he stopped rolling, at least it was quick. I used the tractor and put him in the scoop and buried him back in the 'holler'. It makes me so sad to lose the dog, he was a great companion for Linda and what hurts the most is knowing how much she will miss him following her around the farm.
Posted on Sunday, July 22, 2007
Blooms
Yesterday I mowed the trails around the hay fields and as I was mowing I
noticed how many things were blooming and the beauty of things around
the farm. I took a 4-wheeler ride with the camera and took pictures of
some of the things blooming. I was setting at the computer editing those
images when I was suddenly interrupted by the ugliness of one of the
things at the farm. Our dog Cooter had been killed on the highway and I
had to take care of picking up his remains and burying him. I didn't
feel like writing much after that, so I simply posted the main facts. I
have since finished editing the pictures and have included them in this
post.
The
creek crossing was nice on the way back, the weather has changed and it
was mid 80s with very little humidity.
Posted on Monday, July 23, 2007
Getting Away
Linda started our day with pancakes and sausage for breakfast and after that we were just hanging around, so I mentioned that we could go to Cookville. Linda and Stacey jumped at the chance to go, in almost no time, we were ready and leaving in the HHR. Linda had said she wanted to buy a new carpet cleaner, so the first thing we did was stop at the Wal-Mart near Cookville and buy a Hoover Steam Carpet Cleaner. I had a little trouble getting the large box in the back of the car, but it finally fit and we went on our way. We stopped to eat lunch at Cheddars, but the lot was full of cars and it looked like people were waiting in line to be seated, so we drove across the street and went inside at the Golden Corral. I think Stacey liked eating there better because as soon as we selected our seats we could go and pick out the food items we wanted and quickly return to the table and eat, basically, no waiting on the order to be prepared. After eating, we stopped at Kirklands, and Kohls, and a fabric shop, and a few other places and then ended our shopping by stopping at Lowes. We returned to the farm and Linda noticed that the Garmons had cut the hay again. Linda assembled the carpet cleaner after I returned a piece of it I had hid from her and she used it to clean the carpet in the bedrooms. Regina came over, brought us some cucumbers and set with us on the back porch and talked for a while. I slipped down to the where the mums were growing and picked a few tomatoes and 4 ears of sweet corn. We gave her tomatoes, but she already had sweet corn. Those were the first ears of corn that have been ready out of our patch and they looked like they were filled out and should be 'good eating'.
Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Hay Has Been Cut
Tuesday morning, Linda left early for PB&J's house, so Stacey and I went
to Grumpy's to eat and to let Stacey visit with Jason. Since Linda had
drove the HHR, we had to drive the Mustang and the top was down. We made
it without getting wet, but just barely, it began to sprinkle rain about
15 minutes after we put the car back in the garage. We had several short
showers of rain during the day, it would rain enough to wet the
sidewalk, then dry up, then rain again. David McIntyre tried to cut the
hay, but was rained out I guess.
Wednesday, David did cut the hay
across the creek at the other farm. Stacey and I took a Mule ride after
he was done and I was surprised to find that he had cut the entire
field. 
Usually,
at this time of year, they just cut the 'Johnson Grass', but I think
they are short on hay due to the drought we experienced in the spring
time. Steve Riddle came over to visit about 3:30 PM. Linda came home
while he was here and we all talked a while. After Steve left so that
Nancy and him could go to church, Linda fixed bacon sandwiches for
supper with fresh tomatoes and ears of sweet corn from the garden patch.
Once again, the NK-199 Sweet Corn is delicious.
Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007
Tractor Drivers
Linda went to work at the day care and after Stacey and I had breakfast,
we went for a Mule ride so I could see what needed mowing. After a quick
tour of the farm, we returned to the hay shed and I drove the FarmTrac
tractor up the hill behind the hay shed and began mowing. Stacey
followed in the Mule and took a picture of me while she waited for me to
finish mowing the small open area.
We
returned to the shed and I parked the tractor and we went inside the
house. A little after noon, we went to town and rented 2 DVDs and ate
while we were there. After returning to the farm, Linda came home and I
was watching Phil Garmon roll the hay. It looks like it made 29 rolls on
this second cutting. Later, I asked Stacey, "Since the hay has been cut,
are you ready to drive the new tractor?" She said she was, so we drove
to the shed and then I drove the tractor across the creek with Stacey
following in the Mule. I left the tractor running in neutral and stepped
off. Stacey climbed on and I showed her how to use the clutch. She
practiced a few times then I had her push in the clutch and I put the
tractor in gear. I climbed on the finish mower and told her to let the
clutch out. She did, real quick and the front wheels hopped off the
ground and away she went. She was driving, albeit in a great big open
field with nothing to run into except large rolls of hay. It went well,
I had her stop and start a few more times, then I stepped off the mower
and took a picture of her driving.
Finally,
I had her pull close to the Mule and stop the tractor. Her driving was
over for now. I drove the tractor back to the hay shed and Stacey
followed in the Mule. She was proud of herself and told Linda it wasn't
too bad. We drove to Columbia and ate after printing some pictures at
Wal-Mart.
Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007
I Love A Rainy Night
Late Friday afternoon we headed to Albany for pizza and while we were
there the rain began. On the way home the rain was coming down quite
hard. I parked the HHR in the garage and checked the rain gauge. There
was one and a half inches at that time. I left the water in the tube and
put it back in the gauge. This morning, I checked and there was 3 inches
of water in the gauge.
Overnight
was a slower, gentle rain that is good for the crops. I rode down the
road on a 4-wheeler and checked the mum patch. It looked great, except
for some grass growing near the plants that needs removed, but the
ground is too wet now. I returned to the house and took a few pictures
from the front steps.
After
a couple of hours, the sky had cleared up and the sun was shinning
again. The creek was running about 6 inches deep and a little muddy.
The
purple martins during the day and bats at night keep the bugs ate up
during the summer months, so even though we've had rain, we can set on
the porches without any fear of mosquitos biting us. Tonight was nice
with a nearly full moon popping up over the hilltops.
