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Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007
Mum Patch Update
Wednesday morning Stacey, Linda and I rode in the Mule to the mum patch
and I began digging mums with Linda potting them and Stacey carrying the
potted mums to the trailer behind the Mule. We had dug one mum and
Stacey put it on the trailer, then looked at us and said she was
starting to twitch. I unhooked the trailer, we rode in the Mule back to
the house and by then the twitching was getting worse. Linda gave Stacey
and 10 mg Valium and about 15 minutes later, I gave Stacey another 10 mg
Valium. It took a few minutes but her twitching subsided. A little after
noon, Linda gave Stacey another 5 mg of Valium, then a half hour later
another 5 mg for a total of 30 mg in less than 4 hours. I decided that
we should take Stacey to see Dr Rice at his office, so we loaded in the
truck and drove to town. I pulled to the back door, opened it and rolled
a wheel chair outside and placed Stacey in it. As I rolled Stacey in the
back door, the nurse directed us into an examination room and in about
10 minutes Dr Rice came in to see how Stacey was getting along. He
explained what we should do for Stacey the remainder of the day if
anything else occurred. After about 20 minutes of consultation, we
returned to the farm. Linda stayed with Stacey and I went to the mum
patch and dug the mums we absolutely had to dig for a customer. I
returned to the house and Linda watered the mums while I cooled off and
stayed with Stacey. We worked like that a couple more times during the
remainder of the day. Stacey never required any more Valium and just had
mild involuntary movements.
Thursday morning, I went to the mum patch
about 6:30 AM and dug mums, then back to the house and watered them and
set them in the hay shed. Linda, Stacey and I took the Mule and let
Daisy run around the hay fields since she hadn't been out of the barn
the day before. We were about half way around when I noticed Daisy had
run right over the top of a snake laying in the trail. I ran over the
snake with the Mule and stopped a little past it. I took the shovel out
and chopped it's head off. Daisy came back and was a little scared of
the dead snake. 
We
went back to the house and put Daisy in the barn, then Linda, Stacey and
I went to the mum patch and dug a trailer load of mums. I'm guessing
that the mums in the patch are about half gone.
Regina
came down and helped us finish the trailer load and then we went back to
the hay shed and watered the mums I had dug yesterday. They are supposed
to be picked up on Friday.
Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2007
Edmonton Pumpkin Festival
Linda, Stacey and I went to town for breakfast and then returned to the
farm. We took the Mule to the mum patch and dug mums. We had the trailer
about half full when Regina joined us and helped with potting the mums I
dug. We filled the trailer, then pulled it to Regina's front yard and
set the mums on the hay wagon, then watered each mum. We decided to
clean up and go to Edmonton to see what was going on at their Pumpkin
Festival. I took a shower while Linda sold mums to her friend,
Stephanie. Stacey and I picked up Linda and Regina and I drove to
Edmonton. We found a close parking spot, then walked to the Courthouse
Square and began checking out the booths and displays people had setup.
We
strolled around the square amid the booths and hundreds of people. That
was the most people I've seen at the Pumpkin Festival. Regina and Linda
had me take some pictures of things they want to make once we are done
with the mums. We saw one booth selling large mums for $15 each. We
couldn't believe it, we're selling ours for $3 each. Granted, ours were
not as big as the ones they were selling, but there wasn't many people
buying those $15 mums either. We ordered a plate of potato spirals with
cheese and bacon bits. I let Stacey wait on those while I went and
bought 4 cups of fresh squeezed lemonade. I carried those back and once
the potatoes were ready, we set down and enjoyed our drinks and snack.
We took a country road along a creek on the way home that didn't have
hardly any traffic. It was a nice ride on a curvy secluded stretch of
highway. Back at the farm, we dug a few more mums and took Daisy for a
run. Then we dug enough mums to fill the wagon right before sunset.
Posted on Monday, October 08, 2007
More Hot Weather
The last couple of days have set records here in KY. It was 91 degrees Sunday and 90 degrees today. We're still digging mums, today we dug them early to beat the heat. Then took Daisy for a run. After returning her to the barn, we went to Columbia for lunch and then did some grocery shopping. Once we were back at the farm, Linda went to work at the after school day care. Stacey and I went into town to the bank to cash several checks we had received for mums. As soon as we returned to the farm a guy came by and gave me a check for $90 to pay for the mums he had picked up on Friday. We're getting close to being out of the yellow mums, especially since we need to keep 30 for the Homemakers' Meeting in early November. Those are hard to keep because we usually have a killing frost before then. Linda came home and we let Daisy run again and put a flea collar on her as she has been scratching quite a bit.
Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Digging A Bunch of Mums
We started our day with bowls of cereal and milk. Next, Stacey, Linda, Missy and I drove the Mule to the mum patch and began digging mums about 8 AM. We dug about 10 and potted those to fill the black trailer. I had 12 mums on the trailer from the night before, so that made 22 potted mums. We headed back towards the house, but were stopped on the highway by a woman wanting to buy mums. I turned around and we went back to the patch. She pulled her truck inside the fence and we dug 12 mums and potted them and set them in the back of her truck. She followed us to the barn and Linda sold her a few small pumpkins, corn stalks and a bale of hay for $5. She said she would be back next year and left happy. We pulled the trailer to the house and watered the 22 mums. We took Daisy for a run while the water soaked into the dirt around the mums. After putting Daisy back in the barn, then we set the mums in the back of the pickup truck and hauled them to the elementary school. We unloaded the mums and a few pumpkins for their open house on Thursday. We ate lunch while we were in town and then went back to the farm. Linda wanted to rest a while so we waited till about 1:30 PM to dig more mums. We needed 16 yellow mums for Linda's friend, Brenda. We dug and potted those and took them to the house, watered them and set them in the back of the pickup truck. Then I put the cover on the truck bed so the wind wouldn't blow the blooms off when Linda drove to Smith's Grove Thursday morning. We dug a few more mums for the hay wagon and called it a day. Total dug = 65. We showered and went to Columbia and ate supper, then drove home just after dark. It had been a beautiful day to dig mums with a nice breeze and cooler temperatures in the mid 70s.
Posted on Friday, October 12, 2007
Comparison Shopping
Stacey and I began the day by going to Grumpy's and eating breakfast
with Jason. A quick stop at the bank and back to the farm where we took
Daisy for a run around the hay fields and fed her. Daisy had thrown her
collar off somewhere while running loose. About 10 AM we backed the HHR
out of the garage and went to Wal-Mart in Columbia to buy a new choker
chain dog collar. After picking out a collar, on the way out, we stopped
and looked at the mums Wal-Mart was selling for $7 each.
The
trip home was a nice ride as the leaves on the trees are just barely
starting to change colors. The road was almost deserted as we drove the
20 miles back to the farm.
I
parked the HHR in the garage and Stacey walked down and picked up the
mail. A little later, we went to the mum patch in the Mule and took a
few pictures to compare our mums to the ones at Wal-Mart. We are getting
near time when we could be hit with the first frost of the season. Last
year the first
frost was on Oct 13th and in 2005 the first
frost was on Oct 31st.
After
taking the pictures of the mums we rode around the hay fields and drove
down the almost dry creek bed to the end of our property. Usually there
is water in the creek about 6 inches deep in that area. We rode to the
back of the 'holler' behind Regina's house and checked out the job I had
done the day before bush hogging. I had knocked down some of the bushes
and vines growing on the old barn back.
At
the end of the day, the hay wagon was empty of mums and will need to be
refilled tomorrow morning as we have people wanting more mums.
Posted on Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Tractor Customizing
The last few days I have been bush hogging around the edges of the hay
fields and a few rough spots out in the fields. I put the tractor in 3rd
gear in low range and it creeps along about 3-4 mph with the bush hog
running and the scoop down. I kept the scoop low to push any fallen
limbs or debris out of the way. I dropped the left wheels down in a
drainage ditch and was cutting the weeds down along the edge of the
ditch. I was watching to see the ditch didn't get too deep, that limbs
where not going to tear the top off, the scoop wasn't going to hit a
tree and the bush hog was high enough to not scalp the ground when I
looked up and a vine had lassoed the exhaust stack and had bent it back
at a 45 degree angle. I stopped immediately and backed up, but it was
too late, the damage was done. It didn't break it off, just bent it back
so it looked like the tractor had been streamlined and was ready to
race. I finished making a lap around the hay field and put the tractor
in the shed. Today we went to Columbia and ate lunch, then I stopped at
the Ford Tractor dealer and bought a new exhaust stack. $65 dollars for
the piece and we were on our way home. Back at the farm, I put the stack
on the tractor and was shocked that it went on fairly easy. I cleaned up
a little of the creek bank and then Stacey and I went for a ride on the
4 wheelers. We caught up with Linda in the Mule and Daisy running. It
was a really nice day with several of the trees beginning to change
colors and showing up brightly against the blue sky.
We
rode around the hay field and when we usually get to this one little
path that Stacey calls the Duke's Road, referring to the "Dukes Of
Hazard" TV show, she starts singing the theme song. Daisy, Stacey and
Linda were following as I stopped and took their pictures on that path.
Posted on Thursday, October 18, 2007
Light Rain
Linda left home around 5:30 AM for Pauline and Brent's house to babysit
for Julie. After breakfast, Stacey and I went to take Daisy on her
morning run. I took a camera and Stacey drove the Mule. As she parked in
front of the barn, I noticed where we lay pumpkins to sell, that a
pumpkin seed from last year's pumpkins had started a vine.
I
loaded Daisy in the back of the Mule and we went across the creek with a
light rain coming down. It didn't bother Daisy, she seems to like the
cooler weather. I saw the mist rising from the back of the 'holler' and
then we headed along the creek bank with Daisy in the lead. Stacey
stopped the Mule so I could take a picture of the many layers of color
between us and hillside including the old barn across the creek on
Garmon's Farm.
We
turned at the upper corner of the farm and headed around the backside of
the hay fields. I found a couple of spots that our house was visible and
took two pictures showing the colors behind it.
We
went on down the creek and let Daisy continue back in the 'holler' to
the old barn. We stopped before we got all the way back there and called
Daisy. She came running back to the Mule. 
It
was raining harder then, so I put Daisy in the back of the Mule and we
went back to the barn. We fed her and locked her in the stall. We only
received about 1/4" of rain during the entire day.
Posted on Friday, October 19, 2007
1956 Chevy Delivered
Imon and Linda arrived a little before 10 PM. They brought the 1956
Chevy with them on a trailer from IN. Imon said on the way they had a
small wreck just south of Louisville. He thinks something happened to
his brakes during the wreck and they no longer work. He said he's not
sure about it yet as he hasn't been able to check it out. We talked a
little bit, then went and unloaded the car off the trailer. Brent was
eager to try it out, so he took the first test drive down the highway.
The car was cold and sputtering as he drove down the highway and back a
couple of times. He parked the 56 and I told him to scoot over, it was
my turn to drive. We backed out on the highway again and took off. The
car was warmed up and accelerated fairly good. We went a little farther
and turned around. On the way back, I hammered the accelerator and run
the car up through the gears. It sounded a lot better once the motor was
cleaned out. Imon has done a great job of rebuilding the car from being
in a 'barn find' condition.
We
parked the car for the night with it needing a few adjustments, a good
wax job, and to be driven. We went back inside and talked a while before
going to bed about midnight.
Posted on Sunday, October 21, 2007
Truck Repair
Saturday morning Linda fixed us breakfast, then we went outside and
tried to determine what had happened to Imon's truck. I was sent to town
to buy a can of brake fluid and when I returned we filled the brake
reservoir. Imon and Brent laid under the truck and I pumped the brake
pedal until fluid began squirting out of the rear brake line. The line
had rusted where a clip held it in place on the rear end. Luckily, it
was a line from the distribution block to the right rear brake cylinder.
Imon and Brent removed the line and we went to NAPA and purchased
another line. We returned and Imon installed the new line. We filled the
reservoir again and pumped the pedal until the fluid had filled the new
line. Then Imon bled the brake line at the wheel cylinder fitting and we
were done. I started the 56 Chevy and told Brent to follow me to town to
change the title from an IN title to a KY title. The car ran good and I
pulled into the filling station for gas, put in about 1/2 of a tank and
started to leave. The brakes were locked up and the car wouldn't move.
We messed with it, then I went in the pickup and bought a brake
adjustment tool, and we loosened the brakes with it. Brent had called
Imon and he came in and helped. Finally the car would roll, so I drove
to he courthouse, but the sheriff wasn't there to examine the VIN and
authorize the license branch to issue a KY title. A little more trouble
and I drove the car back to the farm. It made it back, but that was it.
We pulled the car up the hill with the Mule and put it in the house's
garage. We dinked with it a little, then had lunch and went riding on 4
wheelers and in the Mule with Daisy running along. Linda and I took
Linda K to the mum patch and dug some mums for her to take to their
house in IN. Later in the evening, after supper and dark had set in, the
guys worked on the car some more, but we were unable to find the
problem. About 8 PM, we called it a night and went in and relaxed. Linda
K and Imon, Pauline and Brent, Stacey and Julie, and Linda and I spent
the rest of the evening chatting and watching TV.
Sunday morning
Linda fixed breakfast and then we went outside. Linda and Linda K stayed
inside with Julie and Pauline. Brent, Imon and I went and test drove his
pickup, loaded the mums in it and checked the trailer. We had loaded the
old Ford 600 tractor that Imon had bought about a year ago. I also let
him have a old junk bush hog that he thinks he can weld together enough
to use. Linda and Linda K came outside and I dug some flowers for them
to take with them to IN and they loaded the rest of their stuff and left
a little after 1 PM. Brent, Pauling, Linda and I, took Julie to the hay
shed and laid down some hay bales, set pumpkins on them and plopped
Julie in the middle. I took a bunch of pictures while Pauline kept
Julie's attention.
Julie
is 4 months old and doing good. Imon called and said Linda K and he made
it home slightly after 8 PM without any troubles.
Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Last Big Mum Dig
Monday morning I woke and it was looking cloudy. I checked the radar and
listened to the weather report. The radar showed rain on the way and the
forecast was for 3 or 4 days of rain. I went and woke Linda and asked
Stacey to get dressed. We hopped in the Mule and headed to the mum
patch. We dug 30 mums for the Homemakers' party on Thursday. We dug a
few extras and some yellow and a few white ones that Regina needed to
take to buyers. It began misting rain as we were finishing the digging
and potting. We pulled the hay wagon to the house and left it set so the
rain would water the potted mums and went inside. After lunch, Linda
went to the day care and Stacey and I went to the hay shed and moved
things around to make room for the hay wagon. Later, once Linda was
home, she and I pulled the hay wagon full of mums to the hay shed and
backed it inside.
Tuesday morning I pulled the wagon back out and let
the rain continue the watering of the potted mums. We pushed it back in
the hay shed about noon. That should be enough water for the mums. We
received over 4" of rain in the last two days. We needed it bad as the
creek had been dried up. It's good to see the creek water flowing again.
Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2007
Weekend With Visitors
Pauline, Brent, & Julie came over Friday night with Sabra and Jim
following in their own car. Saturday Linda and Pauline fixed breakfast
and then we went outside to work on a bunch of tree limbs that were
hanging at the edge of one of the hay fields. They had been hanging
since June, but Brent and Jim wanted to do some chain sawing, so we took
the saws in the Mule and I drove the tractor across the creek. Stacey
drove the Mule with Linda holding Julie and Sabra and Pauline rode with
the guys on the 4 wheelers. I lifted Brent in the tractor bucket and he
cut the vines that were holding up the broken limbs. Jim and Brent cut a
few of the small trees that the limbs had knocked down and I pushed the
debris to the edge of the creek with the tractor scoop. The job took
about 30 minutes and everyone put the stuff back where it was stored and
went to mess around. Linda took care of Julie for a while so Pauline
could ride with Brent on the 4 wheeler along with Sabra and Jim on
another 4 wheeler. Linda has been working on getting Julie to eat baby
food from a spoon and I took a picture of them during a messy training
session.
Later
Linda and I dug several mums for Jim and Sabra to take home with them.
We dug some for Pauline to give to her mom too. I mentioned that a
couple of people had found Indian arrowheads in the mum patch, so they
were all looking to find one.
I
actually found a perfect one and Sabra found a slightly broken one. That
is the first arrowhead I've ever found, I think it's because I'm usually
looking for weeds when I'm in the mum patch.
They
road 4 wheelers around the trails and we shot our 22 caliber rifles at
cans back in the 'holler'. I had chose that place thinking that it would
be safe because there was nothing but hills behind the targets. Boy was
I wrong. It was a scary thing that happened next. We had just finished
shooting 3 rifles until they were empty, when we heard a 4 wheeler motor
and from the direction we had just been shooting came a stranger riding.
He said he heard the bullets whistling around back there, but waited
until we stopped to come out. He was lost and had rode down the side of
the hill on our property and didn't think he could ride back up the hill
to get back the way he came. We talked to him a while and found out
where he had came from, then I told him how to get back so he rode off.
We quit shooting for a while and went inside for a late lunch of chili
and sandwiches. Stacey was picked up by Jason and his family to go to a
birthday party and then to eat at the Farm House Restaurant. Pauline,
Sabra, Jim and Brent went outside again and rode 4 wheelers, shot their
guns, played in the creek and messed around until near dark. Stacey was
brought home and we talked to Stephanie and Tommy when they dropped her
off. They watched a movie Brent brought with them and then played cards
until way after Linda and I had went to bed.
