Thursday, August 15, 2013

Work, Work, Work...

Work bought us new xray markers.
The nice thing about working so much is, well, the paycheck. The not-so-nice thing about working a lot is it leaves very little time to do what I actually WANT to do...like work around the farm.

This past weekend, I went in to work at 2pm on Friday and left at 9pm Sunday night. If my sleepy-brain math is correct, that's 55 hours straight...and that was at the end of my regular work week (which is Monday, Tues, Thursday.) But I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. I need the paycheck for moving my family. And it helps that I actually LIKE my job too.

This small town hospital that I work in now is gracious enough to provide a break room (read: sleep room, just like the physicians get) that we are allowed to take advantage of in the middle of the  night when all our work is caught up. Considering all the bugs in the farm house, sometimes I think I get better sleep at the hospital :-/

Hope I get to play with this one!
Speaking of bugs, I knocked the same black beetle off me three times last night in a 30 minute period before I finally sent him to bug heaven. The hospital, just like everywhere else around here, has a HUGE bug problem. Grasshoppers, black beetles and spiders are so common place that everyone just seems to ignore them. They were literally dropping out of holes in our ceiling and landing on my desk. There's a virtual bug cemetery strewn across every door entryway at the hospital. They're either dead from pesticide, get smashed by the automatic hospital doors or just plain stepped on by passersby. I don't think anyone even tries to step on them. It's just unavoidable because there are THAT many of them here.

Anyway, enough about the bugs. I'm hoping the winter cold relocates them for a few months soon. As I was leaving the farm to go to work today, I found a nice surprise in the field outside the front yard: a big 'ol tractor hooked up to a huge brush hog that puts my little one to shame. I hopped in the Jeep and raced over to look at it. I guess my cousin came by this morning and began to clear our front 35 acres for the next crop while I was sleeping.

The grass is as tall as the fence out front.
I hopped in and took a chance on trying to crank it up. I pushed in what I figured would be the clutch and turned the key but got nothing. I looked around at all the levers and gizmos...clueless to what they all did. Wish I had the day off. I could have cleared some serious brush with this baby. With all the rain we've had for the past eight weeks, things have grown back up to the level they were at when I arrived. The grass is as tall as our fence in some areas. The only day I'll have off this week to mow will be this coming Saturday then my work week starts all over again.

Bales across the street, waiting to be loaded up.
The neighbor who works the 80 acres my family owns across the street has been busy baling up his recent crop. I think the large bales are called "rounds" and there were lots of them ready to be loaded on to a truck. I stopped on the way to work and took a few pictures. The sky is always so picturesque out here in the country.

So with all the work, I feel like I haven't had much to blog about lately since I haven't gotten much done. I received my multimeter in the mail the other day and began trying to trace down the electricity short that keeps me from being able to turn on the power at the barn. I was told the rats keep eating through the wires. I'd like to get the barn powered up again, get the grass mowed back down, and start straightening out the barn.  There's fence that needs to be mended in a few places but mostly I just need to clear out a ton of overgrowth all over the place.

So, come on Saturday! I'm getting behind!

~OJD

15 comments:

  1. Those "rounds" are illegal around here. It turns out the cows weren't getting a square meal.

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  2. At lest you will always find something to do. The farmers near us have been bailing hay every few weeks. getting it stockpiled for winter. They are harvesting the Wheat this week and bailing the straw from the wheat. Everyone is busy.

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  3. We moved to a summer place in southern Indiana as a kid. Since Dad worked hours similar to yours and had little time, got a few sheep who cleaned weeds beautifully. I'm considering goats for brush clearing at our place. Rains are plentiful this year but dry season and fires will come soon enough in FL. Can't keep ahead of it with just hubby and me. Get a cat for those rats. Girls will love it. Barn cats are better than snakes

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  4. Personally, I'd be a little irritated if someone was messing with my tractors or equipment.

    If you aren't used to using it everyday, you can cause all sorts of trouble like starting it up and not knowing that the clutch is tricky to operate, so you manage to pop the clutch and break the hitch on whatever is hooked up to the tractor at the time. Or, you don't know that the batteries are always low and it needs a shot of ether to get started before the batteries lose their charge. Or, the key sticks and if you don't turn it back the right way after starting, the starter doesn't disengage and will burn up. Or, you break off the bale spike because you moved the loader the wrong direction.

    If you want to learn how to use some of that equipment, ask your cousin if he ever needs any help either moving equipment or working on equipment.

    Locally here in OK, I've always called a round bale of hay either a "bale" or a "round bale", and a square bale is always called a "square bale".

    I've never heard anyone call them "rounds" or "rolls" (although they might call them that in other parts of the country).

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  5. Yep, "round bales" and "square bales" here, too. :)

    You may have to run your wires through metal pipes to keep the rats from chewing them.

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    Replies
    1. Guess I'm used to talking about silver... (rounds)

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. Steel wire armoured cable such as:
    http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/armoured-cable/4682202/
    Chew on that rats!

    I'd second the recommentadation not to mess about with the cousins tractor rig. You could use up your welcome quickly that way.

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  8. Cats for sure, but only "fixed", and don't let the barn cats in the house & do not over feed or they won't catch as many mice and rats and snakes. Large spring trap are great for mice also. Goats over sheep as weed eaters. They are usually hardier but still no match for coyotes so pay attention when they are staked. You will probably have to pen them when you are away.
    Have you got a bug zapper yet?

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  9. That's a lot of overtime! You are going to need some help around the farm. I recommend cats, goats and CHICKENS!

    Our chickens are four months old and are laying eggs. They are beyond fun to watch and for all the bugs, weeds and some grass they eat, I get beautiful eggs, often with double yolks. They love bugs.

    I have written it before and it may not be what you want to read, but your dogs may be the ones that need penned up while any WORKING cats, goats and chickens have yard privileges. Victorians used to turn hedgehogs loose at night in their kitchen areas, and they would do some serious work on eating the bugs and you can put one in your employ if you keep your dogs from killing it. I'm not anti dog, I have one. She's not allowed to be anything but motherly to cats and chickens.

    Just ideas.

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  10. I am not sure where the myth came from that cats that are fed well won't kill rodents. Ours have house privileges yet they often stay out at night and pile up the offerings on our door mat. They also have killed mice that got into the house. Their bowls always have food in them. They kill because their mama's taught them to kill. A kitten from a mama that didn't teach them to kill may not be an effective killer. They don't have to be hungry and eat it, just like a dog doesn't kill a cat because he's hungry.
    If you don't supply food your "killers" may move on to the next farm where the chow is better or more abundant. We've been the new home to a few of these and when we got them fattened up, they still killed for us. My grandparents always fed their working cats (meat, grease, and milk from the farm) and the tom was obese but could move like lightening. This was back in the day when spaying/neutering was not common, but other farmers would take the kittens because they were from proven working stock.

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  11. I've had all kinds of cats ( even Bobcats) for more than 50 years. I concur with the previous post. Feed the cats, they will still hunt!

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