Another year of harvesting is behind us and all I can say is "Thank you Lord!" Really, that's what I say. We had a great year with the crops. It seemed we had the rain just when we needed it and yeilds were good this year. We've spent hours upon hours working around big, dangerous, heavy machinery and there were no injuries. That alone is something to thank God for.
So, with 640 acres of harvested corn and 4 and 5 cuttings from 350 acres of hay behind us, we've been busy cleaning and storing the machinery.
Son #2 has been busy in the shop trying to catch up, which will never happen.
This tractor or I should say skeleton of a tractor is a John Deere 4020. We use this tractor for the back up mixer wagon for feeding cattle. It's about 40 years old and the engine went kaput. Son #2 probably could have fixed it himself, but there are only so many hours in a day, so he tore the tractor apart and the engine is being fixed somewhere else.
We had a water leak under the concrete between a couple of the Harvestores which was an annoyance. Thankfully, the leak was a fairly easy fix.
Two sons have trail cams set up and we're enjoying the wildlife shows. We've seen turkeys, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons and some nice deer. There were a few nice bucks and we watched a button buck kicking up the leaves to get to some grass.
Farmer and I watched a doe cross the hay field being followed by a coyote. Farmer got his .220 Swift out and took a shot at the coyote, knowing it was too far away, but we changed his mind from following the deer.
For some reason, we've had the distinct unpleasure of someone dumping their garbage in one of our fields, again. We found some old tires and a gutted deer left behind. It just amazes me that someone thinks nothing of littering and trashing other people's property. Somebody needs some lessons in decency.
Fall on the farm has its own flavor. The fields are emptied, flowers are gone, the cats and cattle are getting fluffier and the days are shorter. The air is crisper and the sky changes to a lighter color blue and the white puffy clouds are replaced more and more by heavy gray clouds. While the outside work isn't so urgent it is still there. There is always one more thing to do.
So, that's what's been going on around here. One more note. It won't be long until the guys get the snowplows mounted on the tractor. You may want to start looking for the long underwear, mittens and boots. No one wants to get caught with their snow pants down.
