Monday, March 12, 2018

Farm Update ~ Winter into Spring ~ 2018

At the end of last summer,  an eighty something row crop farmer told my farmer, "Well, I made it through another year!"  We felt a little the same way, having completed the hay season.   The last day we baled I was so tired that night I couldn't go to sleep for a while.  The rains were just right last summer for the meadows to produce grass for more than one cutting.  The farmer says we put up 1400 round bales of hay; that's a lot of grass and more than enough to feed the cattle for a year, but it's always good to have extra in case next summer is dry.


Of course row crop farmers can call an end to their harvesting "another year", but with chicken farmers it's "what goes around, comes around" with no noticeable beginning or ending to a new year.  We have just finished the first flock of chickens for this year, having had to keep them for eight weeks, longer than any we have ever raised.  The company wants a larger bird; I suppose consumers demand larger portions to eat.  When we first started raising chickens they rarely weighed as much as four or five pounds in six weeks times; however the word obesity was rarely heard of either.

Because of my cataract surgery last spring, we didn't have much of a garden, but by late summer we planted peas and I froze enough for the winter.  A lot of our fall and winter weekends would find us getting in firewood for the furnace.  The farmer took the tractor and dump trailer to the edges of the fields and brought in logs which he sawed into usable lengths, then split them with an attachment on the front of the BobCat.  I loaded the pieces onto the bed of the side by side and brought them to the house to stack.



In December, the farmer was sick; he thought he had the flu but it wasn't anything like I remember the flu being.  He continued feeding the hay and helping in the chicken houses then spending the rest of the day in his recliner.   Much of the Christmas joy was lost because we both felt bad for a while.  On the 21st of December we had been married for 57 years.

The Christmas card from our older grandson and his wife announced that we would be great grandparents in July, and since their "reveal" party we know the baby will be a girl; our first.

 The month of January was mostly very dry but we did get about two inches of snow and around 10 inches of rain fell in February.  Although everyone thought we had a really cold winter, I didn't think it was too bad.

I stayed busy in the sewing room too;  two aprons,

 
  two quilt tops, one large top and one baby top 





two baby quilts,


and two crocheted baby blankets.
The quilts and tops were all made using scraps; however, not to worry, I didn't use near all of them.

And now spring is upon us; robins are scratching through the old leaves, buttercups are waving in the March winds, and the cattle are searching for every little sprig of green they can find.  We'll start a new flock of chickens in two weeks and then only a short span of time until it'll be back to the hay meadows to start "through another year".

Charlotte

14 comments:

  1. It's always so good to see you here, Charlotte! You guys are so busy all the time. I absolutely love your quilt tops. You have an amazing talent!

    Happy Anniversary to y'all. I was noticing the date, and would you believe I got married just the day after the same year! Ours didn't work out, but I'm so happy yours did.

    xoxo

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  2. So good to hear from you! Y'all are amazing and inspirational. Hope we are as active in 22 more years of marriage! Congrats on the great grand.

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  3. 1400 bales of hay - wow, that sounds like a lot to me! Glad to see your post today. Your aprons and quilts are so beautiful. Your handiwork is wonderful! I hope you enjoy your day.

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  4. How exciting to find a post from the lil red hen! Of course, we would know she has been a busy one...such pretty aprons, quilts and baby blankets! Congratulations on the new little one that's on the way. I hope she will be born on the 5th of July! :~) (Your comment over at Chip... made me curious. What would go with a little needle book? :~/)

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  5. I am so happy to see a post from you today. I can see that you have been so very busy; with a little down time of not feeling well in December. I know that was something that a lot of people had a time of from December through February. Hope you and the farmer are all well now. Aprons, quilts, quilt tops and crochet baby blankets...I love them all. So bright and colorful. Congratulations on the great grand-child due in July. My son has his birthday on July 4th and my husband July 7th; I see Chip Butter is hoping for July 5th. Best wishes for the new baby, mother and father!

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  6. So nice to see a great post from you and it sounds like you are a very busy lady.I enjoyed looking at your beautiful quilts and aprons, etc. I'm also happy to hear spring has arrived in your neck of the woods. We had the warmest February on record they say but we're making up for it since March came in. Happy Belated Anniversary to you both and Congratulations on the new grandbaby. Thanks for sharing this awesome post.

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  7. Your quilts and aprons are wonderful. Where do you get your energy?

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  8. Lovely quilts you've created.

    What an inspiration you two are, working even when you are feeling so bad. I do hope you are all well now.

    Congratulations on your 57th anniversary! That is wonderful.

    Happy coming spring ~ FlowerLady

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  9. Forgot to say "Happy Belated Anniversary" for your December, 57th Anniversary.

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  10. congratulations on your anniversary! you have 11 years on us. I assume the farmer eventually got better :) glad of that - so much hay you both were busy all summer long. I love your quilts - they are just so pretty and so many pieces in these beauties

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  11. Happy Anniversary!!!!! I bet I know where those crocheted baby blankets and a quilt are going! Glad you had a good growing season last year--it was good weather here for crop farmers too. We always had dairy cows--if the crop yield was low or the prices, at least we always had that monthly milk check coming in to save us.

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  12. You all have been BUSY!! Congrats! on the great hay harvest. I just love your quilts you have made. Do you sew your string quilts using a background fabric? This is something I want to try. Your aprons are gorgeous too. Oh, and I always look for the smaller chickens...lol. There's just something that turns me off about a huge chicken!

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  13. My Mom wore those aprons she made when she was baking. Her daughters live in Mother in-law was a quilter. My Mom knitted alot. Made socks with 4 needles. Had a garden. I helped her in the garden. Picking berries. I liked that. I planted flowers and I won a ribbon at a fair for Asters being big and beautiful.

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  14. I LOVE your quilts...both the tops and the actual quilts.

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