Last day standing

Have a good look!

Its going to look a whole lot different by tomorrow night!

At this moment Karl is fueling up the tractors and dump trucks; he has the high dumps waiting and the harvesters greased, sharpened and ready to go!

 

 

 

We  have some nice looking cobs - they aren't all this size but it hasn't been the most optimum year.

I walked into the field a bit - after a very wet spring it has become a very dry fall. 

Shadow had to come and check it all out too... He knows there will be some very grumpy coyotes when the corn comes off.  So far he has been a good watch dog and kept them away... they love to hide in the corn!

A splash of paint

A couple of weekends ago I got busy cleaning up the side yard and power washing the fence and old sheep shed. 

 

This fence hadn't been painted since I got rid of my angora rabbits and taken all the cages down.
Now it looks real purdy!

I even had the old sheep shed painted (it used to be 2 different colors: blue and brown)  It is amazing how much a little bit of paint spruces things up

The New shed was painted too and Shadows dog house got a lift!  To preserve my sheep carrier box it too got on some green.

Last but not least, the old pump house got a splash of color.  I like the old rustic door so kept it "natural"

Old Hip roof

Ain't she beautiful?!

 

Karl has been doing some renovating on the old hip roof barn at his dads. 

Then... we gave it a paint job. 

 It looks almost new again!

 

 

Fall is in the air

 

One morning on the way to the barn I couldn't  resist taking this picture.  I love it when the fog rolls across the field and the sun attempts to push through.

 

I was greeted by our dry cows with a good moooorning...  The leaves are changing colors and some are falling.

It has been so dry here we have almost forgotten what rain is. One of these days the tap will turn on again and we will be forgetting what the sun is!

Manure Madness

On September 12th, Karl, Jeff and myself went to Abbotsford for a morning of manure. 

They had every peice of manure equipment imaginable for the farmers to see and inspect.

 

It was a beautiful day for it!  Here are some spectators and lots of visiting going on too.

They had signs posted so you knew what equipment was running and you could inspect each section to see what it did, how it did and if it would work for you.

Some equipment had WAY too many parts! We could see manure getting stuck or plugged in many of the gadgets.

Of course to get farmers there... they fed them - the white tent behind this red tanker held all the great food!

This is an aerator - I have a video of it folded down and working but blogger hasn't been letting me upload video's . Sorry.

Erected from the berries

In August, we were working on smoothing out some gravel to fix a driveway and crossing. 
Charlie decided that our Hi-Dump was in the way and if he moved it a little bit he would have more room to work.
Well, his "little move" became a big OOPS!  The Hi-Dump was sitting close to a ravine and with his little push it sent it over the edge

Well, needless to say Karl was none too pleased!  Jeff on the other hand laughed and emailed me the picture "look what Papa did!"  
It took a little while to figure out how to get it out of this blackberry cushioned position.
Last week we finally set to work.

Using a backhoe and the Case tractor they chained up to it

Here comes the gentle lift - worked like a charm!

I am sorry... I have tried 5 times to get the video to upload with no success :(

 

 

The inspection was made once it was up on all four tires and by-gum it was as good as the day it fell over.

 

New Girl in Town

On Sunday September 2nd I got a new girl.
Meet Leah

She took a trip from 100 Mile House and has joined the party of my 4 males.  She very quickly told them who was boss in no uncertain terms. Once she realized they were no threat and the boys realized she was a grand one to contend with.  Everyone settled down and got back to normal.

She is smaller than the males but she will grow... and grow indeed as she is pregnant.  So approximately 350 days from conception we will be having a new cute little alpaca running around the yard. 

Labour Day

For some reason I tend to work harder on Labour day than I do any other day of the year LOL

Okay, this wasn't hard work but I was working.

At 7am I rode shotgun to a work site to pick up those wonderful big boy Lego blocks.  Some were single size and some were full size.

 

 

I was the hooker... haha... the excavator would bring the bucket close to me that had a chain with a hook connected to it.. I would hook the loop on the top of the block and get the heck out of the way.  Sometimes those blocks swing - and they were used blocks and we had the odd loop snap and the block fall.  So I wanted to stand far and clear! 

I will admit I did a very stupid rookie mistake about 6 blocks in... I hooked the block and for some reason (not paying attention or what) I slid my hand up the chain while the bucket lifted to make the chain taught.  Well, when he lifts the bucket he also pushes the edge of the bucket against the chain to lower the risk of the block swinging... well stupid me had my hand in the wrong place and it was getting crushed between chain and bucket.  Thank goodness I had HIS gloves on and not my thin ones.  His were very padded and although I have a very sore, bruised and swollen finger I am still able to type ;)

Poor guy I scared the willies out of him... When I realized my fingers were caught I was thinking "pull hand out of glove and let glove go with block" nope, it had my fingers good... so I thought "tell him to stop, or wait, or put it back down" So I opened my mouth to say one of those words but it came out in a scream!  He quickly, but gently released the pressure and freaked out that I was really badly hurt.  I felt more like a fool than hurt.  One, for having my fingers in the wrong place and secondly, for screaming.  We were both definitely awake after that incident and the rest of the loading went with no issues.  Of course he had to rub it in a few times and joked to get my hands where he could see them LOL

We had another guy join us and loaded the 2nd truck and headed for the farm... they are being stacked here until Karl decides when he is going to expand another bay onto his bunker silo.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner Time!

Here are some calves enjoying their dinner.  I love how they are all in a row on the nipples.  They make quick work of the 5 gallon bucket of milk!

 

The wee one I am holding up to the nipple is just learning where it is.  She's a smart one and caught on pretty fast.

Quick Trip

Karl and I took a very fast trip last week.  I needed to pick up a ram in Alberta for breeding my ewes this fall and also drop off some fleece for processing.  Both of these places were relatively close... And our awesome hotel was my cousins Vicky and Zane - Great Hospitality!

We left on Monday and arrived home on Wednesday - 12 hour drive one way.
Our trip was slowed a bit by construction on the highway and we came across a forest fire too.  We came across this forest fire in Rogers Pass Summit.

 

Some Farmers were busy harvesting...

We loaded 2 rams; one for me (white - Nash) and the one for a business associate (Black - Helix)  I love Helix's horns!  He is a pleasant fellow but still... a ram and he knows how to "excuse" himself and get through a crowd.

We saw beautiful scenery... it was so green in Alberta! So out of the normal!

On our way home it was a dark sky and we ended up with a bit of rain...

 

But then the sun came up :)

 

 

The rain was a good thing cause it helped wash all the bugs off our window - boy did we collect bugs!  We also had a crow fly right into our front windshield! Crazy bird!

Near Sorrento BC we saw a momma bear and her 2 cubs trying to cross the highway.. momma made it but the cubs chickened out.  We hope they eventually got across too.

Home safe and sound... Helix will leave our place on the 9th to live around 100 Mile house - the same place Jack Daniels went. Its a good home.

Bzzzzzzzzz

Jeff has been complaining of wasps getting into his room.  He has been stung once as they have been coming through his pot lights above his bed when the sun comes up in the morning.
We went on a search and this is what we found... a wasp nest in the cupboard above his bed! It is the size of a soccer ball.

That is our gas line that comes into the house and it had settled a bit and broke the seal around the hole in the house it enters by... those wasps had a nice cozy entrance to get into a nice cozy warm corner.  Their nest was very well stuck to the insulation!
After a few sprays of foam wasp killer and then a drench of liquid wasp killer we pulled it out of there loaded with dead wasps.  Now we need to get the shop vac out and suck up the rest of the casualties. 
AND get the can of seal... and seal up that hole!
Until then.. Jeff's potlights and the cupboard doors will stay sealed with tape.

Frustrated

okay, I thought it would be easier if I got the blogger App on my iPhone... then I could blog as things happened and upload photo's too.
Well, I have created 3 posts on my App and all I get when I go to publish the post is "insufficient storage quota"... I have NO idea what this means cause I have deleted all 2011 posts and it is still giving me this message.. maybe it means my phone doesn't have enough storage quota?  I have NO idea.
Hmm thought this would be simple.. still trying to figure it out!
grrr