A Deere Kid

Hay season has arrived and Sten is working the "bugs" out of his new cutter. I ran for parts today and while I was waiting at the counter, I glanced behind me at a scene similar to the picture above.

Not long ago, a little towhead was beside me, tugging on my hand and begging, "Just one - please Mommy". Good thing I didn't succumb to his pleas more often as these "hay boy" trips to the John Deere store can get expensive!

When he was 1.5, he sat on Santa's lap and told him that he wanted a John Deere combine. Santa looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked, "Does he know what he's talking about"? Yep. When he was 2, we pulled the RV into a site at Lake Shasta and Sten immediately won the hearts of our neighbors - he peeked his head out the door and asked them - "Do you wanna see my John Deeres"? In the Sunday paper, the local John Deere dealer often has a full color insert. Sten would peruse that for hours - his favorite picture book - I finally started getting them laminated. Guess he was destined to be a hay boy.

My heart breaks for the Grotz family as they recently lost their son in a tragic farming accident. We think of them as "our kids", but they are only a gift. A most precious gift. See http://tylergrotz.blogspot.com for the memorial.

Coming Soon to a field near you!

Milah is the proud owner of a new cutter (yes, Milah financed the purchase). Sten spotted it sitting next to an outbuilding, obviously neglected. After some inquiring, he found the owners who explained what they believed was wrong - he spied the solution right away, but kept it to himself and worked an awesome deal.

Sten was just a baby when we bought Buck's before. One of his first words was "Bucks". Here he is driving a truck that is just one year younger than him. A strange and unexpected turn of events -

Aw Aw Aw CHOO!

Hay season is in full swing around here . . . this means long days, sunburns, weather checks, and coolers full of water. It also meant pulling a bit of tansy - over a ton in one field.

It also means scheduling, checking the weather, monitoring equipment and a full cart of grub at Costco.

Oh, and did I mention - we are always checking the weather?!

Susie and Gauge are home. This little guy is irresistable.

Shop truck on standby

Hey there, more Hay

The bad thing about hay is it just doesn't jump on the trailer and stack itself in the barn - therefore we must recruit more hay boys. This is not our barn - but one of the coolest ones around for sure.

We even have some hay girls - Susie is head operations and transportation coordinator. Milah is "turn the bale over so the hay boys can grab it easier" girl.

Skins -n- Shirts (and one blown out pair of pants)

Pay to Play

While we were having fun at the lake, Sherman raked the fields and they were ready to be baled. We beat the rain and everything ran (almost) perfectly.

Oops, we've got a problem - service truck to the rescue

When Sten was learning to talk, he couldn't say the /f/ sound when it was at the beginning of a word. One of his favorite activities was "sixing" things. So here he is "sixing" the chain on the baler (for the 4th time - grrrh).

Need a Hay Boy in your field?

Flyers that Sten posted at a few locations - he wasn't crazy about the rooster, but I insisted.

Hay Boy mowing for hours. He says he's never seen so many mice, snakes and bugs

Hay boy's schedule - Scott has a "thing" for dry erase boards, so this is now posted in our kitchen

Not a bad view from the driver's seat - Hay Boy's daddy sweating and stacking

I think a shower's in order . . . be thankful this is not a scratch-n-sniff picture

#1 direction giver to the truck backer upper, hook up to the trailer girl.

Rainy Day Blues

The ONLY good thing about rain in the middle of June is the possibility of a beautiful rainbow. As I was completing the mundane task of loading the dishwasher, I glanced out the window to discover this bright (double) one that seemed to end at the pond. I donned my leprechaun booties and headed down there, but I guess it wasn't our lucky day.

Before and After - mower shroud, skirt, curtain, hangy downy thing so the hay doesn't fly everywhere. Sten and Scott have been busy getting things ready for Sten's first ever, haying season. Next year, it will be a cinch - but there have been many things to fix/get in order before the phone starts ringing. They fashioned this skirt from a heavy tarp and used rivets and rope to attach it to the frame. A replacement one was 300$, so I'm tooting their horn as big sav'n bargain boys today.

Must you take another picture? (I'm just getting started Farmer Putt Putt)

Farm Boy Sten

Hmmm, looks like Sten's summer job is covered! Sherman became the proud owner of some haying equipment this week and already has his hay crew. This means I will be the official parts runner as I've hardly ever seen an entire field mowed and raked and baled without a few hurried trips to the parts house. I'm begging Sten to wear some overalls and a cowboy hat for a picture on his official business card - so far I'm not having much luck.

Highlights of the weekend include but are not limited to:

I was pulled over by our local city police for failure to use a turn signal when making a left turn from a turn lane. I was mystified when he turned his lights on at what I was guilty of - apparently it was a slow night for crime and traffic violations.

Sten was victorious in his first wrestling meet on Friday and we were hoping the bump he suffered to his eye would turn into a big shiner, but didn't. We slipped home on roads that were covered with freezing rain - it took over 1 hour to go 13 miles! Sten hung his leg out the car door as we crept along - skating the whole way.

The girls had a swim meet on Saturday and Maren discovered that it's important to have your goggles situated BEFORE you dive in the water. She was struggling with them while on the starting block and then spent her freestyle swim with her goggles on upside down and inside out. At one point I thought she was drowning she was flailing around so much. One things for certain, she didn't set any records on that one.

Does this look like a summer job for a teenager? As of last week, Sherman became the proud owner of some hay equipment and has a hay crew all lined up . . .