WOW ... this winter just will not give up!!!

Well, I finally got a day off again.  Seems like I have worked almost every day at work since Thanksgiving.  We have not gone more than a couple of days without a snowstorm since then and this week is no different.  It is currently 38 degrees and raining.  It is supposed to be above freezing during the day today and tomorrow and then back in to the frigid arctic temps again.  We are not supposed to get any snow for a few days but the forecasters can't seem to get anything correct this year so I am not trusting their forecast now either!  I have been reading some articles on the weather and the numbers are showing the last time we had a winter this cold and snowy was the winter just before I was born, 1977/78.  I was born in July of 78.  I am glad I missed the last one and hope I don't get to see another one this bad for another 36 years!  We had this kind of cold in 1993/94 the winter before my grandpa died.  That was brutal as well but not quite as snowy and the cold didn't last as long either!

One thing this winter has shown me is the weaknesses that I have in my barn design.  I will definitely need some more feeding pad space that is not in the corral next winter.  Because it has been so brutally cold for more than a month everything has been frozen solid.  I haven't been able to clean the barn since back near New Years.  Over the last two days the manure has begun to thaw and is currently about 1.5-2' deep now.  I am heading out shortly to try to clean it up.  Hopefully it is all thawed out or I will not be able to do anything with it.  Wish me luck!

I also have my truck in the shop getting some finishing touches before the bed comes in.  The bed was supposed to be here three days ago but got delayed due to weather again!  So, the guys at Gearheads Garage have been working on the leveling springs and some other minor repairs that needed done so when the bed comes in they will only need two days to complete the project.  I will be posting a couple of pics after I pick it up today for before and after comparisons.  I can't wait to get it all done!

Have a great day everyone, hopefully mine stays dry and not too cold!!

North bound and down!!

All loaded up for a delivery.  This is the last of my square bales to head out this year.  I have a few more left in the barn for another customer who will be getting them later next month but otherwise this cleaned out the barn.  I also have a couple of round bale deliveries coming up hopefully tomorrow or Monday.  All depends how things work out.

I am also excited because my new truck bed comes in on Tuesday!!!!  I will be picking it up as soon as I get off work and taking it and the truck to the shop.  By this time next Saturday my truck will have its new springs on the front to match the new ones on the back, a new truck bed with the frame all undercoated, exhaust pipe fixed, and new brake rotors.  I am so excited ... it is gonna look like a brand new truck!!!!!

I promise I will be posting before and after photos of the truck.  A bonus for all my Columbus customers will be that they will be the first ones to see it in person as I will be using it for deliveries to their area next weekend!!!

Have a great weekend everyone, I got an early start today so it should be a productive day!

Field project nearing completion and the loss of our dearest friend Mario

Well, I posted a picture very similar to this just before Christmas.  I decided to take down the last section of trees in what used to be a field 60 years ago.  I got started with the bull dozer I rented before Christmas but due to the extremely wet weather at the time and the fact that the dozer was quite small I didn't get very far.  I originally decided this wasn't a big deal and that I would just work on it as I got time like I have always done.  However, over the last month I have been thinking more and more about it and the more I thought about it the more I decided I didn't want to wait any longer.  Time is a very valuable thing, and once it is gone, it will never come back.  So, I am now in a position where I can save some time and energy and get some help.  So I did!!

We have a contractor that we use at work quite often and I gave him a call and he stopped out and we talked.  He told me he could be out to help me in three days.  So I said go for it!  He brought out his new 314 Caterpillar excavator and in one day did what took me two years to do when I started my first clearing project to the left of the area in the pic above.  The trees used to extend to within 30 feet of the road to the left side of the picture above.  It took me three years to clear off the first section and another year to get it into production.  

I am hoping to have this new section into production this spring or summer.  I am contemplating planting the entire section into a seasonal crop and harvesting for silage hay and seeding in the hay crop among the silage crop.  I have a month or so to get the large pile burned down for him to come in to finish up the project.

Here you can see the large pile of limbs and stumps from the clearing project.  This will be an awesome fire when I light it.  Should be able to roast hot dogs and marshmallows from about 300 feet away!  Even though this looks like a lot of left overs it is not that much.  I have been cutting and splitting as much of the wood as I can between snows and selling to offset the cost of clearing and seeding.  The wood is being used to heat houses in the local area that, due to the extremely cold winter we are having, are out of wood already.

Now on to some sad news.  Anyone who has followed my blog or has been to the farm has seen our miniature donkey Mario.  He joined our family a few years ago and has been a friend and fixture here every since.  He has been very protective of the herd and babies and has kept the coyotes away from all the baby piglets.



During the last snow storm he apparently quit going to the creek for water.  It has been colder this year than it has in the last 20 years and we did not realize he wasn't drinking as normal.  Tragically he came down with Colic last weekend and even though we tried our best he did not make it.  My wife spent many hours with him trying everything we could to help him but he still passed away with her comfort and care to the last minute.  He will be greatly missed and I know some day he will come back to us as a new little baby and we will get to spend his entire life with us instead of such a short time.




Goodnight everyone.

Chilly but beautiful sunrise, project and Piggy pics

I wanted to attach a pic of the pet of the litters.  This is Nick.....it is never good when the kids name one!  He is the runt of the litter and the smallest one that made it.  My wife (holding Nick), kids, and Steven's girlfriend Lea, bottle fed him in addition to momma's milk for the first week of his life to get him big enough to eat on his own.  He is doing much better but is still very small compared to the rest.

The runt of the litters 

 I also got a picture of a few of the others.  They look like little body builders and they are growing so fast!  The spotted one is about two weeks older than the one in the back ground.  The bigger ones are pushing 30 lbs already and the other are not far behind at 20-24 lbs. 

Here is a picture from above to see the difference in size.  The spotted one is a Berkshire x Tamworth cross.  The other two are from a Duroc/Hampshire sow and Tamworth boar. 

Here is a picture of feeding time.  By the time they get to this age it is a free for all every time one of the sows lay down to feed.  Unfortunately Lady is very good at getting someone else to feed her babies.  Fortunately, Daisy pig is very good at feeding anyone who wants to eat!  Lady is the one in the back checking out all the babies eating.

As anyone living in this area knows, it has been very cold this winter.  For the first time in weeks I got to see a sunrise from my own house.  Being a manager for snow I am at work a lot keeping things running smoothly.  We finally got a break and I was able to eat breakfast with the family.

It was actually quite pretty looking out our new kitchen window that my wife put in last fall.  Even with as pretty as it looks I still prefer the green version over white any day!

Here is a picture from on top of the hill looking down on one of my current projects.  As I mentioned before I started this before Christmas and have been whittling away at it ever since.  However, given my track record for completion times for projects like this I have decided to try to expedite this one a little.  I gave a call to an excavator we use at work a lot and he stopped by today.  Monday he will be out with his large excavator and I will be on hand with Steven to top trees and cut off stumps.  Hopefully it will only take a half a day to knock all the remaining trees down and pile the stumps and tops to burn in the spring.  I want to be planting this by March so I am setting a steep deadline to meet on purpose to get it into production this year.



Having grown up on a farm and working my whole life I find it hard to relax if I am at home.  On a day off I can make it till about 9 am before I go stir crazy in the house and head outside to do something.  Since I had a large number of trees to get rid of I decided to cut and split some wood.  This picture was taken today.  I have already sold three cords of wood from the original pile and Steven and I just cut and split another cord and a half yesterday.  When is spring gonna get here so I can take a break?







I promise to take some pictures Monday of the big excavator for everyone to look at.  Should make quick work of it since it is a 314 caterpillar.  I can't wait!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Kenny