Well, I finally made it to the tractor parts store and got the most important upgrade for the tractor......a spinner for the steering wheel! My wife was gonna get a pink one and I told her no way. It had to match the tractor! I also had both back wheel serviced this week. Both needed knew inner tubes and the rims cleaned up and new calcium ballast. SO, the only thing I have left to do is replace the hideous dented muffler with something either shiny....or jet black. I am leaning toward an old school jet black muffler. I know what I want now I just gotta get it ordered. Hay season can't get here quick enough this year! For anyone coming to the party this summer we will also be using this as the hay ride tractor as well! Should be absolutely fun!
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| New steering ball for the Farmall 706 |
Now, I was out checking to see if the morels were out yet yesterday after seeding the new field in the rain. Unfortunately they are not fruiting yet. But, while I was out I decided to go see my favorite tree on the farm. It is located on one of my grandparents farms and is stunning. It is right next to an old two room stone cabin, or what is left of a cabin, and it is growing right on top of a spring. It is a hemlock. We are estimating it to be well over 200 years old. We think it was brought here by a settler back in the day because there is not another naturally occurring hemlock growing in the woods anywhere else here for it to seed from. Plus the base takes at least three people to wrap their arms around and touch. I think it is approximately 80'-100' tall.
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| 200+ year old Hemlock |
The spring coming out from under it is very strong and flows year round. There used to be a small pond that sat directly south of the tree but when my dad was a kid the dam broke and washed out. It was actually a perfect setting and I know why they built here. There is also a very large maple that is starting to fall apart, a bunch of vinca ground cover, and there was a Snowberry bush here as well. The snow berry is now planted at my dads house and I have a division of it growing at my house.
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| The spring flowing from under the hemlock |
I put my hat by the base of the tree for a size reference. I have only shown it to a few people and most people who see it from afar never really pay much attention to or nor do they realize the significance of it!
I hope that it out lives me and my grandchildren as it has the many many generations that have come and gone in its lifetime. Sometimes I wish that trees could talk and tell me the history they have seen. It would be mind blowing to know what all a tree like this has experienced in its time!
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| 200+ year old Hemlock with hat for size reference. |
While I was riding around I went to the south end of the farm to look at the Chesapeake well pad sitting on the neighbors. On the way back out I stopped at the crest of the hill and took a pic looking north. When I was a kid and chopping hay for the cows and mowing and raking hay for baling this view was quite different. Back then all you saw was trees and hay fields and two houses. Then, when I was just starting college my uncle's farm in the valley sold into lots and houses were built on almost all of them. The view is still pretty nice but it was much better as a kid. I wonder what it looked like back when the hemlock was planted? Could you see any of this or was it all trees? Who cleared all the trees? So much history and it is all locked in the landscape....silently watching as time passes by.
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| Looking north from Grandpa's other farm. |
In the northern most part of the above pic is a faint wisp of a project I am working on from work. I have been making great progress on it this spring with the awesome weather we have had the last two weeks. I wanted to attach a photo of the front steps/walk that I just finished up the other day. This stone from Scranton Materials in Pennsylvania is so beautiful and colorful! I literally could stare at it all day and not get tired of it.
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| West mountain stone from Scranton Material in Scranton PA. |
In other news I made one of my last two hay deliveries today from last years hay supply. I have a few little bales to deliver tomorrow and the barn and the round bale storage area are all empty.....time to start the race to fill it all up before the snow comes again!
Spending a day out in the woods spending time with myself and thinking really was relaxing and helped me refocus on what my goals are. I grew the herd a lot, more than doubled, in the last year and a half. I am excited to see what this year holds for us. There is so much potential and growth in the near future it keeps me pumped and motivated to keep pushing for what is to come and enjoy what we already have!
I am really excited to get this hay year under way as well as see what calves are in store for us this year. There is also still fences to build and pastures to create to split the herd for the summer....sooooo much work to do!
Have a great weekend everyone. And if you need a break just go for a walk out in the woods and listen to the birds and sit by a tree and just relax and refocus.
Kenny
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