Well, as I stated in my last post, insanity!!! I thought things would slow down some as we moved into October, and they did, for a day or two! Then it picked right back up again.
October brings with it two birthdays for the family. My Brother Martin turned 21 on the 6th! His present was he brought me a case of beer!!!! It was everything I hoped it would be! LOL Then us, and several of his friends, took him out to dinner!
And we may have gotten him drunk, well, it was a mutual effort!
The second October birthday is my son Alex, who turned 8 this year!!! I still am amazed at how quickly they are growing up and how much things have changed since he was born! He is into K'nex and was getting ready to tear down his crane to do an entirely new build with two new sets he got for his birthday.
To properly dispose of excess milk and wash water from rinsing the milk storage tanks for the pigs I have used a sprayer that I created from a small nurse tank trailer purchased at an auction about 3 years ago. It is really not a good fit and I wanted something more suited to what I am doing that was larger. I finally came across what I was looking for on Tractorhouse.com last week and decided to go for it. The idea was sparked from seeing a tank at the farm science review that was pretty sweet so I have been looking for one to upgrade. It came with just the tank and I switched over the spray boom and installed new hoses and a new pump.
The old one is 600 gallon and was made from the back half of a dump truck. This one was built specifically for hauling water or other liquids from one place to another and is 1000 gallon.
I wasn't sure how the spray boom would work being much closer to the ground but it actually is perfect now. it is just high enough to get the full spread but low enough that heavy winds do not blow the spray around during application! It also tows much easier and has much better weight distribution with the tandem flotation tires instead of dual truck tires.
I am not sure if I ever posted about the new garage door or not but I thought this was a good opportunity if I hadn't! After all the repairs on the truck the last 4 years, which included new springs all the way around, it was quickly realized that the truck didn't fit in the old garage door any more! So, while we were away on vacation this summer my good friend Andrew Hostetler took out the old garage door, increased the height of the opening, and got the new garage door installed as well as a new man door! It is quite awesome to have my baby back inside out of the rain and the cold!
As many of you may already know, we are devout buckeye fans around here. My grandfather, my father, my brother and one sister, and my wife and I all went to school at Ohio State. This is where my wife and I met and in this stadium is where I took her to her first ever football game, and also where I think she started to fall for me!
My dad graduated in 1974 and was one of the last classes to be allowed to purchase season tickets. Now to get them you have to join one of the high dollar donation clubs and then you have the option to purchase season tickets. Dad wanted to go to the Penn State vs. Ohio State game but mom wasn't able to go, so he asked me if I wanted to go....that was an easy yes!!!
Watching the game wasn't that easy as it turned into an instant classic with a stunning last minute come back win and something I will remember the rest of my life. My parents have been bringing my siblings and I to games since we were old enough to walk and we have been doing the same with our kids. Growing up on the farm, Alumni weekend was the only vacation we could afford and find someone to do the farm chores while we went away for one weekend. Those game days were always special. This was the first time Dad and I have gone to a game ourselves in many years and it was great to experience this stunner of a game with him like we did many years ago!
And also watch everyone rush the field and party.
Lastly I want to share an update on Zeus. Apparently he is just a person in a dogs body because he is continually trying to do everything that we do. He tries to sit on my lap in the car, he sits on a chair on the porch with me, he rides the tractor with me, and now........
He wants his own chair at the kitchen table!
The picture above was taken shortly after I put my chair aside and got another chair to sit in. This was due to him constantly yipping and talking and trying to push me out of my chair. As soon as he had a place to sit he got up and sat down.
Below was the next morning. He was acting the same so I got him a chair and he got up and sat down. You can see his treat on the table that he was patiently waiting for. This was the quietest breakfast we had on a weekend in many weeks.
The best part is he just looks at us as if to say "what are you looking at, this is normal isn't it?"
He has since not wanted back up on the chair as much but we haven't had time to spend at the table much lately either. I am sure we will be trying this again this weekend!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone. We had some snow flakes in the air today so it won't be long and we will have it piling up on the ground! Thanksgiving is coming up quickly and it will be nice to have a few days off to spend with family.
Kenny
