Updating you......

Geesh! sorry it's been so long between posts but, in my defense things have just been nuts around here!  I can't seem to keep up with everything; the house, garden, animals, CSA flyer's and info for our members, projects and yes not even the blog.*sigh*  I guess my age is beginning to catch up with me and we've been doing lots of running helter skelter too!

Last week Cortney left for a Young Adults Retreat( YAR) for 9 days, she's due back tomorrow. The group went to Glacier National Park and it sounds as if they are having a blast! In the meantime I'm struggling to keep up with all the chores, garden, yard and cooking for Mike and myself. It's a good thing I've cut way......... back on what I'm eating because most evenings I'm just to pooped to cook a meal( especially when it's well into the mid to high 90'sF), so instead we've been having sandwiches, or fruit smoothies or yes, even popcorn!, LOL! 

We've had a few interesting changes and happenings as well; first is that Mike is not working outside the farm at this time. The construction company he worked for turned out to be crooks and they refused to pay overtime hours and believe me it's the law in MT to pay time+ half for any hours over 40 a week, in a pay schedule. He was not the only one to quit, in fact the entire crew, minus the manager's nephew, quit for several reasons. Lack of OT being paid, the fact that the manager is running the company into bankruptcy and being threatened and bullied on a daily basis with the fact that if they didn't do this or that there wouldn't be a paycheck for them. We have filed a complaint with the State of MT Labor and Industry Division and hope that they file legal action against this company. After totalling all the OT hours up the company owes Mike for 138 hours @ time and a half, so it's a considerable amount of $$ and we could certainly use it. There were other mistakes and hours that were changed( by the manager) on his time sheet that we are disputing as well. Our worry is that the state gets things rolling before the company goes under and claims bankruptcy, if this happens we'll be out the monies owed, unless we take legal action and then it will only be paid back at pennies on the dollar. It's to bad the manager wouldn't listen to advice given her, because this company had the potential of really making some $$. Now they are facing complaints filed for wages and several leans and lawsuits for past due accounts. I'm just glad Mike is home and not having to deal with that stress any longer. He's already got plenty of work lined up and has spread the word among  our farmer friends that he's home and available to work if they need a hand. :o)  Mike working at home is only possible because we are debt free.
           Now having said last above statement, today Mike was going to a job( he's building a pole building for a friend) and his truck quit, then he noticed smoke coming from under the hood,it was on fire!  PTL!!!! he had a fire extinguisher to put out the fire, but wiring and hose were melted and no sure of the extent of the damage, but..... it could have been so much worse, if he'd not had the fire extinguisher, he could have lost the entire truck, all of his tools and all the lumber he'd picked up for our friend. Praying that the damage was minimal and just glad Mike wasn't injured.  This of course is a set back, but we'll manage like we always do! :o)

Well it's time to get milking done and evening chores done, then BBQ up some hamburgers and trimmings for supper.    I'd also like to acknowledge all of our new followers, thank you for reading along with our life, we enjoy comments, even if right now I don't comment back much due to lack of time, we do enjoy reading your comments :o)

A new farm addition and a fun project, LONG in the works..........

We were blessed with yet another bum calf, this time it's a heifer, and she's in good shape compared to many bums we've received over the years. Of course you know we can't have an animal without a name so Cortney watched her for a few days and announced her name is to be "Suzanna". It seems to fit her and she is a really sweet little calf. She will not be raised for breeding purposes, but rather as beef for our freezer in about 2 yrs.

 Hoss and Button are now sharing a open faced barn and they don't seem to mind one bit. Suzanna is a cross between a red and black Angus, but looks to be showing her red side more than the black.  She'll be on a bottle for another few months and is eating hay, grass and chewing her cud well. It's always fun to have a new baby on the farm :o)  Now as for the fun project, LONG........ in the works, see below........

 Mike has always longed to learn to play a banjo but we never seemed to have enough $$ or time and finally we decided we've put it off long enough and bought a top rated banjo. This is one instrument you want to start off with a good quality and tone, rather than buy a cheaper instrument and upgrade later.  As I said Mike's longed to learn to play a banjo since we were first married and when we moved to our farm we found that our neighbor gentleman, to the East of us, played banjo beautifully. In getting to know our new neighbor's better Mike expressed interest in him teaching Mike to play but there always seemed to be financial interruptions. In talking about things we wished we done different one evening, Mike said he wished he'd followed through with his desire to play the banjo and I said, "why not do it now?"  He said he'd still love to and I began by talking with our neighbor and picking( so to speak*wink*) his brain as to which banjo was the best for what we could afford and come to find out we could afford a really top rated banjo. Our neighbor has played banjo with some of the best bluegrass and country people in the music business, he's played in Nashville at the Grand Ole' Opera as backup for many famous Bluegrass and Country stars. He simply decided he didn't like the demand and time away from his family( this was all when he was a young man, he's now in his mid 70's)  So here is Mike's new project, he and Charlie got it all adjusted and tuned. They were talking about some pieces that need to be upgraded for a better tone and of course a new set of strings and a beginner's cord book. Charlie sent him away with some things to practice, such as rolling his fingers and getting used to the picks. This weekend we hope to get to the city's music store and get the needed items so he can get to work. Mike has musical talent, he played the sax( baritone) for years in school, so has a jump start on reading music.  I can't wait to hear him play his first song, and the times we'll be able to sit around the fire pit in and listen and sing along. :o)

 Isn't it beautiful? If you click the photo, you'll see all the inlaid mother of pearl on the neck. It truly is a beautiful instrument, now to make it sound as beautiful.*wink*

Just another dream coming true, PTL!!!!!!  My dream is to actually find the time to begin some of the projects I've longed to do as well, I have already acquired the needed tools and instruments, it's just the time I've been lacking*wink* That's one thing nice about aging priorities begin to take center stage :o)

This and That catching up!

Wow time really does fly when you're having fun, or even working your backside off*wink* I still have to get pictures of certain things around the farm, it's just finding the time to do it that's the problem.  Seems as if the days are not long enough to get everything that NEEDS to be done, done and it's now complicated by the fact that we have been invaded by millions upon millions of mosquitoes. So you either douse yourself in Deep Woods Off every hour or so or you work in the heat of the day, when they are in hiding from the heat.*sigh*  Trying to keep up with the weeds this year has proven to be a real chore, with all the rainfall we received in May and beginning of June we have a bumper to bumper crop of weeds, some of which we've NEVER seen before. LOL!!!   Also now we're seeing evidence of a bumper hatching of grasshoppers, just praying the stay out in the fields and don't migrate into the garden areas. This years garden has been such a struggle already and with storm after storm and the worry of hail damage, adding  in a grasshopper invasion might just break the proverbial camel's back. 

Here are some pictures of how high the river has been and the fact that we've lost 10 to 15 ft of land along our bank and one corner even took out a line of fencing, which we temporarily fenced until high water is done taking away our land, then the whole fence line will have to be moved in and restrung. We're just glad we didn't flood, our neighbors to the East and South of us did, our banks are  high enough to have kept the raging waters at bay, praise the Lord!  The high waters are gradually receding but will continue to be above normal until possibly Oct. 
Here are some pictures of the rive, our animals and some of the happening around here.

 Cortney and Mike hard at work changing fluids, spark plugs, spark plug wires, checking belts and hoses on Cortney's car. Yes, Cortney's car, she saved and saved and bought her own car. I don't think I posted that she passed the driving portion of her driver's test on June 11th scoring a 100%. Her car is a 1990 Ford Taurus sedan and we are so proud of her!

 The river, well we've been dealing with high, extremely high snow pack runoff since beginning of June. If you look( click photo to enlarge) at the right side of the picture( that's our bank), as far up the river as that white building, you'll see that there is still 2-3 ft of back, well when the river is at normal levels that bank is 15 to 18 feet tall, so gives you an idea of how high the water is right now.

 I the shaded portion of this photo we used to have 10-15 ft of bank with a willow tree, chokecherry bushes, wild roses, etc.....   The picture below shows it from another angle that portion of the bank missing was further out than the bushes at the base of the tree( below).

 You can see the T- post in the foreground, well about two feet to the right( toward the river) was our fence line corner posts, not anymore!*sigh*

 Cortney my nephew and niece( here visiting from AK) and myself pulled these three Railroad Ties up out of the rushing waters. I felt good about saving them to reuse when we re fence this entire line of fencing. Right now we temporarily fence that corner off with T-posts so the cows don't get in the river.

 Two days prior to this photo of the bridge, just to the east of our farm, the water was lapping the bottom of the upper portion of the arches.  It sounded like a freight train and it was scary.

 The farmers across the river from our farm have corrals close to the river, as you can see they are flooded, as was the county road to the ranches/ farms behind us due to flooding and washing away of the roadway.

One blessing of the 9" of rain we received in May was a bountiful harvest in our hay pasture.  We typically get around 2 ton of hay from one cutting and then we graze it the remainder of the Summer, Fall and Winter. We baled it this weekend( Sat.) and took off 5 bales over 4 ton of hay! We are so............. excited!!!!!!  This weekend we baled the 4+ ton of hay, loaded it and put it in the barn loft, along with an additional 2-1/2 ton we purchased from a friend. I feel good that it's all up safe and dry in the barn. Now all we need is 1-1/2 ton of alfalfa hay and that is plentiful this year, so we shouldn't have any problems getting the needed amount.

Cortney celebrated her 20th B-day on July 3rd and she wanted to share a very special blessing she received from a fellow blogger friend; Sandra over at Thistle Cove Farms( you can find her link on our side wall)  Isn't that a beautiful wrap and it matches so many dresses Cortney has, it's going to be a well worn piece of clothing.  Thank you Sandra, for being so thoughtful. :o)

 The garden and all the weeds( hoping you can't see how many*wink*

 Raspberries starting, can't wait for them to ripen :o)

 Hoss, says Good Morning. He's enjoying the coolness of the morning .

 Another view, so you can see how big he's gotten and such a baby yet. He enjoys his morning hip and butt rubbing( right between his hind legs, as hard and fast as you can rub, he loves it!

 Button in her own little world, getting ready to chew her cud.

 Some of the apple trees we planted 7 yrs ago are simply loaded with apples this year! I'm so excited to try these new varieties( one is a Wolf River, another a Liberty and another Duchess of Oldenburg)

 Here's Angel, doesn't she look great! her twins are gone and she's dried off and putting on some much needed weight.  We had to worm her twice before we noticed her gaining weight and holding onto it. She's so shiny and slicked out now. We really enjoy her, she's such a sweet little goat and she loves to be around people.

 Ginger is looking good too, she's all slick and shiny too and is now giving us almost a gallon of milk a day. :o)  She's not as friendly of a goat, but is beginning to show that she enjoys our company and bleats when she sees us now.

 Here is Pistol, Ginger's wether. He's going to his new home, hopefully this week. We will miss him, he's very sweet. If only he'd been born a girl! *sigh*

 Turkey poults and their two mamas. We had 9 survive and feel blessed as we have all of them sold already!

It's hard to get a good picture of all of them as the toms and hens are constantly on protective detail, LOL!!!!!

Well, hope that catches you up a bit and we'll try to get more photos posted on day to day projects, we have several in the works.