Saturday, February 20, 2010

Perfect Chamber Day

So this morning rolls around and this ole Horsefarmer gets out of the sack just like his ole Pappy (The Gentleman Farmer) used to ..... sometime around the 9:30 hour. Got my coffee and relaxed reading the morning paper (online of course) before heading out into this hard cruel world of work; and after a second cup of that good hot coffee, gathered tools and equipment and headed to the barnyard. Got to admit that the Barngoddess came trucking right along with me, and we were soon joined by My Noble Assistant (aka The Little Princess), we tackled completing the entrance way to the stable building. Just a little "L" shaped add on to keep that bitter cold north wind from blowing right through you when you are feeding and watering the critters. Now we have a Steer that has a dislocated right rear hip, and he gets around alright, but I can't see the agony of expense in putting him out to fix it. So that steer gets along right with the others, but we decided to feed him out and send him the way of the freezer. And we now have this added little critter (Dodge named a truck after it, but Dodge trucks are not neutered like this one is) a Ram that we put in with the steer because we really didn't have anyplace to put him that night. Needless to say the two of them have bonded, and now you can't seperate them. Look for one and the other is a few feet away. So daughter's friend and I had built the framework of the "L" and today Barngoddess, My Noble Assistant and I finished putting the tin on that framework. But first a picture of my bride of 36 years (come 4/19/2010), that beaut of a gal the Barngoddess: So to the Longroof and the Jeep and the Kid, (remember the COOP?), here are pictures of finishing the "L". Relax and enjoy, notice we are in shirt sleeves, perfect Chamber of Commerce day here, short sleeve shirt and I was still sweating. Bibbers on to keep mud off my good jeans. And the rest of the pictures, well the best one is actually a "video clip" and I don't know how to get it to down load here, so you'll just have to imagine what the picture showed. Me on a ladder putting in the final screws to hold the metal in place with my Noble assistant on another ladder helping hold the metal in place while feeding me screws. Tomorrow maybe I'll got out and take a final picture of the project, with the Dodge and the Steer in it too..... So that is what we did today.... after we put all the tools and excess material away, my Noble Assistant whipped my rear on the golf course, she shot 2 under, while I shot 6 over. But I beat her in the bowling alley..... and we sure did CELEBRATE LIFE............
Check out that good soil, city folks pay big bucks for some of that soil, and I tell them Roy Blunt fertilizes it for me with his comments at photo ops and his "bus tour" see the Bus's blog (Linked above) for more info on Blunt's ability to vote NO to a stimulus package, and then take credit for getting the money to Springfield MO to support hometown projects.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Hard to believe

So today is the greatest day for speed and valentines.

Got the Barngoddess dressed up last night and took her to the local valentine's day dinner and dance.

See we do get out of our bibbers every once in a while:



Then today was even more fun. After getting to bed about two this morning, I slept in until that weird noise woke me up around 6 am...... baa baa baa baa baa baa.
I turned the dogs out and all they did was bark. So the Barngoddess put the dogs up and repremanded me for not knowing that we now have this strange animal on the farm.




Then I get a call around 11 from the dump truck guy who wants to bring gravel over today instead of tomorrow, ok and I get bundled up and get out working to prep the ground for the gravel.... temp at noon is 30, windchill about 15, but I made it work.



Then the dump truck guy calls and says his truck broke in the cold, so I got to come back inside and watch the Great American Race. Thought I saw the Jeep down there following some babes around, but wasn't sure....

Then got to watch 2 hours of asphalt patching.... hell the guys from MODOT can fix a pothole faster than you guys down there in sunny land. Don't they know what a pothole is??? Better yet, just put a yellow cone over the hole and get back to racing.
Jamie and Johnnie won today, so Joplin and Springfield will be festive tonight.

Then got up and looked out the window to see this:



Then got the 11 year old to hook this old man up to the internet and spent 45 minutes on a video conference with the Longrooffan. Good time and good visit. Saw some of his place. We shared a glass from the hurricane/tornado supplies and ended on a good note that it was my bed time as soon as I finished blogging.

So tomorrow comes the dump truck guy and instead of a day of rest, I get to work gravel all day. Old well, the farm is running itself, the animals are doing fine, I have an 11 year old to show this 60 year old how to do computer stuff.. what more can I ask for except to be married to the best gal in the whole world, and be able to visit with family whenever it is convenient.
Bus missed you today, but will see you soon.


CELEBRATE LIFE

Saturday, February 13, 2010

OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING

JUST FOR YOU ALL DOWN THERE IN BLUE HAIR - WARM SUNNY - CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - LAND

Here are a couple of pictures that were taken on the farm this morning, around 9 AM,

Now mind you, the temp outside is 32 degrees F, so once I took these pictures, I made a pot of java, and mentally prepared to get dressed and hit it.

Alas in true fashion of the Gentleman Farmer, I went back to bed knowing I could get a couple more hours sleep while waiting for the mail to be delivered, so I could take my 4x4 out of the warm garage, drive to the mail box, pick up mail, and return to my warm garage.

Actually, the Barngoddess was still in bed, and I jumped back in with her for awhile.
So here are some pics from our backporch this morning. I imagine your place in Florida looks very similiar.

This place was covered in a Frost Fog this morning so here are the results:










and it is being warm here in Southwest Missouri, know you all down there are probably colder than we are, makes me laugh out loud.

John would say "Rub it in Tom". But after soooo many pics of Florida and sunny skies, etc, hope the Daytona isn't FROZEN out.

Keep warm and Celebrate Life by going to BBB's and jump in his pool.

Friday, February 12, 2010

YOU'D BETTER HEAD FURTHER SOUTH................

So the Olelongrooffan (aka: oleragtop) and the Jeep (aka now a Bronco driver) and the Little Farmer Girl (aka: the baby) all moved to the great State of Florida

Why you ask????

They have these:



AND THEY HAVE THESE:



and they have this problem (sometimes):



BUT NOW THEY HAVE THIS PROBLEM COMING THEIR WAY:




SNOW SNOW SNOW HERE IT COMES SNOW SNOW SNOW





CELEBRATE LIFE WHILE YOU BUNDLE UP

Just remember this is normal for us.

LOL

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

I love it

Guys and Gals,

There is seldom a time that I don't "Celebrate Life" and enjoy my time on this internet thing.

Occasionally I'll come across something that really gets me going, pure unadultrated laughter to the max.

Now I work at a Veteran's Facility and see a lot of down and out veterans that have really just kind of given up hope and are hanging on till the end.

One of the vets I see every other week is a WW2 vet that was able to make the trip to Wash DC on the "Honor Flight" last month, to see the WW2 memorial.

I always make it a point to stop and visit with him, just to say hi and ask how he is doing. Makes my day and I'm sure that he is impressed with a staff member that visits with him in front of all the other vets... makes him feel important...

But I stole this from another blogger, and have to pass it on. I just couldn't help laughing...

I'm sure if my vet friend had grandkids in the area, he'd be doing this..... my own speed racer:




and I will show this to him next week when I again "celebrate life" by visiting with him.

Peace and remember to Celebrate Life

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Another Perfect Day

All day today the weather has been perfect, about 34 degrees, very light breeze, cloudy sky, BUT it didn't rain or snow.... so another perfect day to work around the ole homestead.

Have been wanting to build a breezeway into the west stall in her Stable building, so as to block the wind, rain, snow, etc from blowing into that stall.

Well we have put one of the steers in the center lot to fatten up, so today I got my Noble Assistant to help me get started. Then Derek came by and somehow that Noble assistant got Derek to take her place and off she went into the house.. last I saw she was teaching Derek's boys how to bowl.

So here are a couple shots of the work in progess:

Derek and I are checking the saw cuts to make sure we have a good fit, and you can see where Derek previously slipped and sat down in the mud and muck:



Here is Derek coming out to help - of note is the amount of mud and muck and horse manure..


By the way, I still haven't learned how to change the date on the camera, ergo the pictures showing date of 1/25/07 instead of 2/6/10.

Unless the camera is like me, getting too old to remember the correct date.

So more construction on the farm, all the while we continue to

CELEBRATE LIFE