Easter and 5 in the Morning

Saturday and Easter Sunday have made for a perfect weekend. Weather here is Chamber weather, in fact got so hot yesterday, I took off my sweatshirt.....
So how is life, on this farm it can be summed up in a couple words "An Adventure".

So Easter dawned and we went to Shell Knob to spend some time with the Garrisons. Went to Church and then to their house for a perfect luncheon. Barngoddess even made deviled eggs....
Worked on Charlies truck getting it running again. and we headed home about 2:30 pm to give it a go again with "5 in the morning".

Poor little critter is suffering but maintianing her appetite. Her pastern joint (ankle joint in humans) has been rubbed raw from the splints and walking on her knees that first few hours after birth.
For the squemish, don't look now

But she is doing better. Running a fever, but treating with PenGProcaine.
Back to the vet tomorrow to check again.
So how was your Saturday spent? it is quite obvious that the daughter and granddaughter spent the afternoon laying around with 5 in the Morning, soaking up the sun....



pictures don't lie, but then pics only catch a few seconds and they really only spent about an hour laying in the sun...

Of course with any sick animal we always give our best in the treatment sector, even having 5 in the Morning on the Barngoddess1's dining room table for treatment.



So after washing the little critters legs and wounds at the kitchen sink (that's why we have such a large counter next to the sink) and then clipping all the hair from her legs (handled it well), we bandaged and splinted and turned her back into the stall with Oreo. First thing to do is shuttle over to Oreo for a nursing.



So that's kind of how our weekend went. Did take off Saturday and Barngoddess and I bought rubber stall mats for Oreo's stall. And after leveling and packing a base, we placed the pads in the stall. Makes it 100% easier for 5 in the Morning to get around, nice solid even surface, with a little shavings and hay on the floor.

And of course the Barngoddess1 and the Little Princess are our Noble Assistants and keep us supplied in whatever we need or want. Barngoddess1 is making a harness type apparatus that will hold the little critters legs in the correct position once we get the wounds on the mend.

But knowing what to do.... and knowing how to do it... and knowing who to call for assistance....

Well that just lets us

Celebrate Life with God's little creatures.

Although I did shoot the Opossum that was in the stable the other night....

so you too

Celebrate Life

5 In The Morning

There are times on the farm that are really hard, and you sometimes have to make decisions that you don't want to make. And not wanting to make those decisions, makes it even harder to do.

To point is a steer we have, he somehow dislocated and broke his right hip. Rather than put it down, we realized that the steer could still maneuver its way around, and was still gaining weight, so we kept him and he will soon be hamburger and steak in the freezer.
These past two years we also ventured into raising bottle calves, weaning them, castrating and dehorning them, and then selling. Somehow decisions about steers and cows is something that is simple to make.

Raising miniature horses, and this is our 12th year of it, we have had some great colts, excellent fillies, and we've had some pets that would never amount to much in the show ring, but are excellent around children and the elderly.
We have been blessed with healthy horses that made them easy to sell when they got to be of age.

But one of the hardest decisions to make is when you consider the quality of life an animal is going to be facing from here on. A couple years ago, we were faced with an extremely hard decision concerning our Morgan Mare "Babe" ....



at age 24 she was so laid up with arthritis, she could hardly move, and at times we fed her where she was laying because she couldn't get up. But dealing with Babe, who had her prime and was allowed to live as a horse should in later years made the decision an easier one.

And as always, having a Vet that isn't afraid to ask questions and venture an opinion, whether we like that opinion or not. she is honest and trustworthy.

But dealing with "5 in the Morning", a week old filly, that is so cute and adorable, who looks at you with eyes that say "make the pain go away", decisions are the toughest a man can make.

For the past week, we have been nursing "5" trying to get her lower rear legs to straighten out. Then coupled with the "bedsore" ulcers that developed, along with some infection.... well life is tough.

We worked with her, trying to get those little legs straight and where she could walk again. Day and night for 8 days.... bringing her into the kitchen and washing her legs and wounds at the kitchen sink... using the dining room table as a splinting station... sitting with her in the sun....

Yet everytime I looked into her eyes, I could see the pain..

Tonight we learned that her joints in the rear legs were deformed and that she would never walk unaided. Looking in her eyes you could tell the pain was becoming unbearable as every day passed.

At what point do you stop trying to improve the condition of the animal, knowing all along that her quality of life would be terrible? Do we take her to OSU and see if they can cut away bone in the joint so at least the joint would straighten? Do we put "5" through the pain and agony of several operations trying to do something that we "deep down in our hearts" know will never improve, and she will be with pain the rest of her life?

At 5:30 pm this afternoon, with Jaycee, Viola and I in attendance, our vet euthanized "5 in the Morning".

She was born around 5 AM in the morning on Sunday, March 28, 2010.

8 days and 12 hours later she slipped into unconsciousness and died pain free.

She will always be remembered at our farm because of her strong will, painfully standing to nurse, rubbing her head and neck against your leg.



I leave this post with a simple picture of an animal completely painfree and in peace, going whereever it is that you go when you leave this world.

We were blessed with her for 8 days, and will stand up and carry on, no matter how hard it seems.

The agony of the decision is met only with the agony of writing this post. A way for me to put closure to a little filly's life.

So go about your daily events.... but remember....

Celebrate Life while you have it.

tom

It's Saturday, Finally it's here...............

Hey it's that great day of the week that I get to sleep in and not be bothered with anything until after 10 am

Yeah, if you believe that, I got a bridge for sale.




So if today is Saturday, then yesterday was Friday, and it is even more fun on Fridays after 4:30 pm (as if there is a 4:30 am = no not in my world) because I get to play golf on Friday after work. So I call the Barngoddess up and ask her if she would like to hit the links with me (she could drive the cart).

So we meet at Honey Creek Golf Course and I play the front nine. Had one heck of a bunker shot again. Ended up a good day, reached greens on 5 holes in regulation, and got par on three of them. What with a couple double boggies and a few boggies I did fairly well. Pin placement was for a tourney they are hosting today, so the pins were in wicked places and hard to play to. But enjoyed it none the less.

Even got the Barngoddess to buy me supper afterwards at a local cafe. Not bad food.

I have always been intrigued by an automobile that was around in the 50s and early 60s = Hillman Minx. The Gentleman Farmer had one and it got creamed by a semi on Gravios Road in StL (mechanic parked it and forgot the emergency brake, rolled out in front of semi). Anyway, the car has an appeal similar to my craving for early Broncos.

Last night I bring up a blog I frequent daily www.bringatrailer.com
and find a post on a bunch of old cars in Waukesha, Wisconsin. A bunch of triumphs, but wait...... is that a Hillman Minx I just saw?????

Seems there are 5 or 6 of the 4 door sedans in this group. But what even got me more excited is the 52 Hillman Estate. Go to the web site, view the slide show and it is the rusty red one that looks like a MINI Expedition. Yeah, a MINI ... fit right in here on the farm.

Getting back to what I started, I ended up at 2:30 am this morning finally saying I quit, I had been looking for a 4-5 car hauler that I could rent and go bring 4 or 5 of those Minxs home. But no sweat, I can sleep in... yeah.......

So this morning at 7:15 AM (yes that hour does come on a Saturday morning), my eyeballs fail open and I can't sleep anymore. The barngoddess rolls over and after spooning for awhile (if you don't know what spooning is = go watch MASH and ask Col. Potter what it is) I tell her that we ought to get up and go rebuild her newest purchase. I just happen to have some new lumber that will do the job.

Now I am not a person who does well without a couple cups of coffee, but at 8:00 this morning, before I had finished my first cup of coffee, I was measuring and marking boards and getting ready to cut away.

Thanks to the Gentleman Farmer (table saw and belt sander) and Mom (band saw), by 9:15 I had all the lumber cut and sanded, and the Barngoddess stained it.
This afternoon she (along with Steph) put a coat of polyurethane on those boards and if you really want to see what her new purchase looks like = compare the two pics

before



and the new box - some assembly required.. Notice the Barngoddess is not doing the work, Steph (our daughter = Sharks Angel) is polyurethaning, with the Barngoddess being the tough super.... notice no smile!!!! Thats cause she ain't doing it herself and she wants to.... LOL She is playing the supervisors role to the tee...



somemore of the wood pieces



If you look closely, you'll see all the little pieces that are needed.

While the Barngoddess was finishing staining and using the polyurethane, I got my trusty sand blaster out and in no time had the metal framework ready for the paint.
So we now have painted parts on the big flatbed trailer in the haybarn, waiting for the paint to dry, all kinds of wood waiting for the urethane to dry......
and yep, tomorrow will be "some assembly required" day.

I do enjoy building these wagons, and in the past have been party to putting some really neat wagons on the road.

Here is one I really enjoyed driving, but the tornado wrecked it.



of course here is our Springfield wagon - 1/2 scale and harder to build than a full size wagon


that converts to a jail for worms at the Apple Fest Parade




and of course our training wagon:



Even made a couple that have been shipped Yellow Freight: one to Las Vegas, one to Texas.

Not bragging, just enjoy building wagons that we can use. Funny, the Gentleman Farmer and I used to get in some heated discussions when he had me build something. He could see what he wanted, but couldn't relay to me what he wanted. Then when I finally got the end product in my head, we used to argue about how to get to the end. I would build one way, he another. Today, I could see what I wanted, but couldn't explain to daughter what I wanted. Laughed a lot bringing back those memories of Dad.

Anyway, I would say I am off to Wisconsin land to:
1. look at a 1947 jeep cj2a good for parts in Rockford ILL to store on the farm incase the Jeep or his kid need parts,
2. check out a bunch of Hillman Minx 4 door sedans (and one Estate wagon),
but sure as I did, just like the pictures in Florida, someone would race up there and .......... oh I won't go down that steet again.....

I do think that 52 Hillman Estate wagon would look awful good here on the farm.
A MINI Estate Wagon to go with all our other MINI things.

So that is what we did on the last Saturday of May (Granny Bansbach's birthday) in the year 2009. and the whole time we sure did

CELEBRATE LIFE

The Bronco Run

1,453 miles in 3 days

3 Hwy Patrol Cars seen on the road

4 Police Cars seen in private driveways

0 Accidents

0 Speeding Tickets

5 minute delay crossing bride in St Louis

2 1/2 hours waiting for seats to not show up

2 lots of old Tractors, really old

2 lots of old cars and trucks

And that summarizes the Bronco Run.

Now the fun part.

DAY ONE

Got a late start Christmas Day and was that day perfect for the trip

"Across the diocese" (famous quote by the Gentleman Farmer). It is amazing how easy the trip from the Queen City to Poplar Bluff is nowadays. 4 lane divided almost the whole way. And where 60 hwy isn't divided, it is under construction to be divided, probably finished by the summer of 09.

Just for the Long Roof --

Now the Long Roof Fan wanted me to stop and take some pictures of a bunch of ole cars that were on the north side of 60 between Mansfield and Cabool. We never saw what he was taking about. Of course I remembered as we headed east out of Willow Springs that the crazy Long Roof seldom drove divided highways, so he was probably on old 60 hwy and thus we wouldn't have seen what he was taking about, as we were east bound and down, loaded up and trucking, long way to go and a short time to get there, east bound just let this trucker roll.

Anyway by the time we hit PB, we were tired of the 4 lane and opted for Hwy 53 south to Kennett and then east to Carutherville. Has been a long long time since I have been to Kennett and southbound we went.

Now 8 miles west of Hayti we came across this interesting site on the south side of the road.

Quickstop, backup, and take picture time.

So Long Roof this is for you: Cadillac hearst, Ford Ambulance, Old Chevy truck, old ford trucks, and 3 big guard dogs, concertina wire on top of chain link fence.

I like this wagon, but Barngoddess said I got a Bronc and can't have it.


Mud too deep to get closer, but that is a Caddy ambulance back there


Got this one for the Bus


So on we went to Dyersburg TN. Went south and located the place we need to be tomorrow at 8 am to pick up the seats, back to Dyersburg for a Hotel. Holiday Inn express, at check in, was told the pool was closed and the hot tub wasn't working. Guess what, we didn't check in there, went down the Road to an Executive Inn, half the price of the HI Express too.

So here it is late Christmas afternoon, and time for some supper. Guess what ain't open in Dyersburg on Christmas Day. Restaurants. Yep, seems the Barngoddess and I had this same problem last Christmas Day in Columbia MO. Everything closed, even McDs, Burger King, Taco Bell. In Columbia MO last year we found a Chinese Restaurant open and had Christmas meal there. Kind of comical, yeah, and guess what was open in Dyersburg ??? Chinese Restaurant. So we have started a tradition here or what ???????????

Anyway to the motel, relaxed, good night sleep and Day Two started at 7 am.

DAY TWO

WE arrive at the place to pick up the seats a little before 8am. Now the seats were supposed to be delivered by 7 am. Guess what?? NO SEATS.....
did get a pic of this for future use:

As the seats weren't there we headed back towards Dyersburg and stopped at
'MARY LOU'S AIRPORT CAFE' for some breakfast. It looked like a Mom and Pop operation and with the name Mary Lou's it couldn't be all that bad. Forgot to take pic of the outside. Anyway, Mary Lou is about 5 ft tall and 90 lbs soaking wet, but she sure put together a great breakfast. The tables are covered with a glass top and under the glass are all kinds of stories, pictures etc. Seemed she has been hit by a tornado, had a fire, served twenty Secret Service guys when Gore came visiting one day, and on and on.

So with our bellys full, we headed back to the Seat Pick up spot. Still no seats. JR (no one in TN has a name, it's all J.R., Tiny, Little John, etc), anyway JR, calls the guy who has the seats. Well he gave them to another guy who I couldn't miss when he showed up, he drives a one ton dually and weighs about 400 pounds, His name? TINY
So we wait, Barngoddess catches me napping and takes picture, but it won't download here for some reason, I must have been snoring too loud.

Well long story short, Tiny will be there in 30 minutes. So we wait.
JR is a chevy man, all kinds of Chevys, even has a cherry 74 Chevelle SS, 454, 4 on the floor, sleeper. So we wait, 30 minutes turns into 60 minutes, turns into 90 minutes. At 10:30, TINY is still 30 minutes out.
Guess what?? we left and headed for Shelbyville KY. Now we had to be in Louisville no later than 5 pm to pick up a trailer before the place closed. It's a 5 hour run, and somewhere in there, they change the time zone to Eastern Time.

Here we go again, east bound and down, doing something like 75 to make up time.
We realized that the 4 lane we were on is just like the 4 lane I posted above.
Now for Christmas my daughter gave me the CD of Alice's Restaurant. Popped it in the player when we were in the middle of no-where and could pick up a radio station.
Had a ball listing to the full 18 minutes and 20 seconds of it. Been a long time, and we laughed heartily.
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant. Walk right in, it's around the back, just a half a mile from the railroad track....... and on and on.

Anyway 4 1/2 hours later we are in Louisville loading up the trailer. For once in my life I actually said what I wanted to say to someone. The guy handling my trailer rental was gruff and seemed cranky. So I flat asked him "Are you always this way, and if you are, I want someone else to wait on me" Glad I did too, he changed his attitude and was at least tolerable. So we are off out of Louisville enroute to Wadde KY.
Met up with JJ (here we go again with the name thing), who turned out to be a really nice guy. The back seat for my Bronc was what he said it was, and he even brought along a heat box assembly. Guts weren't there, but that's ok. Now have a back seat for my Bronc, a heater assembly box, but no front seats. It was six pm when we
Left Wadde and headed for Batesville IN.
Now we had our choice, run back to Louisville, head north to Indianapolis, then east to Batesville. About 2 1/2 hours of 4 lane driving. OR 94 miles due north on US 421 cross Ohio river at Madison and continue north.
In all due respect to the Long roof, we took the 421 two lane highway route. Saw two great tractor places, had old John Deere poppers out front. Again, forgot about the camera on the seat next to me.
Arrive Batesville without incident. Barngoddess said she was glad it was dark on this trip or I would have been stopping every few miles to look at old trucks. I guess driving I wasn't able to sight see as much as she was.
Hot tub at Hampton Inn Batesville IN wasn't working........ just my luck. but the clerk, name of Jamie, called a Hampton 15 miles east and theirs was. Off we went.
Greenburg has a brand new Hampton Inn, we walked in and Ken behind the counter was in a SUIT. Treated like high class executives, and rate was lower than the other places. Hot tub was perfect ending to long frustrating day.
I called Ryan and said we'd meet him about 9 in the morning.

DAY THREE
I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock, my watch, the alarm clock, my watch and suddenly realized we were on eastern time, 1 hour ahead of my watch time. It was 9:15 am. Quick jump up, call Ryan explain time thing, downstairs for coffee and a hot breakfast (not as good as Mary Lou's, but good for a motel). Ryan's place is in the country, and we found it with only one wrong turn. The Barngoddess's eyes lit up as she saw "HER BRONC" for the first time. I knew we were going to buy it, but went thru the formalities of driving it, inspecting it, looking it over, all that stuff.
So we paid Ryan, he signed the papers and we proceeded to load "HER BRONC" on the trailer.


Now I was glad I brought along my chains and chain boomers because the straps on the trailer wouldn't go around the front wheels to hold "HER BRONC" on the trailer. So twenty minutes of chaining and rechaining and we were ready to go. Barngoddess was trilled as we headed for home with Her Bronc on the back.



Our plans were to pick up US 40 at the Indiania/Illinois line and travel it to St Louis, getting off the 4 lane and see some of the country. But a phone call to the Bus and our daughter told us of the severe weather front that was headed our way. Long roof, we stayed on the 4 lane and glad we did.

Now I am 58 years old and am not too demanding, kind of easy going and tolerant of a lot. Not today. We stopped at 2 PILOT Truck Stops for fuel. at both places, the girls behind the counter were rude and curt, barking at me. Well, I will never stop at a Pilot Truck Stop again. At the second one, I couldn't get the girl to understand that I wanted to fill my truck with deisel and it would cost anywhere from 50 to 70 dollars. Pilot's are all prepay now. She wouldn't put $70 on my credit card because I might not use that much. But she would put $40 and if I needed more I could come back in and add more.
Here's where logic went out the window. I asked the girl what happened if I didn't use all $40 in filling up. Her curt reply was for me to come back in and get a refund on my card. I asked her what the difference was between putting $40 on my card and getting a refund and putting $70 on my card............ she was lost somewhere because she couldn't understand what I was saying.
So Pilot Truck Stops, you have lost my business.

Anyway we are entering Illinois and the radio starts blaring weather alerts from the National Weather Service in Lincoln. We didn't need the alerts because we were looking at the weather..... Barngoddess took a couple pics
should we be nervous???

maybe we should now be nervous????

definitely getting nervous now?????


I have always told my family members, that when I am driving you don't have to start worrying unless I say "Ah shit". And in my years of driving, I've only said that twice that I can remember.
Once, traveling to Florida, along Hwy 60 east of Willow Springs at 2:30 in the morning, I was pulling our 5th wheel travel trailer and as I topped a hill and headed down the road was filled with deer, probably about 10 of them standing in my lane. Went into the oncoming lane and drove right between them.
Second, driving ambulance, red light and siren to roll-over car wreck, car in creek with people trapped, snowing to beat the band, started up a hill and bolance went sideways, well
I didn't say AH SHIT on this trip, but almost did.

When we hit the front, I was down to 40 mph flashers on, everyone following me, including big trucks. I haven't been in wind and rain so hard since being in a hurricane. for forty minutes, 40 heart throbbing gut renching minutes, we drove thru wind and rain so hard I new Her Bronc was going to get blown off the trailer. I thought of stopping, but didn't know how long the front was going to stay so kept on going. Fought a stong headwind the rest of the way into St Louie.

Finally got out of the heavy gully washer, toad strangler rain and for the rest of the trip to St Louie we were in rain. Glad I stopped at that Wally world in Indiania and got new wiper blades for the Big Little Mule.
Crossed the bridge in downtown St Louie and picked up I44 and we knew we were home.
Stopped at Bowles Road and had chicken noodle soup at Dennys.

Here we go again with the "Brains" of some of the people in this world. I asked the manager if he knew what exit number we were at. "I don't know, it's bowles road". Ok maybe he is new to the area. The waitress brings our soup. I guess I'm supposed to eat it with a fork. Had to ask for a soup spoon. So she brings us spoons after taking the order for the couple in the booth across the room. Where are the dinner rolls that come with the soup???? Oh yeah, be right back. 10 minutes later, almost done with the now cold soup, the dinner rolls show up. At least they were hot.
Needless to say, I filled out a comment card and mailed it to Denny's customer service address.
We were going to stop for the night at Drury Inn, but remembered the last time we stopped at the Bowles Road Drury and the hot tub and pool were full of kids, with the adults drinking Bud Lites from bottles in the pool and hot tub. All kinds of glasses around waiting to be dropped and broken and stepped on.
We looked at each other and simultaneously said "Let's go home" got us to laughing.
The Big Little Mule must have known we were homeward bound on the last leg, cause it was running about 75 without a sweat. But fighting a strong headwind the whole way.

Fueled up at Sullivan, our favorite truck stop, the girl behind the counter was pleasant, friendly, and courteous. Good to be back on the road nearing the Ozarks.

We flew low from Sullivan to Marionville. Except going thru Republic and Billings. Locals in those two towns will ticket you for 2 mph over speed limit.
At 9:15 pm we arrived home. Always good to be home after being on the road.

This morning, a pic of the Big Little Mule and Her Bronc in our backyard.
Great to be home.


And that is the Bronco Run Saga.

Don't know how much fuel we used, but coming home with the headwind got about 8 to 10 mpg, without the headwind back in Indiania was getting 15 mpg. OH well.

So now it is time for the Little Princess, the Barngoddess and me to take Her Bronc off the trailer, and let the Barngoddess drive it around the farm trying it out.
Have fun and remember

Celebrate Life.

I am a Lee, that's for sure

How can you tell if you are a true blooded Lee member?

Easy, just watch what you do to pick up the truck.

Now mind you that I would never pull a stunt that wasn't fully documented and with safety in mind, but if you recall a year or so ago I went after a 1966 Ford Bronco about 100 miles east of Indianapolis IND.

On the return trip we ran into this




a super cell, not a little one, but one that caused me to slow down to 30 or 35 mph and that was on an Interstate Highway.

So we got home with the Bronco in one piece.

The other night, here in the great Ozarks land, we had this potential problem on the horizon:




We also were talking with a friend in Trenton (that's Illinois and not Missouri), about this piece of equipment for the farm



So did the potential for a little snow (6 to 12 inches is nothing in these parts) deter us from heading to St. Louis? Now to be honest, there was already 5 inches of the white stuff on the ground here at the farm by 5 pm and it was still snowing to beat the band. At times it was almost white out conditions here.

Talking with Phil in Trenton, he relayed the snow was predicted to stay south of St Louis. Watching the local and state weather, it was determined the snow wouldn't go much farther north than Rolla.

Easy run to St Louis if no snow from Rolla on. So a quick packing of the necessary snow storm (hurricane supplies if you are in Florida), a quick jump on the internet to book a room at the Best Hotel Chain (according to the Gentleman Farmer), and at 5:30 pm Friday evening, the Barngoddess1 and I were in the Big Little Mule (abet thankfully we didn't have a problem that the Jeep would have to rescue me as evident in this picture) -



and enroute to Trenton ILL.

And the snow continued. By the time we reached Springfield (30 miles east) we were asking ourselves if this was a good adventure to be undertaking. No snow after Rolla and we'll be there in no time. Besides, MODOT was out in force:



So we kept going. Now on Interstate 44 around Springfield the crews were doing a good job of clearing the snow, but as soon as we were out of the great Springfield area I44 was one lane. Passing meant that white out conditions occurred and people would slow to 10 or 15 mph. At Rolla the snow was still coming, heavier than at the beginning, at St James MO it was even heavier, and by the time we got to Fenton MO, we were thankful that the Drury Inn was close to the highway.

A quick check in and we'd be in the hot tub in no time... right....

We got to the Hotel at 11:00 pm, the indoor pool and hot tub were closed for over an hour and the hotel crew were doing maintenance on them, alas, no hot tub tonight.... and it was still snowing. So what it took 5 hours for a 3 hour drive. We would have taken pictures but all you have seen is "whiteout".

We got up Saturday morning to what looked like about 4 inches of the white stuff. Turn on TV and it was remarkable, Interstate 64 was the dividing line for snow or no snow. South of I-64 in metro StL was snow, north was no snow. We laughed over breakfast (Drury Inn has the best) and headed out. Ten minutes later we were out of the snow and flying down I-70 toward Greenville ILL to meet Phil.

We were going to meet him at the local Bank in town, just off the square at 10.
Arriving a little early, we got a call from Phil saying he would be there in just a bit. And just a bit later, a F350 (black, crew cab, long bed) pulls into the bank parking lot. So I, thinking it is Phil, jump out and walk over and introduce myself to the driver (whose name is Walter), and ask if the truck is ready to be sold..... That poor guy had a deer in the headlites look.... what??? my truck ain't for sale..

I then realized it was the wrong truck. We both laughed over it, and a few minutes later Phil pulls into the parking lot. We all had a big laugh over which F350 was for sale. After the transactions were done, we bade our farewells and everyone was off. We stopped at the local cafe and ate a bit (it was lunch time you know) and headed home.
Me driving the dually, and the Barngoddess1 driving "her" truck.
Roads were clear (thank you MODOT and the big plow) and we were home at dusk.
Coming up the drive was fun, especially in two wheel drive, but we made it safe and sound.
A few more pictures of todays activities [THESE ARE FOR THE JEEP, BBB & OLERAGTOP]

Our back yard, the stable and side of the haybarn, and shoveling the white stuff.
Also a few pics of the dually and "her truck", not too worse for wear and tear.
So enjoy and be glad it is 70 in your town.








I have to admit that it was an experience going to STL, Barngoddess1 only yelled at me once (going up a hill in passing lane, with cruise control engaged, we started a little fishtailing, nothing serious, but I got an earfull...
So safe at home is our newest Little Mule: Ford (is there any other kind of truck?), F350, dually crewcab, with gray cloth interior, my favorite 7.3L diesel and an automatic tranny. Alas it is only two wheel drive, but a truck that size doesn't need to be in the mud and muck.... that's what "Her Truck" and "My Bronc" are for.

So how do you tell if you are a Lee boy...........


It's the adventure going after another truck to use on the farm, that's how we

CELEBRATE LIFE

A weekend away from the RATs and the RATRACE

The phone call went something like this:

"Lets take off for the weekend".
"Where to"
"I dunno, somewhere we haven't been"
"ok"

So Friday at 5:00 PM, the Barngoddess and I pile into the big little mule and head out of the Farm enroute to a lazy weekend "somewhere".

6 hours later we arrive at our destination. Temp outside was cold and damp, we got everything in to the cabin and couldn't find the heater. Found the fireplace, so I went to the store and bought firewood. Paid an arm and a leg to discover I had bought "green" firewood. The type that doesn't burn and only causes a lot of smoke. It was so cold that I didn't need ice for my evening G&T. And that was inside the cabin. Barngoddess finally found the heater (it was in the air conditioner) and we got some heat, but the window heater (alias a/c unit) made more noise than the dogs chasing the cats.

Woke up cold, but had good breakfast of Bacon (fresh from our latest pig slaughter), Eggs (fresh from the Coup) and good ole coffee, all hot and plenty good.

So our destination was one that I remember going to as a child. Don't remember shit about the trip or where we were or "well nothing", but we decided to have good memories this trip.



This sign says it all




Being good citizens and wanting to enjoy the Same E. Baker State Park, the Barngoddess and I took a stroll along one of the many hiking trails that crisscross the park.

Here is where we are going



And here is where we were:


Or maybe it is the other way around. Needless to say we finally got to the place that we was a going to and having traveled around this big globe of ours, from Hong Kong, to Edinburg Scotland, to Perth, Australia, to Guam, San Crox and Hawaii, we are seldom awed by what we find. In Hawaii we drove the Hana Highway (the curviest road ever) to look at the 7 falls. I'd link here, but am too bored to even think Hawaii's 7 falls anywhere near compared with the seven falls located along the Big Creek (not the Big River of our younger days), but the Big Creek that wanders thru the Sam A. Baker SP. If you count them, there are at least 7 falls here


If you only find 6, look again, for the 7th is there too.
Our walk continued for 1.7 miles and we ended up on a huge gravel bar. Yes I remember gravel bars from my first trip to Sam Baker SP, but I am sure this gravel bar wasn't here and the rocks we strolled on weren't even a twinkle in their daddy rock's eyes when I was here last. The Barngoddess did what she does best at times like these.... gathered rocks for her rock garden back at the farm.


Now the many rocks we have at the farm cannot be threatened by a few small rocks the Barngoddess collected. But is it considered theft of State Property to take rocks from the gravel bar that is in the Sam Baker SP? Any old State Troopers around that will discuss this in depth????

The walk was great, we took the low road compared to the side of that high hill path

yes there is a path right on top of those bluffs.

Anyway I told the Barngoddess that the next time I wanted to visit this gravel bar, we would drive 12 miles north on 143, put in a canoe and float down the Big Creek. Walking through the woods was great relaxation though. I look forward to going back and hiking up to the fire tower. Now when I do that, I will hike up the road that goes to the tower, not the paths that go up and down thru ravines etc.

After our walk, we decided to take that MO SH 143 and see where the put in was for Big Creek and how long it would take to float to Sam Baker. Along the way we found a couple items for the LongRoof and the Jeep and the Bus.
So I present them in no particular order:







Returning to the park, we saw this little deere not ten feet from the road. It just watched as we stopped and shot this pic.


the Barngoddess had me stop to take this picture... not of our cabin, but one you can almost rent..... It was the old two holer down in the woods.


So traveling north on 143, became south on 49 to Piedmont, MO. Home of "whoknowwhat" and a place that sells seasoned firewood. Enroute 49 became 34 and then left on 143 and we were back to our temporary home. Built a fire in the fire place that made the cabin comfy warm and toasty. Had dinner, found an old Reader's Digest condensed book and read the short story "The Property of the Gentleman". Cute little story worth reading if you are sitting in front of a warm fire, with iced to perfection martinis and a good looking chick next to you.

Woke this morning to rain and we decided to head home "Oleragtop" style. Now for those of you that don't follow the Oleragtop, he hardly ever drives a 4 land highway, prefering out of the way 2 lanes that date back to his birth.

Anyway, for those of you who would like to know.......
143 becomes 49, becomes 34, becomes 21, becomes 106, becomes bridge over the Current, becomes bridge over the Jacks Fork, and becomes Eminence MO, becomes 106 still and somewhere we said enough of the 35 mph curves and the ups and downs and ended up on 60 between Winona and Birch Tree. Took the old highway thru Willow, Cabool and Mountain Grove then beat feet for home. The winds had picked up and were gusting enough to make the Little Big Mule blow around on the 4 lane.
572 miles later, (got 17 mpg on this trip) 47 hours later, we are finally home and after putting a sick calf in the stable, inside to warmth and writing stories for others to enjoy.

More later, but this weekend the Barngoddess and I did truly

Celebrate Life.

So What we did last night

We did this 4/09/09, but finally getting to post on 4/10/09.

Awe, wonderment, excitement, adventure, screaming and yelling, and the boom of fireworks.

This all spelled what we did 4/09/09 in the Queen City of the Ozarks.

Of course the day went crazy, so arriving home at 5 pm, I mentioned to my Noble Assistant (the Little Princess) that we should go to the ballgame tonight.
Now a kid in a candy store is no match for the NA aka LP when it comes to ball games.

AND TONIGHT is the opening game for the 2009 season of the Springfield Cardinals.

Standing in the living room at 6 pm, with game time of 7:10, and we're 45 minutes from the stadium, can really create havoc when the words "lets go, what are you waiting for, get your cap and coat and we're off" WE were on the road less than 5 minutes later.

Got great seats, 12th roll back from the Cardinal dugout, seats on the aisle. Perfect seats for the game.

Couple pics from our seats. Ready to play ball.


Cards did great and by the top of the 3rd, game was 6 to 2 in favor of the Cards. Then I get a call from Sharks Angel... she stayed home doing homework and guarding the homestead against cattle rustlers. She stated she was in the tornado shelter due to warnings, and tornadoes just north of the farm near Halltown.

funny, no rain here, no lightening, great night for baseball ................... what was that?
a single lightening bolt in the western sky and the sky opened up. Rain came in buckets. We were prepared as we had our golf umbrellas ready and we didn't get wet.

Side note: Ky3 news at 6, 4/10/09, sports section had video of game and we were on it. Standing watching the rain.

WE stayed around watching the tornados on the TV monitors, calling the Bus to find out anymore news, and finally after an hour and a half, of rain, we called it quits and headed home. The NA (aka Little Princess) was getting cold, and to tell the truth this old man was getting cold also.

this morning find out the rain delay was 2 1/2 hours, game getting over at 1 am. Score: 16 Cards, 4 Frisco. What a game......

So $36.00 for tickets, $7.00 to park, $16.00 in drinks, popcorn, and a pretzel, and we came home cold and wet. Priceless to see the Little Princess screeaming when a Card hit a home run for her.

So it's Friday and cold and damp and we are staying home. Tomorrow to be in the 60s, game time is 2:10 pm, and you can bet your sweet britches the Little Princess and the Horsefarmer, along with the Barngoddess1 will be at the ballpark, rooting the Cards along.

What a way to Celebrate Life.


and why there was a delay...


And thats what we did on 4/09/09 in Southwest Mo.

My Noble Assistant was supposed to do this Blog, but she got called home to bath and get a good nights sleep so we can go to the game tomorrow.

Celebrate Life

SATURDAYS YES YES YES

Oh how I love Saturdays. The Barngoddess and I get to sleep in.

Weather here is great, one day is it Chamber of Commerce Day Weather (that is CoC Daytonna Beach, Fl) and the next is perfect for Aspen in the winter.

So sleeping in has become a tradition here at the farm, especially on Saturdays.

Leave the windows open, ceiling fan on, and boy isn't it great sleeping.

This morning................. different story.........

I kept dreaming that the Jeep and the Longroof were having way too much fun with a new toy..... something to do with numbers and Jeeps I imagine ( you know, CJ 2, CJ 5, CJ 7, CJ 9 ?????)

I always thought the CJ stood for Crazy Jeep (could be parlayed into Crazy John too)
and the number was so the Longroof could associate with them.

Anyway, wide awake at 5:30 AM today...... as we used to say in the USN,
failed open.

Alas, what to do, Barngoddess and I are snuggling and staying warm holding each other, perfect morning -- I believe Colonel Potter's term was "spooning".

BG: "Are you awake" HF: "Yes"
BG: "Wanta just get up" HF: "Might as well"

so at the unheard of hour of 5:30 in the morning on a Saturday, we are both wide awake and up eating breakfast.
Mind you, eggs from the chickens, meat from the pig, coffee and a beautiful gal across the table.

So into the computer to research my next idea, Barngoddess watching the morning news show.....

As soon as it's light, off to the stable to clean out the tack room (normal fall cleaning), then it is off to work on my Lil Mule and Casper.

But you can be assured that come 2:00 pm the Barngoddess and I will be pulling one of those "old folks" tricks (a quick trip to the bedroom for an afternoon nap)

So as you all plod through this day, remember to

CELEBRATE LIFE

So What Went on Saturday??

I guess I should start a new weekly column with this title.
Seems every week we scan the papers and this world wide web to find things going on during the upcoming weekend.
We categorize the events, cut out the articles, dwell into the depths of what is going to happen..... and presto... we decide what we are going to do on Saturday.

Now I want you to know that we are not a spontaneous couple. Nope, we plan ahead so we know where we are going to be at what time, etc.....
I have a bridge for sale tooo.

Anyway, yesterday was a big day. THE PLAN

Get up early and head out to the "Community Garage Sale" being held near downtown. Then off to Camping World to get parts, then Cracker days, then come home and watch the race.

I got up early, in true tradition of my dad,The Gentleman Farmer, around 9:30 am instead of the 7:30 as planned = remember I told you we planned everything out??

Well after fighting traffic and MOTORCYCLES for 15 minutes, we finally made it to the "Community Garage Sale". What a bust! The Shark Angel's 4th garage sale prior to us leaving Missouri had more stuff than this.. What a bust!!!!!

So then off to camping world - is this place getting to be our second home?????
No, one of the outside lights burnt out and as I went to replace the bulb I broke the cover. Got two this time,just in case.

Now off to "Cracker Days" at the St John's County Fair Grounds.

Understand we had no idea what Cracker Days was, or why they were having it.
But if it involves horses, a fairgrounds, and a meal - well it's on the top of our venue. Yep, Ad said for $10 you get parking, entry and a barbeque meal. Well for twenty bucks, it was a deal.

Reality?? NOT... got there and the rules had changed. Parking and entry was $5 per car. As we had the big ole truck I figured they were going to charge me double but NOT. And we got a parking spot at the very front near everything. I have always said "just drive up there like you own it and you'll probably get away with it". My little big brother Longrooffan does that all the time in the Birthplace of speed and gets away with it. I do it in Birthplace of speed and get a parking ticket - but that is a different story.

Turns out that "The Cracker" is the name given the horse and rider in the early Florida cattle industry. The term coming from the sound of the whip the riders used to drive the cattle from the brush.

We found a ride using miniature horses = made both of us sad to watch it, but then the horses didn't look that bad for wear:



It was interesting:

1. set up was a Cracker Camp from the 1800s, with period player --



and on he had skulls of various animals:



Lots of horse activities etc. So as it was dinner time (that's noon to you people out west), we headed to the barbeque place. The Beachgoddess had a 1/4 chicken with fries and slaw, I had BBQ brisket with fries. Total cost for the two meals $10.00
And the food was good. Have had better, but the BBQ sauce was the best. A sweet BBQ sauce. So we saved $5.00 for the day so far.

While eating, the band started playing. And they were a thousand percent better than the last band we listened to out on the beach.



I didn't get the picture of the little girl, about 4, in cowgirl dress and boots, out dancing. We stayed for the set and then headed out in search of more yard decorations.

Now the Beachgoddess is dressing up our house (see last post) and she wanted one more item. A season flag.

Heading to the store we thought would have the flag, we detoured because of a big sign reading "Huge Garage Sale". We were on 207 highway, turned left on this road and 5 miles later found the garage sale. BUSTED, smaller than the Community one.
And now we are at Highway 1, totally out of our planned route.

Alas, the best laid plans of mice and men....

To make matters short == 5 stores later we found what we were looking for.
Two stores after that we found where we could get the framework to hang the flag.

Presto: The Beachgoddess had her season flag.



So off to home we go... through the downtown traffic and streets filled with MOTORCYCLES (I guess Bike Week from Birthplace of Speed overflowed to StAug).
Oh did I fail to tell you that the place we got the sign hanger was two blocks from where the community garage sale was? We've made the full circle.

The race came on, and the last thing I remember is the 24th lap. Woke up this morning and had to read this web to find out the results.

Oh did we Celebrate Life yesterday.

Today it's off to Jacksonville to met up with a Retired Navy Dentist and his dentist bride, who we have known since 1973 when we were in Kansas City. We were a party crowd back then. So this should be a great day of reminenscing old times.

So good by for now. Oh yeah, Jacksonville (JAX) is only 40 min away, it'll be like heading into the city to visit The BUS....

Later all
tom and viola