First Summer Day 2011!

The happiest trio in Freetown.  Two kids in a tractor and a happy farmer getting the first seeds in the ground.



This is me following the grain drill back to the field this evening so that Mark could 'sow a quick 10 acres' to find out how his latest gadget is going to work

Here it is.  This is the squeeze pump for applying liquid fertilizer with the drill.  In this case it's smelly fish fertlizer.  It's always been something we wanted to explore, but this year Mark learned a bit more about it and made the leap to buying the pump, tank, etc.  I have to admit, it is pretty cool.  And according to a fellow grain farmer who applied it last year, they saw a three day jump on plants out of the ground.  I'm not completley convinced that it's worth it's weight (or cost) in gold, but we'll find out with some of our own amateur field trials this year.

It was SUCH a beautiful day here today.  Ya know that first real day of summer after a long winter and spring?  Well today was that day and it was glorious.  The kids never put on shoes and the bathwater was brown, so it was a great day.  After chores tonight I looked at us all and decided that we have taken enough posed and pretty family pictures that it was time we had a real one.  So I propped the camera up on the truck and self-timered this one into existence. 

Even smelly ol' Rinnie made it into the shot. He's a great farm dog and I'm thankful for him everyday, but I'm having a hard time finding that love in my heart every night as he barks and barks at the coyotes.  And really I shouldn't blame him since I think it's the sound of the coyote howls that wake me and keep me up, but either way, it's really wearing me out.  That sound, the yips and wails of the pups and adult coyotes; it sounds like there's hundreds of them, right outside my window. I swear they are in the farm yard. So brazen. 

Hope this finds you hydrating after a warm day in the sun.

-Sally