Tractor Work

Progress is being made on the 4020.

They were hoping to not have to split it again,

but they are going to have to do it in thirds after all.

Finally Some Snow

6:30 yesterday morning.

A new, fresh 4 inches.

And a nap in the sun at noon.

 This morning at 8:00

when I was finally able to get out

we had some beautiful frost.

Today's snow started around 2:00.

Now at 7:00 we have about 3 1/2 inches.

Some of us are hoping for a lot more before it ends!

More New Chicks

The second batch arrived early this morning.

This group contains 31 Red Stars and one free exotic.

The first batch is three weeks old.

They moved to the barn yesterday.

39 of 41 survived from that group.

One died at a day or two old.

The second one died when it got big enough to fly out of the tank.

My guess is that Hershey's mothering instinct took over 

and she carried it by the head over to the mattress

 to take care of it

just like she does the kittens.

It just didn't end as well for the chick.

Powder Ridge!

We were back!

Elsie was the main photographer yesterday.

She got lots of good ones.

It had to be soooo cold on those chairlifts!

I wouldn't know.

I was smart and stayed on the inside looking out.

There go Molly, Hannah, Ben, and Jack.

Elsie got a great one of Luke in midair.

And Hannah got him standing on top of the world.

 It's blurry,
but it's proof that Ben did the whole rail.

 Molly can fly!

It brought back such great memories of days gone by.

Everyone was exhausted and happy at the end of the day.

A 4020

A neighbor's 4020 found it's way to our shop today.

It's in need of a new steering motor 

and some leaks need found and fixed.

It was a chilly job getting it washed and ready to be worked on.

Ear Tagging

Why wait for a 60* day when you can do it on a 12* day?!

Man, it was cold out there yesterday!

But it had to be done.

Elsie ran the gate up at the barn.

Molly ran the headgate

and wrote down information.

Jack ran the tail gate.

Ben did the tagging and

made sure his helpers did what they were supposed to do.

I did whatever I was told to do

and took pictures

and froze.

A New Toy

This will make life SO much easier 

when it is time to chase wayward cattle 

back into the pasture 

they just escaped.

It sure would have come in handy 

a couple of weeks ago 

on the lovely 3* Sunday afternoon 

when we spent a couple of hours 

chasing a stubborn heifer over frozen, plowed corn fields.

And now we have paths to follow

wherever we want to go on the farm!

Saturday Work

It was cold and windy.

But bedding needed to be put down.

And corn needed to be ground.

Until the corn drag motor broke.

It's always something.

The shop is full of wagons getting wheel bearings replaced.

A Busy Day In the Shop

I'm not sure why Ben moved snow in the pasture!

Jack had CHAT today.

Elsie had class this morning 

and then came home to study 

until she left for her clinicals at 3:30.

Hannah and Molly studied

and messed around

until Hannah left for Unhinged at 4:00.

Luke didn't have school today.

So Luke and Ben tackled shop jobs.

Of course I was gone all day 

so the pictures didn't all get taken!

It's been a productive couple of days.

The grinder repairs were completed.

The wheel rake underwent a complete dismantle 

so all pivot points could be cleaned up and greased.

The wagon was brought over so it can be worked on tomorrow.

And they started to service the Bobcat.

Time to be done for a few hours.

Loading Practice

It has been brought to my mind that

inquiring minds want to know if

the chute practice was productive.

Indeed it was!

She walked right through the chute on the first attempt.

On the second attempt, she was locked in the chute.

Ben used the skid steer to pull and push the trailer up to the chute

so she had nowhere to go but in.

So she tried to go under!!

But they got her loaded 

and delivered to A & M.

That nightmare is over!

Chute Practice

After the loading fiasco last week

with a fairly naughty heifer

going over two fences and through several more,

a new loading system was devised,

and everyone was run through a trial run

in hopes of having a calm heifer tomorrow

when we load.

 It went smoothly today.

We'll see how tomorrow goes.