Ok, so force of habit here - the calendar says we need a new thread.

Stan is torn between fixing the chopper and unloading wagons. There's rain coming, but when is the question. I'm no help - my left leg has decided to play fast and loose with its dependability. It just goes out. so far, I haven't fallen and I find that if I just take it easy I'm fine. Really don't need this today, I'm helping with Erin's birthday party. When her mother asked what she wanted to do, she said, "Paint pots and then plant geraniums in them that they can take home." there will also be a pinata and a new swing for keeping them busy.

I've got one last batch of pansies to plant, where is the problem. There are a couple of possibilities. Guess I'll go scope out the gardens and see what calls to me.

Thanks for the new thread. Sorry to hear about the rebellious leg. Is it because of the "new" knee?

How sweet that she wanted to paint pots and plant geraniums.

Sorry to hear about your leg. Hope it improves soon.

The birthday party was a rousing success, as indicated by how tired all of the adults involved were at the end! The pots were lovely and the girls all thought it a wonderful thing, which shows a lot of promise from these 7 year olds.

Stan got the chopper fixed and sharpened, the hay that was down chopped, the wagons unloaded and then mowed the lawn. He came up to our daughter's house for supper when he got chores done. It was a very long day all around.

I suspect my leg problem isn't so much the new knees, but what they left of the old ones (knee caps and connecting tissue) along with the weather front that is being slow to move through. Makes life interesting...

Congratulations on the innovative party! I hope the knees are better soon.

I should have adopted Anna's system of priorities; I didn't get the roses planted until yesterday afternoon. When I was shredding the front paddock I noticed a broken gate and it took a while to find the hardware to fix it. In fact the time needed to complete most of my repair jobs is at least half devoted to looking for stuff.

This afternoon I will start on the north pasture - also known as Lake LaBlanc after a former owner who put in a big stock tank that does not hold water.

Stan finished chopping yesterday - put one load up to level it off. Now, he starts baling. There are two fields down, both fairly small, but the grass is heavy, so it is probably enough for him and Kelly, and Jess tomorrow, to take care of.

We went to the National Honor Society, Academic Awards and Wall of Fame Ceremony last night at Clymer Central School. Aside from the fact that Tom (gs#1) is the president of NHS and a 4 year Academic Award winner, they were awarding a plaque on the Wall of Fame to the entire transportation department, past and present bus drivers and mechanics. Now if the school board can get their act together and offer a contract that makes it worth the while of the drivers to continue their record of safely delivering kids to school and back home, it will have been an honor worth celebrating.

I shredded until dark and didn't break anything! I did, however, nearly bury the tractor in an old cow grave - but it clawed its way out heroically.

Eewwww.............hope that it was an old cow grave and didn't smell. LOL

The guy that rents our cropland mowed all his hay on Saturday and Sunday. I don't know WHAT he was thinking. Just started chopping it today and it looks like rain, both looking at the sky and looking at the weathermap. It's pretty "green" over southern Wisconsin. Oh, well, not our problem anymore. The SU is doing a hay bag for another neighbor. They started that one yesterday but he didn't have enough down to fill it. Actually, he did, as he wanted a 100 foot bag. The bag guy didn't have a 100 foot one so SU took a 200 footer and said he'd cut it off when it was 100 feet. Well, they chopped all he had down and SU told him "you only need about 7 more loads and you'll have the 200 footer full", so I guess he was going to mow some more to fill the whole thing.

Then another neighbor that we milk for wanted to know if he'd be available to help him hay, either chop or mow. He's the one with the 90 year old dad that thinks he can still "do it all". Son John isn't so sure..............LOL

When I was working at Equity yesterday one of the guys came and asked if SU would do any custom mowing of hay? I asked "your machine or ours?" He said "yours...........I see he has it setting out beside the machine shed". I told him "no, not with ours...........it is leaving our farm forever this afternoon; it is sold".

Messy, rainy day. Stan and his all girl band of workers (Jess and Kelly) got the hay that was down in the barn - never did hear a final count on the day. Now it looks like 5 or 6 days of down time with the weather being chancy.

I got most of the garden in - keep forgetting to take the onion sets out. I weeded what hasn't been planted yet, but just never got back out there. I trimmed some of the dead wood out of the old garden roses and they look moderately better. I have at least 6 varieties in bloom at the moment. I know for some of you, this sounds really late, but up here, it is right on time. I need to figure out where the cukes and pumpkins are going.

Kathleen, "your roses" bloomed much earlier here - they have acclimated well!

I'm glad. There are more here everyday.

Stan and Kelly dug up the drain under the barn floor - cement was considerably thicker than anticipated, but they got it done and re-cemented. I hope this solves the water backing up into the barn during rain storms problem.

I took my mother grocery shopping and picked up a dozen doughnuts to celebrate National Doughnut Day. It is, by the way Diary Month, so go eat a doughnut and have a glass of milk with it!

Oh no, have I missed National Doughnut Day!?

I am doing my best for Dairy Month - eating ice cream, yogurt, drinking milk, etc.

We had pizza tonight. LOL My contribution to the "eat dairy".

There's a milky white ball in the eastern sky. Perhaps the fog will clear and we will see what it really is! the yard is sodden, the fields are at that point where there is no driving across them with out pontoons. Stan figures we have had between 10 and 12 inches since last Thursday. When it hasn't been raining, it has been foggy and drizzly.

Stan got the big round baler, but it sits out in the back yard machinery parking area, loaded with wrap and ready to go when the ground dries out. the mower sits next to it. Stan and Kelly have spent the down time putting together a hay elevator for Melissa's barn.

I've been pulling grass out of the flower gardens, the wet soil making it quite easy to get the roots out. I went out last night and there's one row of beans up in the garden.

In the last 2 days I have gotten calls for 3 milking jobs. One of them is booking ahead.........next February. LOL My brother needs someone for this Sat. night and the night of July 13th. Another gal needs someone to finish milking and do the feeding and morning chores next Tuesday. Their kids are showing their cattle at the District show an hour away and dad wants/needs to be there. That farm is the place we like milking/chores the best. Nice cows, place set up decent. And, if the weather is nice, they have an in-ground pool that we can use. Might be a little cool on Tuesday yet, tho.

Isn't it nice to be wanted?

I spent the morning at the dentist and I now need to fix hot wire and and patch another leaking water trough. At the moment we are having a thunder storm - no rain so far, but lots of thunder. I also want to move a few critters around so that I can leave the south paddock open. The feral hogs have been rooting it up and I want to leave the gate open so the dogs can discourage them.

Anna, I wonder if there are reliable people like you to help out around here when necessary. The only thing I don't like about farming is never being able to take a vacation!

Well, Arlene, I do travel. I live in Wisconsin and I go to New York every August. It's for a gal on my Farmwife list group. After I told the group we were selling our cows, she said "I wish I could hire you to milk mine when we go on vacation". I told her "pay my way and I'll come". She does.........flies me out there, I stay in her house and "house sit", leave me a vehicle to drive. Don't need that tho, as my SU is driving out. The farm is only a couple hours from Watkins Glen, so he is going out to the NASCAR race there that first weekend I am there. We do have to mow her yard (takes us 2 hours with 2 rider mowers, so you know it is a big yard). And she pays in cash. She does get perks, tho. I bake for her while she is gone. She doesn't cook much and bakes not at all. Last year I made her about 11 batches of cookie dough and put it in her freezer. A double batch of brownies, a double batch of butterscotch brownies. 3 loaves of bread. A dozen HUGE cinnamon rolls. I told her awhile back that this year I was going to have my SU bring out my KitchenAid mixer.........she would be amazed at what I could do with my good mixer. She told me she was amazed at what I could turn out with her little Sunbeam mixer. Then I told her she'd be astounded at the KitchenAid results. LOL

I asked her the first year I went out " aren't there any people in New York that do relief milking????" She said "I want someone that has some common sense and can make decisions". Ah, decisions, I am good at that.

SU and I usually go as a team and we operate just like we did when we were still milking............I do all the milking and he does the feed mixing and feeding and outside stuff. If needed, I also feed the calves. We've had people tell us that it is so nice to have someone dependable and they don't have to worry when they are gone if we are there. We just do the stuff like it was our own.

We only do guys that have stanchion/tie stall barns. I don't want to get into any parlor milking. If they have enough cows to utilize a parlor, they should have ample help to do the job. I prefer herd size of about 60 or so, but I have one guy that usually has close to 90 and another with 105 or so. That one I have help milking. The guy with 90 I have to do myself. He has 8 milkers tho, so it isn't too bad.

In Sept. I have to help where they have about 115, but there are 3 of us. Hubby mixes feed and has to feed at 2 different farms.

There is really good money in it if you can handle some of the stupid things you have to deal with. We usually make at least $100.00/day. You cannot believe how many of the guys we have chored for don't even have a decent pitchfork or scoop shovel. One place the SU had to pail about 20 pails of concentrate into the feed mixer..........not a one of the 5 gallon pails had a HANDLE, for crying out loud. I keep an arsenal of stuff in the back seat floor of the truck and the 3 pitchforks are in the truck box all the time. LOL

Anna, almost makes me wish I had a farm so you could come and fill my freezer with all of your homemade baked goods!