Sunset

We have some pretty awesome sunsets around here. And you can tell when a good one is brewing because the inside of the house turns pink. The skies also start to show a pink hue

Then...

I wish my camera could do it justice...

And my favorite: "Reflection on the Sewer Ponds."

Beautiful, isn't it?

(The sunset, not the sewer ponds...)

Ox in the Mire

Or in our case, "Pivot in the Mud."

Last Sunday, just before dark, my husband asked me to come and help him while he pulled the pivot out of the mud. Again, this is a pivot:

And one of the wheels was stuck deep in the mud so the pivot was not pivoting....

So I got in the "outfit" :) ....the old pick-up truck that was my husband's grandmother's truck and drove down to the field where the pivot was.

Now, here is an important detail. It was POURING RAIN outside.

I pulled up to the control panel that had huge warning labels of "Possible Electric Shock"

....while my husband put a chain on the part of the pivot that was stuck, and connected it to a tractor. When he gave me the word, I pushed a few buttons, and he started pulling on the pivot with his tractor/chain combo.

After a few minutes, and lots of rain, the pivot was unstuck. It wasn't so bad.

So I got back in the pick-up and tried to drive out of the field. But now I was stuck in the mud! The cowboy tried to push me out, but once we got it to budge, it got stuck again. Good thing we already had a tractor and chain because now it was dark. My husband had to find a place to hook on the chain, which happened to be on the back of the truck. Then he pulled me out of the field, while I had to steer in reverse, in the dark and in the rain.

That's about as much adventure as this farmer's wife can handle in one day.

The end.

Outfits

First of all... Outfits.

I always hear farmers talking about their outfits.

"Did you see my new outfit?"... "I saw his new outfit yesterday.".....
"I was wondering about your outfit."....."Did you see that outfit?!"....."Hey, that's a pretty nice outfit you have there."

I thought it was pretty strange to hear cowboys talking about their clothes... so often. I thought all that really mattered were wranglers and boots.

Well....come to find out that "my" kind of outfit, is not "their" kind of outfit.

Definition of a farmer's outfit: the type of vehicle(s) you drive

Oooo.. That makes sense now!

Oh Just a Few Random Things...

I'm pretty behind on this blog. Some of the reasons include:

Trying to save our plants from being killed by the frost....

Yes, we bundle them up in blankets, don't you do the same on those cold nights?

Look how shivered, and wilted they are! No! Don't die!

Please!

And other BIG reasons include HARVEST TIME!

The cowboy has been spending his time harvesting wheat, fixing the combine (big machine you have to have to harvest the wheat, unless you want to pick each stem and shake it yerself), cutting hay, fixing something, baling straw, fixing the combine again.

It's been busy.

And then even with all of that, he has time to do this:

Pretty much, he's in charge of the canning. Is anyone else's husband like this? I mean, I don't mind it, but usually the wife is in charge, right?

It's kinda nice to have him doing all the work, and I just get to stand and peel tomatoes. :)

And voila! (Here's half of them, at least!)

What you do not see pictured yet are our many jars of pears, peaches, and jams. Plums and applesauce to come. I've tried drying peaches and apples too. The apples worked out, but the peaches did not....There's a learning curve here.. for this new farmer's wife! (Don't even ask me about my beans. That's a touchy subject...)

Oh, and the other thing? Moley, the cat, is not doing her job! We've been catching a lot of these critters. I'm not so happy about that.

Not only are they gross, but my 2 yr old usually sleeps on the floor and ever since one ran across the room, I will not put him on the floor. So he's been in my bed for a month. Darn mice. I want my bed back!

Thank a Farmer Today! :)