The Land

Seems like we're running out of projects in the house.  Now we've started remodeling the 'lay of the land'.  Our grandkids would have had fun watching this action, yesterday morning.

On a sad note, you'll see the slain trees in the background.  For some reason, Consumers Energy believes they can clear our fence row -- outside of their purchased right of way -- removing trees that could never stand tall enough to fall far enough to risk CE's wires and towers.  Talk about wasted money and time!  I used to say that you can't expect to control it unless you own it.  Not true.  If you aren't a bureaucracy, you can't control it.  Period.

Fall on the farm

We seldom see such a beautiful fall season.  The corn is golden brown since it did not freeze before it was ripe and because we haven't had a lot of rain to blacken the foliage.  If you look at the picture of the neighborhood in the last post, you'll see what I mean.  Today, as I stood in Granny's Attic, I could look all the way to Forest Grove and beyond and all I saw was a sea of gold.
 
Elizabeth helped me decorate for tonight's SS hayride and bonfire.  All of the plants look nice yet and the grass is so green.  All we added were a few pumpkins and corn stalks to remind people that it is October.

Turned out to be a cool night -- great for a bonfire.  We all had a good time.  Had maybe 30 people.

Changes in the neighborhood

Well, sometime between one and three, Vander Jagts' barn dropped and we didn't get to see it go.  We're curious to know how Doug plans to demolish the silo, but we may just not see that either.  Things have changed a lot in our neighborhood in the last few years.

New Old Trailer

Michelle, here are a few pictures of the trailer. We're looking forward to trying it out -- but it may take a little longer than I wish. For some odd reason, Harvest takes precedence over anything else!

Freedom Board Family Fun on the Farm

Our recent hayride and bonfire for Freedom board members and their families couldn't have been held on a better day. Although a noon deluge left our favorite farmer drenched when he drove a load of big round bales home from Hudsonville (we won't talk about the wallet that ended up in the wash and the credit cards that got lost in the dryer!!!) the sun shone gloriously in time for the hot dog roast.



No one can do a hayride like we do. And, NO ONE enjoyed the hayride more than Hannah L! What a good time! And, in the end, while the old people chatted and sipped that lousy decaf coffee, the young guys solved the world's problems.

Combine's rolling

So, maybe the combine doesn't roll all the time! Our old green machine has been belly achin' a bit.


Finally, got it going again late this afternoon. We're hoping to have the soybeans harvested by Saturday. Then we'll have to wait a bit for the corn to dry a little more. No point in paying Crystal Flash too much for propane to keep the grain dryer going! No point in hauling a lot of water to the bin!

Wednesday, we're hoping for a couple Freedom guys to help put the floor in the bin that we moved two weeks ago. There's been no time to finish it and if we're going to be able to use it, the floor must go in.

Our new auger is a pile of parts at Topline in Zeeland. They're hoping we'd like to assemble it ourselves, as they are extremely busy. We'll have to see if we can find another guy and the time to work on it.


Tonight, the whole Krol family loaded into the combine for a ride. It's a tight fit! Good thing there are only two little boys.

A Day in the Life of a Farmer

Some days Elizabeth rakes the hay.



Sadie calmly supervises the whole operation.



Finally, the old baler goes to work, putting up hay for the winter.

Bin moving on down the road

PTL! God blessed us with perfect weather, safety, and fun. We made the turn from the neighbor's drive onto Riley Street.


Okay, so The Man was feeling a little pumped! He's been thinking of all this for weeks, waking early in the morning, measuring, drawing diagrams, buying bolts, taking 2x12s off the walls of his tool shed, buying more bolts...


All that excitement wears a guy out, so we had to let the younger generation help with the driving. Jason now wants to be a farmer :)

All that way down Riley, around the corner onto 56th Avenue and we did not have to turn away a single vehicle. We had the road to ourselves and really enjoyed it.


As the bin moved into its new home, only minor adjustments needed to be made in alignment. It's 9:50 p.m. and the bin is now fastened securely to the cement. The predicted rain, should it come with winds, will do no harm -- at least to the bin. Whew!

Kousa

This is why I love my Kousa Dogwood! If you plant one, find a spot near a window so you can enjoy it through so many seasons.

BF

Natalie Snuggles

Pondering Perry's Victory

Tugboat drew them in

The Men couldn't escape the draw of the tugboat.

Rare moment

Heidi's fever gave her a rare moment with her Papa...

Craziness in Ohio!

Wow! All that fun in Ohio with Eric and Lea Anne and Co., as well as Lea Anne's family, and we laughed the most at the playground! Not only did we all (Old Folks, plus 1947 S's) ride the train, but we managed to have parts of the six of us, together, in that one caboose :) And, wait until you see Eric's gymnastics...

Library progress, as of today

Towering Hartwick Pines

Buckley

As we entered the grounds of the Buckley Steam and Old Engine Show, we almost lost Boden. He was entranced by "Thomas" and all his friends. Eric and Lea Anne could not convince him that all the old machines were not trains! And when we found the train, Boden didn't want to ride -- he only wanted to watch :)

We especially enjoyed watching the threshing demonstration and hearing our farmer remember watching one work in the old days at 5550 Chicago Drive.

Old times revisited

Hartwick Pines, Buckley Steam and Old Engine Show, Happy Birthday Jason in the Walmart parking lot -- fun times last week Up North.

But touring Grayling with Eric, Lea Anne, Boden and Heidi (who really got a lot out of this :), became a nostalgic visit to our past. We found 208 Alexia Lane, saw the garage we built and the cement slabs we poured. We drove past the army airbase just around the corner from the building where we were baptized, stopped in front of the old USDA-SCS office, pointed out Michelle's birthplace, Mercy Hospital, found the Westers' home and drove by the fish hatchery. Wow! We were just kids then. Lived there from 1972-74, just before God transplanted us to this farm. Quite a journey...

Corn game

Well, the introductory phase of the corn game is over. We are now deep into the math. This noon Farmer Don picked an ear just a little way into the field behind the house. Conclusion and rationale:
One ear -- 18 rows of 35 kernels = 630 kernels per ear
Estimated ears per acre = 30,000
Estimated kernels per bushel = 90,000
Based on that, estimated bushels per acre = 217
Subtracting 10% for 'margin of error' = c. 200 bushel per acre yield -- of that
variety in that spot in that field.

That 105 day corn is showing some dents. Typically, denting should come around September 1. Now black layer will probably come around September 1. Last year, the first denting occurred by the first of September.

Stump grinder been and gone...

Debris from the hard maple is ground up to nothing! Al Kachur is the man!!!

Now living in our back forty...

Dad wanted you to see one of last week's projects at Freedom.

Dutch Daddy -- Oops!

Okay, we had a new one. Yesterday during feeding, Farmer Don found a large deceased bovine. Today, in preparing for removal by My-Pac he found the reason. Being your typical Dutch Daddy, he had purchased some 'free martins' that weren't and some steers that also weren't. Sometime they got together and the resulting, undetected offspring made an unsuccessful passage into the harsh world of a beef barn. Both mother and calf are deceased -- a reminder of the amazing way God has allowed humans to intervene when helping their own offspring, preventing so many problems...