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.