What's been happening here lately?

 Well, I've had good intentions since my previous posts. Good intentions and pocket change can get you a piece of bubble gum, though.

Since I posted last, we have been busy. Well, busy for us - two old retired folks. It's funny how busy takes on a different perspective once a person retires. I had a good friend tell me that she and her husband noticed that things which once were scheduled as after work tasks became a day's focus once they retired. So, dental appointments, trips to the grocery, etc. that were squeezed in after work became the agenda for the day after they retired. I think Mike and I have adapted that sort of situation as well. Not that he hasn't been super busy. I just don't pencil as much onto my calendar as he does!

He's put a second cutting of hay in the barn. He's cut several acres of grass each week. He's mixed up and bagged up over 150 pounds of sausage. Plus, he's squeezed in some work at the Cemetery and other tasks. I've done some straightening and organizing. I've done some cleaning out and donating. I've done some digital uploading of information for documenting Cemetery information. 

When Mike took on the Cemetery Manager job last year, I volunteered to be the Cemetery Association secretary. There had been no digital documentation since 2014. So, ten years had raced by with only paper documentation of burials, lot sales, etc. So, my scanner has gotten a good workout. I've been creating spreadsheets to make information easily searchable. I've been checking one list against the other and sorting out differences. It is a thankless job but one that is already proving helpful. 

I've also enjoyed the freedom to read quite a bit. What a luxury! I can put a load of laundry in to wash and sit down and read until the load is ready to be transferred to the dryer. What a treat!

We took the chance to get away between hay crops and went to watch our oldest grandson play baseball in the state tournament. What fun! Yes, it was HOT! It was also great to get away from the responsibilities of home and do a bit of relaxing while also enjoying getting to spend a little time visiting with family that we don't have the luxury of spending time with on a regular basis.

We also got to watch the other two grandson's exhibit their cattle at a local livestock show. It was fun to see them learning and working hard. It was also great to see their competitive spirit being applied in the show ring and sharing some of the hard work that they had been doing at home.

Finally, we also had the opportunity to spend time with one of the granddaughters. Luci came to visit and spent a couple of nights here with us. She was great help to me in a cleaning and organizing project. She also was fun to visit with and catch up on what is going on in her life as a new fifth grader.

Hay Week!

It has been hay week here on the farm! 

Mike has been moaning and groaning about all the rain without a stretch of sunny weather because he had hay that needed harvesting. We are grateful for the rain and cooler temperatures that May gave us but he also wanted to get the hay out of the field. 

Well, on Saturday, the rainy weather gave way to hot, hot, hot temperatures. 

As I pulled out of the driveway to go to our eldest grandson's baseball tournament, Mike was beginning to cut the hay.

When I returned on Sunday morning, the field with the cut hay is what greeted me.

Mike had already fluffed the hay with the tedder. That process just sort of picks up the hay and allows air to help to dry it out. He was beginning to rake the hay into windrows to prepare it for baling.

Then, for the past couple of days he has been baling the hay. It yielded fifty-plus bales and one hot, sweaty, dirty guy.

Next, Mike and Stephen will haul the rolls to the barn and get it all stored away. It will make good winter feed for the livestock - ours and son, Stephen's. There will be a day or two of rest and hay will will come again later in the summer when the second cutting is ready for harvest.

Wildlife Friends

 Since we live on a farm, we have several animals. Oh, we aren't over run with farm animals. We do have a couple of goats and a miniature donkey. However, most of the animals we see around here are wildlife. 

Last year, we had a whole herd of deer who lived here and grazed our front yard and front field. Some of them have moved on. However, we still have a resident deer or two. Mike said that he saw a couple of babies when he was cutting the hay in the front field. So, we knew there was a mother deer somewhere nearby as well. 

One afternoon last week I made a delivery next door and visited some of the grands as they were playing and eating outside. When I came back down the hill and circled the buggy round to park it next to the back porch, I saw the mama deer!

She and I just paused and stared at one another for a few minutes. She was sizing me up and I was trying not to scare her. After a moment or two, she turned and ran across the front yard and around the side of the house to get away from me. Then, she slowed and headed up the hill toward the hay barn.

Random Sunday Musings

We've been staying home and that is just fine by me.  Oh, I get up and wash my face and put on make-up and tame my hair each morning.  But, I'm sleeping in because my commute to work is so much shorter.  You see, I just walk over to the little desk at the window in my bedroom and boot up my laptop and I'm at work. 

School closed for us in early March and I've been working from home ever since.  Actually, I think I'm working longer hours and more focused on my laptop and work than I ever have been before.  I don't get to walk around the school building and visit classrooms.  I don't get to stop in the hallways and chat with teachers.  I just sit and work.  Of course, more of my work is troubleshooting than ever before because more teachers are asking questions and trying to improve their edutech game.  I'm also able to sneak in a little bit of creativity every now and then to collaborate with a teacher to model a suggested way of sharing materials and information.  I'm also involved in lots of virtual meetings - lots more meetings than I have been all year long!  These meetings are a way for people to share information and get up-to-date on the latest happenings in distance learning.  Plus, they are a vital way for educators to stay connected while staying apart.

With the nice sunshiney weather, I've also been outside a bit.  I've lounged in a front porch rocker reading a couple of Saturdays in a row.  I've spent a couple of afternoons driving the ATV around and picking up limbs and trash.  I've strolled to the mailbox and back a couple of times.

I've also spent lots of time reading, listening to newscasts, listening to podcasts, and generally trying to stay informed.  I'm disheartened at times and overwhelmed at times and heart-warmed at times and awestruck at times by the things I'm learning and seeing.

It almost feels like we've stepped back in time a bit to the days I've read about back in the 1940s.  It has been suggested that we wear masks when we go out to pick up essentials just like back then.  So, my daughter has been crafting them from scraps of fabric for local dentist offices and walk-in clinics.

She sent me the instructions she used and adapted for crafting the ones she's made. 

Like Mr. Rogers suggested, I've been looking for the helpers.  I thought this suggestion was a great one that is really easy to do and will probably do this for our local hospital, doctor's offices, firefighters, grocery workers, etc.

One of my favorite bloggers put together a wonderful post with Tips for Sheltering in Place and I certainly encourage folks to take her tips to heart. 

Sometimes when I'm overwhelmed I find that I need to look into or listen to something that is more upbeat or entertaining than all these news blasts and updates.  One thing that I saw suggested this week was to listen to podcasts with positive and entertaining themes.  I listened to this one yesterday and it really made me smile. Katie Couric has a newsletter called Wake-Up Call which shares news blurbs that are really just enough information but also has some upbeat information as well.

One of the suggestions that I see posted over and over is to reach out and give someone a call or have a video call with them.  Just check in and see how they are doing and ask about their family.  I always think of my Daddy when I see something like that because he was a master at such things.  He loved to chat and would pick up the phone and give folks a call just to touch base and chat.  Of course, that is one of the things I miss about him most because he would touch base with me almost each and every day.  So, I've tried to do that with our children by calling and video calling periodically.  They are pretty good at sending photos of things the children are doing or text messages of funny little things they say and that really peps up the spirits of Mike and me.

I know that I am fortunate and staying at home is pleasant for me in my nice home in the country where I've got plenty of room to roam around or nice spaces to just sit and chill.  I hope that others are finding those spaces of their own and taking this time to really look at how our world is changing and seeking out ways to make it a change for the better in a random, personal sort of way.

Changes

The farm across the road sold a couple of years ago and the developer has been moving dirt and digging ponds and building roads.

Now, the home building has started.  I think we heard that there would be about 185 homes built over there. 

I hope they don't all have a big burn like this day-in-and-day-out.  These pictures were made last week.  Today, I'm out on the front porch reading a book and the skies are a beautiful blue with fluffy clouds floating overhead. 

Leap Day!

Today is Leap Day, that day that only comes every four years during Leap Year.  I've seen various pictures around the web that show animals leaping or people leaping and it made me think of days gone by here on our little farm.  

Mike raised several calves by feeding them from a bottle and growing them to feeder weight and then, with a heavy heart, sold them to be fed out for beef.  It would always take him weeks or a month to build up his courage to take the calves off to the sale barn toward their new life because he had grown so attached to them, making them a part of his heart.

The calf shown above was one who had a wonderful 'personality' and we often laughed at him.  He LOVED to eat and when we would go to the barn and give a shout for the calves to come for their daily feeding of grain, this calf would come running, leaping, and bounding with all the exuberance of a child in a candy store.

That year, like this one, we had lots of rain and LOTS of mud.  So, these photos show the calf leaping through the mud to come into the barn for his grain.

I hope you embrace today with the same excitement and that it has the same satisfying opportunities that the grain feeding did for this calf.

Happy Leap Day!

Honoring

There was music in my heart this morning when I stepped outside to water the flowers on my front steps.

I saw the fluttering flag at the end of my driveway.  On this Memorial Day I was not the only one decorating our home and farm to honor those we have lost.  I had a whole band of helpers.

The local high school band offers this patriotic service.  Each patriotic holiday, the Nolensville High School Band commemorates our country's national patriotic holidays and serves the community by placing eight-foot tall, three-foot-by-five-foot flags near the driveway on the morning of the holiday and removing it that evening.

Each time I glance out the window and catch a glimpse of the flag fluttering, I'm reminded of how fortunate I am to be in this country, in this community, in this place.

From the highway it makes the entrance to our home more beautiful and I hope it helps others to remember and appreciate like we do.

I think one of the best parts of this opportunity is that I get to simply enjoy this patriotic gesture and know that local young people are also thinking of the honor there is in recognizing the sacrifice of others which provided them opportunities.

We feel honored to be able to support these civic-minded young people and honor those we lost this Memorial Day.  Why not check to see if your local school provides such an opportunity?

What's Happening Round Here

You might say this has been hay week at Twin Oaks Farm. 

Honestly, that seems to have been the focus for the past couple of weeks. 

First there is the getting ready stage. 

The part where the equipment is greased and blades are sharpened and tractor is serviced with new oil, filters, and that sort of thing. 

Then, there is the part where the cutting takes place.  Then, there is the part where the teddering takes place. 

Then there is the part where the raking and baling takes place. 

Now, we are in the hauling and stacking in the barn stage. 

Of course, all throughout each of those parts and stages was the checking the weather prediction part.  Morning checks of weather predictions. 

Mid-day checks of weather predictions.  Evening checks of weather predictions.  Bedtime checks of weather predictions. 

We check The Weather Channel.  We check local news TV channels.  We check every weather prediction app available on our phones. 

Weather is all-important when it is hay time. Today it is hot and breezy.  Perfect hay weather.  So, at the end of the day, those fifty round bales will be in the barn waiting for winter-time. 

That about sums up what's been happening round here!

New Driveway!

Back in the spring Mike's mother sold her house and moved into our basement.  We had always used the driveway that came by the front of her house and onto our property.  However, we had no legal easement.  So, with the new neighbors taking over, we needed to build our own driveway coming off of the highway.  There were lots of hoops to jump through to satisfy TDOT (Tennessee Department of Transportation) requirements.

Finally we got the permit and learned all of the specifics required to meet standards and we proceeded forward. First, the pipes were delivered.  There was one large one to go into the creek.  You can barely see it peeking out near the right side of the photo above.  The smaller pipe was scheduled to create a culvert coming off the highway. 

Next, a big track-hoe was delivered.  It started to look like a big construction zone all up and down the highway because the gas company was laying a new pipeline on the opposite side. 

In came a big truck with four concrete head-walls.  The two long ones were required by TDOT and the two shorter ones were important to provide stability for the large diameter pipe in the creek.  I watched with curiosity as each piece was unloaded.  The track-hoe operator made moving those huge pieces look simple.

Unloading was quick work and everything was soon sitting on the ground ready to be set into place.

When the truck hauling the concrete left, I went down to get some closer photos to give a perspective of the size of these big head-walls.

The photo above clearly shows the two different styles of head-walls that were needed.  The longer ones on the right side were intended for the culvert coming off the highway and the shorter, taller one on the left is one of the ones intended for stabilizing the pipe in the creek.

There had already been enough gravel delivered to get up to the bank of the creek area.  The photo above shows about half of the pipe resting there awaiting the concrete head-walls be set on either end of it.

The photo above gives a bit of perspective for the size of that piece which would stabilize the pipe in the creek.  I am five-feet-six-inches in height.

Next, a log-chain was hooked to one of the concrete pieces and the front of the track-hoe for lifting and lowering into place in the creek bed. 

It was lowered over the embankment on the north end of the creek bed.

It had to be adjusted a couple of times to get it turned and set at just the right spot.

Then, the chain was looped through the metal loop on the top of the pipe and it was slipped through the head-wall.

The process was repeated on the south end of the pipe.  Then, load after load of gravel was delivered and packed around the pipe and over the top of it.

The gravel size made a huge difference.  The kind that was packed around the pipe was so small and held lots of dust with it.  The concept is that the tiny pieces will pack together and almost form a concrete-like nest to hold the pipe in place. 

The photo above shows the track-hoe packing and moving scoop after scoop of rock to form a tight fit around and on top of the metal pipe.

Next, the track-hoe operator moved his dozier into place and cut out a path for the gravel bed to lead up toward the house.

Again, load after load of gravel was delivered and spread along the pathway created by the dozier to form the driveway heading straight toward the house, then, curving at the edge of the yard and going around the end of the house.

When all the pathway was covered with gravel, I went out to the highway and made photos looking up toward the house.

 The above photo is the view just inside the fence between the highway and the creek.

 The photo above is taken while crossing the creek.  Our vehicle is sitting right atop where the pipe is.

 The photo above shows the gentle curve right at the edge of the yard.  Eventually, we plan to construct a small parking area here and put a sidewalk leading straight to the front door.

Then, there is a short span before another curve leads to the back side of the house.  Getting our own driveway leading off the highway was exciting for Mike and me.  It was quite expensive but we know that it certainly increased the value of our property and it highlights the serene little setting where our house is nestled under the twin oak trees in our front yard.