Getting Ready for an Auction!

We have been cleaning up and getting ready for an auction.  My Daddy farmed for more than fifty years in one spot.  That is a lot of time for tools and equipment to accumulate.

For most of those years on that farm, we operated a family dairy farm.  Daddy led us through milking, corn-growing, silage-harvesting, hay-harvesting, and lots more.  That farm grew from a run-down place with an old house with a fallen-in chimney and an old-time wooden barn to a real showplace due to his leading through those things and working daily.  

After he retired, he continued to do what some might call hobby farming there, raising some steers and cutting the pastures and cropland grasses for hay to sell.  He kept most of the equipment used when it was a producing dairy farm, however.  

Since his passing, we have simply tried to maintain the farm.  There has been a spring hay-harvesting overseen by Mike and Mama.  A couple of guys were hired to come in and cut the grasses.  Mike raked it.  Those guys baled it, and one of Daddy's hay customers bought it and hauled it away.  Mike and a young fellow also took down some drooping and unnessesary fences.

Maintaining all that equipment is quite an undertaking and when it isn't being used on a daily basis the maintenance becomes another chore.  So, Mama has decided to sell the equipment and tools.  She hired a couple of guys who have become life-long friends beginning with our interaction as children involved with dairy cow shows at the fair.  Their Tradition Auction Services business is handling the back-breaking work and guiding us through the process.  

They came a couple of weeks ago and we took photos of the equipment to be posted online and in print advertisements.  

Click HERE to activate the collage above.  You will simply hover over a photo to expand it.

Recently, we tackled Daddy's tool shed.  What an undertaking!

There were lawn tractors, wheel barrows, carts, and lots more in this section.

This one held buckets, tool boxes, hand tools, welders, grinders, and loads more.

There were nuts, bolts, rolls of wire, buckets of electric fence materials, hand-carts, and even more.  We sorted through every single piece of it.  Every.  Single.  Piece.

Then, we grouped some of it into buckets and boxes

 and wired together different kinds of blades and pieces before laying it all out onto wagons.

Daddy grew up poor and he believed in making do till you could do better.  Then, when you could do better, you get the best you can to do with.  He believed you should never throw something away that might be useful later and that tool shed was a testament to his beliefs.  At one point as I was sifting through a section of tools that he used frequently to work on tires and the commercial lawn mower, I found no less than seven used spark plugs.  I was so mad at Daddy for saving those and a lot of other broken or used up items and leaving them for me to sort through without him.  I marveled at the number of hammers and wrenches he had accumulated to repair and maintain all that equipment no matter what field he happened to be in when the need arose.  It was a hot, emotional, and hard day's work.

When we finished with one section, Bob (one of the owners of the auction service) would lead us on to the next spot and we would gather and sort and load some more.  We kept Mike moving with hauling the trash as he also completed a project of getting up some fallen limbs and hauling them off to fill in a sink-hole.

I love how this photo shows Mama contemplating where to begin with this collection of pitch-forks, halters, and such!

When we got the wagons loaded with all that, the wagons were pulled across the lot to a barn to keep them in the dry as Daddy would have insisted.

Lynn, one of the owners of the auction service, crept along with those loaded wagons to keep everything stable and in place.

Lynn carefully backed the wagons into the barn to keep everything organized, dry, and ready for viewing when we pull them out in a couple of weeks.

It was probably the hottest day of the year with temperatures hovering around triple-digits in the shade.  Yet, we sifted through the years of accumulation that represented Daddy's daily hand tools and prepared them for a sale where other folks can take a bit of his legacy and put it to use in their own lives.  We hope you will join us on August 6th, Sale Day and that you will find something of useful or sentimental value to take home with you so that Daddy's legacy of hard work will be a part of your days.

Splishing and Splashing!

On a recent visit to my son's family, I was lucky enough to spend time at Jessica's folks.  They were celebrating Independence Day with a huge cookout.  Children of all ages enjoyed the water features as a way to stay cool and have fun.  Harris was right in the thick of things!

At first he was patient.  His curiousity guided him to watch the progress of the pool inflation.  He had to check out the air compressor and he patiently watched as his Daddy filled the rings to form the sides of the pool.

Then, he decided he should take part in the preparation.  You can see here that the girls stepped back and gave him the opportunity to do the hard work.  Or, maybe, they just gave in to let him hold the hose because he was the youngest.  Whichever is the case, everybody is still dry and patient.  The squeals and splashes shortly followed!

There was plenty of splashing going on!  Most of the children had some sort of squirt gun whether it be long tubes that would shoot water across the yard or a compact squirter that would reach only a couple of feet.  The little folks really seemed to enjoy wallowing and splashing in the pool while the older ones dashed from here to there spraying one another in a true cousin-water-fight fashion.

Don't let this photo fool you.  It may look like Harris's cousin is helping him out as he climbs into the pool but that really isn't the case.  See, the two of them would take turns sitting on the side of the pool and flopping back into the water.  Then, they would also take turns pulling one another under water with a splashing vengence!  She is actually getting ready to pull Harris in and dunk him under the water - mainly because he had just done the same to her.

Soon, even the littles turned to the squirt guns.  You can see here that Harris is checking this one out and trying to figure out just how to make it be a tool for splashing fun.

He quickly figured out that he needed to open a valve to fill it and plunge it under water before taking aim and bringing out the squeals of the girls (and sometimes innocent adults sitting nearby).

My cell phone photos may be a bit grainy but I think the concentration and determination on Harris's face comes through clearly!

As soon as it was empty, that meant it was time to refill and contemplate the next course of action for generating the most splashes...and squeals!

Adventures in Babysitting

I got a message from Bridgette last week with several photos.  She was sharing some updates that she is making to her house - painting the bathroom, painting the kitchen...

...later she sent a message with a couple of photos showing Luci after Lillie had been babysitting while Bridgette was finishing up her projects.  Looks like lots of fun was had by...Luci!

Healthy Eating!

My family and I were at a celebration and I noticed that Harris enjoyed his part of a cupcake.

He licked all the icing off and handed it to Jessica for her to enjoy her part!

I realized that Harris was only trying to help his mother stay heallthy a couple of days later I was in a bake shop and saw this sign:

Had a Helper

I had a little helper while one of the grands was here for her Days.  I enlisted her assistance to clean and straighten my napkin and placemat stash.  I do hate that I didn't take a BEFORE photo.  There was a jumbled up mess in the lower half of my Granny Cabinet.  Honestly, it sort of looked like I had opened the door to the dryer!

Lillie sat in the floor and pulled out stack after stack and pile after pile of cloth napkins and placemats.

I sat in a nearby chair and sorted and created a give-away pile of those things I rarely use.

Neat stacks of napkins!

Then, we organized and stacked things back inside in a more organized fashion.

Tidy stacks of placemats, napkins, and fingertip towels used for napkins or placemats

Now, I just need somebody to help me sort through, clean out, and organize the junk on the top of the Granny Cabinet!

Bridgette took a few of the things out of the give-away pile.

I took a set of baseball placemats to Harris for his enjoyment.

The rest took a trip to Goodwill (at least a garbage bag full).

A day or so later, I got this photo from Bridgette in a text message along with the message:

NO YOU CAN'T HAVE THESE NAPKINS BACK!!!

Helping out Google

Did you know that when you offer information to Google, they actually make changes?

My Daddy used to complain and complain that people's GPS was inaccurate and he wished they would change it.

You see, the information on Google Maps was incorrect and my parents' private driveway was labeled as Old Arno Road.  So, when folks would try to visit somebody who actually lived on that road, they would enter the information into their GPS system and be navigated to my parents' driveway - and wind up lost.  It would mean that folks would drive up their driveway and circle round in front of the old milk barn and simply be lost.  It irritated my Daddy to no end.

Earlier this summer I was putting together a professional development workshop for a group of teachers and used Google My Maps as one of the tools for encouraging student writing.  I created a map of my 'childhood neighborhood' complete with topics for narrative writing.

I noticed the incorrect labeling of my parents' driveway.  I also noticed that there was a link to Add or fix information on Google Maps.  So, I submitted information indicating that there should be a change.  I didn't offer that the name change should be the name of my parents' farm, I just indicated that instead of a public road, that was a private driveway and they chose the name all on their own!

I hate that I didn't do this before my Daddy died.  It would have made him happy and proud to know that we had made an impact on the world of maps!

The funny thing is, a couple of weeks ago or so, my daughter sent me a message with a picture of the family farm showing the driveway labeled as Four Bees Farm Road and wondered if I knew about it!

Celebrating Independence Day

I've taken a break from technology after the long holiday weekend.

It wasn't necessarily by choice.

You see, I've been a wee bit yucky with a stomach rebellion.

I think I'm finally getting back on track for real.

You see, I thought I was back on track earlier in the week and we spent the morning cutting grass at Mama's on a hot, hot day...

...and I soon found out - not so much.

Today is much better, though, and I am confident that this time the old stomach is going to stay in check!

We did enjoy celebrating Independence Day in a big way, though!

Sunday evening we went up the hill to our eldest son's home for a cookout.  Stephen grilled burgers, sausages, and hotdogs for our extended family and some of their friends.  Bonnie stirred together home-grown squash and onions, corn, and some baked beans.  Other folks brought a bowl or pan of sides to share and we feasted.  I took a batch of brownies and a large bowl of Jessica's Tennessee Caviar (recipe to follow later).

We chowed down and fellowshiped.

Then, Stephen and several of the guys trekked further up the hill to be pyromaniacs put on a fireworks spectacular!

The show was beautiful and lasted a good 20 minutes or more!

My cell phone photos in no way do justice to the beauty and awesomeness of the fireworks show.  I think it would rival any I have ever attended with the exception of maybe that of Washington D.C.

Somehow, I think the real show is probably one that could be best observed if sitting just to the left of the launch area.  See the headlights and outline of the pickup truck?  I've always wanted to be right about there to watch and listen to the action going on behind the scenes of the the night sky explosions.  I'd be willing to bet the scrambling and antics of those fellows lighting up the sky are just as entertaining!

Then, on Monday, I traveled over to celebrate with our other son and his wife's family.

Bryan had slow-smoked a couple of Boston butts and a couple of briskets.  His efforts can be seen in the photo above as he is slicing up one of the briskets.  Jessica's aunts, uncles, cousins, and parents added all sorts of sides and desserts and her dad also grilled some burgers, dogs, and chicken breasts.  So, another feast was enjoyed!  This time I took a huge dessert bowl of Brownie Trifle (recipe to follow later).  There was really something for everybody to enjoy at both events despite the sweltering weather.

This boy and his cousins really enjoyed the water sports.  After his dad finished inflating this backyard pool, Harris (and the other folks under the age of eighteen) had a wild time splashing, spraying, squirting, and water-bombing one another and innocent by-standers! (That is a story for another day, though.)

Meanwhile, near the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center, these girls enjoyed another fireworks spectacular!  Beach towels on the grass and a fireworks display - does anything else sound more like summertime fun?