Weekend Work

I haven''t posted for a little while, but it is not because of a lack of work here on the farm. I have been running around, but I was home this weekend and got to do a little work with dad.

First off, this was my walk to work. I love this view. It's home.

 

First job for the day was to cut out a chunk of cement for this wood burning stove/heater that dad will hook up to his shed. It will actually heat water in tubing that runs under the floor of the shed so the shed will be heated from the floor up. For this part of the job I was strictly a supervisor...spinning blades tend to scare me.

 After cutting the cement, he still had to use some good ol' fashioned muscle to get it out. 

As happens all too often, dad and I got a little distracted on our way to get the tractor to move the stove back into place. So we took the opportunity to go check some cattle. We had a new calf so dad had to document it in his herd book. I like this new style of checking cattle in the mule ;-)

Dad had to see if it was a bull or heifer for his records. It was a heifer. 

Below is something new we are trying this year. It is called "wet distillers" and it is a milo byproduct from an ethanol plant. It is mixed with the feed we are giving to our first-calf heifers, some of our bulls and our cull cattle (older cows we will sell after they calve). It gives them some added protein in their diet.

After a little distraction, we finally got the tractor back over to the shed. The tractor is the multi-dimensional tool for the farm. It is used in many ways that might not really be intended. We use it a lot to move things. Dad attaches a chain to the scoop then hooks the chain to the item to be moved. He drove the stove into place, while I directed and got it situated where it needed to be. Teamwork and trust is a must in these situations. It's probably a good thing mom doesn't always see how we get things done ;-)

After all of that, we fixed a little bit of fence, cut a little firewood and called it a day. And for the record, I had to call my dad three or four times to get all the facts straight for this blog ;-)