This is how a farmer babysits

 

We watched our little niece and nephew this weekend. I got to chase them around the majority of time. My husband used a more effective method...confine them to a combine cab and lure them to sleep ;-) I have to admit, I fall asleep in the combine too, but I don't fit in there quite as comfortably.

Older Farmer Tricks

How many older farmers does it take to change a tire? None. They just watch the younger farmers do it ;-) Actually, my dad still changes all his tires, but walking out and seeing this after church while my husband changed my Tahoe tire did  make me laugh.

However, a day later, the tire had the last laugh. Turns out that if you are opening the back of your Tahoe to unload the flat tire to get it fixed, it might fall out on top of your leg. And when it slides down your khakis that you are wearing for school, it might leave tread marks down the front of your legs. Sigh. Another pair of teaching pants bites the dust.

Fall Cleaning

We have an old shed in our backyard and it has needed cleaned for quite some time. The problem is...it has spiders in it. So, this weekend seemed like a safer weekend to clean it out. In my head, spiders aren't as dangerous when it is colder weather. Although, at one point, I thought I noticed something on my back and sure enough, it was a granddaddy long-leg spider...still gives me the willies thinking about it now.

As you can see, the shed is pretty old. The wood shingles on the side are in bad shape and we need to get it covered with something else. It's never a good thing when you can see daylight through the side of the building like you can in this picture.

 

It is kind of neat to look through the items in the shed and think about how my grandpa might have used them. Of course, most of the items are no longer useful and just need to be thrown out. But it is still neat to see the history.

 

Can't help but wonder what my grandpa used this little shelf for throughout the years.

 

These are just some of the "treasures" I found. A lot of it got thrown out, but the old wooden baskets are definitely keepers.

 

These two metal cabinets, according to my dad, were smokers that they used to smoke meat years before he was alive. Kind of neat to think of that type of living and how self-reliant they were in those days.

It's always interesting moving into a house that someone else use to occupy and having to sort through their things. It has been a huge process every since I moved into the house 4 or 5 years ago, but at least it is family. It makes me feel like I get to know my grandparents a little better each time I find a little item I haven't seen before.

 

The first freeze

The first freeze is always something farmers watch with great interest. If it comes early, it has the possibility of hurting crops. We know that it is something that has to happen and it is also something that is planned for.

In terms of our garden, we are more or less sick of tending a garden by the time the first freeze comes along. So we don't mind too much if it freezes our vegetables and kills them. One item that my dad has to keep a close eye on is his beloved sweet potatoes. I don't care for them, and neither does my husband...but for the sake of my dad, we help out with them.

Once the tops of them freeze, you need to cut off the tops so it doesn't affect the potato in the ground. Dad was gone for the first freeze, so I got the honors of cutting off the tops Saturday morning.

As you can see, the tops are clearly wilted.

So I took my trusty pair of scissors, cut off the tops about 2 or 3 inches from the ground, and we will dig them up at a later date.

 

The trick is that you have to leave enough showing that you can find them later! It can be tricky finding them after the vines and leaves are all dead and blend in with the surrounding dirt color.