CCSVI Angioplasty... In Bulgaria... The Adventure Begins

We had a nice family breakfast this morning at the Evandale Inn. The kids wanted to take us out before we headed off to Bulgaria. As enjoyable as it was, it was a ruse to get us away from the farm, so our barn could be readied for a surprise party to extend best wishes to Sarah.

There were so, so many people here. Overwhelming to say the least. One has to be grateful to live in such a wonderful community.

P.S. Sarah has a new lucky hat... 

Pit's Empty / 2010

Seems the only thing I can consistently keep track of here is when I spread my last load of manure each year. So this year it is Nov.20th. Actually, Jesse spread all the fall manure this year, he put in a few good days, starting before dawn, and going till well after dark. And no stops in between, Good job, Jesse. Here is the empty pit.

And here is the last load going around the barn.

And a good thing we got it done, because a little later we got snow.

So now I've reported the first snowfall of the year, but I can also report that Carrie, still loves to make snow angels, as long as we are not home to watch.

And how about a picture of the heifers in the lower barn enjoying their supper.

Remembrance Day / 2010

We didn't get to a service today, but we took a drive down to Fernhill to visit Dad ( Grandpa ) and Grandma's dad. Sarah and I, Grandma, and Carrie and her friend Jessica. Photo credits go to Jessica.

We also checked out Uncle Williams monument. Carrie was impressed. Her great (x4) uncle.

Got a Little Rain Yesterday

The rain sure came down yesterday, it rained in the morning, but it poured in the afternoon. Steady. I think our water worries are over. But I did worry yesterday afternoon. About my newly filled in ditch. Here is Abby checking it out. Alot of water.

Ahhh...The problem...The headpond is overflowing. Big Bird's legs are now 12 feet under water. Yikes!!

There is alot of water everywhere. Here are the falls by the rock road. "Stacy's Secret Spot"

And this tile drain outlet could have washed cars as they were driving by, if it had been aimed just a little higher.

But all was good this morning, I checked out my ditch and there was no damage.

The headpond was a little lower, but still couldn't see Big Bird's legs.

The 2  6 inch tiles are running full. I wonder how many gallons a minute are moving through them?

The other outlets were all running good too. Kinda satisfying knowing this stuff works.

So I was pretty happy this morning to see everything working according to plan. So who ya gonna call?

Eva's 100th Birthday Party

Last Saturday, Sarah and I, and Carrie and her friend Jessica, went to Cape Breton to help celebrate Sarah's Aunt Eva's 100th birthday. We had a good drive down, and back again on Sunday. It was good to see all the family and friends. I went to a Screaming Eagles hockey game with A J on Saturday night, Sarah hung out with BaBa, and Darian took Carrie and Jessica to do "The Drag", and a concert.

We stopped at the East Bay Cemetery before we left, and visited the graves of Sarah's parents, brother, and sister in  law.

Then we enjoyed a scenic drive through the Eskasoni Indian reserve, and even stopped for gas. I paid cash. Carrie and Jessica enjoyed the scenery on the way home, which is important when you go on a road trip.

Filling in the Ditch

I called the fellow that does tile drainage this spring about the short ditch over near Everetts. Somehow we ended up tile draining 25 acres up on the hill, and filling in the ditch that runs below the house. Here is a picture of the machines after they got started. They actually were parked there for 3 weeks, broke down and waiting for a part. We never got the little ditch by Everetts done.

We put 3 lines up the length of the ditch, and connected all the old lines to them. This is where the water comes out.

And this is where the water goes in. They are called "Hickenbottoms"

Look close, you can see water going in at the bottom. Tanya likes this picture.

Here are some pictures of the bulldozer filling in the ditch. We had a few gravelly knolls in the field that are now gone. He pushed aside the topsoil, put the rest in the ditch, and then spread the topsoil back over.

There was one rock he couldn't move.

When it was all finished, we harrowed it, picked a few rocks, then got something growing on it, just in case.

This is the view from up the silo. The large pile of dirt is to finish filling in down closer to the road. It was too far for the dozer to push, so we will move it with the dump trailer. It wasn't quite ready down there anyways, but it is now. In the second picture you can see where we put the tile lines in the swamp by the road.

And here is the tile machine laying tile on the hill. He is just about out of pipe, so in the second picture you see the excavator putting another roll on.

So I got this field plowed last week, only found one wet spot, and if the weather stays good next week, we might get a start on some rockpicking. I did notice a few.

Corn Harvest 2010

I don't remember a year when we started chopping corn silage as early as we did this year, or had such a crop. The silo we filled with 30 acres of corn a few years ago, and almost filled with 30 acres last year, was full with 23 acres this year. We did manage to get a few more loads into it by letting it settle and chopping a load every 2cd day for a week or so. That left us with no alternative, but to put the rest in above the haylage, and feed only corn silage until we hit haylage again in silo #2. We'll see how that goes, I hope the milk doesn't suffer too much.

We were worried at first, that with Jesse's broken foot, he would have trouble keeping up. Tanya offered to come and help, as she misses helping with the corn silage, and our John Deere dealer offered us an extra tractor to use. But Jesse got the job done, whether it was hopping between corn stubble (which was fun to watch), or having Danielle help him.

A few corn field pictures...

A night time shot...

And the last 2 rows..almost done...

Topping a silo... a view from inside...

Me climbing it to do it...

And a picture taken today, I found the warmth in the cab tractor unbearable, but Jesse was whining about how chilly it was hauling in with an open tractor. Yeesh, kids...

Well, we are almost done... All chopped but 2 more loads left on the wagons... We'll get at least one of these in tomorrow. Good feeling though, going into the winter with so much feed ahead.