49 Years Ago Today!

49 years ago today my parents said "I do."

49 years ago today my parents began a life together.

And I am happy to report that 49 years later they are still together.

Next year, on their 50th anniversary my sisters and I will throw a big 50th anniversary party for them.

I can't believe my parents have been married for 49 years.

I've been married 26 years and I think THAT'S a long time.

So congratulations to my parents on their 49th anniversary.  I love you both very, very much. 

Unseasonably Warm!

We've been hearing the weather man says those two words a lot lately.  "Unseasonably warm!"  Every time you turn on the television or radio and hear the weather report, that's what they say.  "Unseasonably warm!" 

Folks it is March in Missouri, and it has been in the 80s since the end of last week.  We have mowed our lawn twice.  Our "Easter lilies" have already bloomed and are gone.  The trees are starting to get leaves on them.  Our peach tree has already bloomed.

The last week in March in 2011, we had 2" of snow.  Today, we are expecting a high of 80 degrees.

I don't like HOT weather.  And I don't like really COLD weather.  But I will take every second of this "UNSEASONABLY WARM" weather I can get. 

Many people have already planted their garden.  We haven't yet.  We have had a lot of rain, too, so we are putting off planting.  But it won't be long now. 

Hope you are having beautiful weather in your neck of the woods!  I love me some springtime!!!!

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head!

Here in Missouri, as in most places in the country, we had an extremely mild winter.  We only had snow a couple of times, and that didn't amount to very much.  Last week we had temperatures in the 80s.  Unbelievable for this time of year.  And this week it is still in the 70s . . . and raining.  It rained Monday evening.  It started raining last night about 8:00 p.m. and rained all night long.  ALL . . . NIGHT . . . LONG!  Our pond is running over.  The creeks are running bank to bank.  Our road is washed.  And for you city slickers that doesn't mean the road is clean.  It means the rain washed the gravel off the road and now there are deep ruts you have to cross until the road grader comes through and smoothes it all out again and who KNOWS when that will happen!

The forecast for today is . . . rain.    The forecast for tonight is . . . rain.  The forecast for tomorrow is . . . rain.  And the forecast for Friday is . . . you guessed it . . . rain.  Right now . . . it is raining.

And all that keeps running through my mind is that old song "Raindrops keep fallin' on my head!"

So to all of you I say, have a great day, and keep that umbrella handy! 

Pyromania!!!

We recently purchased another farm.  This new farm has been sitting empty for the past three years.  No cows on it eating the grass.  No hay being baled.  Nothing.  So, in order to get it ready to use, we need to get the old dry, dead grass off of it so that new, young tender shoots of grass will grow.  Well, the way we do that around here is to burn the field.  Burning a field is kind of cool . . . and kind of scary.  You certainly don't want the fire to get away from you and burn more than you intended to burn.  And, heaven forbid, you SURE don't want to burn the neighbor's ground.  That is a NO NO!  But after the yucky grass is gone, and the green grass starts to grown, well, it really is a sight to see.

In order to be able to control the burning field, we start by burning strips of ground around the fences to act as firebreaks or buffers so the fire doesn't get out of hand.  Here, I'll show you.

Here we are burning a strip of ground near the fence. 

We use a spray tank filled with water to put out the fire on both sides, and let it keep burning forward.

We ran out of water, so Cole had to go home and bring another tank filled with water.  We pumped the water from the tank on the flat bed, to the spayer tank. 

Cole was our fire starter.  He kept spread the fire forward.  The hubby used the sprayer to put out the fire, and me, well, I'm the tractor driver!

We burn against the wind.  We don't want the wind to spread the fire.  So the wind was constantly blowing the smoke in our faces.  Yuck! 

This is what the strip of land looked like after we burned.  This strip of land has nothing left the burn, so when we start the fire to burn the entire field, it will stop when it gets to this strip of land.  At least that's how it's SUPPOSED to work :0!  Sometimes the wind cooperates, and sometimes it doesn't.

Three things to remember when you are burning large tracts of land:  #1, you want to burn on a day with very little wind (which is hard to find Missouri); #2, you want to have lots of help on hand, and #3, you have to have lots of water to put out the fire! 

After a field is burned, and you get a spring warm,  the green shoots of grass just seem to explode on a warm sunny day.  It really is a pretty sight to see!

How About Those Missouri Tigers!!!!

What a great victory last night for my Missouri Tigers!  They beat Oklahoma State (sorry to all my Oklahoma blogging friends!!) by a pretty good margin.  The final score was 88 to 70.  Way to go Tigers! 

Tonight, the Tigers will take on Texas at 9:00 p.m.  And I will be watching!!!  Well, really, I don't just WATCH.  I yell, I talk to the television, and when my Tigers are playing incredibly well, I have been known to jump up with my arms straight up in the air.  Yes, I love my Missouri Tigers!!!!

MIZ-ZOU!!!!!!!!!

What's Goin' On Wednesday??

Hello my friends!  Wow!  I can't believe it is Wednesday already.  I don't know about you, but my weeks just seem to FLY BY!  So I've got some catching up to do to tell you what's been goin' on here at Down On The Farm!

Monday (March 5th) was Cole's 19th birthday.  Yes, my eldest child is 19.  I really can't believe it.  He should be just a little boy, not a freshman in college.  Here are a couple of pictures of Cole helping unload some cattle on our farm west of town:

That boy sure loves farming.  We are so very proud of him.

And talk about proud, our daughter Alex was inducted into the National Honor Society last night.  Isn't she beautiful?

She likes farming too! That's her on the back row! She can mow and rake hay with the best of them!

Speaking of Alex, she is one of 60 sophomores interviewing TODAY for the Missouri AgriBusiness Academy (MABA).  There were nearly 250 applications sent in, and 60 were notified that they had been selected for the semi-final interviews.  Thirty students will be chosen to attend.  MABA is a week-long agricultural leadership academy, and the students will tour various agriculture-related businesses and industries in an effort to expand the students knowledge of Missouri Agribusiness and the opportunities available for them.  Cole was selected to the MABA class of 2009 and he said it was a great experience.  I would sure appreciate your prayers for Alex.  Her interview is complete, so now it is up to the selection committee.  Please ask for God's favor on Alex.  Obviously, we want her to be one of the 30 members of MABA for 2012.  But always, always we want God's will.

Another thing that's been goin' on around here is baby calves.  Lots and lots of baby calves.  I just love watching them grow! 

And this is what I saw by my back steps this morning!  Makes me KNOW that spring is coming! 



Thanks for dropping by to see what's been goin' on here at Down On the Farm.  Ya'll come back now . . . ya hear :0!!!! 

A Beautiful Day

It is going to be a gorgeous day here in Central Missouri.  Yes, the wind is going to HOWL, but it is supposed to be 70 degrees.  I can tell you that 70 degrees in Missouri in March is NOT our typical weather.  But this winter has been far from typical.

Our winter has been extremely mild.  We have had a couple of light snows, a couple days of pretty cold temperatures, but overall, we haven't had much wintertime at all.

I am so ready for spring.  Ready for the grass to grow, the trees to have leaves again.  I'm ready to start working in the garden. 

How is the weather in your neck of the woods?  And for all you fellow Missourians . . . ENJOY THIS BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!