I find myself fighting the lethargy of age. I don't want to shear sheep. I don't want to scrape the paint of the house and repaint it. I don't want to replace the ram's fence. I don't want to dig the fill out of the back porch, jack up and level the concrete and install a separate sump pump to keep the basement dry. I need to do all these things but I don't want to. The near constant rain hasn't helped. Most of those things require dry weather and all I have is mud.
I do still want to play in the dirt. I re potted my tomatoes yesterday . I want to get them a bit larger before planting them out. I tried to mow off the area I used in the front for garden last year. I had to jack the lawnmower up and put boards under the wheels 3 times before I gave up. I won't be working that up for a while. I haven't been able to get last years leeks out of the ground yet. On the plus side, the lilacs smell wonderful.
I've sent my little Ford 8n in to unravel the mystery of the falling oil pressure. This may be expensive. I find I really miss it. I was using it to try and create wide shallow channels in the back 20 acres for drainage. The back scoop worked well.
I have the Farmall set up to plow. I have no idea what I'm doing but if it ever dries up, I'm going to try anyway. I have plans of planting some timothy since I can make hay of that more reliably than alfalfa. That's important since the farmer who has been helping me with my hay is now partially paralyzed. I hope to plant some corn and maybe some sunflowers and oats. I could process that for my own feed. Storage is another matter but first you need something to store.
Time is slipping away. I had to work a Saturday that was the only dry day of the weekend. I pulled cable at the new service plaza on a Thursday and had my back screwed up through the weekend. There are too many holidays. Each one claims a day from the weekend. Yes, I dither and whine too much.
Ok, it's all better now. It stopped raining. I finally managed to plant the front garden and have the back worked up for the seed rows. If the plants produce in time, we can make it through to Spring without starving. Some unkind folks would probably say that we could do that without eating but I feel safer with the food preserved.
I've started plowing the back. From the looks of it, I'm either blind or drinking heavily. My rows are as crooked as the snakes I'm chasing down the furrows. When I first started, it was still too wet. I had to pull the plow out backwards several times when the tractor wouldn't pull forward anymore. Now that it's drier, I'm starting to make less embarrassing furrows.
Even with the plowing, it's too late for anything meaningful except maybe the timothy. This fall, I might be able to plant winter wheat.
No lambs so far. I haven't been able find any, anyway. The ewes are in the boy's pasture. I put them in to chew the pasture down since ,with only two rams, I tend to loose the rams for days at a time. This year, the ewes can't keep up. I have been looking at my regular pastures and think I might try to make hay of them this year. I dumped 3 bags of good pasture mix on to try and improve them. I think I need to cut the top off to give the young plants a better shot.
The Ford is back. It was expensive. On the plus side, my oil pressure is now over 60psi, my hydraulics no longer leak and my wheels probably won't fall off. The mechanic fixed a lot of other little stuff as well. I haven't had a chance to make it work hard yet but I will.
Not much to report on the fun front. Stacey and I went to the Ohio Fiber, Wool and Sheep Show in Wooster. We located some folks to buy some Shetlands off of to improve the genetics. Spinning is now the hobby of the rich. Spinning wheels on sale were $500 or more. Looms were cheaper than wheels. One can still spin with a spindle cheaply but you had better be serious about spinning before you buy a wheel. One of the high points for me was a fried bologna sandwich with grilled onions.
We stopped at Grandpa's Cheese Barn on the way back and bought some good junk including chocolate dipped bacon. We also stopped to visit with Doug and Mary Hildebrand at their truck garden in Milan. We bought many plants for too little money and toured his high tunnel greenhouse. He has just sent me a picture of him holding a large ripe tomato from the tunnel. Good work, Doug.
Since the garden still looks crappy, I've sent some pictures of the house. The roses are doing well, anyway.
