Fruits Of Labor

Today's Pickens:
Apples, cucumber, tomatoes,
chicken and duck eggs,
yellow squash, and peaches.
All home grown on our farm.

     It rained Sunday night, and sprinkled off and on all day Monday, totaling over an inch of rain.  Because it was drizzling in the morning, I waited to walk, going before Growth Group.  I stayed in all day and worked at my desk, trying to clean it up/off.  I was distracted by Facebook, Words, and e-mails and also ventured outside occasionally.  I did weed the garden and collect the produce seen above.

     My desk was no easy task.  All the stuff from school I threw there in May, plus things I have been collecting
all summer, have made a big mess.  Since Dan's schedule has pretty well been set (He is working at the Replex in LeRoy 5 or 6 hours a day, 3 to 4 days a week; and taking 2 classes at Heartland that meet on Wednesday from 9-1pm and 5-7pm) he is going to remain living here.  So I want to make more room for him in his bedroom, that doubles as our office.

     I didn't get near done with the desk, so tackled it again first thing Tuesday.  It wasn't long though, before I was again drawn away. Thank goodness for the big farm show next door at
                                                     Beck's, going on all day, which made

for a great distraction.  They have been working like crazy for several days, setting up and preparing for this event.







     I had walked Kaysha all around over at Beck's in the morning, and decided I wanted to return to go on some of their tours.

     I walked over at 10am to go see the fruits of their labor.  Getting on the tram for tour #5, we soon headed east towards our farm.  Different trams took groups on a total of 8 different tours.





     This PRF (Practice Research Farm)  is one of several that Beck's has.  There is so much math, science and technology that goes into their work.  It is fascinating.


     Here is a view of the "cockpit" of one of their many tractors.







     On each tour we went different routes and learned different things.  In many of my photos, you can see our farm in the back ground. 

     The biggest take-away for me was called "Respect The Rotation".  You all are familiar with crop rotation, well even rotating the different hybrids of the same crop is important. 




     Also rotating herbicides which have different modes of action is key right now.   Water Hemp has become resistant to herbicides, and can't be killed in southern IL... and will soon be a problem here.  So we shouldn't just spray with the same chemicals year after year.  

     The use of cover crops was also interesting.  I had noticed radishes growing and wondered what the market for those would be.  Well, they plant them to help absorb the nitrogen the corn has not used, because of its poor growth this year.  The radish is easy to kill in the spring, will hold the soil over the winter and add to the soil nutrient and organic quality.  And they are cheap and easy to grow. 
     Jason's talk about equipment was
kind of over my head, but I was amazed at what they are doing, are experimenting with, and the technology they are using.  They have been testing planting depth, width of rows, double vs single rows, population (number of plants) per acre... along with how, where and when to apply the different herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and fertilizers.  Which chemicals work best with each other and with varying weather conditions.  Scientific Method at its best.

     I had enjoyed a great, large lunch of barbeque pork, and later indulged in popcorn and cookies.  It started clouding up about the time I headed home.  A few minutes after doing the 5:00 chores, Lisa called to see if I wanted to join her for a ride.  I was exhausted, but rarely turn down a chance to ride with someone.  For some reason the Expedition battery was dead so Joe had to jump start it.  An hour later I picked up Lisa and Scout (her son's horse).  We had a beautiful one hour ride through the woods (with no rain) and saw deer on two occasions.  We stayed at a peaceful walk the whole time and Roni was so relaxed.  I think his calm is a reflection of the fruits of my labor and time spent working with him.  I was also delighted that the Ford started right up.

     Wednesday, once again, I started with "The Desk".  You need to realize that it wasn't a matter of just stowing
stuff away.  One, there wasn't room for all of it.  But also, I was reading through a lot of things as I sorted, trying to decide if I should keep or pitch it.  I made new folders as I reorganized and also took things to other locations in the house.  Like a kid cleaning their room and finding long lost toys, which puts cleaning on hold while they play, I slowly made progress on my mess.  Here is a photo of my progress, the fruit of my labor so far.  By 10:00 I decided it was too nice to work inside, and because rain was predicted for Thursday, I went out to work with the horses.

     Zorro did much better tied to the trailer while I groomed and tacked Amiga.  He got brushed and fly sprayed also.  I put him back in the paddock with Roni while I rode Amiga.  We ended by doing a small loop at Beck's.  When I rode Roni, I went to Beck's first and rode into this big tent where the dinning tables and chairs had been.  I like to expose Roni to all sorts of things.  I guess you could call it desensitization, but I view it more as teaching him to trust me regardless of where I ask him to go.

     We went north of Beck's, across the wooden bridge and followed the drain ditch to Brian's road.  I ended in back at Beck's behind our farm and dismounted there.  I put on Roni's halter and let him graze.  I had him near the large machinery, again for exposure.  The scariest thing for him was my helmet, which moved when he did because it was attached to the saddle.  What a silly boy.

     Joe and I met Marj at FS and enjoyed their customer appreciation dinner together.  They had great rib-eye.  After cleaning stalls, corn crib and paddock, Joe and I watched an old (goofy) James Bond movie.

     I overslept Thursday morning, getting up at 6am.  I think it was because of the dark skies with rain on the way.  I walked with an eye and ear out for thunder and lightening, but never felt threatened.  Mid morning I scrambled to clean stalls and get the horses back in, because the storm was approaching.  It hit just after all horses were in, but I got drenched in the process of getting hay to the corn crib for the cows and giving Stew his bottle.  When I got back to the house I noticed this branch had fallen on and dented our grill.

 Too wet to go out.
     I couldn't make myself face "the desk" but did do some reading here while waiting on the dryer.  Next I was off to do some shopping.  Before finishing at Farm & Fleet, a huge storm system had moved in.  I ran through the pouring rain, couldn't get my doors unlocked with the push button control, had to used the key, unloaded the cart full of feed etc. and dripping wet, jumped into my car, and it wouldn't start.




     Long story short... the battery was dead because I had left my head lights on driving there in the rain.  An employee, using one of their trucks, got me going again.  The rain had slowed to a drizzle, but it was dark to the northwest.  Choosing to leave my headlights off,  I drove two blocks over to Tractor Supply, where there were some cowgirl boots on sale.  I let my car run awhile to charge up the battery, before going into the store.  I soon discovered that you can't slide a foot in a wet sock into a tight leather boot.  So I aborted that mission and went next door to Wal-Mart.

     By the time I came out of Wal-Mart with a cart full of groceries (including things like cat food and toilet paper) another storm was in full force.  I debated waiting for it to pass, and then decided to make a run for it... missing my car by one aisle.  Needless to say, I was dripping wet by the time I got to my car, unloaded everything, and jumped in.
                                                        But at least the car started right up. 

     Early evening I took Kaysha for a walk to see how the farm handled the over 2 and 1/2 inches of rain we got.  I was impressed that this was all that was in the water way.  The ground must have soaked most of it up.

     Making a loop around our perimeter, I took the preceding four photos.  After getting drenched by rain 3 different times during the day I decided I could skip my evening shower,  even though I hadn't used soap or shampoo earlier. Ha ha ha

     I found Abbey in the garage Friday, playing with this little mouse, and had to rescue it. 


     I fixed up a little cage for her using a desk lamp for heat.

     I fed her with a little eyedropper.  Sometimes she did better with it than other times. She would get milk down her neck and belly and I'd dry her off.  I could tell she was losing weight, but stuck with this labor of love until she died Saturday night.

     I don't know where the day went Friday, although I did spend a fair amount of time at my desk continuing the laborious job of sorting papers.  I also went out to pick up sticks, mow, rake and weed.  Courtney called late afternoon to see if I wanted to join her at Wellgreen while she worked Marco.

     I decided to take Amiga so I could do ground work with her. It took 5 minutes to get her to load, which isn't bad since it has been over a year since she has been on a trailer.  Just after hooking her up in the trailer, she decided to flee backwards, but when the tie got taught, she stepped forward again and stood very still.  Her halter had pulled over her bottom lip and was in her mouth.  I fixed that and then was ready to go... except the Expedition wouldn't start.  Joe got it going and we were off.

     Amiga did very well unloading, standing tied, and with ground work.  So, I decided to ride her for a short time.  This photo is with me on Amiga and Courtney working Marco.  He was quite interested in Amiga.  Again, I was very happy with her.  She never rushed, tried to gait, or got overly excited.  We still need to work more on stops and go and turning however.



     As much as I love Roni, and enjoy riding him, Amiga will always be my first (horse) love.  She is precious and so giving, willing to try what I ask.  And like Roni, she is very smart.  Oh...
she is also quite cute.




     Amiga jumped right on the trailer, but the Expedition needed another jump to get it going.  I was beginning to lose faith in car batteries.  Courtney conferred with Mike because our first attempt failed.  We basically needed to let it charge longer. 

     Saturday morning Joe got the battery diagnosed.  It needed a good long charge, so was hooked up all morning. 

     Loren, with his son, came to put shoes on Roni.  I have never seen this done before, so took photos of the process, while Joe showed Loren's son around.














     First Loren trimmed all of Roni's hooves. 

     Then he shaped each shoe to fit each hoof.








     He did some finishing touches on the hoof.




Then he started nailing in a shoe.  Each shoe got 6 nails.

    










     Once a shoe was nailed on, Loren then snipped the excess nail coming out the front of the hoof, and bent it into an indent he had made in the hoof.












     He did the same thing with the back feet as well.  When each hoof was done, he sanded the outside and then painted on a clear sealant to help keep the hoof healthy.  Roni did great except when Loren was working on his back left leg.  He said he thought Roni was in discomfort and there may be a problem with his leg.  He said sometimes they just get a muscle cramp.  After he had all four shoes on, Roni did seem a bit stiff and was moving slowly when I turned him out to pasture.  

     After lunch I worked outside trimming trees.  There had been branches hitting the trailer when going down the drive.  There were all sorts of new starts along these tree trunks and around the base of the trees too.  It took over an hour to do three trees... and there are way many more that need it. 

     Joe and I meet Lisa and her son at Moraine View to go for a ride/walk.






     Joe entertained himself while we got the horses tacked.  I had Lisa look at Roni and she thought he looked off on his back left leg, kind of dipping with his step.  It wasn't real bad, so I decided to go ahead and ride him, hoping some light exercise would help.  

     We (I on Roni, Darek on Casey, Lisa on Mark, and Joe with Kaysha) went on a slow, easy ride/walk... stopping to look at deer and pick mushrooms. 

     Once back at camp, Joe got a fire going (with Darek's great help) while we untacked the horses.  After the Wiggins left, we grilled hamburgers and hotdogs.  Joe added fresh mushroom to his.  The meal was nothing spectacular, but food always tastes good outside, over an open fire, after a good ride and a long day.

     I went to Church and worked on this Blog this morning.  Lisa took Kristi and I for a ride, on her three horses this afternoon.  I had decided to give Roni a day of rest.  He wasn't as stiff this morning, but still seemed a little off.  He watched me load up my saddle in the car... as if to ask, "what about me"?  We three girls had a wonderful time, chatting on the trail, enjoying each others company, our horses and nature.  I had fun riding Scout.




     Once home, I let the horses out of their stalls.  Roni cantered off as soon as he got out the door.  I think he is feeling better, that or he was showing me his distaste for being left home. 

     Dan and Joe were both at work,
so I made a nice salad for dinner, enhancing it with home grown cucumber, green peppers, tomatoes and parsley.  The fruits of my garden labor were being enjoyed.

     Joe put in a 23 hour work day, starting at midnight last night.  I don't know how he can go that long without sleep, all the while concentrating and
                                                     coordinating everything to help the
team run its project.  And all for what?  The same thing he won while playing poker Friday night.  Of course the benefits that come with real work, and the absence of risk, make it more profitable... a sure thing, but Joe enjoys the "labor" that results in "fruit" when he wins.  If only I could get my hands on it, like this kitty.  Ha ha ha.

     In the article "The Celebration of Labor" Gene Hoyas discusses how labor came about because of the original sin.  God's punishment "cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Gen. 3:17-19) results in today's labor to keep a roof over our head and food on the table. Hoyas talks about work being "purgatorial drudgery, where minutes
seem like hours and the day is spent
pining for the final tick on the work clock that signals a temporary release from stifling bonds." He goes on to say that "for most of us, our labors are, to one degree or another, an extension of ourselves" so we enjoy what we do.  Hoyas also points out that "most of us still possess the classic American work ethic that made this nation the greatest in the history of mankind. Let there be no misunderstanding: Americans are still by far the hardest working and most industrious people on earth. We work the longest day, the longest week and the longest year while taking the fewest vacation days."  With Labor Day fast approaching, a day off to celebrate, is fitting.
                                                           In Psalm 128:2,  we are told
"You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours."  Hoyas points out that "For a lucky few, their vocation is their vacation and work is nothing more than being paid for enjoying one’s self."  I hope that you value the labor you do, not for the fruit it bears, but for the joy it gives you.