Here's what Cliff did for most of the day

Cliff can't stand weeds and brush growing on our place.  The only reason I have had blackberries this year is that it's rained so much, Cliff wasn't able to mow those nasty vines.  We probably won't have blackberry pie again for five or six years.  
Anyway, after a failed attempt at a motorcycle ride this morning, Cliff mowed.  And mowed.  And mowed.  He used the brother-in-law's Mahindra because it's more stable on hillsides than the John Deere.  Notice in the following video he tries to run me down with the tractor and then laughs about it.  

A follow-up to the plow saga

In the fall of 2005, Cliff seeded three acres or so in alfalfa. Alfalfa is an amazing producer of hay; around here, you can cut it four or five times in a year and get plenty of quality, high-protein hay for several animals. An alfalfa field can keep yielding for five or six years.

In 2006, even though we didn't always get enough rain, we harvested more than enough hay to pay for the cost of seed and the fuel used in planting the crop the previous year and putting the hay up that year.

In 2007, when it was almost time for the first cutting of the year, we got a late, hard freeze. It killed over half the plants in our stand of alfalfa and, because nature abhors a vacuum, weeds filled in the empty spaces.

So this year the yields weren't very good. Besides, Cliff had begun to resent all the time spent haying when he could be riding the motorcycle.

Now that we have the famous plow, and the use of the brother-in-law's Mahindra, Cliff decided to plow under what remains of the alfalfa for green manure for next year's crop: he'll sow a pasture mix there, something he'll only have to harvest once or twice a year. And he can do the big round bales instead of small square bales. Those small square bales have to be picked up, loaded on a wagon, taken to the barn and unloaded and tossed in a neat stack... usually on days when the temperature is around one hundred degrees. In the shade.

Because the remaining alfalfa is so tall (and it's been cut four times already this year), Cliff decided it might plow under more easilyl if a disc ran over it first; a neighbor boy volunteered for that job.

Now here, for your enjoyment, is a little video of the plow in action.

There's always time for a diversion or two

Cliff's sister's husband has no real use for his Mahindra tractor while he's living in St. Louis, and he hated to think about her sitting unused, alone.

So Cliff is babysitting "Ma" until Pat's ready to use her again. Nothing is a better tension-reliever for my husband than to have a different tractor around; he likes to figure out how each one works, what makes it unique, and its strengths and weaknesses.


I've already blogged about the baby crib that Cliff's youngest sister slept in as an infant, and also was used by both my babies. Today Cliff's sister gave me three dolls that were hers as a small child; they now inhabit a special place in the crib. They're in excellent shape because, as she tells me, she never cared to play with dolls. I think they're a great addition.