Sunday was a dreary and chilly day. We did our chores in the morning and relaxed a bit. We moved out our old washing machine and hooked up a different one. Mary thinks the old one died from doing our barn clothes. It would probably help if we did a better job of cleaning our pockets. There was an amazing assortment of coins and bolts and nuts and even a small jack knife in the innards of the old washer. We have taken a vow to make certain our pockets are empty. The way the economy is going, they will be empty anyway.

Mary had to work until 2PM. We decided that all three of us would go to Mass in a nearby city at 5PM. This is a special Mass for this region to allow those who have had to work etc. a chance to go late.

Before going to church, we had an important duty. As I mentioned earlier, a neighboring farmer had died late last week as a result of a farm accident. His calling hours were scheduled from 3 until 6 on Sunday.

We got there about three twenty and had to park way down the street. The line ended by the NAPA store. We happened to be in line with a husband and wife that have alpacas. Mary has had a Christmas sweater from their store but had never met them. She was wearing it and was glad to have waiting in line. It is apparenty quite warm. I had also sold them a manure spreader that was a bit too small for our cattle. Apparently, it works quite well for the more dainty alpacas.

We have been going to calling hours at this funeral home for years. This is only the second time that we can recall the viewing line this long. What a wonderful tribute to the deceased and his family. We are glad that we live in small town America where basic values and traditions like these remain intact.The weather was quite chilly and damp but the mist hold off until we were inside. The line wound all around the various rooms of the funeral home in a serpentine fashion. It was odd when we saw people who had been considerably ahead in line now standing along side.

We offerred our condolences. A son-in-law had made up a unique green and yellow handout with details of the deceased's life and lots of pictures of him on his green tractors. It was six thirty by the time we left. The line was almost as long as when we got there. So we missed Mass but hope that God didn't mind since the 5th Beatitude is "Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted."

The weather wasn't much better on Monday. I went with a friend to the equipment dealer to look at our square baler. After lunch, the buyers came and we loaded the six Angus and sent them off to their new home.

I was supposed to go to a County Fire meeting tonight but it was postponed a week. It feels good to have an unexpected night off.

Today was more like a typical late Fall day. It rained heavily all morning and then the sun was in and out of a grey sky. It stayed reasonably warm around 50 degrees.

The electrician was back and we finished our water project. Since we started to build this farm, we have installed over 1200 feet of water line; two wells and two all weather Jug waterers and 6 yard hydrants. We have all season water wherever we might need it.

We got the cattle pregnancy reports and all eight tested pregnant. That is certainly good news. I called our buyer and he will be here Monday afternoon to pick up all six full size Angus.

Today, Friday, looks like the last of the good weather.

We've just been continuing on routine chores. We're waiting to hear about the pregnancy test on the Angus. Verne overnight mailed the samples Wednesday afternoon and was assured by the Post Office that the lab would be sure to have them by 3PM Thursday. Well, they arrived this morning and it takes a day to get the results. So, hopefully, tomorrow, we'll know.

Yesterday was not a good one in our town. An older farmer who was an acquaintance of ours was killed in a farm related accident. We don't know the details but we offer our condolences to his family. Today, several neighbors worked to get the rest of his crop in. It is nice to live in a communiuty where people have old fashioned values of helping a neighbor in need.

The Farm Agent came out this afternoon to look over our operation. We had a nice visit that was cut short when I had to go on a fire call just down the road. Thankfully, it was just a burnt out appliance motor.

I also got copies of our farm maps from Farm Service Agency. I was pleased that my estimate for soybean acreage was within a half acre of the maps. I also spoke to the grain elevator folks and confirmed how many bushels we have stored.

So, lots of little things done. The electrician came last night and tonight to trench in some electric and water lines. He seems to be busy in the day light with other work. We worked late both nights. He promised to be here tomorrow morning to finish up. If he does, it looks like we'll be working in the rain.

The amazing weather continued. It was probably a first to be outside working in a tee shirt on November 5.

Verne came over and we drew the blood for the cattle pregnancy test. We got the samples mailed and should have results Friday. The prospective buyers came as well. They are nice folks and it looks like we can build an ongoing relationship. I've always been relationship rather than transaction oriented so that is good.


I received the weigh slips for our soy beans. We had a good crop. Now I need to decide whether to hold them or sell. The price was up yesterday but dropped a lot today. It's hard to understand how an election can influence the price of soybeans. I called the Farm Service Agency to get my field maps. Then, I'll be able to compute our actual average acre yield. It will be around 43 bushels which is a good yield.

I got 15 bales of soy waste on the neighboring field done and there is probably enough waste for 15 more.

Our daughter called from college in Nashville. She has plane reservations for Christmas. Particularly in light of the weather it is hard to realize that Christmas will soon be here.

Our beautiful weather continued with another almost 70 degree day. I got our Kuhn mower conditioner all pressure washed and ready for storage. There's an amazing amount of gunk that accumulates under the hood.

I also moved a round bale feeder and brought over some gravel to create a better pad. We fed the cattle baleage through the processor and they continue to really eat it up.

The electrician reappeared to finish up some plugs and get power to our new cattle waterer so the heater will work when needed.

Late in the afternoon, one of our friends came to combine his beans. This is land that we surround on all sides that is owned by an absentee owner. He is not interested in selling and our friend has rented the land for several years. It's a new red combine which is quite a break from tradition since our friend has had an all green farm for many years.

While we were looking over the combine, a man and his wife and a colleague came to look over the six full size Angus. We made a deal but he wants them pregnancy tested. We think they are all bred but we will use a test that is new to us. It involves drawing a small amount of blood from the cow's tail vein. The vial is then sent to a lab which guarantees 97 percent accuracy. We will get the samples tomorrow and should have results by Friday.

Verne arranged to have our friend set the combine to windrow the bean waste. I'll bale them tomorrow and we can truck them to Verne's at our convenience.

Yesterday, Sunday, was an unusual day. I unexpectedly had an opportunity to go to Buffalo to see the Bill's football game. Mary and Jim had planned on going but Mary felt a little off Sunday morning and decided not to go. Jim and I rushed around and got chores done and took off for Buffalo. It's about two and one half hours down the Thruway to the stadium.

We stopped in a Thruway rest area. While waiting for Jim, I ran into, almost literally, a college classmate and his wife. They live about two hours east of us but we don't see them often. They were on their way to Florida. We had a nice but brief visit.

The Bills lost. It is quite an experience to see the game in person. Many of the fans are a little rough in their speech and don't appear to be dehydrated. As the game went on, some of them became even more hydrated and vocal.

Today was a dreary but dry and warm day. Verne says that we have someone coming tomorrow afternoon to look at the six Angus. I moved around some equipment to get ready for the electrician who is supposed to be here tomorrow to finish up.

It's supposed to be almost 70 and sunny tomorrow. I'll get the pressure washer going again to finish cleaning up equipment so we can put it away until Spring.

Saturday November 1, 2008 was another beautiful day. Brilliant sun, blue sky and 50 degrees. Being Irish, I have somewhat of an awareness of old Irish customs. In the Druid world, today would be the first day of winter.

Jim and I continued to get ready for winter. We are still experimenting with the most efficient way to feed. The bale processor works well. We chopped up a bunch of straw for bedding and blew it into the pens.

We took our dog, Patches with us up to the barn today. He is a mostly, we think, Jack Russell Terrier. Mary says he is like a pogo stick with ADD. He likes to run around around the outside of fence. On a previous trip, he find out how electric fences feel. The cows mostly ignore him or just look at him as though wondering what does that foolish dog want. He likes to ride in the tractor. We have to be careful because if we take our eye off him he'll look for barnyard substances to roll in. This is not good.

We went to mass in Jordan and got takeout subs for dinner. Later, we went over to our neighbors and watched the Syracuse football game. Amazingly, they won.