Tractors and outdoor stuff....

Oye, wishing I had more time indoors to play these days, but alas, I've been outdoors learning all kinds of new things! Just yesterday I learned to plow a field. I was also told that I wouldn't be able to get the tractor stuck....:-D Guess what....I DID get it stuck. In an attempt to line up with the plowed furrow I turned the front tires perpendicular to the tractor and sunk them into the soft field soil. Woops! Had to drop the tractors bucket in an attempt to slightly lift up on the front of the tractor, taking some of the weight off the wheels while rocking the tractor frontward and backward and attempting to turn the steering wheel to get the tires turned. Finally got it and then stalled the engine out in a new section where old shumac had grown for the last 20+ years. So, my Dad and I switched jobs and I spent the next two hours "dragging" a different field while he finished up plowing. Dragging (rake like apparatice attached to back of tractor, drug over and over and over and over a field to level it out and prep it for planting) is SO very much easier and A LOT more fun than plowing. In a week or two we'll plant the three fields with winter squash and pumpkins to harvest in the fall and sell at our Roadside Fresh Cider Stand.

We have a couple acres of "forest" on our property and a few of the trees have lived their lives to the fullest and needed to come down: rotten centers and leaning over the property line into the neighboring school yard. What an experience that has been. We actually were in the middle of removing one tree on Earth Day...the irony! A large group of 3rd graders came over to the fence to watch and ask all kinds of questions. Mainly, "Why are you cutting down trees on Earth Day!?" We explained the trees were rotten and showed them the inside of the rotten tree pieces. We assured them that we would be planting more and had in fact already planted some throughout our property. That settled the crowd, but one poor lil' boy was completely distraught as he told us that animals make their homes in rotten trees and we were taking away animal homes. He ran off into the school yard in tears. Poor lil' guy. If only he would have stayed to watch the effort we put into cutting and very carefully removing a 6 foot section of the tree that is home to a large hive of honey bees and trucking it to a friend's farm where it will thrive and pollinate there.

Saturday night was our last public roller skating session of this season! What a year! I still can't believe my parents ran the rink for 25+ years! And I certainly can't imagine doing it year round. We MUST HAVE the summer break from all those kids and the drama (OH! MY! THE DRAMA! :p) I'm looking foward to an occasional Friday or Saturday evening out if the weather and our other businesses cooperate. :p

Got our small backyard cleared up and had a small bbq with our RLG (Real Life Group-Small Study group from church) on Sunday. Was so nice to get out and relax outdoors with friends. And the weather? Oh my goodness! It has gone from 30 to 80 in a weeks time. Just silly for this time of year! It APPEARS as if Winter has finally headed North, not sure if Spring has come or if Summer has just pushed right in.

Hopefully sometime in the next couple days I'll get some scrappy fun time in and will share some bits. I am in the process of creating a fun altered book, making some memory pages that my Grandmother requested, making swaps for IFS@yahoo, and hopefully getting enough goodies together and made to set up at a flea market either this weekend or next. But for now, Sleep. :)