Rural re-newal

This large sycamore tree was leaning dangerously over our stream. It was about to fall onto a walnut tree, so we had to cut both trees down, before we could start a project to straighten the stream's flow of water and fix the eroding bank.

I had my lumber-jack buddy come do the tree felling since it was a complicated and dangerous job. He cut the walnut first (on the right), which fell onto the sycamore, which he cut second.

The sycamore crashed into the stream sending up a huge splash (which I didn't catch).

K8 had to remove an old barbed wire fence we found along the top of the bank just behind the downed tree.

We started cutting up trees and dragging them out of the water.

K8 is sitting on the lower trunk of the walnut. More photos to follow, but I have to stop tonight because a pretty strong storm is blowing overhead at the moment.

Recycle that scrap metal

There has been a couple of wire cattle panels in our stream for past many years. We used the tractor to drag them out.

You can see them behind K7 as he cuts firewood in our "log yard".

On Tuesday of this week, we loaded it up and headed to the metal recycling company in town.

K7 and K8 are my helpers.

Not a pretty place, but definitely useful to society. And they pay you for scrap metal. This small load fetched $9.80!

Some random shots from past weeks

K7 had a lead role in a fun version of, "Alice in Wonderland".

K8 had a smaller role. This was after the final show - a night time double header, so everyone was tired. 

I found this owl nesting in hollow tree along our stream. Sorry for blurry photo - I was using my iPhone.

 

The annual trek to the big city and the Academy sports store to find a new pair of sneakers. Didn't get them, but he narrowed down his choices and price range.

Mom has been working hard in her garden. K3 gave her the orange paisley shorts.

We expect huge harvests later in the summer.

A hybrid bluegill from our pond. Almost big enough to eat. They were using cast nets, and pulled out lots of big bull frog tadpoles, so we should be enjoying lots of Danny's excellent fried frog legs this summer.

Two black crappie from our pond. They are my favorite tasty fresh water fish, next to trout, but trout need really cold spring water here in Missouri to survive.

After the flood...

A few days after the "flood", the sky was blue and the ground was drying. 

The cows and sheep were fast eating all the new spring grass and needed to be moved, so we had to fix the fences.

We had to dig the debris off the fences in order to pull the posts back up...

...which took a while.

I called our fencing crew for some emergency work - strengthening the weak spots along the fence line by replacing the flattened t-posts with 3-inch steel pipe pounded 3-feet into the ground (by the tractor you see in the back ground).

The boys pulled and straightened the flimsy fence back across both ends of the stream (this is the west end), but we will have to build something must stronger before next storm.

K7 is cutting up an old tree that has been laying on the stream bank for a few years, and is surrounded by brambles. I need to drag the logs out before clearing out the nasty brush.

K7 also cut up driftwood logs we pulled out of stream and cut down some small walnut trees.  The driftwood goes onto the burn pile, and the walnut gets cut up and stacked for next winter's firewood to heat the house.

K8 also got his chainsaw in action.

His job was to clear out all the thick brush to the right.

He got most of it cut and piled for burning, but as he worked his way close to the trunk of this big Sycamore tree next to the road, his chainsaw got tangled with a hidden bunch of old rusty fence wire that was wrapped around the tree trunk - which was the poor man's way to fence in the Ozarks. He finally got his chain freed, but we'll have to cut all the old wire out before he finishes.

April flood

Wed. 17 April, storm clouds moving in over farm. Notice our bull and ram are across the fence on the stream side along with 4 other cows.

Thu. 18 April, about mid-morning after the all-night rain stopped. Got over 3 inches. Pond overflowed (to the left in photo) adding to the new stream in middle of paddock. You can see the stream in back ground. 

Our stream over flowed into paddocks 3 and 4, so forcefully that it washed out the barbed wire fence between the two.

The bridge over our stream was totally covered, and this photo was taken an hour after the rain stopped, so the water is already receding. 

The new river through our pasture.

We usually call this the "dry gully" in paddock 6, but it was really flowing on this day. 

The water was so strong going through paddock 4, it flattened the fence between our farm and our next door neighbor, and crept up into paddock 5.

Our stream bed on other side of our neighbor is normally on the far side of the power pole., but as you can see, it is mostly on this side of pole and has completely covered the fields, road and intersection.

K8 had to move the sheep because the fences in paddocks 3 and 4 were down in three places.

The stream to the left is level with the field.

K8 is standing on the edge of stream bank an hour after the rain stopped. You can see the fence flattened to the right.

You can barely see it, but there is a fish (in center left) swimming across our field. Hope it made its way back to stream.

Water finally receding. We'll be bull dozing all the rocks across the stream into this "bend" to re-open the old stream channel and straighten out the stream bed, and hopefully minimize this problem in future.

Looks like we are going to need stronger fence posts.

Our stream turned into quite a raging river.

After the water level dropped, I allowed K6 and K8 into the stream for some fun.

K6 had to help K8 at one point. The current was still fairly strong.

A view looking back toward our bridge. The water has dropped at least 3 or 4 feet by this time. Because the surge "broke" both fences across the stream, I had to move our bull and 5 other animals down the road and across this bridge - in the dark with a flashlight - and back into securely fenced paddock 1. Exciting to say the least, but "Red" is a well behaved bull - he'll do anything for food! 

Preg testing....the old fashioned way

We weren't sure if our dairy cow "Darlin" was bred this year, so we invited our friend Dustin to give her a preg test. He is a 3rd year Vet student, and gladly came over to do the deed.

It's official - "Darlin" is pregnant, about 100 days along, and due around mid-October. We'll stop milking her in August in order to dry her up before calving.