It's still summer, so forget the Magic School Bus - time to get a Magic Bulldozer!

This little dozer did a lot of work two weeks ago. Brian opened up a section of our hillside so we can increase our grazing area for cattle and sheep. With a small 40 acre farm, we need all the grass we can get, while still keeping most of the big shade trees.

In 30 minutes, he and his dozer cleared the last wall of brush on the north side of our stream - an area that would have taken us two winters to do by hand with chainsaws, machetes and shovels (and we would have been left with lots of little stumps, but not now). Before, there wasn't enough space between the fence and brush for me to drive the truck. Now I can drive my truck or tractor the entire length of our fence line. Yea, I'm loving this. And in a few months the cows and sheep will be loving the extra acres of new grass and clover to munch on.

This hillside used to be dense, thorny brush and small saplings, infested with poison ivy, billions of ticks and lots of snakes.

Not any more. And the dozed trees won't go to waste, because the boys and I, along with our friends, will have plenty of firewood to cut and burn for the next few years.

Right after Brian finished dozing, we had to get grass (fescue, rye, orchard) and red clover seed on the bare dirt to protect against erosion, and to create new grazing areas for our cash crop - the cows and sheep. Oh, I also added some turnip seed and other favorite deer food as well. I was fortunate to have some unexpected guests arrive, who willingly volunteered to go to work. 

K2 and K4 were the last ones done. They did a very thorough job. Five of our dogs were running around the hill with us, chasing rabbits and hopefully pressing the seeds into the ground.

Happy crew: from left to right K4, Joseph, Peter (batman), Laura (holding Chloe), K5 (holding seed bucket), Evelyn, and K2. It was great to have them home for a short while, and to get extra farm hands.
Hey, speaking of farm hands, where are K7 and K8 while this was happening?

I took them to Church at O-dark-hundred on that Thursday to join all of our youth 14 and up who were going on a pioneer hand cart trek in Arkansas. They gathered in the foyer with our Bishop for a word of prayer before driving 2 1/2 hours south.

Spent three days and two nights re-enacting what 19th century Mormon pioneers experienced crossing the plains and Rocky mountains (Arkansas has some rugged terrain). Hundreds of youth from our entire Stake in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas were divided into "families" of 10 kids each with a Ma & Pa. The kids had to pull and push their family cart with all their personal gear for several miles a day. I don't have a pic of K7 and his "family", but K8, wearing a tie, must have been the best dressed young man on the trail. And of course, he's always willing to flex his muscles for the ladies. (photo from Tia's facebook)