Making hay

I hired an Amish farmer to hay my paddocks last week. We got 24 large round bales.

The snake that didn't get away, finally...

It was hard to not see this snake in the road in front of our yard one evening last week. I stopped the truck and got out to verify what kind it was. It did not take off when I prodded it with a stick. It coiled and hissed, after which I could see the shape of it's head and the white sacks in it's mouth - a "Cotton Mouth" or Water Moccasin, one of four venomous snakes we have in this part of the Ozarks. This and the Cooperhead are so aggressive they get the automatic death sentence when I find them, so I ran over him twice. Danny drove by, and he squashed its guts out. I came by on the tractor 10 minutes later, and unbelievably, this snake was trying to crawl off the road, so I ran over it twice more, then picked him up with a stick and draped him over my neighbor's barbed wire fence. Came back 30 minutes later and he was GONE! Incredible! It was dark, so I looked for it early next morning and found it belly up about 4 feet away from the fence - finally dead. The moral of the story? For me there are now only two sure ways to kill them out right: (1) cut it's head off with a machete, shovel, or hoe (or a lawn mower as I once did); or (2) shoot it in the head, preferably with shell shot BB's from a pistol or shotgun.

The budding young plumber

I know its gross, but someone has to fix this problem - a clogged toilet. 

The plunger didn't get it, so he had to do it the old fashioned way. Yes, its gross and yucky, but everyone in the house greatly appreciated his bravery and "Can do" spirit.

"Really? You'll pay me for doing this? Alright!"

Mission accomplished! Dad paid him $20 and K2 paid him $5. Not bad for less than 30 minutes work. Next summer he turns 15, so I will arrange a short apprenticeship with a buddy who owns a plumbing company. The summer he turns 16, I'll do the same with a friend who owns a heating and cooling company to learn about that and electricity. 

Moonrise

K2 was studying on the back upper deck one evening when he noticed this gorgeous sight.

Mom's sitting garden

S has a giant vegetable garden, but has this shady spot in one corner from the hickory tree (which I refuse to cut down). She decided to create a little sitting area.

Pretty nice, isn't it?

She used the old trampoline for a base, then covered it with wood mulch.

K7 does Kip from "Napolean Dynamite"

Burn baby, burn!

Clearing dead brush and collecting driftwood from the stream bank is a constant job throughout the year. The boys are becoming quite proficient at burning.

Mission accomplished.

Mom checking out another burn pile.

This is a regular pile located in our "Log Yard", where we drag logs out of the stream to cut up or burn.

Same fire, different angle.

K2 ignited this one. It had lots of wood on it, and the flames were 35 to 40 feet high. It really lighted-up the pasture.