It's Later.......

Well, I don't much like this weather but what can you do.....and here I thought spring was just around the corner yesterday when I saw Randy outside with his hood down.....

unbelievable, he never takes it down....I thought for the longest time that he was studying to be a "Boooist", you know, one of those guys that wears the long thingies with the hood up all the time that tap you on the shoulder when you don't know they are there and when you turn they go "Booo", a Boooist.....

Well, Thursday is over and it ended very well for a Thursday. All the sows that were due were not exactly due for immediate accommodations so we had a little breathing room for a change. Spent most of the last three days repairing water lines and feed systems but those are coming along okee dokee so far....got the piggies weaned in record time again and no employees were harmed in the making of the record.......got the room washed and all the mommies moved in and awaiting, well you know, and the day ended as smoothly as it began so all that's left to do is await the snow storm.

It is getting dark and cold but all are home and tucked in for the day, and all is well on the farm once again.........:)

ICEEEEEEEEEEEE........HAWK.......

This is really neeeeeeet.......in the bottom picture you can see him top left in the tree and the next one is zooooooooomed in. There was another one in the tree in the garden also and I am sure dinner was as scarce as sun and warmth. There is hundreds of trees broke down from the ice, a real mess, and now we have another winter storm watch in effect for the weekend with a lot of snow but worst of all wind which is going to be bad for the trees cause the ice has not melted off and they are still very heavy so wind is the last thing they need..........later...........

Mom & Baby J......

Just got this (Debbie) and had to share. I think he is almost ready to take on chores with Dad, he is already "whoopin Mom" pretty good....

Grow Baby J...........

Just Yappin........

Yes it is still winter but this photo just makes my old heart go pooter pat (as you get older you will understand this) to see all the warmth and sunshine in this photo and it is just around the corner, or so they tell me. This weather going from 50 one day to zero the next is taking it's toll on everyone and everything. I went to the office to return Kim's phone last week, (that's right Susan, he lost it at the unit) and there was Randy wearing two sweatshirts with a heat tape raped around him plugged into the wall and he was still cold, "bring the heat"!!!!!

The week ended rather well as far as well can end and well can end well when things go rather well for you, oh well. Thursday was a breathable day and the 9 sows waiting to, well you know, gave me a break by all having rather long gestation lengths (for you city folk that means their gestation is longer than normal) so I didn't start the day till 4 that morning. We were without an employee once again, the power washer melted some wires and slowed us down a wee bit, but we had some things done far enough ahead that it all ended rather well, as I think I have already mentioned, and Thursday ended on a upbeat rather than us being beat up.......

Today is rather sunny and in the 40's for a change and tomorrow is forecast to be even more sunny and more warmer and then rain (HEAVY) just before it turns to snow and an Arctic front moves in with some more much below normal temps for us to enjoy at the end of the week, same ole same ole......

But for now all are home or out enjoying the sun and all is well on the farm once again......:)

Thursday.........DONE......

If you read the early report you know we were swetting again to get sows in but I am here to tell you we are all resting easy tonight cause the day is over and for a Thursday it turned out rather spectacular as far as we are concerned!!!!! Only a few bumps or thumps, call them what you will, in the feed mill and with some frozen bearings on a few bins, did I forget to mention it is frigid and damp to boot which makes for some stuff sticking like it ordinarally would not do so we haves to unstick them....

I did have to make room for a sow about mid morning. As I walked by I happened to notice she was staring up at me while all her neighbors were sleeping so I stopped to say "hey" and she said "oink, oink I'm dripping milk here" and I said "oh oink" and led her off to a sweet (yes, as candy)with her name on it so to speak and left her there to milk as she saw fit, and she saw fit.......

The day did turn out very well with that being the closest call as far as the sows were concerned and tonight we are all cozy and calm watching it snow and all IS well on the farm once again....:)

Early Thursday Report.....

Another early start cause, yep, girls are due and their rooms are not ready yet. Had to scope out a vehicle with the web cam around 2:30, not sure what he was doing at that time of morning, nobody is up that early. Four degrees this morning, snow yesterday more comming today, I'm cold and in need of coffee and "all is well on the farm today" remains to be seen.......TTFN.........:)

Another Thursday From HELL.....

These are Lana and Liz's babies in the nursery and as you can see they are growing like pigs on a mission, which is what a pigs mission is, if of course, a pig has a mission, which I believe every pig does, so therefore it is safe to say that they are growing and that growing is their mission or am I mission something here??? Either way, all the 4-H pigs (all 10,000 of them, sure feels like it some times) are looking fabulous and growing like pigs......on a mission....I'm done.....:)

Actually it has been more like the 2 weeks from hell and Thursday was just a compounding of all those problems. We were just starting to adjust to loosing an employee and Lori and I were swetting bullets to get sows in before they, well you know, in the gestation barn, I even started at 3:00 A.M. Thursday hoping to get ahead of the game, (it's not really a game but that is what they say and so I said it too but when you find a sow in gestation doing well, you know, it is not a game but I'll say it that way cause everybody else does but it ain't) then Steve shows up and informs us (us being Lori and me(I) that the other two valued team members were not showing up ON THURSDAY!!!! A sin in itself!!! Soooooooo, that meant us (we) three had to do chores, feed, check bins, grind feed, wean sows, heat check, catch and vaccinate 300 pigs and give them to Steve to vaccinate again and sort, fix heaters, water lines and make sure all was right in the world, help move the jewish settelers off of the North bank, finally got the color map finished for Hilary's trip back to Arkansa, wash the farrowing house and get sows in before they, well you know, all over the place, and answer the phone and other miscellaneous non important trivial stuff like breathing and eating (HUGE on Lori's list) and stopping once to go to the bath room and all this with Steve and Lori both sick just not feverish. Luckly, Dustin showed up later in the morning which helped out a whole bunch and needless to say we gotter done!!!

Well, I am working the weekend and so far I have managed NOT to tear up anything or myself. The weather has turned around a little bit and today has turned out to be a very nice day in more ways than one. I think I will retire to the couch now for some R&C (root beer and chips) as I believe everyone else has, so for now everyone is resting for the day and all is well on the farm once again..........:)

Duuuuuuuuuuuuude.......

This is Liz. Not only is she Lana's sister, as you can see, she is her neighbor also. And like her sister she also has had a most excellent litter of lill red babies with some most excellent potential champions. (read that twice) There were roughly 25 pigs between them so a few are "eating out" so to speak to make room for the others and so all lill bellies get full of milk but sooner or later they will be reunited, you might say a "reed-union"!!!

Got a call from Lori about an hour ago with some questions about a heater, her weekend and it ain't working right but we gotter goin. Yes the photo of the flood is in the past and now we are dealing with a little snow, -5 temperatures and -20 wind chills, go figure. As of the time of this post to my knowledge nothing is froze beyond repair or reheating but the day is young.

I think we are going to venture out again to test our metal and see what is going on so I must go get my insulation on, which as I get older seems to take longer and require more items to do the job that only a few used to do, and then out we will go.

For now all is functioning normally, all are warm and cozy and all is well on the farm once again.

Lil Red Babies.....

This is Lana, (she is the big one with all the food spouts) and Lana is one of our "home grown" girls and, as you can see, she just had a brand spankin fresh outa the box new litter of little red babies and they are doing just fine. We are quit sure their are some future mommies in the bunch and if you look close you will see the biggest baby boy (Grand Champion what you say) lying right up next to the food spouts waiting for the dinner bell (grunter bell) to sound. He didn't get that big by being last in line!!

Well, the day is almost over, the fog, drizzle, and snow are about to give way to some below zero temps, the piggies are asleep, we are home and all is well on the farm once again......:)

Well, I don't know about you, but this old body doesn't appreciate a change in temperature of this magnitude!!! The weather went from ice to flood in about a week causing undo stress and strain to all who had to be out in it (us) and I can't say it did much for the ones who were stuck inside either. At this point in time the weather man is calling for Sunny and 40 today, snow tomorrow and temps falling next week to only 20s for highs, go figure. Kim and Susan are stuck inside where they are from all the snow throwing darts at one another to stay unbored (my word) but at least that is consistent and isn't such a strain on the system...the weather I mean, not the dart throwing.

Mother Nature is giving us her usual fits at the Unit as well and although we know it is coming it is still difficult to accept as something we can do little to change but we are inching in that direction ever so diligently, although I believe she will win in the end. We have started having our 4-H pigs and I must say they look pretty good at this point in time. The initial litters out of Paint Shop (our boar) are very good looking little boogers and me thinks me smell a few Champions in the mix!! The Duroc gilts are due next week and everything Lori and I have are crossed for luck in anticipation of some most excellent replacement gilts as well as a few Champion barrows (that's unbored for you city folk) for the fairs.

It is time to make an attempt to get all the Christmas lights down before the snow so I will take my leave of you, (I like that, got it from Spock's dad in "The Journey Home") everyone is home playing except Steve, it is his weekend, and all is well on the farm once again..........