Christmas Dinner the best

Besides being with family the food is the best part of Christmas day.  For the Cattle and Hog farmers we  had booth for our Christmas dinner. with a few side dishes and four different desserts.  I am glad the weather is mild and it isn't snowing for the ones who drive to see family.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.   Take care and Bless all who are traveling

Woodpeckers

Male Hairy Woodpecker

 This cold spell has brought out all the pretty birds and then some not so pretty birds but since God put them here I shall feed them right along with the others.    I hate to say it but the Hawks will always pick on the ones with colorful feathers every notice a pile of red feathers laying in your yard?
 
Our little dogs are doing fine had them neutered last week,  they will run through the house at 30 miles an hour just better get out of the way.
The cows are on their winter pasture and the heifers are on the west side pasture outside my kitchen window.  Great view never get tired of watching them.
Sounds like we may have a white Christmas nice to see flurries sometime that day.

Merry Christmas and take care and be nice to others.

New Windows

 These are pictures of the new windows that are going in our building in downtown Martinsville.  There are seven buildings that are part of a grant to replace the facade.
For our store I am sure we will have lower energy use.  We had large plate glass windows and you could feel the cold in the winter  and heat in the summer.   It will be beautiful to see the finished buildings.  I hope you will come to town and see the change.
Take care Merry Christmas if I don't get back on before next week

Abby and Bentley

 These are my new Fur Babies  They are always playing or I guess I should say fighting with each other.  They are 3 years old.  I think I went to the website Rescue Me and checked everyday to see what was available.  These 2 were on face book and  were for sale I went to see them and brought them home that day..  Just sharing these pictures with my blog readers.  Hope everyone had a Nice Thanksgiving with family and friends.  Got to post on the Berries and Ivy face book page some of the new gift items we have in the store.     We will be open on Sunday from 1 to 4 starting tomorrow
Have a great week and take care.

Ground Squirrels

I walked into my studio the other day and I saw this little guy feeding on sunflowers.  I couldn't resist he was so cute and in picture 3 his jaws are really full of seed.  He will plant them for me and they will come up next year because he will forget where he planted them.
Farming is coming along got the beans in and now to finish the corn.   Mike is hoping we will have room for the rest of the corn.   Weaned a few more calves by the sign of the moon  love it when they ask me.  What is the next weaning date?   I really like  the farmers almanac you can use it to loose weight, cut hair,  kill weeds, plant and harvest.  Get yourself one for next year good reading also. 
Going to sign off take care and be nice to each other.

Year of the Farmer

You are reading this sign correctly The Great Indiana State Fair and their Sponsor Dow AgriSciences  has named 2015 fair theme to be  "Year of the Farmer" Not that farmers need to be told what to do they are always learning what they can do to better their land and care of their animals. If you want to know more about farming go to the State Fair and see all the the learning experiences at the Glass Barn and all the other buildings.  But it will be special to see this honor unfold.  I imagine if a farmer can walk or even if he is in a wheelchair he will be in the field with the weather we are having   Call it Indian Summer or the summer we didn't have.  On that note I have work to do so  take care and enjoy this weather.

Beautiful View

As the farmers go through the fields the view is great but he is busy watching other pictures that come over the screens in the combine.  Everything is so technical  It tells you a lot of what your field is producting .  We all know as time goes by  it will not get easier but there will be more to learn.

Zeus says forget about the harvest lets just go for a ride.  He is waiting for me.  He has even gotten in the UPS truck looking for a treat.
We are having our Christmas Open House at the shop on the West side of the Martinsville Square on Nov 1, 2014 Refreshments and gifts It will be a winter wonderland
That is all for now take care and watch out for the Farmers

Random Thoughts

I thought I would touch base with my readers.  I know it has been a while I didn't plan on spending so much time in the Berries and Ivy store.  But if you want to succeed at a business  you need to put the effort  into it.  

 Farming is coming along the guys try to get some corn shelled everyday.  We have had some break downs.  But also we had a grain dryer fire one morning and we have had some mishaps that contribute back to the fire.  We are waiting on parts for the grain leg.  We can only use one grain leg so it restricts  what we can do and how we move grain around.  The cows are good no problems one thing I have to say we haven't run out of pastures for all of them.  That is a good thing. Below is a picture of 2 of my special guys.  The little one has left this earth a couple of months ago so I have been looking for a rescue to replace his cute little being.  

Take care and be careful and watch for slow moving vehicles

Harvest Begins 2014

 One down and several to go. We have started harvest today there isn't another word for it.  Long hours, food on the run,  and a good nights sleep when it rains. The word out there is our harvest will be good but the prices are bad.  I hope you didn't forget 1.25 a bu several years ago but I know input costs were not as high and neither was land costs or cash rents.  I will leave it there. May God watch over all the Farmers and keep them safe.  Never be in such a hurry as to not think about what you are doing. 
Take care and be kind to each other

Random Thinking

Yes here is the Big Moon  I thought it was neat to see.  I saw a lot of shot that were on face book everyone had their take on the Big Moon

I feel so lucky to see my friend show up today at the feeder he is a Red-bellied Woodpecker  I believe there are 5 different ones that will winter at this feeder love to watch them.  That little finch is wandering who is shaking the feeder as I said this is the first visit this fall.  Happy to know they are OK and still alive.  I am amazed how they survive no bigger then they are I know they are part of the whole: God's Plan, Even when the Hawk swoops in for his Supper

This is a picture that you can light up,  sit on the table or hang in the porch.  Save it from year to year We sold out last week and just got another order  in today. 

The old and the new

 This is now at the entrance of where we have cow in the summer months.  There is also a house that goes with the pasture and some crop ground.  I got to check on the cows as everyone else was busy.
We have mowed hay lets hope for no rain maybe we can get it up
Don't forget to look at the moon tonight.   Take care and be safe

 There is a water tank for the cows to drink.  Always have to make sure everything is working

A charger to keep them safe and not roaming this isn't the wild west

A bluebird box that I envy the first year it is up the bluebirds used it.  I took pictures of them when I went to water earlier this summer

This is a large fungus must be 18 inches across got my attention at first I thought it looked like a turtle at the bottom of the tree.  So what kind of fungus???

This is the old  in  fact it sits across from the water tank and there was a pump below that we turned on to water the cows.  We have used this pasture well over 35 yrs.  

 

 

Before the Harvest

Just as the sign says  Before the Harvest  Thank you for a really nice evening with my Farmer.  Tonight he is off to a field day and there are many to attend.

This weekend for anyone interested in Rug Hooking come by the Woolkeepers Rug Hooking event at Camby In on East County Road 700 South Hope to see all of you there we are a vendor great show.

Farm report: trying to find a window of time without rain to cut some more hay.  Working on the Combine.  Trying to keep up with mowing the lawn.

Take care and be kind to each other

American Goldfinch

 Sure won't be long these birds won't be so beautiful they will change with the temperature outside.
He was a hungry little finch the birds below just kept wanting to eat and he would run them off and as you can see in the pictures he continued eating.

The Great Indiana State Fair is over I think it had good attendances the weather was great.  If you didn't make it, there is always next year. 
We have gotten  more rain so now maybe we could use some drying time for our corn before harvest starts. 
Just wanted to stop by saw this little bird so added him to my post.
Take care  and enjoy the rest of your summer.

Back again

This is one flower that is seem all over the fairgrounds  but who doesn't like sunflowers.

 Back again in the Pioneer Village today hooking on our rugs.  The one below will be in the Auction on Sat at 12:00 noon  it took 900 hours of work to complete.      It is one rug that would look great in my kitchen as I have roosters and chickens.   Hope we have lots of bidders  I will get my number.  Hope all are enjoying their time at the Fair. I will be back in a few day
Farm report trying to get another cutting of hay in and hauling grain to get ready for harvest.  We did get a 1.96 inches of rain the other day just in time, the beans were starting to roll not something you want to see.  The rain will also help keep the pastures green.
Until we talk again have fun and be kind to each other.  Take a day and go to The Great Indiana State Fair

Pioneer Village

I do love the Pioneer Village   All the old tools and equipment in that building and to think someone used them  Makes me tired to think about how long it took to make something with them.
Well I was rug hooking with a few others should have taken a picture but I didn't
I got to help raise the flag and that is a first for me  The First Lady Karen Pence fired off the cannon woo too loud for me.  Then we raised the flag. 
I have several small gourds in the FFA  Country Store  and they have lots more to look at Jellies, Soaps, Salsa, soup mixes  I believe I saw ice cream  come on by and help them make some money
All for tonight take care and be kind to each other.

Wheat Harvest continues

This goes in the barn to be used inside.

As I said wheat harvest continues but we are rolling up straw to be used as  bedding in the fields where our cows will be calving next winter.  The extreme weather we went through last winter makes a farmer want more for the cows and their calves.  This last year we had some corn stalks we rolled a couple of years ago and that worked better than a foot of snow.  Just unroll and you give them a blanket  of dry bedding. 
We are cutting and baling more hay for this winter.  All the crops are looking good so far but until the fat lady sings or the combine rolls you never know.
The weather is great for all the county fairs that are going on around Indiana go and enjoy; help support 4-H
Until we talk again, be kind to each other.

Wheat Harvest to everything there is a season

 Wheat harvest in full swing we mainly raise wheat for the straw but it is another cash crop. Then we either double crop soybeans, or this year one of the fields will be planted in hay come fall. 

 With a wheat crop comes the straw and what better weather then what we are experience right now, but I have seen years that  you could cook an egg on the hood of the truck pulling the trailer.  We had some great help last night hope they will hang out for a couple of days. 
This straw will be used for bedding in our barns.  We have a small feed lot for our own calves and they need a dry place to lay in rainy seasons or snow in the winter.  The straw is unloaded into the barns for later use

While we were loading the trailers my grandson mentioned that with all the moderization in farming this is still the way used unless you want to use a pitch fork and a wagon
Thank God for all the weather either good or bad the rain has been plentiful so far this year and I acknowledge those who have had some wind damage maybe you will still have a crop to sell.
We are celebrating the 4th of July with family gatherings either work or play, time spent together.
Take care and be nice to each other

Time to Garden

These beans were planted before it dropped down to 39 one night and I thought for sure they would be hit by the frost but they did well and it won't be long and we will be eating fresh green beans.                                  

This was our first week as owners of Berries and Ivy County Store we have a face book page stop by and like our page and say HI our Open house is June 28 thru July 5 closed July 4                             Farm report:    Got a lots of hay up over the last couple of weeks.  Still having a few calves.    Corn is looking good the cold weather sort of cause some yellowing but it is off and running.  I thought the wheat look like it was trying to turn  but it is getting close to the 4th time to combine wheat and bale straw.  Beautiful weather we are having  enjoy it the next few days.   Take care and stay safe

  

 

I replanted the spots that didn't come up  We had a hard rain after I planted these

I have eyed these 2 tubs thought about taking them to the store but I would had to get the guys to move them.     So I told them to move them to my garden  and put some dirt in so I can plant my potatoes. And of course they laughed at me.  One red and one white potatoes  there is a drain hole at one end

Milk weed for the Monarchs

Sorry to say but the Mother bird never show up these are probably a month old

Sweet potatoes long time since I grew  them my MIL always planted sweet potatoes

Something has attacked this tomato plant  didn't see any worms Wondering can they be slugs???

Always have to grow sunflowers

Old cook stove for sale