The Sign

When we first moved to the farm we raised miniature horses.  My sister, Beverly, and I had cleaned and repaired the barn from one end to the other.  I gave tours to groups at no charge. I was just proud of what we had accomplished and wanted to share with the world.

During the repairs we found many pieces of our family history had been destroyed just by storing them so many years in a barn.  I took the pieces, and, yes, I knew the story for every piece and made a sign.  I had a piece of something that belonged to every member of the family generations past.

 I even had t-shirts made. Front

and back. (Raindrops on the shirt not stains)

After the tornado the barn and the sign (and many other things) had much damage.  This past month I tried to resurrect my sign.  Too much destroyed so I began anew.  Different pieces but the same purpose...to share the name we chose.

All that remained of the original sign was part of an F so I began there.

I gathered pieces of this and that and pieced them together to recreate my original sign.  It's not the same but we are labeled again.

Some may wonder why At The Farm.  Before we moved here someone would ask, Where's Dad? Where's Hubby?  At The Farm was always the answer so with my horses' registration I used At The Farm as the suffix instead of the standard prefix in a farm/ranch name.  

The first filly born here was Angel's Trumpet At The Farm and the first colt was named Walking Small At The Farm...see where I'm going besides in circles?

When my sister, Beverly, said I should blog the name came naturally...At The Farm.

Although we are no longer a horse ranch nor a cattle ranch the name remains mainly because of my blog.  Presenting the new old sign and it's new location...Ta daaaaa!

A Limerick For Poets Pub...

The trees, the bull, the man took a stand

All rooted 'til he stretched out his hand

The bull invited the man to leave

First he thought of climbing a tree

But smartly chosen the man ran.

Trees for dVerse~Poets Pub

Trees can be for Putty Tats

For climbing and shade

This and that

Trees can make a house

They feed us

And can hide a mouse

I love when they sing

On a windy day

Birds rest their wings

Random 5 Friday with A Rural Journal...

 A Rural Journal, has many Random 5's.  

Join the fun and read a few.

1.  The snow has finally left and the cattle are enjoying warmer air. We are enjoying new babies and warmer weather.  Today a chill is in the air with a little rain mixed with sun.  We are dry despite the snow.

2.  I neglect visiting all my bloggers every day between working at our shop, playing at farming, crocheting and being hopelessly lazy.

  

3.  I am slowly working on my book.  Some think I may have enough talent to be published.  Many days I don't agree.

4.  I love canines.  None of you knew that, did you???

5.  The Siberian Iris is blooming.

Peace In The Valley

The cattle are enjoying their return to winter pasture in the valley. They enjoy the fresh running spring and creek, too.  Hay is stored...in much better shape than we were this time last year with the drought. California is not the only place that has happy cows.

Going to retrieve my rocks so Hubby offered me a ride through the creek in his tractor bucket.  It was a little cool to be playing in water.  I gripped with my feet and hands as Hub tilted me forward and backward as you can tell by my white stubby toes.   Butt!  He was laughing.  The splashing ahead  is Ki-Anne.

This photo is quite deceptive.  Beneath those leaves runs a creek. They are falling faster than the current can carry them away.  When the next rain comes they will wash away and we'll see the water again. The leaves will stop in places along the way to build new soil.

We wait for winter.

A Crisp Wind Blows...

through the valley today raining leaves sideways. The trees rustle as if to say, "No, it's not time!" Another season begins.

The "falling back" of the clock has timed itself well. Food is falling. We gather walnuts, pecans, hickory nuts, pears, chestnuts, persimmons, and pawpaws. Preparing them for storage and use like the generations before us.

The figs frozen by the cold nights display the color of their last hurrah and drift to the ground.    Green still fills the valley as the hillsides are in constant color change.  Once again the valley shall shelter and feed the fifth generation of our family as they have fed the inhabitants that have gone before.

I believe the valley smiles.

We are home.

Hiding...

or trying.

Too Much To See...

One thing a farm dog must do is keep an eye on everything.

They have to make sure all is well At The Farm.

Sometimes, it like watching a tennis match.

There are animals in every direction

and on a lazy day,

you just watch...

and see what you can see.

A Farmer's Life

Some time, no matter how hard you try, work lasts until after dark.  You keep working and what you get done tonight will give you a head start on tomorrow.

The conditions are dry.  The cattle's pasture is thinning so we are  preparing to move them to greener pastures.  A job that began Saturday has continued into this night.  Tomorrow, if the Lord's willing and the creeks don't rise, we will be opening the gates to cattle paradise, lush, tender, delectable grazing.

Will Rogers said, Behind every successful farmer there is a wife who works in town.  We both work so we do our farm improvements when we find the opportunity.  Tonight we tried to finish but it was not meant to be.

Even with the tractor and mule lights,

we knew we would not finish this night.

You have to love farming.  It is not a easy task  Work is done, no matter the weather and animals need care every day, not just when you feel like it. The love of farming has to course through your veins or you will not succeed.

I tried to help as much as I could taking pictures but that wasn't enough.  I was the gofer...you know, go for this, go for that, hammer a few steeples, hold a wire.   I do that well although I did not find the wire cutters in the dark, that will have to wait for daylight.

So tomorrow we will continue after our paying jobs are done for the day.  Our love of farming, our sense of accomplishment, our love of the animals will over come the tiredness and we will finish.

Drive By Shooting...

seems to be the best I can do these days.  These animals are not mine, just some between here and work.

Some nice mule colts

A poorly proportioned miniature horse

An interesting bovine with a white mule in the background

A wooly miniature, I would say Class B

I am not responsible for their condition, only their photo.

I am sure they are hoping for spring too.

Animals everywhere I shoot.

The Dreaming Porch

Three generations live on the family farm in different dwellings but we all drift to the dreaming porch.

Centrally located with a wonderful swing and plenty of room for all, the dreaming porch's screen frames the valley.

From here we may watch horses or cattle grazing, the creek rolling with recent rains, the sunrise, children playing or dogs being dogs.

The changing scene also remains the same, reminding us the land is a constant and WE are the changing ones, the dreaming ones.

Whether it is sunrise coffee with sisters or solitary swinging, it is always a place to unwind and to be grateful for all our blessings.