yard work

Well, I finally braved the winds today to do some yard work. Got the place raked and the preliminary mowing done - not that there was much growing, but it breaks up the snow mold. Plus, it was a good day to pull all of the rocks off the lawn. The wind was only 30 mph today, so I was working in three jackets (including parka) and a toque. I finally gave up and went to town to the stores just to escape the cold (and to buy enough food to get me through sandwiches for the weekend.)

I am reminded that I will be mowing the lawn at least weekly from now until mid-October - usually every 4 days when it is growing well. Ugh. At least I have a decent mower.

Still need to do the barnyard, but I need to harrow (large tow behind rake) the ridges out of the lawn first. They're caused by large vehicles driving over the soft ground, but that is somewhat inevitable. There are months in the winter (when the ground is solid) where the elevators won't let us haul grain, but when road restrictions come on and the ground thaws, every remaining bushel is called for. Most of last year's crop is delivered now - there are only a few oats leftover for summer delivery, or worst case scenario, they can go in the fall with the new crop.

Dale is still anhydrousing tonight. The girls and I will go out at 10:30 or so to pick him up - at least it isn't a school night. I would have tried to move vehicles around to get him self sufficient if it had been. However, he'll be finished this field (Morgan's) but will still have fertilizer in the tank, so I'll be doing the vehicle shift tomorrow morning, probably about an hour after he starts. We'll be at the east farm (Brereton's), so it will have to be cold meals tomorrow. It's a long enough drive that it is tough to keep things warm.

Anyway, I'm going to go do up the rest of the hand washing and start laundry for tomorrow. The dishes might make me warmer, and the laundry needs to be on the line before 11 a.m. if it is going to dry when it is this cold. So, if I get some of it done tonight, I might almost be on track by the time Dale needs me to shuffle vehicles. Almost.