So spring is here, weather the last few days was BEAUTIFUL, and the farm work is going into full swing!

in January to February, we focused mainly in the shop, setting up for getting started again on some major mechanical projects (And mainly to get set up). We did some rearranging, set up some new shelving and lined a little over one-thousand feet of wire just to get it properly lit (8 Main-lights, 4 workbench lights, 4 plugs on each long wall, and the lights were block-wired!)

In march, the heat turned up so suddenly we had a "Mega-melt", were there were big rivers of meltwater everywhere! There was a great big lake in a low spot, and there was a overflow crossing our driveway! Interestingly enough, all the rivers were gone in a couple of days...

Since it has now dried out for a few weeks, I started up our MF202 and got the disc going. We want to fix up, improve and expand the field we got the most hay out of, so that means churning the soil a little, picking up any rocks that appear (2 backhoe loader buckets (6.7 Cu.Yards each) Already!) and clearing a little land.

Coming up this summer is a photo tour of the farm!

Well, 2007 is upon us, and it gave me time to reflect.

The last thing done in December (and 2006) was moving a old homemade stove into our shop. Dad made this stove when we were living up in Lillooet (And when I was still a "little pup") And from what I see, it is like the nuclear reactor in our basement.

Thinking about it, 2006 was a very good year for us. We were able to clean up the place, get our very first (At least for me!) hay crop off, and get a very good start at rebuilding the farm. In fact, comparing it to when we first moved in, in June 2005, when we were practically camping here, the quality of living has improved a lot.

2007 could be, however, the last year Mad Cat will run. I was thinking about all the trouble we were having with the blade up at the intake, and the trouble we are having at repairing the blade. The cat is worn out, and a hand crank is not really desirable. So what me and dad agreed on is Hornet, who is undergoing restoration, will get a new, designed-to-fit, built-to-spec blade on it, with electric start and a geared-down transmission (Gear machining, here we come!), and Mad Cat will be either parked or turned into a ag-cat until we get the time to restore it as well.

Planning the future of this farm has really got me eager to start, but have to wait for the snow to melt! A "Monster Shop" is planned for construction this year, I'm gonna build a tractor shed for all of our running equipment, and we will expand our fields! I am looking forward to this!

Had some fun while waiting for spring!

The first few weeks during the thaw (Which came a little late; the start of April) The whole area became a sea of mud. Dilbert's "Elbonia" would come to mind as the entire area became too unstable for vehicles to tranverse, even the driveway!

Finally fed up from wading to the truck, and having to fourwheel out of our own driveway, we took our backhoe and dug a hole in the middle of our driveway. The gound consists of 3 feet of straight clay, with large rocks coming into the mix for an additional 3 feet. Finally, at six feet, we hit gravel.

Once we hit gravel, we could almost hear toilet flushing sounds. Water kept going in, and we never once had a puddle down there. All the water on the driveway went into that hole, and it finally started to dry up!

We kept from operating the heavy machinery (Except the backhoe) during that time, as getting equipment mired does not help anything. Last week, the ground was really soft. We were carrying a power trowel over to a shed, and it got stuck on the route around the shop twice. I finally thought I would go around the orchard, where I thought it was firmer.

Apparently not.

I got the backhoe stuck all the way up to the axels. I couldent even pull it with the backhoe arm, which is how I freed it the first two times.

So, we left it for a week, and managed to unstick it on friday. :)