January 3, 2011

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  Having five-year-old grandson Wyatt overnight and today has been delightful! We are tired, though–his energy is limitless!

  Monday mornings are a busy time for me. I go to our farm office and do the weekly payroll and pay bills, submit tax forms, open and answer mail, send and receive faxes…whatever needs doing. Sometimes it takes me all day, and sometimes I’m done in a few hours. Today, with Wyatt along, I wrapped things up quicker than expected. By noon, his patience was wearing thin. So, we found Farmboy and invited him out for lunch.

  When one lives in the country, and the nearest restaurant is 20 miles away, one doesn’t go out for lunch very often. Today we made the exception and drove to Drury, a wide spot in the road 19.5 miles north of our home. There is a country store there, and the newest owners have added a small eatery. The grownups had the daily special–a Philly cheesesteak, onion rings and a piece of homemade chocolate cake–all very good. The little guy ordered “a cheeseburger with ketchup and french fries with ketchup, please, and a big glass of sweet tea. No, thank you, I don’t think I can eat dessert.” He had spied the ice cream as we came in and thought that would be a good way to end the meal, but by the time we left, he had no room.

  As we waited for our food, he looked around and pronounced the store ” an old-fashioned place. You know, Mimi, I think I like this restaurant. Let’s come back sometime!” And of course, we agreed to do so, the next time he spends the day with us. (I think it would have been rather ordinary if not for the exceptional company we enjoyed.)

  Farm work of the day: Stan spent several hours this morning laying out an addition to the corral at the Van Voris place, one of our more remote farms. He is constantly thinking of ways to improve things, and he believes the new pen will help when they work cattle next summer. Two of our largest herds are on this place, and it is a real job to work one of them in one day. Just before noon, he left Phillip and Lee at work, setting the posts.

  Here on the north, Theron and Keith spent the morning feeding everywhere, and in the afternoon Theron resumed the plowing of three hayfields. Last summer’s extreme dry and hot weather caused almost all of our orchard grass to die out, so Stan has decided to replant with alfalfa. We’ve long raised alfalfa, a heat-tolerant plant because it puts down a deep taproot. But in good weather it can work you to death, needing to be cut every four weeks. So after we no longer had the dairy, we’d mostly moved away from alfalfa. Now we’re reconnecting with our old friend. I love to watch alfalfa; it’s a beautiful plant, and little yellow butterflies love it, too. So, since two of these fields are beside our home, I’m happy to wecome it back!

  Down south, Derek and Jimmy fed the cattle there, and then Jimmy continued the year-round task of bush-hogging. Derek spent most of the day on the dozer, digging a pond on a place where water is in scarce supply. He reported making good progress and felt that he dug deep enough to reach good rock.

  After lunch, I spent the rest of the day at my desk, doing a myriad of bookkeeping tasks (hooray! I’ve finally mastered that dreaded 940!) Wyatt spent the afternoon with his Poppy, helping in the shop. As we drove a tired little boy home this evening, his head rested against the seatbelt and his eyes reluctantly shut. And Stan reminisced that when he was just that age, he spent every minute alongside his dad; in those early building days, a little boy was the only extra hand on the place. But though he was young, he soaked up knowledge that has stayed with him to this day. He said, “Wyatt may not be big enough to do more than hold something, but he’s learning–and he can be a real help.”

  All in all, the first Monday of this year was a very good, productive day! 

  • 11:11 pm
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