A fellow amateur photographer and I went on what has become our annual February road trip to shoot eagles. This year just happen to be great weather for the activity. To find the big birds in large numbers is only a 45 minute drive. When we arrived at Havana’s riverside park, we saw gulls everywhere. I took some shots of this gull who seemed to be teasing the other gulls by playing with a fish but didn’t eat it.

The park wasn’t a good place to see eagles because there aren’t as many trees as the other side of the river. So we decided to the wildlife preserve a few miles away. That is where we saw quite a few pairs of eagles. They were right along the road. This road just also happens to be a levee. So there aren’t many good places to pull off and try to take a few shots. But we did it anyway. Getting out of the car I had to be careful not to roll down the levee. and we had to watch for cars. We came up to a chained gate which I am sure was just meant to keep cars out and climbed it. How else  were we to get close enough to these shy birds of prey. I needed to get these two shots.

We drove around to a few other spots and spotted more eagles but none that would let us get close for good shots. There were tons of flocks of geese migrating north. I liked how their coloring shows against the blue sky. Their wings mimic the v shape of their formation.

Later we drove along the river to a state park that had a nice size lake. There was a rock dam on south side we walked along to the other side. Here we saw lots more eagles. But this one was the only one who stayed put for us to take a few shots before he flew off.

After taking a few more shots of him that didn’t turn out. We headed back to the car. The state park decided to lock the bathrooms for the winter. All I have to say is I am greatful that it wasn’t too cold out and the park was void of other people. We drove around to a few other places but didn’t see anything. So we called it a day and headed home.

What caption would you write here?

I was going to start a series of posts today on putting up hay. But it rained. So we couldn’t mow. This got me to thinking about the old saying “Make hay while the sun shines’. I never had trouble understanding the phrase but some people do. I remember our minister mentioning it in a sermon. He didn’t know what it meant. I could be real cute and say that you make hay while the sun shines because you can’t make it at night (here in the mid-west). But I won’t be a smart a$#, this time. So what to do when you want answers? Google it, right. I mean, I have to check the authority to see if I’m correct. So what did I find?

Meaning

Make the most of one’s opportunities while you have the chance.

Origin

This proverb is first recorded in John Heywood’s A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, 1546:

Whan the sunne shinth make hay. Whiche is to say.
Take time whan time cometh, lest time steale away.

Many proverbs exist in other languages, but this one doesn’t and it’s a reasonable surmise that the phrase is of English Tudor origin.

Of course, mediaeval farmers would be as well aware of the wisdom of not leaving it too late to gather one’s hay. Modern machinery and weather forecasting make haymaking reasonably quick and stress-free. Tudor farmers would have taken several days to cut, dry and gather their hay and would have had only folk rhymes like red sky at night to guide them. Forecasting the weather two or three days in advance wouldn’t have been possible, so all the more reason for them to ‘make hay while the sun shines’.         source

I love that old English. It’s so historical. And I must point out that it is still impossible to forecast the weather. The old weather proverbs are still better at predictions than those paid to do it. Anyway. So the answer to “Why make hay while the sun shines” is because it might rain tomorrow. That should clear it up for everyone.

As soon as it dries out and we get to putting some hay down, I’ll take some video to take you through the process. And I’ll show you our latest big purchase. I told William it clashes with the rest of them. Can you guess what it is?

I was going to start a series of posts today on putting up hay. But it rained. So we couldn’t mow. This got me to thinking about the old saying “Make hay while the sun shines’. I never had trouble understanding the phrase but some people do. I remember our minister mentioning it in a sermon. He didn’t know what it meant. I could be real cute and say that you make hay while the sun shines because you can’t make it at night. But I won’t be a smart a$#, this time. So what to do when you want answers? Google it, right. I mean, I have to check the authority to see if I’m correct. So what did I find?

Meaning

Make the most of one’s opportunities while you have the chance.

Origin

This proverb is first recorded in John Heywood’s A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, 1546:

Whan the sunne shinth make hay. Whiche is to say.
Take time whan time cometh, lest time steale away.

Many proverbs exist in other languages, but this one doesn’t and it’s a reasonable surmise that the phrase is of English Tudor origin.

Of course, mediaeval farmers would be as well aware of the wisdom of not leaving it too late to gather one’s hay. Modern machinery and weather forecasting make haymaking reasonably quick and stress-free. Tudor farmers would have taken several days to cut, dry and gather their hay and would have had only folk rhymes like red sky at night to guide them. Forecasting the weather two or three says in advance wouldn’t have been possible, so all the more reason for them to ‘make hay while the sun shines’.         source

I love that old English. It’s so historical. And I must point out that it is still impossible to forecast the weather. The old weather proverbs are still better at predictions than those paid to do it. Anyway. So the answer to “Why make hay while the sun shines” is because it might rain tomorrow. That should clear it up for everyone.

As soon as it dries out and we get to putting some hay down, I’ll take some video take you through the process. And I’ll show you our latest big purchase. I told William it clashes with the rest of them. Can you guess what it is?

Work the Plan

After reading Purdue’s article on disaster preparedness for farms, I got to thinking about how prepared we are for an emergency on our farm. Although Mr. Cain has some great suggestions, he leaves out significant items necessary for almost every farm emergency.

I liked the idea of  creating a plan to discover potential problems that we might not have thought of occurring. With everyone getting involved I can see some coming up with scenarios that others may overlook.

Crop insurance is pretty much a given. When I think of disaster, I think of dealing with the fall-out immediately afterwards as in a tornado, ice storm, or fire. Crop insurance covers loss of yield from drought, flood, green snap, ect. These usually occur over days to months. They’re not what I consider emergencies.

Keeping important files and papers offsite is fundamental. We have files in a security box at the bank and backup files online regularly. Walking through the a pre-planned exercise would be wise in order for everyone on the farm to know what is expected and what to expect.

The one thing that is not mentioned that I believe is vital is a generator. We have had many winters where ice had knocked out the electricity for more than a few days. Having a generator as a backup energy source was crucial for getting through that time period. Not only for the house but the livestock are dependent on us for their water supply. We have a tractor pto hook up for one site of the farm and a Honda 6500 gas generator for the other.

Have you had a farm emergency at your place? How did you handle the situation?

With the shorter days it is hard to get as much work done as we are used to. Though with so little rain, we do have all the anhydrous applied, the ground disked and or ripped. We have a few more sheds to haul manure out of. And one field to finish para-plowing. Next on the agenda will be to haul the corn out of the bins sometime in Dec. before the roads are closed to semis.

This little soybean was hanging from a cob web in the combine’s front window. Last year I didn’t have much good to say about beans. Much like most years. But this year has been different. The plants are maturing evenly. The stems are not tough. Plus the yields are pretty good for all the rain we have had. Fortunately, William decided to plant more beans this year. The corn yields are below average. They did not take the wet spring / summer as well as the beans. So hopefully with good yields and a decent price the bean will carry the day. (year)

I liked that last picture so much, I wanted to see what it would look like in HDR. What do you think?

Shall it ne’er be repeated. I did learn a few things about harvesting in the snow and ice. And what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger or builds character or just makes us older or wish we died.  Can’t remember which.

I am so glad we got all the corn hauled out of the bins. Now the cows are starting to calve. The first calf was named Jalapeno. Looks like it will be a Jeff Dunham year for naming calves. William took the Greenstar monitor out of the cab of the combine and put it away in its case. You would think it was made of gold, the price of that thing. I also made an appointment to take the BGC in for its once a year check up. She was running good when we put her away but it’s good to have the guys give her a go thru to make sure everything is ready for next year.