Spring Time!!

It’s spring time. . .the time when everything simultaneously bursts from dormancy and some dive into a constant state of daydreaming!  I absolutely love it.  Although I notice it does require a bit more patience on Larry’s part.

 I helped with feeding this past weekend.  Larry split us up into teams to tackle the job with the little boys and I going with him to feed with the tractor and trailer and Ethan and Emma going in the flatbed.  Little did he know the universe and myself collaborated against him.

I need to defend myself by stating that it has been awhile since I have helped with the outside chores.  I’ve watched and taken pictures, but haven’t actually dove in for hot minute.  Needless to say, he had to tell me quite a lot.  I knew it was going to be hilarious on my part and a little trying on his when we went to hook up the trailer.  I found the pin and took the little pin thing out of the bottom, promptly snapping my finger in it when I didn’t pull it all the way open.  Then I went to put the little pin thing in where the large pin goes, quickly correcting it when I heard, “No, not that way!”  He came out of the tractor saying, “Well, I know you haven’t been out here for awhile, but I didn’t think I was going to have to tell you how to hook the trailer up.”

He crawled into the grain bin to shovel the grain down and I started filling buckets up.  Well, I didn’t shut the door all the way when changing buckets, thinking I could switch them fast enough.  You know what happened here.  The grain that just trickled out became a mad rush as soon as I pulled the bucket away.  Luckily, I did remember to put the extra tub underneath to catch the spills.

Off we go to the cows.  The little kids are running, well everywhere.  (We just hope they make it to the gate to open it.)  Dogs are running, well everywhere.  Calves are running, well everywhere.  Larry is frantically looking, well everywhere while stating, “It is so nerve-wracking driving this with everything running everywhere!”  Yes, yes it is.

And I need a whole new refresher course on the hand signals.  I tried signaling back in my own sign language, and then continued driving the tractor in the wrong direction while he fed.  He was unimpressed, but didn’t fire me.  He did let me know that I might be able to hear better if I turned the radio down.  Hmmmm, maybe.  But my hearing just isn’t what it used to be.  Case in point, when I drove into the bull pen, he clearly said to “go along the fence.”  And I clearly went along the fence, the wrong fence, but a fence nonetheless.  I simply didn’t understand how he expected me to make that sharp turn with all the bulls in the way and not take out the kids or the fence with the trailer.  And, technically, I listened.  There happens to be more than one fence in a pen.  Just sayin’.

We do have a great time through all the misunderstandings, mistakes, mis-everything.  At the end of the day, we sit around the table to rehash all the things and plan more things.  Cheers to this fabulous life!