2012 Week 2

We started the week with highs in the 40's and low 50's. Bruce enjoyed doing tractor maintenance without gloves in the sunshine in front of the shed.  He changed oil and fuel filters in our big tractor and also repaired the ball joint on the shift cable that had broken when we were doing corn.  At that time, and a few times since, he had used electrical  tape  to hold the broken one in place.  Bruce also had a chance to change the oil in the skid steer.  Keith came and replaced the shutters on one of our big fans.  Two of the fans are just fine but this fan is the primary one that runs all year around.  Over time, one by one, the louvers were breaking off and it had gotten to the point that it was pretty darned cold on that end of the barn.  Keith drove his lift up near the barn so he could do the work, and in the process created some significant lawn damage.  Lawn damage in January????  There is very little frost in the ground with the warm temps so the damage couldn't be helped.  By all accounts, the early part of the week felt more like April than January with barn doors open and areas of the driveway muddy.  By Thursday morning winter arrived with a snow storm that dropped 5 inches of fluffy snow, 25 mph winds and high temps of 18 degrees.  With the  change in temperatures, another thing had to be moved up on the "to do" list.  Bruce usually puts windows in the sides of the skid steer cab, and had purchased new sheets of plastic to replace a broken one.  He cut the plastic to size, edged it with foam weather stripping and then had me come and help hold it in place so he could drill the holes to bolt it in.  After we were done he started plowing snow.  After all the snow last year we are really appreciating the quiet weather.  This was the first time we had to plow, and if Bruce has his way, this snow would stay to protect our alfalfa fields until spring.  I hadn't put calf coats on the older calves earlier because they were born when it was warmer.  With  a forecast that says the cold will be here for awhile, I put coats on the older 3 that are still in hutches.  Bruce is in the process of building a replacement door for the barn in our basement.  He has it nearly finished, and today I asked him if it was skid steer proof.  LOL  He told me if it was he would just get a bigger skid steer!  : )