Pruning, Some More...

It is that time of the year again, where we all try to prune as much as we can and hope that what we actually get done will be enough!  This last week we made pretty decent progress in the Avery Section, our youngest bunch of trees.

 And as it goes with most mechanical type thingies on this farm, they don't usually like to start up when you need them.

So while the Apple Farmer worked on Snappy - our pruning thingy -  I tooke a picture of Taffy digging for rodent type critters.  Don't worry, I didn't take a picture of her eating them....

And before too long -

I found myself on the top of the orchard looking down on creation...

(oooh, the literary technique of allusion...  my kids will be so proud)

What Brrrrrr Looks Like

So we are really experiencing some winter chill around here!  Last week we got quite a bit of snow.  This week we are sub zero temperatures and our feet are cold even in their shoes!

After the Apple Farmer shoveled the front walk, he got busy with another project.  He came back to the front door to admire his work and this is what he saw!

This picture is another picture of brrrrr.  It also manages to warm my heart!  This is one of our neighbors.  The locals call him Reiger.  He shows up and plows our drive way and the drive way up to the dairy barn and house on the north side of the farm in his pretty green tractor!  He won't take pay.  So I like to bake for him. 

This is a cold Stanley.  But he doesn't seem to mind.

I suppose it is one of the many things that makes me and Stanley so different from each other.  And another thing that makes me and him so different - He likes to eat hay and I don't.   In this picture, he has icicles hanging from the hair on his belly and I don't.... 

Here is Uncle Doug.  This picture doesn't necessarily illustrate brrrr, but you can see all of the icy snow in the background.  Its purpose here is so you can see how bad mannered Uncle Doug really is.  He stands in the middle of dinner on a regular basis.

Pretty sunset.  Brrrrrrr!



Pruning 2010

The Race is on!

I started pruning yesterday with our new pole saw (small gas chainsaw on an extending stick) and managed 14 trees in 2 hours! Look at the big mess I made!
The apple farmer got a hold of my new tool after he finished work. He did 35 trees before dinner was ready. I'm going to have to be very sneaky to catch the lead again....

Frosty!

This morning at around 7:15 AM, and exactly 0 degrees F outside. Everything is coated with 'winter dew'!

The Snowy Winter

Its snowing yet again. With all of the snow we've been receiving this winter, and with the word 'snow' being a as common a household name as the word 'milk', one would think that her Royal highness would have nailed down the proper pronunciation for the word. Instead, she is still calling it "hoe," and happily announces when it is "hoeing", and is excited to build a "hoeman".

My 'quick' trip into town on Friday afternoon, at the beginning of this most recent dumping of snow, didn't end up quite as 'quick' as I had planned. The lengthiness wasn't attributed to the slow drive home due to quick accumulation on our little windy highway home. The lengthiness of the trip had a lot more to do with how long it took to drop off library books and pick up a few necessary groceries. The wonderful thing about "small town" is that people like to talk with each other - even if you may not know them very well!! Even when I am in a hurry, I still really enjoy this chatter.

As you may have already guessed, I had many, many conversations about the weather with just about everyone I smiled at - the produce manager at our local grocery, a complete stranger in the dairy aisle, the cashier, several librarians and of course, the conversation on the cell phone with the Apple Farmer! From what I've gathered from the locals, this is an extremely unusual winter. LOTS more snow than normal. However, an old timer said that this type of winter snow accumulation is more typical to what they used to get here during the good ol' days - snow would be piled high above the tops of cars each winter.

We will be celebrating five years on our farm on the 18th of march! This year the snowmobile has gotten the most use out of all of these past winters! This video clip was taken a few days ago when we were figuring that it was likely one of the last rides we would be taking this winter! Now I have four happy boys and a happy little girl who know that we will be getting the snowmobile out tomorrow for some more fun. I'm pretty happy too!

How Many Can You Fit on Your Snowmobile?

The Apple Farmer succesfully got it running again!! Which meant we had to take a break after writing our essays on the first three articles of the constitution and the division of powers in our central government.

So does snowmobiling count as PE? Or is that stretching it a little?

We Pruned...

...4 whole trees on Saturday. Phew! We have had such a difficult time getting all of our pruning done before bloom - so we do what we can do! We paid special attention to a small Fuji section that hasn't had attention for a couple of years. You might notice the dead apples hanging in the trees still. We lost those to freeze at the end of the season last year.

Thinking of Spring

Beautiful Day for an Auction

We have finally sold the last of our apples. We got up early this morning and loaded up the trailer. The Manager of the produce auction called us this morning before we headed out to see if we were planning on bringing apples! He was happy to hear that we were and made sure that the loading area was clear for us so we could back right in and unload. The apples sold for quite a bit more than we thought they would! We had lots of fun after unloading! Here, the work crew is playing with empty boxes in the back of our trailer. Imagine little kid's blocks on steroids!

One of our pallets of apples.


The Apple Farmer after hearing the final bid on the Braeburns.


How's this for riding in style?


Free Puppies! How cute is this?


Bummer! Those sweet little eyes couldn't even convince the Apple Farmer to let it come home!



YUMMY!

Heading home! Wow - Check out all of those wheels!

Junk Hunt

68 Degrees today! It was a fabulous opportunity to get out of the house and go find some trouble to get into. The apple farmer joined the crew and I, after moving his tractor to the machine shed. We got nice and dirty and found some old scrappy treasures to boot! Here is a seasonal creek on the property. It isn't flowing because it is a bit frozen! The crew thought it was pretty cool that they could 'walk on water.'

Human Resources is quick on his feet!

So is the attorney!


Cool! Some old gear thing.

Cooler! Some old Wheel thingy!

Oh! Oh! The spray arm is falling off! Never Fear!! The Apple Farmer's wife is well trained in vehicle repair!

Check me out! Perhaps the old bailing wire we found in some of those junk piles could have been more effective, however, I thought I might reach into the recesses of my memory and try out some of my knots I learned way back at girls' camp...

The President has found some fluffy seeds in a seed pod. He can't wait to see how they fly!

Her Royal Highness is pretending to be shy.
Somewild rose hips we found. Notice the buds starting to swell on the wild rose. It is still a bit early for bloom, but it does offer hope that we will soon see much warmer days!

Woolly Bear Caterpillar

Familiar since Colonial times as the "Woolly Bear," the caterpillar is often seen crossing roads and paths on warm days in late fall. According to superstition, the amount of black in the caterpillar's bristle coating forecasts the severity of the coming winter.

The Long and Cold Winter

I don't know if winter has been longer or colder than normal. What I am certain of is that I am ready for spring! People around here are suffering from cabin fever. Most conversations typically start off with an enthusiastic "Hello," followed by an exasperated, "Can you believe how cold it has been?"

This picture is of one of our apple trees, under the influence of an ice storm. For the most part, the trees seem to have handled the layers of ice pretty well.