Hen23's Journal~Goodbye

[Farmfresh]

The guys I watched were all levels of expertise. One man with a team of little mules was awesome. His rows were smooth and his mules pulled like all get out. Others were not so good and often the driver was the tired one. Some of the people were using sulky plows that you ride on and some were using walking plows. The straightness of the row was easier to achieve with the sulky plow.

When I was a kid we used a single bottom walking plow hitched to my half Hackney half Welsh pony to plow our garden with. I drove the pony and my dad "drove" the plow. He was really good at it... his dad was a truck farmer, but it was HARD hot work on his part. You have to hold the plow straight and actually push it down in the soil at the same time.

To think... years ago even older kids were plowing like that regularly!

 

[Henrietta23]

The guys I watched were all levels of expertise. One man with a team of little mules was awesome. His rows were smooth and his mules pulled like all get out. Others were not so good and often the driver was the tired one. Some of the people were using sulky plows that you ride on and some were using walking plows. The straightness of the row was easier to achieve with the sulky plow.

When I was a kid we used a single bottom walking plow hitched to my half Hackney half Welsh pony to plow our garden with. I drove the pony and my dad "drove" the plow. He was really good at it... his dad was a truck farmer, but it was HARD hot work on his part. You have to hold the plow straight and actually push it down in the soil at the same time.

To think... years ago even older kids were plowing like that regularly!

Yup, the interpreters told my 7 year old that if he'd been around he'd have been driving the team! Kid barely weighs 45 pounds!

 

[Farmfresh]

I am just most fascinated by the oxen.

They are SO big and powerful ... and yet there is very little to control them just your goading stick. They are SO different from horses.

The picture of the plow they were using was cool too. That also would make plowing very difficult. The plow I used and the ones that were at the plowing event I went to are Cadillacs compared to that rough thing!

 

[Henrietta23]

I am just most fascinated by the oxen.

They are SO big and powerful ... and yet there is very little to control them just your goading stick. They are SO different from horses.

The picture of the plow they were using was cool too. That also would make plowing very difficult. The plow I used and the ones that were at the plowing event I went to are Cadillacs compared to that rough thing!

Rough is a good word for it. I guess they were being historically accurate. They told us the oxen have a vocabulary that goes beyond gee, haw and whoa. It really is cool how much the farmers can control them with words.

 

[Henrietta23]

We attended the National Model Railroad Association show in Hartford yesterday. The Legoland layout was beyond words! I found my dream farm:

Today we went to visit DH's chidlhood friend and went out to lunch. DS couldn't ride in the Rolls because it couldn't accomodate his booster seat but he enjoyed posing when we got back!

 

[big brown horse]

I love your photos!!!

 

[Henrietta23]

Thank you!

 

[big brown horse]

Your welcome!

(That puppy is the cutest I've ever seen too!)

 

[Henrietta23]

Your welcome!

(That puppy is the cutest I've ever seen too!)

Thanks. He's quite a character but he's becoming more well behaved everyday. He gets his rabies shot this week then we can start puppy kindergarten! Woohoo!

 

[Henrietta23]

"Deep" cleaning the kitchen today. Scrubbing cabinet fronts and the stove top. Cleaning the coffee pot insides with vinegar. Washing windows and the sliding glass door. Eventually I'll get to scrubbing the floor. Need to clean out the freezer section of the fridge. Need to get some of the food from the downstairs freezer up here so it's more accessible, like the frozen gluten free breads.
I've got one load of laundry done and ready to fold and put away. DS is going to be picked up by Grandma on her way home from tutoring at the library. He'll spend a few hours playing over there. I may send the puppy too and then I can really get stuff done!
I'm planning a quilted table runner for the kitchen table. One of my breaks will to be to sit and sketch some ideas. I have a tentative trip to the local quilting store with a friend later in the week. I want to have a shopping list ready.
Went and checked on the garden. It looks like now that we're getting a little sun things are starting to grow some. Now if the ducks and the rest of the chickens would start laying I'd feel like we were getting somewhere around here!