So...

It's been so long since I've blogged that Blogger has changed my dashboard. I never saw it coming. I don't really like it, but hey, it's free.

A lot has happened. I got don planting a week ago, the corn is growing, the beans are out of the ground and the rain has gone around us. Grandpa told me today that he doesn't remember a spring this dry. We had a half inch of rain right after I got done planting corn, which was almost 3 weeks ago, and before that it hadn't rained for a little over 2 weeks. I understand for others that this isn't a big deal, but in this area, we aren't used to this little rain in the spring. There's a chance this weekend, but I see the National Weather Service has decreased the chances since this morning.

I'm hoping to be cultivating by Monday. I might start this weekend, but we've got a lot of other stuff to do first: haul corn, put up hay, get the cultivator ready. Plus, I don't know if I want to open the ground up with the way the wind is blowing. It's blown 20-30 mph most of the week. Supposed to gust to 40 mph tomorrow. If I cultivated, it would dry the ground out even more. I don't really know what to think on that deal.

I am really pleased with the population of my corn, and it looks like I got a pretty good stand. I have done some stand counts and so did Ag Service, and they are right around what I was shooting for. I'm always nervous until I find out how well my crops emerge. Now, I can concentrate on raising a crop. The beans are coming along, too. I've found the best thing to do with beans is plant them, make sure they are sprouting, and then don't look at them for a week or two. I always freak out about my bean stand, then I wait 3 or 4 days, go back and check, and am surprised by what I find. I'll try to take some pictures in the next couple of days.

Grandpa and I also got our cattle to pasture. I didn't step on a nail this year, but I did step off of the 4 wheeler into a hole and rolled my ankle pretty badly. Contrary to popular belief, I don't hurt myself to get out of fixing fence. We had our first jailbreak today. All of the cattle in one pasture were out. Luckily, they drove back in pretty easily. For some reason, there was a big hole in the fence that goes across the creek, and they walked right under it. Grandpa fixed it today, so hopefully they'll stay in for awhile.

That's about it for now. There are other things happening, but I don't remember them all. Hopefully now that planting is over and things have calmed down, I can blog a little more regularly.