Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend here at the farm was the perfect mix of hard work, complete relaxation and family fun.  I guess pictures will describe it best. 

Isaac stayed home from school on Friday to help Daniel bale hay.  Don't worry...we chained him to the desk in the morning so that he would get all of his school work done before heading to the field.  Maybe we are the bad parents to let him stay home, but we would be the really bad farmers if we let our cows starve this winter because we didn't have enough food for them.  Besides, if you completely wear him out, he is too tired to pick on his little brother.  

We do let the kids play when chores are done.  The win rows made a great 4-wheeler track.

We finished out the round bales for the year.  We need about 90 more square bales to have a comfortable cushion for the winter.  The back 20 acres at Tucker road is waiting to be cut.  Hoping the warm weather holds out a little longer for us.  A few extra bales to sell this winter wouldn't be a bad thing either.

Daniel and Isaac were heading home with a wagon of hay when they saw a black pillar of black smoke coming from the direction of our barn.  It wasn't our barn, but this is what they found at the neighbors.

First of all, no one was hurt!  Thankfully, our neighbor had just unhooked the tractor so the baler was the only loss. 

Neighbors came running at the sight of the smoke signals and were able to put out the win rows that caught fire.  The baler is a total loss.  It still makes your heart sick for their loss.  It is just equipment, and it could have been a lot worse, but we are all a farming family and realize it could have been any one of us.  We saw a new baler being delivered Saturday morning, so at least production wasn't halted for long.  

The boys got in some target practice.  Deer season is just around the corner.

Labor Day we headed to the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield.  This is the old reformatory that was used to film the Shaw Shank Redemption.  Daniel has done some HVAC work for them before and has wanted to take the boys for quite a while.  This was the 20th anniversary weekend, so it made a perfect time to visit.  It was fascinating and the boys loved it.  With almost 1,000 cells around us, they were on their best behavior.  

We ended the day with rides at the Richland Carrousel Park.  And no day would be complete without a stop for ice cream on the way home.  

It was a perfect 3 day weekend.  When do we have another one?