Leaves Blue & Swept

The other day the wind blew and blew and this blue leaf blew, too, and got caught on this tree branch. (This photo is for those who are tired of seeing autumn colors.......don't try to hide; I know you're out there!)

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Today is so typical of November, I can hardly stand it. Drabness permeates the atmosphere......a gray sky is parked overhead and mud globs fill the driveways around the farmyard. Husband is overwhelmed with equipment breakdowns; if it isn't the silo unloader that screeches to a halt, its a cow drinking cup knocked awry by a clumsy cow's head.

Between each two cows in the barn is one of these bowls shown below, for the cows to drink water from. With her muzzle, a cow presses the lever down inside the bowl which allows water to flow in so she can slurp it up. If you think cows are considerate beings who treat equipment with gentleness and care, well, you have another guess coming! Cows have big, heavy heads and necks which they throw every which way, at their discretion. That means trouble for whatever or whoever is in the path of the cow's swinging head. Take my advice.......watch out, or better yet, stay away!

While Husband grumpily worked on fixing drinking cups after milking this morning, I finished scraping the barn alleyways and wandered into the dreary outdoors to figure out what to do next. The morning was very still and I realized it would be the perfect time to sweep the garage. Lots of leaves had blown in there, and, of course, more will blow in in the weeks ahead, along with debris from the cornfields. It never pays to do too much raking or yard clean-up around this farm, for new batches of crap keep blowing in. Who cares, really? We live way out in the middle of nowhere, and no one of any consequence sees our yard, anyway.......just the milk truck driver, an occasional bull semen salesman, the dairy supply guy, the neighbor (whose yard looks similar to ours), and us, of course. There's no need to keep up appearances for the sake of the neighborhood around here! Everyone understands, and no one gives a hoot if your yard is messy at times!

Ok, so the sweeping went well......like I said, there was no wind for me to fight against. Cats.....now that's another story. They presumptuously assumed I was raking the leaves into a comfortable pile for them to lounge on. Harrumph......no way, kitty.......SCRAM!

Finally, the job is done. As I said earlier.....its inevitable that more leaves will come swirling in, but for today, the garage floor is clear. By the way, I love my Rubbermaid cart; its very handy for tasks like this. We have two of these carts; Husband uses one in the barn to move silage around. The first cart was acquired for me to use around the yard, but it didn't take long before Husband had confiscated it for barn use. That was no fair at all! Before long, he agreed we could buy another one.

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Are things drab and broken down where you are??
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