Joyride

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

It’s a long walk from the house to the back field. So the other night when Matt and I went to check on the trails, we took the tractor. Why walk when you can ride?

However, Wylie’s a one seater, so my seat is in the bucket.

The view from the front seat

You know the look a little boy gets on his face just before he pinches his sister or pulls her hair?

Look familiar?

Matt gets the same look when he raises the bucket.

The bucket is not the most comfortable perch. At six feet up in the air, it feels extremely unstable.

I should be clear that Kioti in no way endorses or condones my efforts to turn Wiley into a two-seater. In fact, the manual is quite clear.

Only one person at a time!

As evil as he may look in the photo above, Matt is very careful with me, and eventually, he brought me back down to earth and we continued on our way.

With the help of a handy fencepost, we even managed to get a family portrait of the three of us.

Ahhh, farm fashion of rubber boots always.

This was my first joyride on a tractor. Overall, it’s a pretty good way to get around.

Garbage day

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

In our relationship, Matt and I have worked out a certain division of labour. I do the laundry, and he does the grocery shopping. I clean the bathroom, and he takes out the garbage.

Matt may want to renegotiate our agreement since moving to the farm.

Wrangling a big green bin, at least one recycling box and a garbage bag down a 150 metre driveway takes a bit more effort than it did in the city.

The other night he roped Wylie into helping.

Wylie was happy to oblige.

Matt usually uses a little pull cart that perfectly fits our recycling boxes. He can fit two blue boxes and balance a garbage bag on top. It can be a little hazardous to the heels, though, because the cart has a tendency to pick up speed going down the hill on the driveway. And towing the green bin with one hand and the cart with the other takes a decent level of coordination.

I think the tractor is the way to go.

What’s the division of labour in your house? Does anyone actually like taking out the garbage?

Wiley goes to work

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Up until this past weekend, we hadn’t really cut the grass at the farm yet this year.

Yes, we are those neighbours.

A few weeks ago, Matt ran around the house a few times with our push mower until it ran out of gas, but that was it.

Things were starting to look a bit unkempt.

And then last week, Wiley arrived.

Sunday, we fired him up and got busy.

First up, Matt and Wiley moved a pile of lumber up to the barn.

Matt and I have done a couple of walk-abouts recently picking up wood and sticks and rocks so that Wiley doesn’t hit anything and damage his blades. We still kept his mower really high, and I did all of the edging with our old push mower so that Wiley didn’t have to get too close to anything that might hurt him.

Yes, the grass was a little long–so long that we can probably bale the clippings on the driveway and Matt had to raise the bucket to see where he was cutting.

I’ve learned that the term “lawn” doesn’t really apply on such a large property. Grass cutting is more of a question of “Where do I stop?”

Matt and Wiley mowing the meadow down by the road.

Wiley is a good little worker. He cut grass, moved stumps and logs and even gave me a ride in the bucket.

Of course, his driver pretended he was going to tip me out of the bucket, but that wasn’t Wiley’s fault.

Once Wiley was done his work, Matt and his Dad went to work with their matching weed whackers and continued the battle to beat back the invading horde. There’s a manifest destiny thing going on in the fields, and the hay is definitely looking to expand its territory.

The property looks a little more groomed, and I feel like we’re making headway in tidying up the outdoors. Well done, Wiley and Matt.

This weekend it’s my turn to drive. Wiley better get ready.

What’s your mode of mowing? Anyone out there muscling along with a reel mower? Or are you a weed-whacking wizard?

Welcome Wiley

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Hi, I’m Wiley

Matt and I are proud to announce the arrival of our newest family member. Wiley is 1.5 hours old (tractor’s “odometres” count in hours, not kilometres). He is 7 feet high, 8 feet long and 4 feet wide, although he’s bigger when he’s wearing his loader, blower or mower.