Terrbily Toasted Tractor

There has always been a standing joke or two around Kinloss Township that the Johnston's have notoriously had tractor troubles.  The Massey 2706 that won't go into reverse without a hammer, the flat tires and worn out treads which are more common then the dandilions, and the fork-bucket attachment which has just but one prong remaining to stab the large round bales of hay or straw - reminds me of a one thumbed hitch hiker.  Yes, there has been a few jokes lobbed their way regarding these follies. 

Brother (in-law) Andrew has infamously carried on the tradition in probably the biggest way as the picture indicates - He just had his 2009, $70k tractor spontaneously a-light!  Indeed, it just started on fire! This was a week or so ago.  I never really got a complete explanation - He fueled it ($), used it for a few hours in the morning in some capacity, and went in for lunch - or "dinner" as they refer to a meal at 12 noon as such.  He was looking out the window, and instead of seeing the fruits of his labour, he saw the machine engulfed in flames.... There is surprisingly more plastic in a tractor then you would expect, and the tires, well, trust me those suckers burn like Rome did in 64 A.D., coupled with the diesel fuel....  And goodbye.  The transmission and gears are still sort of usable!  The rims would make a fine fire pit.  Being a farmer now myself, I am beginning to see the usefullness in just about anything...

On the most serious note - No one was hurt.

All Things Cute

Molly 6 months old.

Shelly's great friend Lisa and her two kids while they were over for a visit.

Rachael Grail and Molly.

3 men and a baby.

Quick Guelph Trip

On Thursday night I got, what I'll characterize as an emergency call, from Richy Tremain saying get the girls and you to Guelph on Friday night - The famous Alexander Duncan MacLeod is going to be in town for a visit!  My heart started racing hearing such wonderful news - Off to Guelph.

So it was just fantastic to get there and be in the company of my girls, Rich and his family, and Alex.  Yes, we were missing some fine folks like Mark Kiteley, the rest of Alex's family, and a few other like minded rad people, but we made due of course.  In fact, we began talking about some other great people from our past and Alex and Rich's old roommate from the Brown House, Phil Mathias' name came up.  Hell, Phil lives 8 km away in south Guelph = No sooner then dinner was over, we had called Phil and said we coming over....  That is Phil on the piano video.....

We get over to Phil's.  Rich sees Phil every 2 or 3 months or so, I have seen Phil a few times in the past 5-6 years - But Alex hadn't seen him since the late 90s.  So that was great getting together and catching up....  And bang, Phil called another Windsor Alumnus, Johnny Darren Cress, to drive over from Burlington.  BOOM!  What a great reunion of sorts from old friends & Lancer teammates.  The stories were flying...  We were all somehow better, faster, fitter, more popular then I remember it - Oh well, our intoxication with spirits and friendship might have been to blame for such errors.  No one was the wiser.  No one cared.

So it was great, great times all in all - Boy are we all older though!  Teenaged kids, adolescent kids, running injuries out the waa-who, babies here and still on the way, marriages, grey hairs, enlarged prostates, etcetera, etcetera.  Keep it together my friends!  Until next time.

Dead Animals This Time

Only one of these pictures is actually a dead animal - I wish it were all 3, however....  Check out the squirrel, cat and turkey - Good job Larry!

There isn't much of a story with this little Jake - Larry called 4 of them in and toyed with them with a fanning Tom decoy and his trusty "Raspy Hen" diaphragm - Not a contraception device BTW!  He was wishing for something bigger as it was only about 15 lbs and had less then 1 inch spurs....  Nevertheless - it made a few meals for Larry's kin.

And as for me - skunked.  Skunked a few times actually.  But the season goes on for a few more weeks and hopefully there'll be a meal for Shelly and Molly too.

All The Animals in Bed

There has been a lot of bed time from me especially over the last week.  I had a flu of some sort and I just lazed around the house for much of last week unable to muster up any energy to be any more productive then a tick on an ass's ass.  That sloth-like meandering had a bit of an effect on the girls too.  However we are all much chipper and feeling like the worse of any nasty bug is gone.  So it is out of the bedroom - and back to the couch - Ha.  Ha.

I am just at a bit of a loss for any good stories - There are some obviously and lots has been going on, but maybe just a few pictures and I will get some better content at another time.

Over the past month Molly has been getting bit fussy sitting with people other then Shelly or me. It does seems rather uncharacteristic and undoubtedly just a bit of a faze - It isn't likely that she'll be shy or withdrawn from people as she gets older, but for now she is, and that is just the way it goes.

The farm is really looking good and so much work has been done.  It looks so much different then just a few weeks ago.  I had great doubt as to how much and what would be done over the spring and into the summer - But I tell you the end of the clean-up is much more a reality.

Another Course

I just signed up for another course and it started this week.  I am doing a math course, and the content focuses on the elementary curriculum. 

Pictures From the Long Weekend

We had a super great long weekend this past week.  Friday off, as well as Monday, makes for a happy guy.  There was a bunch of running around and farm work, however, it was a nice break.

Molly started off the break with an anti-climatic 5th month birthday - I would not have recognized it if it wasn't for all the pictures Shelly sent me.  So good for you Molly - You are doing swimmingly well for yourself considering your first 5 months.  Here is to you!

It is funny because I don't think most pictures accurately show what she looks like and such.  She has red hair that is noticeable all of the time, except in this picture.  I can tell you that she normally smiles a lot too.  Although not in pictures....  Then there is the spit-ups and drool that is generally on her, which you can't see here.  And she usually stinks from the mouth, butt, or both.  The camera just doesn't show all of those things.
With the red hair and nice smile, the cleanly odour and lack of liquid exiting the mouth, hopefully Molly will look a lot like Brittany in 24 years...  Time will tell.

There were a lot of screaming kids on Saturday afternoon over at this one function we were at.  Organizing them into a photogenic pose has got to be like bathing a few cats.  Nevertheless we tried our best to have a few second cousins or cousins once removed nestled together for their likenesses taken.

Arden Collins, Molly Macaulay, & Halle Couriveau

Jon & I with the girls

And other then that, we just poked around and did a bunch of this and that.  I took 2,000lbs of scrap steel in for recycling from the farm.  Had a few fires at the farm and burnt a lot of willow trees, poplar, and other bits of refuse.  Had some break downs on the farm, and I quickly became educated in changing a flat front left tire on a Massey 165 and its hydraulic line for the bucket to work - Not as difficult as one would have imagined too....  As good as the weekend went, it went by quickly.