Friday Night Edge of Summer, BBQ, Beverage and First Hay Cutting Thread
Mates,
We haven't had one of these in a while, quiet board and most of us very busy. Summer weather really is here (officially on 6/22) and school is out for most everyone. BBQ season is upon us. NHL Stanley Cup finals will be on and the Avs scored a first game OT win over Tampa Bay. I'm torn about that series - Boo the Avs, but Michigan guys vs. Tampa has won some cups recently, but Stevie Y's great set-up is what accounted for much of it.
And to top it off, we are about to finish off bailing hay from the first cutting - one more field to go after a quick snack timeout. Pro-tip: when cutting and bailing hay, the more kids you have the better/easier/faster it will go.
Tonight's Q's:
1. BBQ'ing anything? Adult beverage accompanying it?
2. How is summer shaping up? Trips? Beach? Races/outdoor events?
3. Stanley Cup pick - Avs or Bolts?
I hope you are all well and enjoying some (finally) great Michigan summer weather
XM
(back to the fields - talk to you later)
you are a boss's boss. way to pay off, big time.
Do you do all Square bales or round bales ? I remember the summer my dad bought a kick baler. sure was handy. Here in Indiana it was always " Hay by race day " ( memorial day weekend ).
i'm cheering for a 7 game series. I guess if I had to pick, I'll take the Aves. Changes things up.
We are headed out of town next Friday for Saint Simon island. Not far from Savannah, GA. Stopping in Gatlinburg for 3 days on the way down and then Nashville for a day on the way home.
square bailer. i wish i had the $ for a round baler - which would also make it much easier on the kids because there's no hay wagon to ride and the stacking of bales is simply a spear fork on a tractor and using that to put them in the barn. and the weather up north is radically different than indy so we generally have first cutting 6/10-12. this morning it was 37 degrees just before sunrise.
7 game series would be good. i do wish it were different teams, but i'll watch a little.
strong vacation plans. nice.
Gorgeous weather, isn't it! Just 48° when I first opened the door around 6:30 am here in northern Kent Co; even now just 63° and it's almost noon.
I'm a cubic bale kind of guy myself, there's few things more invigorating than tossing and stacking hay or straw all day (I helped during my late childhood and teen years on at least a half dozen farms of relatives), having a layer of hay/straw dust from head-to-toe, and then jumping in the farm pond to cool and clean off.
Good times!
1,, drinking a lot of beer tonight. Societe pupil on the offering.
2. heading to Cape cod with family for the next two weeks.
3. Stanley cup? Fuck TB and all their sports. Never been a least deserving city in my life.
The Cape is perfect this time of year. Enjoy!
Bailing hay was my income source until I had wheels and maybe a bit after.
1. Did several racks of ribs early in the week and a butt today.
2. My kids just left (with my grandkids) after being here a week which is the reason for 1.
3. Don't have a dog in that hunt but years of conditioning keep me from pulling for the Avs.
A week ago from yesterday we loaded up the Odyssey with all kinds of gear and headed east for our annual "grandcation" with our two grandsons-to Covington, Virginia. We met up with about 15 members of my wife's family at the Cliffside Inn...on a lovely golf course along the gorgeous Jackson River. We have the 9 bedroom Inn to ourselves. We have played many holes of golf, kayaked many miles, swam many hours, hiked-and explored caves and caught many fish...among other things.
Sadly, yesterday we had to run the grandsons to the airport-to return home. I say sadly because they surely would have enjoyed accompanying us on the next leg of our equilateral triangle vacation. This morning we head for Copper Harbor/the Keweenaw Peninsula...where we will join a couple of my sibs for a week. (It was about 1100 miles from Kansas to Virginia...it is about 1100 miles from here to Copper Harbor...then another 1100 miles back home.
Our friend doing our chores says the wheat harvest is fully underway in Hesston-says our neighbor's field was the first one he saw being cut.
OTB, what a great trip all the way around. would be curious what fish you caught and what type of equipment used.
we are in corn in our other fields this year, which won't be ready until early fall. i can't imagine the weather cycle that would make wheat ready for harvest this early - we would leave it until late summer also to let it turn blonde.
travel safely.
We only caught bass and blue gills...light and medium action 6 1/2foot rods with 6 pound test-nightcrawlers...very basic. The Jackson is a top trout river but we did not make much effort to try to find them.
Otherwise, today we drove through both Columbus and Ann Arbor. Are overnighting just south of Saginaw. We will wander up to Munising for tomorrow night then on to Copper Harbor on Tuesday. I hope to visit my favorite little trout stream in the world, an Ontonagon tributary, while we are up there. I'm a nightcrawler person...my brother, who will be there, is an elite fly fisherman. I win the numbers game but the artistry of his accomplishments are a thing of beauty.
if there was a way to connect back channels i would definitely invite you to swing by the farm on your way to munising. and yeah, being a fly fisherman, there really is something to be said for the beauty of it. you will be catching brook trout in that ontonagon tributary. they are so much fun. the great trip continues. have a wonderful time.
Brook trout it is-my brother calls them our "family fish".
My wife has a packed itinerary-ending with golf in Munising. My cell is 317-373-3016.