That's what friends are for!

I began writing this post about two weeks ago. It took me a while to post anything because things had been rather quiet and uneventful.  A few days pass and I am left some excitement. Life on the farm leaves one easily amused!

Life in the Valley has been a pretty typical farming summer. Dan has been working hours on end helping his cousin get his wheat crop in and beans planted. Frequent rain has left us feeling unbelievably blessed and thankful for the upcoming harvest.

I have been blessed with being able to find a few hours to catch up on some good summer reads as well as some time to sit my hind end in the saddle.  Life has been good!

And then He said, “Let there be excitement!”

One day after work I went to pick Gunner up from Granny’s house. From her house (located directly up the road from our house) I was able to see that something was out of place.  All of Dan’s farming equipment was spread out in the pasture next to our house.

With the lawn mower in the shop, Dan’s friends came to mow our yard. I assumed that Dan moved the equipment around so that the guys could mow around the shed. It was rather strange seeing the equipment spread out so much but I didn’t think much of it. The moment I pulled into the driveway Dan’s buddies cam zipping right up in their race car fast lawn mowers. They were up to no good.

Culprit # 1

Culprit #2

They proceeded to inform me that they were the ones that moved all of the equipment and that it was time to pay Dan back for the pranks he had played on them. I was instructed to to keep my mouth shut and not say a word to Dan. Several minutes later I realized that the tractor and baler sitting alongside the road held a gigantic “For Sale or Trade” sign. Oh boy, these boys pulled a good one!

Come to find out, the guys spent about 40 minutes hooking up the rake, baler, etc. to the tractors and strategically moved the equipment around. This well thought out process all started with them moving just one piece of equipment. They even went to the extent of moving a tractor behind a barn so Dan could have the joy of playing hide’n’go seek with his tractors.

 Within ten minutes  I had received phone calls from both Dan’s dad and grandmother saying they saw that Dan’s buddies had had a little fun. It was all fun and games until Dan called. He had made a 60 mile trip to the sale barn with a load of calves just to see that they were closed for the holidays. This did not put Dan in a good mood. I was tempted to spill the beans right then and there but managed to keep my mouth shut just praying he found this funny when he got home and saw it for himself.

The equipment had not been sitting out for longer than 30 minutes when a woman stopped by desperately wanting to buy the baler. I happened to be over at the barn so I let Dan’s friends handle this interesting predicament.  Due to the lack of room on the board, they did not include Dan’s cell number. There is no telling how many phone calls he would have gotten.

Thankfully, Dan was a good sport and took this prank well. He was able to find all of his equipment and quickly began scheming on how to repay the favor. Although the equipment only sat out for a little under 2 hours, Dan received numerous phone calls and texts wondering why he was selling the equipment. They all probably thought we went bankrupt and were selling out. Man, Dan has some great friends!

So what could possibly be more exciting than fake “for sale” equipment? How about being out on the lake during a tornado warning!

Dan and I were invited to go out on a houseboat and watch the annual firework display. The weather was perfect that afternoon. …then things get interesting!

We sat out on the boat and had plenty of sunshine and a cool breeze. By about 5:30 the clouds began rolling in but managed to just go on around the lake.  We knew our luck was quickly running out when we looked at the radar. 

Tornado warning while on the lake…oh joy!

We safely waited out the storm inside. I wasn’t too concerned until I looked out of the window and saw that we were spinning in circles rather quickly. I suppose we lost a good hold with the anchor and continued to spin until the wind calmed down. This was all new territory for the small town girl that had never been on a boat during a tornado warning!

The rain came to a stop just minutes before the firework show. The large houseboats had a private show that was full of fireworks and lightening.  This was by far the most interesting 4th of July that I have ever experienced!

 Oh the joys of being a farmer's wife!