#farmlyfe

One employee. One. To help with all of this.

David sighed as he looked out across the field spanning fifty acres. Patches of snow littered the field in places where a lone tree cast shadows across the land. They were melting. The chill that had been in the air was less today than it had been yesterday, at least.

Responsibilities weighed heavily on his shoulders. The barn stood behind him, but was ever on his mind as the sounds of lowing cows and the hum of the hens’ constant shuffling reached his ears. The farmhouse was to his right, and the slam of a screen door in the distance met his ears as well.

Work was the only thing on his mind lately. Taking the time to stand by the split-rail fence looking out on it all in contemplation was not a luxury he could afford. Or any luxuries for that matter.

The Winter Storm - aptly named alike his controlling sister-in-law, Fiona - had really put a damper on operations. During the height of the storm, while calving season was in full swing no less, his arm elbow-deep in a cow, the weight of the snow on the barn roof became too much and fell in onto the implement he used to plant the fields. The blizzard’s snow had blown into the barn disrupting the quiet slumber of the other animals, upset the mother cow, so that it was all he and his employee could do to keep her still and not abort the calf, while chickens flew like mad to escape the icy blast. The power had gone out minutes later leaving them in only the dim glow of light cast by the propane heaters.

The farmhouse’s generator had to be coupled with the barn’s generator to power up the oil furnace to heat the barn properly so that he wouldn’t lose any precious livestock. The implement with roofing and snow covering it was a low priority.

Furthermore, the chill in the farmhouse for two days as a result of the storm was not something he wanted to hear about from Fiona. As if it had been his fault the power went out. So, he’d kept himself busy in the barn with the livestock and the new calves. Any excuse to stay away and fortunately he hadn’t heard from her during the storm at all.

Now that the snows had mostly melted, the fields would need prepping for planting, but the implement hadn’t been fixed yet. The roof still had a hole in it, and tax time was approaching.