For the next ten years Daddy, with Mom at his side, improved their property by remodeling the house, adding a bathroom and developing a new water system. By using good farming practices the land became more fertile, which meant better crops and any extra money was invested in more land. By this time, my brother George’s family was growing and he found a steady job in the logging industry and helped on the farm when he had days off. Mona and I became Daddies right hand “men”, always with him whether it was milking cows, taking care of the animals or harvesting the crops. Mona was especially good on horseback and spent most of her time riding the range, checking on the animals and moving them to better pasture when needed. We could both drive at the age of ten and spent much more time on a tractor, wearing jeans and T-shirts than in the house learning how to cook, sew or do laundry.
I remember learning how to mow hay on a hot July day. All of Daddies jobs were stacking up as he had hay that was ready to bale and a field that needed mowing. After breakfast that morning he said, “Della, do you think you can mow that field of alfalfa today?”
“I think so Daddy, I’ve driven the tractor and raked hay lots of times. I would like to mow because I love the smell of freshly cut alfalfa.”
“Mowing is a little different than raking, you have to be very careful of what you are doing, with the power take off and the sickle blade both to worry about. Come with me now and I’ll get you started. We’ll see how you do.”
After about four rounds of Daddy riding on the tractor with me, I was able to push or pull the right lever to raise the sickle at the end of every row, make a big wide turn and come back around, then lower the sickle and start cutting right where I had left off. I had such a feeling of pride that I could again help my dad, so his workload was lessened.
“Okay Sister, looks like you’ve got it, just keep the tractor in this gear, don’t try to go any faster and pay attention! I’ll be back at lunch time to see how you are doing.” to be continued...Hugs To All...OWAV:)
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