Back to reality...

It comes every year.  The dreaded day when the last of the cousins leave for home. After a whole week of constant companionship, the kids are a little depressed and a lot bored.  Can you tell?

We said goodbye to the Virginia cousins on Wednesday morning, and the Chicago cousins this morning, bright and early.  The nearby cousins are back to work, and we're back to reality here.  We gave the kids a lot of time off this past week, but this morning they were back to the barn...bedding up, sweeping up and helping Jim with a fresh cow.  To add insult to injury, they head back to school on Monday!

We packed a lot into the last week...Christmas dinner...three sleepovers...family pictures...seeing the new Narnia movie...watching an Eagles game together (fun even though they lost and one of the cousins is a Chief's fan!)...and so much more...

But...despite the let down feeling that always accompanies the end of Christmas vacation, and the return to "reality", I know that it's because we have been blessed with a family that enjoys being together...and for that I am thankful!

Christmas day...

I'm not sure how they missed it, but our cows must not have seen the calendar yesterday.  They expected to be fed and milked just like any other day...

We rolled out of bed a little early; there was much to be accomplished as quickly as possible.  We wanted to be sure that we were finished with the milking long before the milk truck arrived...it wouldn't have been a good morning to make him wait!  Christmas day for milk truck drivers can be a real hassle.

We had decided to give the kids the morning off to spend time with their cousins who had arrived from out of town on Christmas eve, so Jim and I headed out to the barn and got busy.  Thankfully, "everyone" and "everything" cooperated, and we were finished with the morning work by about 11:00.  Then it was time to head to our first "family feast". 

We had a delicious lunch and spent a fun afternoon with Jim's family.  All too soon, 4:00 rolled around, and Jim and I headed home to take care of the ladies.  The kids stayed behind to spend time with their cousins.  I made the mistake of getting comfortable on the sofa  "for just a few minutes" and had a hard time getting out to the barn!  That's how it is for me...getting out there can be a slow process, but once I'm there, I'm always surprised at how quickly things go.

After milking, when the kids came home, we spent a quiet evening watching old "Get Smart" episodes on dvd.  Ahh...mindless entertainment!

The celebrating isn't over yet...more cousins arrived from out of town today, and we'll spend tomorrow with my family!  We'll fit in the fun between the chores for the next few days, and then it'll be back to the regular routine.

We are thankful for the few hours we have off between milkings, but I'll be honest with you...we long for the day when we can have a real day off!  But until the cows learn how to "hold it", Christmas will be just like any other day!

Merry Christmas...

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to his own town to register. 

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he bolonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.  She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you:  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shpeherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

Luke 2:1-20   

Right now...

Right now, life is...

Busy...FUN...slower paced... like a maternity ward...cold...making icing for gingerbread houses at midnight...ice skating...CHRISTMAS SHOPPING...anticipating a houseful of cousins...milking cows...pet sitting a guinea pig...frantically cleaning...celebrating JESUS birth...burning the midnight oil...REWARDING...milking cows...draining water lines...feeding calves...visiting a neighbor daily...MOM'S TAXI...routine... owing $8.25 for a calf sent to market...cozy...milking cows...being flexible...building friendships...violin lessons...new fences...watching old tv on dvd's...milking cows...HOT CHOCOLATE...tiring...middle of the road milk prices...blogging...burning heating oil...MILKING COWS...gloves...laundry...muck boots...wishing for more eggs from my chickens...hats...whistling wind...enjoying replacement windows...kids anxious for Christmas vacation...PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS...coffee...toe warmers...flexibility...and did I mention milking cows?

Winter solstice...

 Well...today marks the "official" first day of winter...the winter solstice. 

Brrr...

I woke up this morning, listening to the wind howling outside, and looked at the clock.  I was disappointed to see that we'd missed seeing a historical event.  If we would have only forced ourselves to get up at 2:15 am or so, we would've been able to see a total lunar eclipse on the winter solstice date; an event that hasn't happened since Galileo's day! Now I'm kicking myself; the kids will be disappointed too...at least one of them will be!

I guess I need to get over it, and start the day...which leads me to my original thoughts...


Our sermon on Sunday began with a comment about how much the preacher enjoys this time of year...the way it gets dark at 4:30 or so...the long evenings...

I have mixed feelings on the subject.  You see, light motivates me!  When I go into a room, the lights go on...when we watch tv, the lights go on...when we're milking in the daytime, the lights go on...there's something about darkness that can be a little bit depressing.  It's the way I'm wired.  (and maybe a little bit because my eyesight is aging along with me!)  When our oldest leaves for school in the morning, it's still dark...when our youngest gets home from school in the afternoon, it's almost dark again!  And...my chickens don't lay very many eggs on these short days!

There are definitely some positive aspects of the short days/ long evenings though...when we're finished with the evening milking, it feels just great to be able to shower and relax...no pressure to go back outside and get back to work!  The equipment is put away and stays there for the winter...and there's something to be said for curling up with a blanket and a good book (with the light on, of course!)

One thing for sure...tomorrow we will have just a little more daylight than today!

What are your thoughts on the subject?

Cold weather hazards...

You know the cold snap has really arrived when you carry around a bucket full of steaming hot water like this all morning, trying to thaw water lines and water bowl valves that have frozen overnight!

Yes, we knew it was coming, and we did what we could to prepare, but the west side of our barn is comprised mostly of windows, which makes it difficult to keep the water lines and water bowls open...especially with the high winds we had last night and all day today.

This morning I was able to get the cows' water bowls open by pouring hot water slowly over the valves, but one of the two remaining "old" water bowls in the fourth row had taken all of the cold winters it could handle.  Jim ended up replacing the entire water bowl this morning when it sprung a leak at a weak spot.  The heifer pens were another story...we'll be carrying water to the heifers for several days until this cold snap is over.

I find it interesting...Jim loses sleep over cows that are sick; I lose sleep over broken or frozen water lines!  Guess who might not be sleeping tonight?!

A completed project...

We’ve been thinking about doing this project for several years now, and finally it has been completed!  Just this morning, in fact, and we’re quite pleased with the way it has turned out!

This fence around the yard/meadow was in place for a LONG time.  We have several old aerial photos of the farm that were taken years ago that show it.  Although undated, the pictures were taken when Jim’s grandparents lived here, so they have to be well over 50 years old...maybe even 60!  Over the years, posts and fence boards have been replaced, and the fence has been painted many times.  There comes a time, however, when the old can no longer be repaired, but must be replaced! 

Neither Jim nor I used to be thrilled with the idea of using PVC fencing…we didn’t think it looked as nice as a wooden fence.  And while we still do prefer wood over PVC, the lower cost and the lower maintenance won out in the end!

Here's the old fence...falling down in places and in sore need of some "help"...

This is the "corner hutch" where we keep some young heifers in the summer time if we need extra space...complete with a ruined calf hutch that blew over in a wind storm.  This is a great time to get it out of there when the fence is down...



Even though the fence might not look so bad from a distance, the posts were rotting off at ground level, the boards were rotting where they were nailed to the posts, and it was bad news if anyone would try to climb over it!

Last Thursday, the old fence was reduced to a pile of rubble…

The guys cut off the fence boards (simple to do, and leaves no nails in the yard/meadow!)…

And pulled out the old posts…

On Friday, amidst snow flurries, they dug new post holes and cemented the new PVC fence posts into place…

Today they returned to finish the job.  The fence rails are now in place…

There are new wooden posts and wire around the “corner hutch...

And a new gate into the chicken pen that will save us a bunch of steps...

Now the "big" question is...next spring when it's time to weed the bed of irises that runs along that fence...and when it's time to trim the rose bushes...will it be more fun to do because it looks nice?! 

 But I guess more importantly, if it keeps the chickens and the calves "in" and the cows "out", it's been worth it!

                                        

Soup weather...

Brrrrrr....

That's all I can say this week!

Just call me a cold weather wimp, but I'm not exactly looking forward to winter...and it's not even COLD yet!  I guess we've been rather spoiled by a mild fall, and the below freezing temps and the wind blow right through me! 

Last week I swapped all the summer clothes for winter clothes, brought the hats and gloves out of hibernation, and began to shiver.

One thing I do like about winter, though, is making soup.  There's just something cozy about coming in from evening milking and having some warm soup for supper.  

Here's a recipe for a hearty, delicious, healthy soup that we had for supper last night.  ( I'm not sure how we got so lucky to have kids that not only tolerate, but LIKE lentils, but I'll take 'em!)

Lentil Soup

2 cups dried lentils
7 cups water
1 lb. sausage, browned and drained
1/2 c. chopped carrots
1 med. onion, chopped
1/2 c. chopped celery
3 Tbsp. minced parsley (sometimes I skip this)
1 garlic clove, minced

 Heat to boiling in large saucepan.  Simmer for  1 1/2 hours

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 c. canned tomatoes
2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Add and simmer 30 minutes more

Yield: 8 servings

* I have a kettle called a quick cooker...it's kind of like a fast cooking crockpot...I dump the 1st set of ingredients together and bring them to a boil, then add the rest, bring it to a boil again, and then turn it way down, put the lid on, and go out to the barn.  In about 1 1/2 hours it's ready to eat, and I don't have to stand over it the whole time!

Enjoy, and stay warm!!!

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet...

You know that saying about the mailman?  Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet…will stop this courier…I forget the exact wording, but regardless…it applies not only to the mailman, but to the milkman as well.

One of the people that we rely on regularly is the milkman.  It seems like a lot revolves around his schedule…

“Don’t park in the driveway; the milk truck comes today!” 

“Make sure there’s soap and acid in the tank washer; the milk truck comes today!”

“We’d better get started in good time this morning; the milk truck might be here early today!”

This is Tony, our regular milk truck driver.  He’s a nice guy…he comes in the driveway nice and easy, takes care not to drive on the grass, and doesn’t seem too get too worked up about anything!  He’s even stayed for Sunday lunch!

He rinses out the tank before starting the automatic tank washer before he leaves...

We ship our milk to a local co-op.  The milk goes anywhere from Baltimore to New Jersey to several other plants in Pennsylvania, including Turkey Hill, a local plant that processes milk and makes delicious ice cream!



Occasionally, bad weather makes headaches for the milk truck driver and the farmer both...

Last winter, we had two back to back "blizzards", totalling approximately 48 inches of snow in 10 days.  We were expecting the milk truck right in the middle of the worst of the storm.  Jim spent all morning on the tractor, trying to keep the driveway open.  Tony called us about 30 minutes before he thought he would arrive, so we knew when to expect him.  All of a sudden, there he was...

We were his last stop before leaving for the processing plant, so he had to seal the compartments on top of the truck...

And off he went...loaded up with some sandwiches and a fresh thermos of coffee.  Jim followed him to make sure he would make it back out to the main road.  He almost made it, but had to stop just before the top of a big hill to wait for an Amishman who was picking his children up from school on his tractor...

Jim and some other neighbors got him going again, and another farmer came with his tractor and snowblower to help him the rest of the way out to the main road.

When it comes to picking up and delivering milk, the milkman is just as reliable as the mailman.  We rely on him, and eveyone works together in bad weather to see that he can get through!

 

Thanksgiving...

Yesterday was a wonderful day...

We had Thanksgiving lunch with Jim's family, came home and did the milking, and then spent the evening with my family.  It was cold and damp all day, but we had a warm day inside, spending time with people we enjoy!

I am thankful for a warm house when it's cold and damp outside...

I am thankful for the smell of Thanksgiving dinner...

I am thankful for cousins who enjoy being together...

I am thankful for more than enough to eat...and then some...

I am thankful for a long Thanksgiving break from school...

I am thankful for leftover turkey...

I am thankful for storage bins that help me get organized...

I am thankful for an attic in which to store said bins...

I am thankful for a good book to curl up with before bed...

I am thankful for laughter with friends...

And...I am thankful that Cowboys and Eagles fans can amicably co-exist! :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

And more thankfulness...

As we get closer to Thanksgiving, I am more and more frustrated by the way "commercialism" has taken over this time of year!   Where has Thanksgiving gone?  Has it been hidden behind all the Christmas decorations that went up at our local shopping centers on November 1st?  Has it been forgotten?  Really?

I don't really think so...but I do think that we need to be more intentional about being thankful...not just now, but all the time!  Counting our blessings, no matter how small or insignificant, is a great reminder of how blessed we are!  So, once again...


I am thankful for the heater in my bathroom...

I am thankful that it isn't 8 degrees here today, like I saw it is in Montana on my friend's facebook status...

I am thankful for our kids' friends...they make life so much more fun...

I am thankful for Subway lunch...

I am thankful that we live within 5 miles of (almost) everything...

I am thankful for the local library...

I am thankful for Sunday afternoons, when I can prop up my feet and bury my nose in a book...

I am thankful that Jim could spend time away this weekend with friends...

I am thankful that things went like clockwork here, while he was gone...

And...I am thankful that he will be home soon...I want to sleep in tomorrow morning! :)


What are YOU thankful for?

One lonely flower...

Yesterday was another beautiful day.  Sunny skies (at least in the morning) and mild temperatures were just begging me to get some work done in the yard.   So...I got out my rake, the wheelbarrow and my trimmers and headed for the perennial bed.

Imagine my surprise, when underneath a pile of leaves, I uncovered this one lonely flower!  It looked quite happy there, blooming all by itself in an otherwise drab looking bed  of leaves and neglect...

You never know what you might find underneath all the yuck!

And...just moments after I took the picture, the dog ate it!!  Murphy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More thankfulness...

I am thankful for Jim, who works hard every day without complaint...


I am thankful for a rainy day to do some catch up work...


I am thankful that what I was dreading today did not take place after all...


I am thankful for a daughter who enjoys filling the house with beautiful violin music...


I am thankful that my nephew can come home for Thanksgiving...


I am thankful for good neighbors...


I am thankful that the new heifer had her calf last evening, before milking, and not at midnight...


I am thankful that Eric and I could watch the Eagles wallop the Redskins last night...

Sixth cutting hay...

There's a first time for everything...

This has been a most unusual fall!  Typically, Jim takes four cuttings of hay off of every field, five cuttings off of a few, but never, ever has he taken a sixth cutting.  And never, ever in November! 

On Saturday, Jim, Eric and one of Eric's buddies baled two fields of hay.  Granted, it didn't make much, and had taken a week to dry after mowing, but it was still beautiful hay...lush, green and full of leaves!  Those leaves add alot of nutrition.  In the summer when it's really hot, it can get so dry that the leaves fall off when it's being raked and baled.  But not this time!

Thanks  for the yummy, nutritional snack!

Beggars...

Do you remember when I posted about how the cows would stand at the wire and bawl for TWO HOURS if we didn't let them graze in the rye and alfalfa?

Well...here's proof!  I guess the grass really IS greener on the other side of the fence!

The beggars!!

I am thankful for...

Here it is, almost Thanksgiving again.  This is my favorite holiday of all!  We have SO MUCH to be thankful for!  I was reading another blog this morning, and I got this idea from there...to share just a few of the things I am most thankful for right now...

I am thankful for my family!

I am thankful for the opportunity to live on a farm...work and all!

I am thankful that the heifer we just loaded, walked onto the trailer without a fight!

I am thankful that the fall work is coming to an end!

I am thankful for safety on the farm!

I am thankful for the beautiful weather we've been having this week!

I am thankful for my "new" friends and neighbors, Rhoda and Anne, who I walk with every week, and who are becoming a very valuable part of my life!

I am thankful for our church family...they really are like a big family!

I am thankful for our boiler; even though it burns alot of oil, it keeps us warm!

And...I am thankful for the end of daylight savings time, and an extra hour of sleep last weekend!

So, she does work sometimes...

All in good fun...I had to prove that I do actually work sometimes.  I don't just walk around all day with the camera!

One of my regular jobs in the morning is to throw down a cart full of balage for the cows.  It's their first meal of the day, and they are usually ravenous! 

This is what is inside of those "marshmallow" ag bags that you see sitting out in the field.  After the plastic is removed from the bale, it easily unwinds, and we throw it down the hay hole into
the feed cart below. You can see the hay hole behind me in the first picture...

                                        

After breakfast, the next thing I often do is shovel down a cart full of sawdust.  We use this for fresh bedding in the cows' stalls...

And...here is my latest job!  Jim usually does this, but he's handed it over to me...

Just kidding!  I must admit...I have never forked out a boxpen in my life!  I just had to make you think I can do EVERYTHING!

It's a dirty job...

It's a dirty, stinky job, but it has to be done.  Every day.  Hot or cold, sunny or rainy; even in the middle of last year's blizzards it had to be done.  I'm glad it's not MY job...Jim gets the honors of hauling manure out of the dairy barn every day.

Several times a year, the heifer pens also need to be cleaned out completely.  In the fall, after the fields are clear and there's a place to spread the manure, Jim cleans out the pens, and again in the spring.  "Pen pack" makes a great fertilizer!  It doesn't smell the greatest, but it's good for the soil, and it's great to have the pens empty and ready for winter.

Last week, before he began cleaning out pens, Jim put  a new web on the manure spreader.  This is probably the third time he's replaced it since we bought the spreader...a bunch of years ago. 

Here he is, piecing the new web together...

Halfway done...

Complete!  The web moves in a circle, pushing the load of manure towards the back of the spreader, where the beaters send it flying through the air and out onto the field.  You don't want to be standing too close!  The spreader won't look this clean for a long, long time...

 Oh wait..no job is ever complete until you've thoroughly greased all the moving parts!

And now the fun begins...cleaning out the pens at the "other farm"...a family farm that we rent and where we keep our dry cows and bred heifers...



And of course, on a cold, windy day, a thermos of coffee is a must...

 Ahhhhhhh...

This is how Jim is spending his day today...how about you?

Loving it...

I'm so thankful that we live in an area where we notice the change of seasons!

I'm generally a fair weather fan...I like spring when it gets warm, and fall when it cools down...

And the cows love it too...

They enjoy being outside most of the day this time of year.  In the summer, they line up to come in after a short amount of time...they know we'll feed them and turn on the fans!  (are they spoiled or what?!)

This fall, Jim fenced off about half the farm, and allows the cows to graze the rye fields, the alfalfa fields, and even to glean the corn fields...  They would stay out there all day if we'd let them!

(Last week one day, he left the cows in the meadow, but not out into the grazing area...they stood at the wire, looking longingly at the other side of the fence and bawled...for TWO HOURS!  Seriously!)

Don't they look content?

. 
This is Belle...

She's the oldest cow in the barn ...the matriarch...the leader of the pack...at the ripe old age of 11...

Can you tell she's happy?

She's FAT from all that grazing...and she's loving it! 



Please...find a trash can!

I guess finding a trash can is just too much work for some people!

Yesterday as I was planting rye in the soybean field along the road, I noticed a lot of trash lying among the stubble.  This morning, I went back to pick it up.  This is what I found…

Trash like this will very easily be either chopped up with the corn silage or baled up with the hay, finding its’ way in small, sharp pieces, into the cows feed. 

One our best milking cows recently “went off feed”, began running a high fever, and dropped in milk production to almost nothing.  She hunched her back as if she was in pain.  After Jim and the vet checked her out, they determined that she is most likely suffering from “hardware”. 

When a cow ingests a foreign object, it can pierce her stomach and cause pain and infection.  In some cases, she recovers.  In some cases, however, the object can go through the wall of her stomach and pierce her heart, causing irreparable damage.  That’s what they think happened to this cow; the object most likely pierced the sack around her heart and may have damaged a valve.

We do what we can to prevent hardware.  Each of our animals swallows a magnet like the one below...

The magnet remains in her stomach in hopes that it will draw pieces of metal to it, preventing them from going through the cow’s digestive system.  But…in that small pile of trash that I found, there are glass bottles and pieces of hard plastic as well.  And…the magnet is not foolproof.

#264 is slowly beginning to make more milk again.  Her fever is down and her appetite is back, but she will not likely recover fully.  She could have a relapse at any time and will probably have to be slaughtered. 

All that said, throwing trash out the car window is not just ugly…it’s causing real problems for someone, somewhere!  But I know none of you would ever consider it… right?!  

Soybean harvest...

It's interesting, at least to me...All summer long we looked at the soybean fields and thought how "beautiful" they looked. But they have to get pretty ugly (is that possible?) looking before they're worth much to us!

The combine rolled in on Friday morning to harvest the beans.  I think the guys must really think this farmer's wife is either "nuts" or has nothing better to do than follow them around with the camera!  Oh well...let them think what they want!  They keep coming back!

Dried beans in the field...sorry if it's a little blurry!

Combining the beans...This is taken from across the road at the golf course where I was walking with some friends (and my camera, of course!) Oh boy, did the dust fly that day!

The beans are transported in this grain truck...they aren't all in here yet! Just beyond the truck, you can see the partially harvested field.  I love the way it looks like a carpet after the beans are off.  But don't try walking on it with bare feet!

Beans, beans and more beans...

Just like the shelled corn, the beans will be dried and toasted, stored in a grainbank for us, and brought to the farm to fill our bin as we need them.  The cows just love to eat them.  They're quite good, actually!

*This just in...Jim got the totals from the beans; they yielded right around 60 bushels per acre this year.  Last year was better...almost 70 bpa, but he's happy!

Corn fodder...

There are several different ways of harvesting corn...

When corn is chopped for silage, the entire stalk is used.  When corn is combined(shelled) or picked, the dried stalk remains in the field.  If left to disintegrate over winter, it is great for the soil.  Shredded (or flailed) corn stalks also make great bedding.  This is referred to as corn fodder.  We like to have lots of baled corn fodder on hand; it's much more absorbent than straw in the heifer pens.

Saturday was our marathon corn fodder baling day.  Jim had loaded up four wagons on Friday afternoon so the guys could begin unloading in the morning.  We had five guys lined up to help unload while Jim baled.  I was the gopher... I moved some empty wagons around, did the barn work, made lunch, ran everyone where they needed to go, and just, well...gophered!


The fodder in this corn field is all raked and ready to be baled...

Jim is headed back out to fill another wagon...

Baling...

Unloading...yes, it was that dusty!

By the time they quit on Saturday afternoon, they had unloaded 10 wagons.  That's 1100-1200 bales of fodder!

Jim has since baled several more wagon loads, but they'll remain backed in the barn, unloaded until we need them.  It's good to have this job about finished.  Some years we remember baling fodder well into November.