Heifers Homecoming...

Settlement on the other farm happened a few weeks ago, but we were able to keep the dozen or so bred heifers over there until we ran out of feed.  I'd say Jim planned pretty well...last fall he had to guestimate how much silage we would need until late Feb/early March, and it worked out just right!  We brought them home on Saturday morning.

These three youngin's have no idea how their world is going to change.  They're used to having the run of the outside pen...

It took about fifteen minutes to load the ten heifers and young bull into the the trailer, and another five minutes to get them home...

(those barn cleaners are getting a long needed rest after being used daily for many, many years)

The outside pen is once again full of animals, back home where they "grew up"...

They don't care much where they are, just so there's food, water and shelter available!

Once the meadow greens up this spring, we'll let them out to graze to their heart's content.  As they spring up, they'll then be sold at a dairy sale.  Anyone need some nice first calf heifers?

Adjusting...

It's been two weeks today since we sold the cows, and we've been gradually adjusting to our new normal.  We're still feeling good about our decision, but there have been adjustments.

I will say, it's been easier in some ways than we expected, and harder in others!  The hardest part for me has been giving up my time at home.  Although we were very tied down with the cows, we often had flexible time throughout the day for running errands, etc.  That has changed a bit and is an adjustment, but we'll figure it out!  I need to be more intentional about meal planning, cleaning, laundry etc.  Jim still has some manure to haul and projects that he would like to tackle, and will have to adjust to the same thing.

I headed off to a new job almost two weeks ago, working in the office at a feed mill. I'm enjoying being able to remain a part of the ag community and I'm also enjoying the work that I've been doing.  I have a LOT to learn, but thankfully the people there have been very patient with my many, many questions!

Jim has been trying out a few things and hasn't decided for sure which direction he would like to go.  He will find a good fit I'm sure, but it might take a little time.

The dogs and cats may have the hardest adjustment of all!  They were used to having us around all day and would enjoy many ear scratches or belly rubs, and sneak treats throughout the day. Snickers has, in the past few months, bedded down in a pile of straw and corn fodder in the cow stable.  When the barn was full of cows, it was nice and cozy even on the coldest of days. When Jim cleaned out the stalls, he left her little pile in place so that she would have a comfy bed.  She could easily sleep upstairs in the straw with Murphy and Phoebe, but she chooses this...  

I'm headed off for a half day today, and when I get home the dogs will be jumping (at least Phoebe will be!) with excitement.  It's good to be loved, especially in the midst of big life changes!  :)

Reminiscing...

I had a day off from my job training today so I tagged along with Jim to the other farm when he went to feed the heifers.  Settlement is next week, so we took what will likely be our last opportunity to walk through the apartment where we lived for nine months when we were first married.  We lived on the second floor of the farm house (our kitchen was inside that huge bay window), Jim's Grandma lived on the big side of the house, and another family lived directly below us.

Here's our trip down memory lane... 

We entered off the porch and headed upstairs...

Our little kitchen table was inside those windows.  This faces south and east, and was a beautiful warm sunny place for eating breakfast and keeping my African violets blooming!

The tile back splash and cupboards have since been painted, but the tile was a bright aqua blue and the cupboards were a natural wood twenty five years ago...

Sycamore trees really make a mess in the yard, but this beautiful landmark is huge, old, and such a familiar sight outside our kitchen windows...

Older and hopefully wiser...

Our pretty little bathroom with the huge linen closet...

Checking out the heifers in the barnyard from the bathroom window...

On the north east side of the house was our bedroom.  When we got married, the bedroom suit that we had ordered from an Amish carpenter, wasn't ready yet.  So, we put our mattress and box spring on the bedroom floor and borrowed a dresser from Grandma D.

The tobacco shed out the spare bedroom window...

We lived here during the fall, winter and early spring months, so we didn't spend much time on the balcony, but it was so warm and sunny today!

Here's Jim almost exactly twenty five years ago, with the balcony behind him, holding our very first milk check!

Jim will be feeding heifers here for a little bit yet and then we'll be bringing them home to our farm.  The gorgeous blue sky against the beautiful white barn and tile silo today was just begging to show off in a photo, so here you have it!

Thanks for coming along on our trip down memory lane!  More coming soon on our new jobs and how that's going!

Prepping For the Cold...

Cold weather doesn't have to be terrible.

Wind doesn't have to be terrible.

But put them together, and they're a mess!

We think we're prepared for the cold and wind combination that is to arrive later today.  It's only to last for a few days, thankfully, but water pipes freeze quickly, and animals need water!

A couple of years ago, we had a longer stretch of cold weather like this.  Jim came up with a clever way to help insulate the west side of the barn.  You can read about it here.  He saved all of those pre-cut pieces of insulation, and we put them up again this morning...

In anticipation of the cold weather, along with the cows leaving this week, Jim has been thinking ahead about more ways to keep the water pipes in the soon-to-be-almost-empty barn from freezing.  If it gets too cold we can turn the water off to the barn completely, from the house.  We would like to keep running water in the milk house though, so we wrapped the water pipe where it comes into the barn with heating tape and insulation.  There's a valve at the end of this section that we can turn off to the rest of the barn, but we'll still have water in the heated milk house...

The heifers that we are keeping can then be watered with a hose run from the milk house into a large water tub.

Life is changing quickly here, and we are filled with mixed emotions.  It was our choice to make changes, but it's still hard.  I'm heading off to a new job next week, and I'm looking forward to it! I'll be staying connected to the ag industry, and I hope I can learn quickly!  I will have to do more planning ahead for meals and laundry, but lots of people do it!  Jim will be busy for a while with hauling manure and some projects around the farm, but will also be pursuing other ventures.

In the mean time, here are a few pictures of the snow we had last night.  It didn't amount to more than an inch or so, but it's pretty!

Stay warm, wherever you are!

The Farm Sale...

Today was the auction of "the other farm"...the farm that has been in Jim's family for many many years.  It's the place where Jim's dad and his siblings were born...it's where Jim was brought home as a baby...it's where the cousins spent countless hours of fun together at Grandma D's house...it's where Jim and I lived when we were first married twenty five years ago...and where we've worked ground and housed our bred heifers and dry cows for just as long.

It was a beautiful day today...temps somewhere around the 40's perhaps...I didn't look, but it was pleasant to be outside visiting with family, friends and neighbors at an auction.

I took some pictures to capture the events of the day...

People came via various modes of transportation...

Looking out the kitchen window from what used to be our upstairs apartment when we were first married!  The auctioneer set up his truck in front of the barn...

There were a lot of family members, friends and neighbors who came to the auction.  Some were there for moral support, some for curiosity, and several who came to bid...

A bunch of the cousins were there...

The heifers were non the wiser, but were content to munch away on the feed.  They have no idea that in a few months, they'll have a new home.

It was a little bittersweet today.  It was time...but there are a lot of memories of "the other farm"...many more for Jim than for me, of course, but still, memories.  Memories of playing scrabble with Grandma D on winter evenings when we lived in the upstairs apartment.  Memories of the kids helping to pick up rocks in the fields before Jim would seed alfalfa...riding on the back of the grain drill...taking lunch and cold drinks (or coffee!) to him when he was baling hay or cleaning out pens.  We all helped on occasion to feed the animals or bed up the heifer pens...we pulled hay wagons back and forth between the farms...took dry cows over and brought springers back home...and the list goes on.

Now there are new owners, and it will take some getting used to, not making the daily dog-leg turn across Rt 896 and in the driveway!

And Just Like That...It's Fall...

What a difference a few days can make!

The past weeks have been...IMHO...horribly uncomfortable.  The humidity has been so thick you could just about cut it, and the temps just couldn't come down.

Yesterday we spent the day at Eric's final home cross country meet.  How did he become a college senior so quickly?!  It was a beautiful day for running...overcast and in the mid 70's.  First day we've had weather like that in a very. long. time.

He had a great race...

...and the team had a great finish, winning the invitational.  He's 3rd from the right...

Afterwards, as tradition has it, the team and families held a tailgate potluck.  My fingers were freezing by the time we were finished, but I'm not complaining!  As long as there's a blanket to throw over me or a sweatshirt to put on, I'm good.

This week we finished our silage harvest. With all the rain we've been having, the guys have been burning the candle at both ends.  They've been putting in really long days, trying to keep up with all the farms that they need to get to before the corn gets too dry.  The equipment arrived at 1:30 am, and sat waiting until they arrived around 8 am...

For some reason, the silage pipe kept getting plugged up.  Jim is up at the top, and Mark is sitting on top of the blower, working at getting it open...

The last load of silage...

The guys moved on to the next farm quickly, and took the blower with them.  Silo gas, which can be deadly, forms when fresh silage is put into a silo.  To deliver fresh air into the silo, farmers usually run the blower when working inside the silo for the first day or so.  The gas doesn't form right away, so Jim quickly leveled the silage and we set up the unloader after lunch. I was at the bottom of the silo inside the silage room, lowering the unloader at his instruction.  I found our kids' handprints in the concrete, where we had reinforced with shotcrete years ago.

Eric...

...and Jenna...

Things change so quickly!

For now, we hope to enjoy fall!  The West Lampeter Fair is this coming week, and I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time there.  It might be a muddy mess (it's raining, again!) but it will happen regardless!  It's one of the highlights of the year for us. Goat, sheep, pig and dairy beef shows, baked goods, contests, fair food, and much more bring the community together for a great time.

Wait! I Thought It Was Spring!

Just when we were starting to feel a hint of spring in the chilly air, and when the earliest daffodils decided to bloom...

We have been reminded again that we are not in control!

We have around 6" so far, but thankfully it's not very cold...

My rooster is a little snow-laden...

The daily work must go on.  It doesn't feel quite right to desecrate the beauty of the snow like this, but the gutters need to be cleaned out and the manure has to be hauled out regardless...

Somebody loves the snow!  While the older dogs stay holed up in the warm barn, Phoebe goes exploring. The chickens hate walking in the snow, and when I checked for eggs, she was confused about why they weren't outside...

Now my morning chores are finished and I'm hoping to get the last of the prep work finished on the hallway before it's time to prime...maybe later today or tomorrow!! 

The warm radiators can do their part in drying the coveralls, hats and gloves...

...and we'll wait for the snow to stop...and melt.  Quickly.  The forecast is for temps in the 40's this weekend!

Spring is just around the corner!