Roof Repairs...

Maybe you've wondered what farmers do in the winter time when the field work is finished?  Besides milking, feeding and daily chores?

They take long afternoon naps, vacation in the Carribean and eat bonbons, of course!

Riiiiiiiiiiigggghht...

It's a good time to catch up on repairs on equipment or buildings, especially when you have temps in the 60's and sunshine like today!

This past summer, my parents moved into the house across the road from us. (Oops! I just realized that I never did a blog post of "after"pictures like I promised!  Click here if you want to see some of the pictures of the work in progress on their house. I'll try to do a post soon of the finished project!)
Anyway...my Dad recently discovered where some water was getting under the roof on the screened in porch and damaging some wood. 

Jim inspected it yesterday and gathered some materials.  This afternoon he's been working on the repairs...

It's convenient that Jim worked for a roofer after high school and learned some roofing skills...

I climbed up and "helped" for a little bit, but really wasn't needed, so I skipped out and went to visit our neighbor lady who just had a hip replaced on Monday.

My Dad would love to be up on that roof with Jim, but was content to watch from below...

Jim's been working all afternoon, and the forecast rain has held off.  Hopefully he'll get finished before it starts!  There will be more wintertime projects to come, I'm sure, and before we know it spring will be here!

Puppy Love...

Day 11

We just can't help it...

They're eating like little piggies...and growing like weeds...

Look at their tiny, perfect little feet!

We're in love!

This Morning...

I've heard this question on numerous occasions..."What do you do all day?"  So...here goes...


Dark thirty am...the alarm rings.  We hit snooze.  Or rather, Jim does...I don't even hear it.

Repeat...

I am not a morning person, typically.  Not at all...just ask Jim!  But this morning, it's working for me.

Maybe, because I actually went to bed at a reasonable hour, I'm awake and able to head downstairs in good time.  Jim's already had his coffee, and is getting ready to head out to the barn.

Maybe because I feel guilty that there's no breakfast food in the house, I head downstairs and put some baked oatmeal in the oven.  The kids leave early for school, and need something wholesome to eat before they start their day!

I throw a load of towels in the washer so they will be ready to hang out when I'm done in the barn.  I used to try to have my wash hanging out before the Amish neighbors, (why??) but gave up on that a long time ago.  Although... I did notice that hers were not hanging out very early this morning!  :)

When I wander into the barn, Jim is already halfway finished milking down the first two rows...

As is our normal routine, he milks while I start feeding.  I put the feed cart underneath the hay hole, and throw balage down for the heifers first, then the cows.  They dig in...

They're much more cooperative when they've had some food.  Kind of like some people with their morning coffee!

The cats hang out next to the heifer pen every morning...

After the cows are fed balage, I feed corn, then help move the last few milkers.  As we are finishing up, and hang the milkers up on the end of the pipeline, the cats begin to head towards the milk house.  Fritz loudly lets me know that he wants some fresh, warm milk from the jar...

After milking, Jim feeds silage, and I take care of the calves.  We have two new ones on bottles.  We'll keep the heifer, and the bull will go to market later this morning.  Their bottles are warming...

The calves in the hutches get their buckets of milk.  Miss greedy over there on the left, inhales her milk and tries to eat the bucket.  She has feed, hay and water, but her favorite is milk.  She won't like it when she's weaned in a week or two...

It's a beautiful day, so the towels will dry quickly.  I love to watch wash flapping in the breeze...

After breakfast, I pick up our neighbor, Daniel, who helps us a couple of mornings a week.  Usually when he's here, I stay in the house and get other things done, but this morning, Jim wants to fork out some box pens, so I help Daniel with the morning work. We put the cows out in the barn yard, and I watch for heats and keep them from getting into trouble take recess duty while Daniel gives them fresh bedding in their stalls. Then we head over to the other farm to feed the heifers and dry cows.

Jim forks out two heifer pens, and beds them up with fresh straw when he's finished...

This is the second load that he forked out by hand this morning...

It's late morning by the time we're all finished, but there are still a few more things that happen before lunch.  The cattle truck comes for the little bull calf...

The milk truck comes...

We discover a crack in the tank washer hose, and temporarily repair it using black tape...whatever would we do without black tape and duct tape?!

A load of sawdust is delivered...

Now we'll be set for a while with fresh bedding for the cows, and a warm, soft place for the dogs to sleep!

So...this is what we did this morning!

Mornings are usually busy year round...it's the afternoons this time of year that are a little less busy, and we sometimes have some free time to do things that we want.

One thing is for certain, however...not too many days are alike.  There's always something to do, and we will never be bored!

Fun Things To Do...

Just the other week, I was asked to share a few stories from life on the farm with a women's group at Church.  I was asking Jenna what stories I should tell, and she gave me a suggestion.  I never got it written until now, and instead read a few of my favorite older blog posts, like  "What's In A Name" and "Expect the Unexpected".  Here it is, finally...Jenna's idea, with a few of my own ideas added in.

"Fun things there are to do on the farm"

First, from the kids' perspective...

Ag bag tag... 

 

Jumping into the sawdust pile from the hay mow...

Riding dirt bike.  It's most fun with cousins, and after the corn is off there are so many more places to ride...

 

Walking in cow patties in your bare feet...  (WHO'S CHILD IS THIS?!)  I must confess, I think I did the same thing when I was a girl!!

Raising goats for 4-H...

Throwing a dead rodent at your mother...  (like I just said...WHO'S CHILD IS THIS?!) ...and laughing at her when she shrieks!

 Having air-soft wars with siblings, cousins, or friends...

And now for some of my own...

Watching the antics of the animals...especially the goats, which we had for the first time last year...

Riding in the air conditioned combine when it's 95* and humid outside, asking all sorts of questions to get info for a blog post...

Watching kitties grow up...

 

 ...and gathering eggs...

This is one job I never get tired of!

Of course there are lots more fun things to do...and of course not nearly all of the things we do are fun!  We get tired of doing the same barn chores day after day...and we wish we could go on vacation...just for a weekend!

But it's good to take time to think of the fun we can have.  We've been given a great opportunity to live and work on the farm, and we thank God for the good life we have!

And before you leave...here's an opportunity to read another blog.  4R Ranch  recently gave me a blogging award, and I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to her! 

Frosty Morning...

It was cold enough that my fingers just about froze feeding calves and chickens this morning, but the beautiful frost was worthy of taking some pictures...

My amateur photography skills don't capture it at it's best, but it sure was beautiful!

Happy December!

It's Bittersweet...

I've thought a long time about posting this...

There might be some of you who don't like the idea...and I don't want to offend anyone...but it's reality here, and it's reality on a lot of farms...

Occasionally, when we have a cow that doesn't settle (become pregnant) easily, our last ditch effort is to have her bred to a cross breed; often an Angus or Hereford.  This often results in a confirmed pregnancy, for whatever reason! 

Being a crossbreed, the resulting calf will never be an asset to the dairy herd.  So...if the calf is a bull, we will make him a steer, and raise him for beef.

The first time we raised a steer, we made some mistakes.  Big mistakes.  We turned him into a pet.  Well...almost.  He got a little too big to cuddle with, but...  When the time came to have him fill our freezer, there were tears all around. 

This time, we tried to steel ourselves for the inevitable...

"Archie" was part Holstein, part Hereford.  He was an adorable little calf, but thank goodness some of that wore off as he got older.  He had basically a nice temperament, but was beginning to push the heifers around in the outside pen.  We also didn't feel very comfortable having Jenna in the pen with him.  He was just BIG!  It was time. So...he is now keeping three families very happy for a L O N G time. 

 It's been bittersweet, but then again, life on the farm can be that way.