First Heat Wave of 2018...

I'm done.  I've had enough.  I think I'm ready for fall now!

This was the temperature at 5 pm, in the shade...60 % humidity...

 Call me a wimp, I don't care, but my energy level (and my attitude) goes way down when it's like this for more than a day or two. 

The barn actually felt better than I expected tonight.  With all the big fans running, it stayed pretty steady around 78 degrees during milking.  The cows are really feeling it though...milk production has dropped a bit...which is to be expected in weather like this...and a few of them needed to be cooled off with the hose this afternoon...

Today was a milk truck day, so the tank was empty when we started milking tonight.  I like to guess what the interior temperature of the tank will be when we first turn on the compressor.  I'm rarely correct, and tonight was no exception.  I guessed 94...

This is one way the dogs keep cool...

I also tried to guess what the temperature inside the house would be when we came in for supper. Oh how nice it would be to have central air, but I'm thankful for the window unit in our bedroom so that we can sleep well!

On the bright side...I had to borrow my parents' car today to go to an eye doctor appointment.  My Mom rode along, and we went to the dairy store where Jenna works for some delicious ice cream cones...

And another bright side is the breeze coming in the window beside the desk...and the shower that awaits me! 

Stay cool wherever you are!

A Bumper Crop Of 'Maters...

It's been a fabulous growing season here!  Rain, rain and more rain, and hot humid days have given every plant the extra boost needed to grow.  Even the weeds.  :(

Like most other crops, my tomatoes have over achieved this year.  I planted six different varieties...one plant of each...and they've gone wild!

I planted Celebrity, Early Girl, Mountain Fresh, Amish Paste, Abe Lincoln and ??  I can't seem to remember the last one, and the tag is missing.  All of them are producing large fruit that are ripening evenly without cracking (from all the rain) except for Mr Lincoln.  I don't think I'll plant that one again. Those tomatoes are yellow on the shoulders and have mostly cracked. Lucky for the chickens, their pen is right next to the garden, and they get the rejects for snack!

This morning I picked a large bucket full, and made my first batch of salsa.  I tried to make it a little on the hot side, since Eric and Jim both like it better that way, but I'm not sure I was too successful. Eric will be living in an on campus apartment this year at college, so I figured I'd send a stash with him. Hopefully he and his room mates will like it even if it's mild.

It looks like tomorrow or Saturday I'll have another bunch ready for picking...

My favorite cherry tomato ever is Sweet Baby Girl.  I've not been disappointed in her this summer either.  These beauties are just the right size for a bite sized taste, and they're wonderfully sweet...

This afternoon's harvest...

...and the batch of salsa that I made this morning is bubbling away in the canner as I type...so see...I'm not wasting time, I'm multi tasking!  :)

Jim is about half finished with fourth cutting hay...Jenna is mowing the yard...Eric is at work...and we're enjoying our last week together as a family before both kids head off to college next weekend.  It's going to be really, really different around here as we do the "empty nest" thing for the first time!

What's happening where you are?  In your garden? On your farm?

Here's a link to the salsa recipe that we like!

Summer Update...

I've been terribly negligent in keeping you up to date on our corn and soybeans, and you might be surprised at how tall they are now!  This is what happens in five weeks during a typical Pennsylvania summer.

I had to use live measuring devices, since they're so tall...especially the corn! It's well over my head now, and I'm 5' 5" ...

Phoebe is the measuring device for the soybeans.  (she was looking for a cat that disappeared into the field in front of her. This was in between bounces)...

Everything is growing like crazy right now.  We've had a lot of rain (another almost 2" today!) and hot, humid temps, which together make both miserable conditions for the humans and terrific growing conditions for the crops!

Jim just finished up third cutting of alfalfa last night before the rains came, so we're happily enjoying a small break in the craziness.

How's your summer going?

4th Cutting...Already...

The summer has just been flying by...but yet the horrible heat and humidity have made it feel like it's dragging on forever!  We don't remember long stretches of weather like this for a while.  The last two days, however, have been a little better, with a breeze and lower humidity.  :) :)

Jim finished up baling fourth cutting alfalfa yesterday afternoon, stopped to help milk, and then finished wrapping around 9 pm.  I never thought about the view from this field before, but it's the highest field on our farm,and you can see for miles in all directions. The moon was gorgeous...but of course the picture doesn't do it justice...

Jim's mode of transportation to and from the field...the trusty 100...

I got to do something new last evening.  It's been so horribly hot, and we like to get the cows out of the barn in the evening as soon as possible.  Jim or Eric have been taking round bales to the meadow for the cows to munch on in the late evening and overnight.  Neither one of them was available to do it last night, so I got the honors.  I've run the skid loader before, but never moved a round bale.  Piece of cake!  I dropped it in place and removed the plastic and netting.  When Jim came by with the wrapper to wrap the hay bales, he stopped and flipped the rack over the bale and it was ready to go...

The cows know just where the rack is when they head out of the barn for the night...

They can't all fit around the rack at once, so the stragglers have to find something else to eat for a while until it's their turn.  There's always plenty, as it lasts for several days.  They come into the barn so much more content in the mornings when they've had a bale put out for them...

We're ready for the fall like weather to come any day now...the heat and humidity have taken their toll...on us and on the cows.  The milk truck driver told us this morning that milk pounds are way down this week.  All the trucks are about 4000-5000 lb down from their normal loads.  The cows hung in there for so long, but finally said "enough".

How's the weather where you are?  Is the summer flying by or dragging on?

Wrapping Up July...

It's been a busy July...and a hot one. We haven't had one like this for a while. It's been two weeks of yucky sticky weather...with a bunch of rain tossed somewhere in the middle...and then yucky and sticky again.

You know it's hot and humid when you are on your third change of clothes by lunch time...and you can hardly wait to go to the barn and stand in front of the big fans.  The barn smell clings to everything...even my glasses smell dirty.  Sorry, maybe that's TMI...but no amount of washing them in hot soapy water helps.  I guess I should be glad it's time for a stronger prescription even if it's a sign my eyes are getting old along with me.

Anyway...a lot has happened since my last post!

Let me back up to the fall of 1988 and spring of 1989.  I was a student at Ecola Hall Bible School in beautiful Cannon Beach, Oregon.  It was a wonderful experience, and I met a lot of great people that I still keep in touch with today, thanks to facebook!  One of my room mates, Cheryl, has a daughter who was interested in having a new experience...on her own...in another part of the country...on a farm!  My sister and I picked up LuAnn at the Philadelphia airport early last Tuesday morning.  Poor girl...it was the beginning of the hot humid yuck...and her first words as we walked out of the airport were "Oh wow, it's really humid here!"  But...she was a trooper!  She had flown all night from Portland Oregon to get here, but she came right out to the barn and pitched in.

She learned to prep a cow's udder for milking. She got to see a newborn calf. Over and over again, she scraped poop, hoed poop, got splattered by poop, shoveled fresh sawdust under the cows for bedding, fed calves, fed hay and balage, and fed rye to the heifers.  She even fed silage once (that's a heavy job!) helped me mow the yard, and helped to make pickles one day.

Here's LuAnn with the newborn calf...

We did get to do a few fun things too, while she was here.  Our neighbor Jake took us for a ride in his buggy.  That's Roger the horse.  Roger used to be a race horse, and had lots of energy, but Jake said that he's calm enough that an eight year old could drive him...

LuAnn got to take the reins as soon as we hit the road.  We were following another buggy, and Roger wanted to catch him!  Jake had a speedometer in the buggy, and we got up to around 15mph.  Eric and I were riding in the back seat, and I got a video of the ride.  We couldn't figure out how to transfer it here from her phone, but if you're my facebook friend you can see in on my page...

We did a few other fun things too...we rode the Strasburg Railroad and did a few local "touristy" things that I'd never done before!  LuAnn flew home on Wednesday, and I think she probably slept a long time once her head hit the pillow back in Oregon!

On Thursday, Jenna brought me a huge grocery bag of green peppers from the produce farm where she works.  My niece Bethany is staying with us this weekend, and she spent quite a while on Friday chopping them into small pieces...

We ended up with six quarts that I bagged up and froze.  When I need them, I can easily grab a handful at a time.  I like easy when it comes to cooking!

I can hardly believe that tomorrow will be August 1st!  That means both kids are headed back to school in just a few weeks.  The summer jobs will be ending, cross country practice will be officially starting soon, and unfortunately, the hot, humid weather is continuing.  On a positive note, the corn and beans are growing like crazy!

On the other hand...my yard looks like it needs a haybine and baler!

How's the weather where you are?

Lancaster County Summer...

Ok...it's really feeling like a Lancaster County summer now!

It sure is "close" out there today!  Have you ever heard that expression? "Close"...as in really, really, really, really humid.  The air is almost so thick you could cut it with a knife.  Well, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but I was sweating before I ever went outside the door this morning.

Murphy has the idea...

Find a place in the shade, and stay there as long as possible!  In her case, it's either in the back of the truck, or underneath it, depending on where the sun is situated.

But...I can't complain.  Really.  After the winter we had, I vowed to not whine about the heat.

I'm very thankful for the slight breeze that's coming in the window...for the ice cold coke in my hand...for the cucumbers that I'm about to turn into banana pickles...that second cutting hay is finished (!)...for the thunderstorms that are to come this afternoon and cool things off (hopefully!)...that the kids will return home this afternoon from their missions trip...

...and for the air conditioner in our bedroom window!

Random Friday...

 This week has been full of bits and pieces...

James...my new favorite kitty...trying to stay cool!

1.  This week it's been hotter...and more humid than I remember in a long time.  (My memory might be short, because it was probably this hot last summer too!)  Today I checked the thermometer mid afternoon, and it read 104 degrees.

2.  I mowed for 5 1/2 hours today, and then did the weed eating.  I was so thankful for the cool shower afterwards...number two for the day...and number three soon to come!

3.  The cows are starting to be affected by the heat.  They hung in there for a while...but with a week of continual temps in the high 90's and higher...and this high humidity (53% right now)...they have dropped in milk.

4. Jenna and I had the privilege of going to the beach for two days this week with some friends... to Cape Henlopen State Park, in Delaware.  Although the temperatures were just as high there, there was a wonderful ocean breeze that felt so good!  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves...and our time away...except for the jellyfish that kept us out out the water most of the time!

5.  Jim baled a lot of hay this week...third cutting is almost finished!  There's one more field to mow and bale, hopefully next week.  We're expecting a break in the weather this weekend, so maybe it will be more comfortable working next week.  It's been great to get so much dry hay stacked in the mow!

I'm linking up today again with Nancy, for Random Five Friday.

And Summer Rolls On...

After about 1 1/2 weeks of having house guests, it's back to "normal" around here...whatever that might be.

The kids enjoyed time with their cousins...we are THANKFUL that they enjoy being together!

It's been oppressively hot and humid...and we are THANKFUL for our air conditioned bedroom!

The laundry pile hasn't gotten any smaller, with smelly barn clothes and extra towels from taking sometimes multiple showers in one day...but we are THANKFUL for the opportunity to be clean!  Someone new to  PA once commented that..."Pennsylvania is the only place they knew of where you could sweat in the shower."   I think they were right!

The weeds are getting ahead of me in the garden...but I am THANKFUL for the 2 inches (!!) of rain that we got on Wednesday evening, although it came all in 45 minutes.  It makes the weeds pull much easier!

Our Amish neighbor man saw my ridiculously weedy garden up close and personal this week as he reapired our calf hutches...but I am THANKFUL that the hutches he was working on are now repaired, and no calves should be able to escape and stomp on my veggies!  (maybe he didn't even tell his wife about the neighbor lady's neglected garden!)

All it needs is some paint, and some new wire around the back side...

Lima beans always seem to be ready in the hottest part of the summer...but I am THANKFUL for the many packs of frozen beans that we will have in our freezer!

They're a pain to pick, and a pain to shell...but I am THANKFUL that Jenna sat with me on the porch yesterday and helped!

Just like me when I was a girl.  My Mom planted tons of lima beans, and we shelled and shelled and shelled and shelled and shelled.  She paid us 10 cents per cup...

I pick them young, so they really aren't fun to shell...but they taste oh so good...

I can hardly wait to taste them, cooked in milk and butter, just like Grandma used to do...

You never heard of this?  Here's how...it's simple...

Put your fresh frozen lima beans into a sauce pan.  Add a small amount of water, and salt to taste.  Cook until soft.  
Remove from heat and drain the water from the beans.
Add milk, just enough to cover, and return to heat, cooking just enough so that the milk is hot.
Drop a small amount of butter into the saucepan (1 Tbsp?)  and allow the butter to melt in the hot liquid.
Serve and enjoy!

It's another scorcher today...but I am THANKFUL and HOPEFUL that the thunderstorms they are calling for will bring some relief from the humidity!

How is your summer rolling along?

Bring on Fall!

The newspaper this morning says we’ve had the hottest summer on record. I could’ve told you that! The heat and humidity has sucked the energy right out of me; I’m tired when I wake up! Thankfully, we’re almost out of the thick of it…last week was beautiful, and with hurricane Earl threatening, we’ll likely get some relief this weekend, but oh my. Bring on fall! Please!



It’s a busy time of year…refilling silo, baling yet one more cutting of hay (this year it looks like we might get 6 cuttings!) picking corn, shelling corn, baling corn fodder, cleaning out heifer pens , combining beans, and the list goes on. Although it can get a bit hectic, it’s satisfying to see a lot of what we’ve worked for all summer come to completion.


The kids are back in school as of this week, so there are changes for all of us. They’re adjusting to new routines, and I’m adjusting to being back in the barn every morning. I sure got used to them doing the morning “chores” every day! (Sometime I might even find time to clean the house!}


It’s also Fair season. In three short weeks, it will be time for the   WestLampeterFair.com   We enjoy spending as much time there as possible. The kids are old enough to go off on their own now…they enjoy going through the tents and accumulating all the candy and “junk” that they can, while Jim and I walk around and catch up with friends. It’s a win-win situation! And of course the food is wonderful…can’t leave without a sausage sandwich and at least one milkshake from the dairy bar!


If we can just hang in there a little while longer, this heat will be replaced by beautiful fall weather, and we’ll be so busy that we'll eventually forget how hot it has been.


I say bring it on!