Winter Open Houses...

What do eastern Lancaster County farmers do in December when the field work is finished?

For two weeks each December, several local farm stores hold an "Open House", where almost everything in the store is 10% discounted.  One of them also offers a free lunch each day to their customers...provided by one of the many vendors that they sell products for.

Today, Jim and I went to stock up on supplies, like paper towels, milk filters, inflations, calf buckets, etc.

Lots of other people did the same thing.  The buggy shed was full, and the grass was full of parked cars...

Oops...there's a smudge on my camera lens!

I really, really wanted to take a picture of the basement, where tables were set up for about 60 people. Most of the seats were full, but most of the customers were either plain Mennonite or Amish, and I just couldn't bring myself to be seen with my camera...they wouldn't have appreciated it at all. Instead, I took a picture of the delicious lunch we had.  Amazing pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, pickles, macaroni and potato salad, chocolate milk, ice cream, cookies and coffee.  As we were heading upstairs to make our purchases, the lunch line was still long, and the seats were filling back up again.

Next week we'll head to what we call "the Amish Walmart" for another open house.  They don't provide lunch, but coffee and homemade Amish donuts are worth it!

I guess it's a good way for these businesses to make you feel better about spending your money!  

Dreary Days...

Rain...drizzle...more rain...more drizzle...early darkness...

We've had several dreary days here, and I'm feeling the winter blues coming on, so...I'll think of some good things instead.

We spent time with Jim's family on Thanksgiving day.  After we all ate too much (!) the guys watched football (can we please forget how that Eagles game turned out?!) and the ladies and the dog took a walk at a nearby park. It was a gorgeous day!

My family got together on Friday.  We aren't usually all together on Thanksgiving, but my Virginia and Chicago sisters and their families made the trip this year.

We have been referred to already as "the quartet of milk maids"...

On Saturday morning, we made the trek to a  greenhouse near my parents, that has some of the most creative decorating I've ever seen.  My oldest niece had to work, so she's missing from the picture...

Time spent with both our families is a good thing!

I borrowed these pictures from my sister, who took them while on a walk early Friday morning...

I'm looking forward to the sunshine that is supposed to return tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving...

This morning in the barn, I had a song running through my head.  

It was written in 1890 by Amos Herr, a Lancaster County farmer and Mennonite pastor, who lived not far from where we live now.  He woke on a Sunday morning to find snow drifts too deep to get to Church with his family...even on horseback. He decided to focus on thankfulness, and wrote this song...

photo credit to my sister Peg

Here are the lyrics...

(imagine it sung acapella...beautiful four part harmony...that's the way I hear it!)

I Owe The Lord A Morning Song...by Amos Herr

I owe the Lord a morning song
Of gratitude and praise,
For the kind mercy He has shown
In length'ning out my days.

He kept me safe another night;
I see another day;
Now may His Spirit, as the light,
Direct me in His way.

Keep me from danger and from sin:
Help me Thy will to do,
So that my heart be pure within;
And I Thy goodness know.

Keep me till Thou wilt call me hence,
Where never night can be;
And save me, Lord, for Jesus' sake.
He shed His blood for me.

Amen

Here's a link to the song on youtube, if you'd like to hear it... 

The weather here today is not snowy...for which I am thankful! 

In fact, it's beautiful!  Sunny, still, temps in the mid 30's...the kids are both here...and we're planning to see lots of family today, and in the next few days that we don't often see.  We have much to be thankful for!

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Houdini...

I came home from some errands this morning to see a calf in the meadow.

Hmmm...there shouldn't have been a calf in the meadow, especially one with a yellow ear tag.  It looked suspiciously like a calf that was born on Sunday afternoon, that we had moved to the calf hutches yesterday morning!

Here's her hutch door.  Closed and latched shut...

Here's what was in the hutch...

...and here's where I found her!

That's not her mother hovering over her, but a concerned citizen...

Now she's safely back in her cozy hutch, filled with fresh clean straw, and sunshine to warm her little body...

If she's gone on such an adventure already in her short two-day-old life, I wonder what other kind of trouble she might get into over the course of her life?

It seems that we have a Houdini in our midst!

Fall Barn Cleaning...

What do you do when you have a free morning on a beautiful fall day?

And oh yes... you have a helper?

You wash the outside of the pipeline...

Although the milk never touches the outside of the pipeline, it helps with overall cleanliness in the barn.  Day after day of bedding up with sawdust, spreading fodder in the gutters, and cows swishing their tails (or coughing when they poop!), all the surfaces in the barn get dusty and dirty.  Daniel was helping this morning, and he got that fun job.  It's especially nice that he's tall, and can reach those places that I have to stretch for!

Look how nice it looks when it's finished!  The stainless steel shines...

I got the job of cleaning the barn windows.  Again...day after day of dust accumulates on the windows.  When we can start writing on them, we know it's past time to clean them!    Here's an embarrassing "before" picture...



First I hosed them down, inside and out...

Then I used a long handled brush with some soapy water to scrub them...

...and after a final rinse, the view is much better!  It makes the whole barn seem so much brighter when these two jobs are finished!

While cleaning is not something I enjoy, it's satisfying to see the difference when the job is finished!  Thanks to Daniel, both jobs were completed in one morning!

Growing Garlic...A New Project...

You're never too old to try something new, right?

Our family likes garlic...and some of the best I've found has been local, homegrown from our local "Amish Walmart".  The bulbs are huge, and the cloves aren't all dried up like some of the garlic you buy at the grocery store.  And the taste?  Mmmmm...

So...this year I decided to grow my own.  I have a couple of old pallets at the edge of the garden where I grow lettuce, red beets, and other things that are a nuisance to weed.  I plant between the slats, and have found that it works well.

I bought just one large bulb of garlic at a local seed supply store, and followed the simple directions that came with it...carefully break apart the bulb and separate it into cloves...plant them about 2" deep, point side up...cover with 6" of mulch, and wait...

That was about six weeks ago, and look what I have!  Green...when everything else is either dying or going dormant for the winter.  Maybe it's nothing huge to get excited about, but I can hardly wait until next summer when I can harvest my very own garlic!

A Little Sweetness...

Here's a little bit of sweetness to brighten your morning...

This little three week old calls for me every morning in the barn while we're milking.  As soon as she's had her breakfast, she curls up, contented to just be part of the action.  Of course whenever she sees someone, though, she has to be curious and suck on their fingers, or flannel shirt, just in case there's more food to be had.

Enjoy!