Category Archives: farm fun

When the wife responds…

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I have a ton of stuff to get you all caught up on, but I have to share my little story first.

Last night, as I was reading through our emails (they sometimes pile up a mile high, you know?), I caught a message from Boss Man’s friend, who just so happens to be an equipment dealer. He was getting Mark some information regarding the upgrade that they talked about for our payloader (it’s a machine that Mark uses to clean the manure out of the cattle lots, move junk, sometimes snow, etc.).

Well, an upgrade was all news to me. We have a ton of house projects that we need to work on, but I didn’t know that he was thinking about changing some of the equipment. And, truthfully, it’s not real surprising, since I’m usually the last to know! :)

I apparently was feeling pretty cheeky last night, because I decided to pay my dear hubby back by replying to the email. And this is what I wrote:

After consulting with my beautiful wife, I've decided that to
spend more money on farm equipment is futile. I shall spend
the rest of my days trying to please her exquisite tastes,
flying to the corners of the world, taking trips abroad, and
showing her the seven wonders of the world...of which, she is
the eighth. Sorry, but I will no longer have time for trivial
things, such as cattle, hunting or just wasting time away
visiting with others.

I followed with:

Yeah, well, I guess I’ll pass this message on to Mark. ;)

 

Lesson of the day: Perhaps we should discuss major purchases…you never know who will respond to the email!

Sizzlin’ Summer Saturday – First Car Show

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Boss Man made a new purchase this spring…just a little something to add to his pickup collection. (Yes, my husband collects pickups. Someday I’ll do a post on them, or at least most of them. I’m not sure he’ll ever let me find all of them.)

Yesterday we took it to our first car show. It was called Sizzlin’ Summer Nights in a town just 60 miles south of us. It was our version of a date night, and it was a ton of fun! Plus Boss Man was able to spend an evening talking to complete strangers (and a few people we knew) about his truck. He was in heaven!

Here’s the pics…starting with our favorite (and second-place winner for the People’s Choice award!):

Boss Man’s new baby, a ’76 Ford with custom paint job. Ask him about it sometime, he’ll tell you all about it…just make sure you have the time.

This is what the side looks like a little closer. It’s even more amazing in person. No decals, just paint.

I’d love to have one like this someday…or at least this color scheme. Such a beauty!

Snap On Tools were there…and so was there OCC custom-made chopper. Nice.

Another great ride…all the time and work, hard to imagine.

The chrome across the street was polished so nicely, I was able to snap a pic of our truck in the bumper!

 

 

 

 

 

4-H Project – Dinosaur Gardening

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Pinterest. It’s my new best friend. And as a 4-H mom, the ideas there are endless!

The county fair is a few months away, but we’re gearing up and getting projects out of the way early…I know, crazy idea, right???

So here’s our first completed project. And as long as the dog leaves it alone, we’ll be good to go!

Dinosaur Pots

1) We found these two dinosaur toys at the 4-H rummage sale on Saturday…cool coincidence! They are pretty well the perfect size, but it wouldn’t hurt if we could find a few bigger ones as well.

Cutting through the plastic was a little tough. But we poked a hole to start, then used a snips to work around.

2) Cut a hole in the top of the dinosaur. Big enough to plant in, but not so big that you can’t keep dirt inside.

Make sure to add drain holes in the underbelly, and down the tail.

3) Be sure to add drain holes in the bottom!

Get dirty!

4) Fill the tail with dirt. Get it damp, so that the dirt really fills it. You don’t want any air pockets killing off your new plants!

Final step…water well!

5) Pick plant of your choice (but make sure it will fit) and plant it in the new pot. Water well. (We went to our local garden center and looked around, asking the horticulturalist for advice…he did suggest moss roses, since they are smaller to begin with and will grow just about anywhere!)

6) Enjoy!

Cool planters that even little boys will love!

I love it! And can’t wait to see what we come up with next!

WW – Time Outside

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The weather has warmed up again, and it finally quit raining long enough for the boys to enjoy some time outside. Last night was great, and although I didn’t get any pictures, even Boss Man took the time to play some ball with the boys. It made my heart sing!

EJ's first attempt at baseball...I love his face!

Scooter, getting ready for the big leagues this year! No more tee-ball!

You see, Mom. It hurts when I put my finger in my eye...like this.

I see you, Mom!

Our cows aren't the only ones that jump the fence!

Boss Man's college friend and roommate, Dr. J, stopped by for a visit.

Young Farmer Friday

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Just loving my day with the boys…and who can blame me? We head to Mayo on Monday, and that’ll be worries for Monday. For today, I’ll just enjoy what we have.

"Mom, will this be mine some day?"

A rare moment of stillness, and no one fighting!

George teasing EJ that he was going to beat him to the shop.

Well, he decided the reward wasn't worth it.

 

 

March madness…North Dakota version

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No, our March madness has nothing to do with basketball, and I’m talking brackets of a different kind…this March is madness with peewee wrestling and spring weather. And it added up to spending an afternoon digging out some water pipes.

Let’s start off with Saturday morning and early afternoon. Scooter participated in our local peewee wrestling tournament and managed to come home with a first-place medal.

The weather was so unseasonably warm, that I decided we should finish a project we had started earlier in the week. Our aging pipes had sprung a leak, which lead to a continually green patch of grass in our yard all winter. But as it was warming up, that green patch had turned to mush. We needed to work on a fix…and 70-80 degree temps in North Dakota in March is a great reason to spend some time outside, even if it is to dig a hole.

So, if we’re fixing a water pipe, one would think that you would call a local backhoe and have it done in a jiffy, right? That’s not the way we roll around here. Instead, Boss Man gave a few directions, gave us a rough outline of size, and away we went.

Me and my little sister, just digging a hole.

Yep, my little sister and I became excavators and dug out the hole that will be needed to fix our water leak. And I have to say, I’m happy with the work we did, and enjoyed spending the hour or so outside in the beautiful weather.

And today (Sunday), the weather has continued on its beautiful streak, cracking the 80 degree mark. Let’s just hope our temps stay above freezing, because all of those beautiful buds and new plants will be a hard loss to take.

Our rhubarb is up...and it's March.

By tomorrow evening, I'm guessing we'll have full-fledged leaves on our lilacs. These buds are busting at the seams!

The beauty of calving

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This weekend was absolutely wonderful. The weather could not have been more perfect…well, maybe a little less windy yesterday, but it was still very nice. And with nice weather came a little boom in our calving.

When the weather is nice, though, it’s a little easier. The mud isn’t fun to mess with, but thanks to the wind, it’s been drying pretty nicely.

Here’s some of my shots from the weekend. And I’ll have more on Wednesday! Enjoy!

Hmmm...My calving instincts aren't always right on, but I'm thinking something here is telling me that she needs to head to the barn.

Just another beautiful bovine.

Our lilacs are trying to tell us that it's spring.

The cousins, in a race of epic proportions!

Mom, can't I just nap here?

A case for genetic markers

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Not so long ago, I wrote a post about how George seems to enjoy coloring himself from head to toe in markers. And I don’t mean just a little bit.

For Halloween, we'll be going as Smurfs.

After turning bath water several different shades of blue, green, black and orange the last few weeks, I was beginning to think that he had some strange sort of addiction to coloring on himself. (You know, like on that show where people say they HAVE to drink nail polish, eat chalk, etc.)

Well, I may have stumbled upon the answer…it’s genetic.

It appears as though 30-some years ago, this little blonde-haired beauty decided that she rather enjoyed coloring herself as well. Although, I like to think that I pulled off the look a little better.

Yep, he came by the habit honestly. Who would have thought this scene would be replayed 30 years later? Well, and on a little grander scale.

But that’s how it works, isn’t it? The next generation tries to find a way to do it bigger and better?

The way to a boy’s heart…

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Is apparently through his…feet?

Just a few minutes ago, the mailman brought a package to the door that wouldn’t fit in the mailbox. I had an idea about what it was, so I asked EJ if he wanted to open it…

and I have the happiest boy on this side of the county.

EJ opened new boots in today's mail! And they're "tractor boots." How cool is that?

 

Yes, I splurged a little, but not too much. They were on sale through Zulilly (I l-o-v-e that site, by the way) and they are John Deere boots. I knew he would love them, but I didn’t know that they come with a little surprise…

Box for boots, and a BARN!

 

The box that the boots come in turns into a barn! How cool is that! I had to fold some pieces together, but it’s all one piece, and I have one little boy in heaven.

Checking to make sure there's enough room for his tractors.

 

Now, normally I would buy his boots from a thrift store, or off Craigslist, or something like that. It’s not that we can’t afford to buy brand new boots, but really, let’s be sensible. If their main purpose is going to be walking through mud, riding in tractors and traipsing through a barn full of….manure…would it make sense to buy them new?

I’m pretty sure the cows don’t care. And Iknow that EJ doesn’t. But these were a special surprise, and worth every dime, just to hear the squeals of joy.

The box is even printed on the inside. "Just like ours, Mom!"

 

In a world where demands and “I deserve”s are heard more than thank-you’s, hearing my not-so-little boy exclaim with appreciation and tell me that he’s so thankful for his new boots…well, that’s worth it’s weight in cowboy boots.

And, no…they won’t be allowed in the barn yet, but I imagine they’ll make their way there soon. ;)

Dressed to the nines

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It was a weekend to remember…and an amazing Saturday at that!

Boss Man and I went to the Inaugural Stockmen’s Foundation Ball, and even though the day started out rough, Saturday ended spectacularly!

But let me start with the pre-story story. I realized that Boss Man didn’t have the right “tools” in his closet for a formal event. Although I know that he could get by with the different shirts we had at home, I was out and about and thought I would get him one that…well, to be truthful, I thought I would get him one that fit. As in buttoned at the top.

I had never been to a Men’s Warehouse, so I decided to stop and see what they had. I had an “interesting” experience to say the least. I knew when I walked in that the gentleman helping me wasn’t going to see things my way. But I gave him a chance. He asked if he could help me, and I told him that I was looking for a shirt that would work well with a white and black dress for a formal event. He asked the size, and I gave him my best guesstimate. (Have you ever tried to get a man to leave the farm early enough to be “fitted” for a shirt? He keeps giving me the measurements from our wedding…and trust me, those don’t work so well any more.)

The man handed me a plain white packaged dress shirt, with off-white-ish buttons. I asked if he happened to have anything more “western.” He stared at me as if I had grown a second head. He asked what I meant, and I told him that my husband happened to prefer his dress shirts to snap up the front, instead of button. I must have made a major faux pas there, because he kind of sniffled, and proceeded to tell me that, “buttons are what makes a shirt formal. Not snaps.”

Hmmm…I don’t know if I agree with that. I mean, I’ve seen George Strait looking mighty fine at plenty of red carpet events. And I do believe that some of those shirts had snaps on them. Although, I must confess that I sometimes get distracted looking at George Strait and don’t always pay attention to his shirt closures. Same goes for Kenny Chesney, Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw…ummm…what was it I was talking about again? Sorry, got a bit distracted there.

Anyway, my point is that western wear can look just as formal and nice as a regular suit. So I put the gentleman’s suggested starched shirt back and headed to RCC, where I should have just started. I found a great western shirt that looked spectacular, including the pearl snaps on the front.

We went to our ball, we danced, we visited with friends (old and new) and we had an amazing time. And didn’t look too bad either.

Cleaned up and off the farm...hardly recognize us!

On a sad note: last week Monday I asked for prayers for my mom’s best friend, Darlene, who was in desperate need of a liver transplant. I ask that you now keep Darlene’s family in your prayers, as she passed on last evening. The heavens have indeed gained a beautiful angel…and one that my grandma certainly greeted with open arms!