Tag Archives: life on the farm

Craziness

Posted on by
3

Sorry about the Wordless Wednesday post yesterday. It wasn’t until last night that I realized that it was only Tuesday. I think my brain is broken.

It’s been a long week already, and it’s only Wednesday (I just had to correct myself from saying it’s Tuesday…brain is still broke.)

Scooter is loving football. He is so excited about learning more about the game and figuring out his strengths/weaknesses. We’ve had quite a few giggles and chuckles over the whole process.

When we were signing up for football, and received his jersey, pads and helmet, the coach asked Scooter what number he would like. There wasn’t a lot to choose from, but Scooter first picked the number 4. Coach made a comment that someone his size should have a bigger number…so Scooter went with 84. Ha!

Another funny memory that will keep me in stitches for months happened Monday afternoon. My mom and dad were returning from vacation and we were waiting at their house to welcome them home. Scooter was at practice, but was adamant that I needed to boil his mouth guard.

Yep, that’s me, in my cheerleading glory. We didn’t do stunts, wear short skirts or anything like that. We supported our team, got the crowd yelling and were able to ride a bus and get into games free! I loved it all!

Now, I was a football cheerleader when I was in high school. I love football and everything that goes with it, but I don’t know the ins and outs of how the guys get from street clothes to full gear. This is all new to me…including a mouth guard. So I thought, maybe the boiling was to disinfect.

I was wrong.

I boiled Scooter’s mouth guard at my parents’ house and fished it out of the water, realizing that something wasn’t quite right. It was kinda funky looking, and a tad bit misshapen…and now had weird marks on it from the tongs. Hmmm…where did I go wrong? (To defend myself, the mouth guard did NOT come with instructions, or if it did, Scooter tossed them as soon as he opened the bag.)

My mother comforted me by saying, “Don’t you know anything!” And then proceeded to explain to me the purpose for boiling the mouth guard and the proper procedure. I was too busy rolling on the floor laughing to take in most of the lecture, but I got the point.

I screwed up. And it was funny. I have no problem laughing at myself.

When Scooter returned from practice, we re-boiled the mouth guard and fit it to his mouth. Tragedy averted. Laughs enjoyed.

When I reported my lesson on Facebook, one handy tip was shared, and I’ll pass it on to you: when you are finished with boiling the mouth guard and have it shaped as needed, when cooling it, use a flavored beverage (Dr. Pepper was suggested), so the mouth guard doesn’t taste just like nasty rubber. We’ll be trying that…

Next time.

WW – Preparing for winter

Posted on by
Reply

It’s hard to believe, but as summer has flown by, it’s also time for us to prepare for winter on the farm. And that includes loading our haymow (the top floor of our barn) with straw (what’s left after we harvest our wheat).

Check it out:

The end of the load of straw that was stacked in our barn.

This attachment for our skidsteer can grab 20 small square bales at one time, making it possible to load and unload our bales without touching them by hand. it saves a LOT of time!

Heading to the barn.

So much easier than trying to lift or toss each one up!

We had a crew of 4 inside the barn stacking the bales…including my little sister, affectionately referred to as “Brat Child.” (And yes, she knows she has the nickname…it’s been with her since she was little…and it fits!) 😉

 

 

 

 

Is there a calf in there?

Posted on by
2

A few weeks ago, we had a crew of people out in our pastures. Although the set up and take down took a little time, the reason behind all the work was definitely important. You see, we were ultrasounding our cows, to find out which ones were going to have calves and when they would be having them.

Just like at the OB’s office!

That’s right, we used an ultrasound machine…much like the one that is used every day by obstetricians when they are looking for a baby’s heartbeat, measuring the size of the baby or checking for any other problems.

Why would using a machine like this be important for our cows? One reason is where we live. Since we start calving in February in North Dakota, it’s important to know which cows should be calving and approximately when. That way we can make sure that they are closer to the barn, so they can hopefully have their calves inside, where it’s warm and protected from the elements.

The head gate makes sure that the cow stands still and doesn’t hurt itself.

Another reason we use ultrasounding is so that we can more accurately determine those cows that are definitely having a calf, and those cows that are not having a calf (we call them “open”). It’s expensive to raise cattle, even more so right now. We only keep the cows that are bred and the ones that are “open” are sold. Many times our open cows go to other farms that have a different calving cycle then we do, allowing them the chance to become bred later.

The girls, waiting their turn!

The ultrasound technique is very similar to the same used in a doctor’s office…well, in general theory anyway. 😉

Once the probe is in the cow and an image is on the screen, a measurement can be taken, just like how the technicians measure the length of a baby’s bone to estimate it’s gestational age. On a calf, the measurement is taken of the space between the eye sockets on the head. The number of centimeters between correlates between the number of days the calf has been in the uterus, giving us an estimated “due” date.

The calf’s age can be measured on the screen!

Of course, these numbers are just estimates, but every bit of information that we can use to ensure our herd is taken care of and healthy is definitely a step up from before!

A Needed Rain

Posted on by
8

It’s Friday, it’s July 6 and we finally have some moisture on the ground. An inch to be exact. And we are so very, very thankful for it.

Our crops were starting to suffer, but this is a good start. It’ll buy us time and hopefully we’ll have more moisture soon.

This is the part of farming that I don’t enjoy. This is the part of farming that keeps men and women up at nights and makes them wonder if it’s worth it. Imagine building a $250,000 house and watching someone pour gasoline throughout, then play with a match around it. Yes, you have house insurance, but it doesn’t take into account the blood, sweat and tears that it took to get it to that point. Imagine.

Yet, we do it every year, time after time, knowing that Mother Nature can turn her back on you at any given moment. Why? Good question. Some say if we don’t like it, we can just get a job in town somewhere. But once you’re a farmer, it’s in your blood and it’s hard to stay away. Feeling the dirt beneath your feet, watching the sun rise and set each day, being able to breathe clean, fresh air from your office…well, that’s not easy to find.

So we head back out, watching the skies, paying attention to nature’s queues, waiting for the moisture that we need, the sun that we need, the right mixture of heat/wind/etc. If that’s not faith at it’s finest, I don’t know what is.

Today we celebrate a small victory. And I celebrate not having to water our garden…and I give thanks.

With as dry as our yard is, these puddles won’t last long!

These cukes are enjoying the rain, and a reprieve from being watered!

The wind combined with the rain made the sweet corn in the garden lay down, but it should stand back up with the sun now shining!

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are

Posted on by
4

I basically took the month of June off on my blog. It wasn’t intentional, but it ended up being that I simply didn’t have time. We had swimming lessons, baseball practices and games, I play softball, parades, celebrations, a birthday party or two, fair preparations to make and life to live. It was wonderful.

But now it’s the day after the Fourth of July, and life is a little more subdued and relaxed. We can start truly enjoying our summer…and I intend to make every minute count.

I promise to blog more often (more for myself than anything), and I promise to continue to reach out and do what I can to share this great way of life that we are living.

It what I can do, without leaving my farm, and using the skills that I have.

It wasn’t until the 457th person told me (during this break of mine) that they enjoy my writing, they love to share what I share and realize how important farming and rural life is to the backbone of America. What more can I ask for?

And it’s something so simple, that I know you can do it, too. All it takes is a minute of time, an ounce of creativity and courage…a fair amount of courage.

Thank you for sticking with me…and as a reward, here’s a few photos of what we’ve been up to:

We watched storm clouds roll through, but never received much for rain.

We watched 70+ tractors roll past our farm on a Tractor Trek to celebrate a local town’s 125th celebration.

Boss Man joined the tractors!

We played some baseball.

We watched some amazing sunsets.

And we danced like no one was watching.

I may have become a little discouraged last month, questioning if I am doing the right thing, or if I have the right intentions. But those doubts are gone, my spirit is renewed and I have new goals in sight. And I can do it all from the comforts of my home.

Yes, summer, I am finally ready for you.

Thankful Thursday – It could have been worse

Posted on by
7

This wasn’t the post I intended to write today. These weren’t the pictures I hoped to share. But Mother Nature has a funny way of deciding what does and does not happen.

Last night, shortly before I was planning to go to bed, the TV warned of a storm that was heading towards our area. They stated that it had heavy rain, some hail and strong winds. I joked on Facebook that it better go around, because I wasn’t in the mood to deal with a storm.

She showed me.

The first storm hit about 10 p.m., and although at first seemed to not be that bad, it quickly changed its tune. We had a lot of hail, wind took down sections of fence and spun our calf shelter, killing one calf and injuring another.

Hail out our door last night, storm #1.

I thought that was it, and went to bed, knowing there wasn’t anything we could do during the night.

And then at 4 this morning, another storm came through…bringing more hail, more wind, but thankfully, no more destruction.

In total, we received 1.15″ of rain, and a solid coating of hail. The pictures speak more than I can:

Drift of hail left yet this morning.

More hail…

Our trailer was “hailed.” 😉

This calf shelter is supposed to protect calves, not hurt them. But the storm last night rotated this shelter to the north 90 degrees, killing one calf in the process.

Monday madness – Giveaway!

Posted on by
38

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve sent off a package to a lucky blog reader, so I’m going to correct that problem today. By the end of today (midnight) I will pick a winner of this amazing bracelet from Premier Designs:

Talk about beautiful!

It’s a beautiful adjustable belt-buckle/rhinestone bracelet, and is stretchy, so I can truly fit anyone and everyone. I already have one, but snagged up this one specifically for you guys (and with Mother’s Day right around the corner, it would make a great gift!)

Just leave me a comment and you’ll be entered. Simple as that. I’ll announce the random winner tomorrow morning.

And don’t forget, help me out by spreading the word about my latest project…and if you have something you would like some help on, just give me a shout and we’ll work something out.

Oh, and stay tuned…it’s a double-post Monday. I’m working on a Hunk of Meat Monday recipe that will knock your socks off! (Well, it’s working on mine anyway!) Here’s a clue:

A yummy slab of pork for my Monday munchies! 🙂 Can't wait to share the rest of this with you!

One Crazy Easter Weekend

Posted on by
Reply

Easter. A holiday made for epic celebrations. One great event, a promise of things to come and a time to reflect, give thanks and gather…oh, and food, really great food. How do you improve upon that?

Oh, yeah…add in a broken nose.

Scooter, in his Easter finest, sporting his now off-centered nose. It adds character.

That’s right, a broken nose, 6 hours in the ER and getting to bed about 3 in the morning.

Don’t worry, we still made it to church, and Scooter was proud to sport his new black eye. My eyes were probably a little black, too, but from lack of sleep, not a baseball to the face.

Lesson learned? Don’t let the boys play baseball the night before a holiday. Or maybe I should teach Scooter some better catching methods.

So today we head to the eye doctor, to get his vision checked out and make sure his fuzziness isn’t anything that a new pair of glasses won’t fix. And later on this week, once the swelling is down, we’ll see the ENT and double check his nose.

You can believe me when I say that I’m not one of those people that asks, “What next?” Because I know where that may lead…and I’d rather not know! 🙂

Farmer Friday – Planting Wheat

Posted on by
Reply

With the way he left the house this morning, you would think that Boss Man was six weeks behind in field work, but the truth is, things are pretty far ahead of schedule. But as the saying goes, “Make hay when the sun shines.”

So on this Good Friday, as I keep a close eye on George, Boss Man is out seeding wheat. After a quick repair this morning, he’s back at it again…check it out:

Repairs - sometimes it seems like a never-ending job, but Boss Man fixed this up lickety-split!

On his way again! The wind was a bit of a challenge this morning.

It's amazing to see where technology has taken us!

In a day where corn and soybeans seem to be king in this area, we still find wheat a very important crop in our rotation. Not only does it make improvements to our overall soil health, but the straw is an important part of our cattle operation. We use it as bedding for our calf area and in our barn during calving.

All safe and warm inside, no matter what's going on outside, thanks in part to the wheat straw used for bedding!

Up close and personal, that's wheat being seeded!

Now that planting (or seeding, as it may be) has begun, it’s Mother Nature’s turn to do her stuff. The next few weeks and months will be determined by the amount of rain we receive, when we receive it and what other weather patterns we encounter.

On this Good Friday, as so many reflect and express their faith, I still feel that a farmer’s faith is some of the strongest faith you will find.

Blessings to you today. And a Happy Easter to all!

Good Friday post replay

Posted on by
2

I wrote this post last year about Good Friday falling on Earth Day…and how my son mistakenly thought that was the reason he didn’t have school. Although today isn’t Earth Day, when you have a rough week, it’s a comfort to know that there are days such as Good Friday to give you hope and remind you of the sacrifices made:

 

I was all prepared to write a post today about all the things we do on the farm that celebrates the Earth, such as using our manure, using no-till whenever possible, using the water from our well to heat our home…then heat our shop…then to water our cows, etc. (That’s right, all the same water, I’ll explain it sometime.)

But as I was sitting down to type last night, I decided to check out George’s lab work that was done at Mayo. (They have a really cool set-up, where you can register to log-in and receive the lab results yourself. No more waiting for that stinkin’ doctor’s call!) Anyway, I logged-in and for the first time ever, and I truly mean EVER, all of George’s lab work came back within normal ranges! (Well, minus the Vit. D and iron levels, but those are diet/sunshine related, not illness/disorder, so they don’t really count.)

I’ll admit it, I cried a bit. For the last just-about 2 years, I’ve dealt with continuously feeling like something wasn’t right, that we weren’t on the right track, bloodwork continuously showed something off here or there, nothing fit together, etc. It was a whirlpool of nightmares. Since George was born, he has seen: three pediatricians, two pediatric geneticists, two pediatric gastroenterologists, pediatric cardiologist, two pediatric endocrinologists, two pediatric neurologists, two dieticians, pediatric oncologist, pediatric neurosurgeon and several other various ER docs, nurses and staff. He has had: two colonoscopies, an upper GI series, multiple x-rays and ultrasounds, a liver biopsy, three MRI’s, an echocardiogram and two CT scans. He has given more blood for bloodwork that some people donate to the blood bank. He’ll be 2, and he’s been through so much, but is still such a wonderful little boy.

One of the things that I hear the most, when people hear about George, is that he doesn’t LOOK like anything is wrong with him. That’s always the problem. I wonder how many of those doctors blew us off because they felt he didn’t “look” sick enough. I know for sure one did, I overheard him tell the students that were following him those exact words. It went something like this, “And in this room is a 6-month-old male patient, case seems somewhat unremarkable. Mother has sought care at Mayo. Came in with fever, slight dehydration, etc. There’s no clear diagnosis, and I’m not real sure why they’re here. Their local hospital probably overreacted. We’ll keep him through tomorrow to satisfy the Mother.” (Needless to say, I requested a discharge immediately and we never returned to that set of physicians.)

We have so much to be thankful for.

This morning, Big Bro told me that they didn’t have school today because it was Earth Day. That sealed the deal for me. I’m not writing about our farm today. I’m not writing about how to recycle, or how to reduce your carbon footprint, or how to reuse your milk carton to make a mailbox. We should all know these things, and we should all be doing them. Every day. Period.

But today is Good Friday first. It’s a day that we celebrate all that has been given for us. The Blessing that was bestowed upon us so many years ago. And for me, today is a day of thankfulness.

Yes, I won’t be brushing my teeth with the water on, I’ll turn off lights where I don’t need them, our bulbs are already energy efficient. Those are things we do everyday. But today, I’ll spend extra time thanking God for those gifts that He has given. Including the ultimate sacrifice of His only Son.

Today is definitely a Good Friday.