Most of my life I have been the daughter celebrating my mother on Mother’s Day.
I am lucky to say that I’ve always gotten along with my mom and she’s always been supportive of me. She has taught me more than anyone in my life and has shaped me into the person I am today. Her unconditional love, understanding, and listening ear have taught me how love should be and I’m lucky enough to still have her here to call on whenever I need her. It is a love that can never be duplicated and I can’t imagine life without her. She is one of my richest blessings and I love her dearly!
There are a few other ladies in my life that I’ve come to think of as my “moms”. These ladies have shown me that mothering can come in many forms of love.
Through these relationships I’ve been continuously encouraged and, as a result: I’ve shown more love to others; I’ve learned how to do things better and learned how to be better; I’ve shared my successes and failures and my feelings of joy and inadequacy; and in all of this I’ve been shown love and grace and mercy time and time again. I’ve been mothered from all directions, in all areas, in every season of my life. I’ve been richly blessed by these relationships and I’m a better person thanks to the love they have shown me.
Now that I’ve had a few years of being a mother myself, I wonder if I’ve made a difference in the lives of my kids like these wonderful ladies have made in my life? Have I been that person for them?
I can’t answer for them but I know that I have felt the rewards of being a mother to all four of my kids. We have celebrated together; We have laughed through the tears; We have hugged through the hard times; And we have come to understand each other a little better every day. It has been confusing and hard and happy and fun and I have loved them through it all.
Today I am so thankful.
Thankful for having a mother, being a mother, and looking forward to being a grandmother. I hope you have as many blessings as I have to count today.
One of my best friends here on the farm goes by the name of Cosmo, and I couldn’t ask for a better dog.
Cosmo joined the family as a puppy and actually was the first Black Lab among all the other farm dogs that Dan had had over the years. He’s rounding ten years old this year and I’m not sure Dan would choose any other kind of dog.
In fact, we have 3 labs here on our farm now. Cosmo fathered a litter of lab pups and Kayla got pick of the litter. That brought a pretty little yellow lab puppy named Brooklyn to the farm. And Brooklyn has mothered two litters of lab puppies also, with our girls each keeping one for themselves. That brought Maddie Jo, another black lab into our family, with sisters Rosie and Lily close by at Nichole and Chelsey’s houses.
And actually Cozie claims Cosmo as her own, but when she moved out during college, she didn’t have the heart to take him away from the farm that he loves. So here he stays, now joined by his daughter Brooklyn and grand daughter Maddie Jo.
Cosmo, Brooklyn and Maddie Jo
When I came to the farm when Dan and I were dating, Cosmo was a rambunctious one year old. He had more energy than he knew what to do with. He would follow the tractor and grinder down the road, racing Dan to the other farm.
He would chase tennis balls for as long as you would throw them. And when Dan and I married and I moved here, Cosmo wanted to be right by my side.
Every time I would leave the barn to chase cows over to the other lot I’d say “Cosmo! Let’s go get em’!” And he would jump and bark and look at me as though he didn’t know what I was saying, but he was surely going with me!
He got so that when I opened the gate to the cow yard, he would come a running, barking at the cows to get back. He had learned fast how effective his barking was for scaring the cows back away from the gates.
If I came out of the cow yard with the tractor, he would keep the cows in while I parked it in the shed and walked down to the gate. And when I got half way there he would make sure I would see him charge the cows and bark, even if the cows had no intentions of coming out of that gate.
And the cows learned what “Go get em’ Cosmo!” meant too! Even if he wasn’t around, I would give my war call, and they would turn around and run the other way. They wanted no part of that!
But as you know, there’s always a nosy Jersey or two in the bunch. And if one came curiously nosing around out of that gate, Cosmo was in full stealth mode: head low, ears perked, taking one, slow, step at a time towards them. We’d give a yell and off he’d run, racing to prove his worth!
Now mind you, chasing a cow by barking in their face will turn a cow round and round until she gets enough room to run, which wasn’t always in the direction where they came from! 🙂 But he surely tried his best, and he wouldn’t want to have all of the fun. He had to keep us on the payroll too, ha ha.
Today a friend was telling me they had to put their dog down, and I instantly felt sad for them, thinking about how hard it would be without Cosmo by my side on the farm.
And it brought me back to last July, when Cosmo went missing. We couldn’t find him anywhere… We would call “Go get em’ Cosmo!”, waiting for his familiar bark, but nothing. We drove around the mile and the next mile, and over to the other farm to see if maybe he had gotten shut in a building accidentally. We asked neighbors if they had seen him with no luck.
The more we looked the sadder I got. What would I do without my trusty sidekick?
Dan and I took another walk around the farm, looking in the sheds and calling to him. I couldn’t help but get choked up thinking about what might have happened to him.
And then all of a sudden… around the corner of the hog house he came with a bark!!! I burst into tears as I hugged him tight! He was alive! He was well! And he was home! Hurray!!!!
Dan soon followed and I swallowed back my tears and asked “Where was he???” And he answered, “He must’ve gotten in the trailer the other night when we brought that cow and calf home from the other farm. It was dark and we didn’t see him and must’ve gotten locked in there when we parked it.”
Thank the Lord Dan had checked in the trailer! It had been hot and I was surprised that he hadn’t barked when we called him. Nevertheless, I was sooooooo HAPPY he was found!
And today I’m just as happy to have him by my side. Here’s to you Cosmo!
Happy Valentine’s Day! It was a snowy one here in Iowa but the cows didn’t seem to mind. Well, not as much as we seem to in February anyways! By this time of year we are ready for the snow to be done and the green of Spring to start showing through.
As I was walking through the cows this morning, I was struck by how many “Valentines” we have in our herd!
Names can tell a story and my mind was rolling as I snapped a few shots of them at the bunk. And although I couldn’t get pictures of all of our beautiful ladies, here are a few that I thought were fitting on Valentine’s Day…
Some make their love known, just with their names “I Love You”, “Kiss” and “Arrow”
Others have sweet names that could easily be found on a Valentine candy
“Cutie”, “Beauty”, “Angel” or “Skittles”
And some make you feel “Lucky” to have found the one…
You would have a beautiful bouquet with our cows “Rosie”, “Aster” and “Dalia”…
And some, if you had the choice, would make you run the other way if you were looking for a Valentine… “Quazy”, “Frazzle”, or “Cheetah”…. oh and some are a pain in the “Azz”!!!
God has a way of waking you up. A way of saying “Hey! life is short so choose to be Happy!” And He gives you hope in a way that no one else may understand, but for you, it is just what you needed to hear.
Just a week ago my oldest sister was telling me, my mom and my other sister how her husband just wasn’t getting any better.
He had been battling a cold since Thanksgiving and coughed and coughed at Christmas. He was treated for pneumonia around the first of the year and shortly after a scan discovered that he had a blood clot in each lung. He was started on blood thinners to dissolve the clots but still he didn’t feel any better.
Here it was, the last week in January, and my sister broke down, telling us that he just wasn’t getting any better. He still felt like crap… he had no energy, he coughed and coughed, and he hadn’t left the house, except for doctors appointments, in over a month. This was not like the junk loving, joking guy that Vinny was.
She had made another appointment for that afternoon, hoping they would get referred to a bigger hospital that could dig deeper into his symptoms and see if they could find an answer.
His counts showed that his body must be fighting some kind of infection, as the white count was elevated and the red count was low. They started him on IV antibiotics and fluids and ran test after test. They were determined to find the source of infection so he would get better for good.
On Tuesday when we talked, his voice had gained some life again and he sounded like his old self. He thanked me over and over for keeping his girls overnight while they were at the hospital. He joked about all the specialists that had been in to see him and all the tests he had been through. And I thought, “Good, hopefully they’ll be home by the end of the week!”
On our way to the wrestling meet on Thursday, my phone rang and it was a call from Vinny himself.
He said they had figured out what the problem was…. cancer. Cancer? Yes, cancer. Ughhhhhhh. My hand reached for Dan as he was driving as if to say stop the car, I need your help. He just looked at me, searching for what to do.
The word “cancer” is enough to stop your world. In that moment it stopped mine as he listed where the cancer had been found – in his lungs, his stomach and his liver. My eyes lifted to the sky and my head started shaking from side to side as if to say No… It can’t be. Lord, he has 2 little girls. He has a wife that needs him! He just has a cold that won’t go away…. it can’t be….
I sat in church on Sunday, listening to words that really spoke to me and I tried not to cry. I tried not to worry. I was reminded by Pastor to let God know what’s in my heart.
And as the message came to a close, Pastor reminded us that God is our Shepherd. And to come to Him this week. And with hope and an uplifted voice he started to recite the 23rd Psalm, a psalm that I know by heart. It made me sad as I thought about all of the funerals I had been to when it had been recited.
But as I listened to the words in the way that he read it I felt HOPE. He read each line slowly, his voice lifting each word in a positive tone, as if to say… TRUST in God, no matter if life is good or hard or near the end… He is with us. And everything is going to be ok.
It made me want to run to the hospital and read it to Vinny. It was as if it was the first time I had heard it and IT. WAS. AWESOME!
Take a second to read it, slowly, and let it bring you hope, the way it did for me.
I grew up living in town but both my parents had grown up on farms. And all through growing up we had a little car that was a stick shift transmission.
I remember telling my dad that I wasn’t going to drive a stick shift! But the day came when I went to the court house and passed my test and got my learners permit.
On the way home dad and I went back and forth. He wanted me to drive. I did not! I was afraid of that thing.
Afraid of killing it in the middle of the road. Afraid of those deep ditches! And afraid of failing. You know… sitting there, with cars waiting behind you, while you figure it out.
I’d witnessed the choking, sputtering, and gasping that car could make when you were in the wrong gear or shifted too soon or dropped the clutch. (All thanks to my older sister, haha)
Mom finally convinced me to try it, behind our house, in the County Fairgrounds. They had paths surrounded by grass that wouldn’t mind if I strayed from the road… and no ditches!!! But it did have trees. Lots of trees.
There I learned just how much there was to learn to drive a stick shift. Not only did you have to watch where you were going, you had to use the clutch AND find a gear – the right gear – and stay on the road with all of that distraction. It seemed like an awful lot to ask for a new driver.
But… after I figured out that you have to finesse the clutch, I learned to enjoy driving that stick shift. I enjoyed the challenge of doing five things at once.
I got that lesson all over again when I started dating Dan. I would ride with him in the tractor and it wasn’t long before he had asked if I thought I could drive a tractor?
I was like “I learned to drive on a stick shift! NO problem!”
And as he showed me how to drive that tractor I had felt proud. I was proud that I halfway knew what I was doing.
I secretly thanked God that I didn’t have a choice when I learned to drive. I had only one choice… a stick shift.
So yesterday, when I climbed in the little car we had offered to deliver to a friend from the mechanic shop, I laughed out loud. I actually sat there for a minute… giggling.
I hadn’t realized that all the times he had stopped at our place, that that little car was a stick shift! And as I put the key in the ignition, pushed in the clutch, and figured out that for reverse, this little car had a ring you had to pull up on the stick, I giggled.
I pulled up to my husband in our truck… still giggling! And he was like “What’s so funny? What’s wrong?”
And I giggled “Do you know how long it’s been since I drove a stick shift anywhere?????”
He smiled and asked if I’d be alright and I said “Yep! I got this!”
I took off and I think I smiled the whole ten miles to his house.
I remembered what it was like to learn to drive one of these… I remembered my dad, now gone, trying to persuade me to drive… I remember that shortly after mom taught me how, I had refused to drive home from my aunt and uncles because I was afraid of backing into the ditch across from their driveway…
And I realized how important learning how to drive a stick shift has helped me on the farm. I use a clutch every day and I think I’ve improved a lot with the many levels of farming I have learned through.
You know, like how to pull a full chopper box without killing it on a hill… Or how to shift down, turn around, shift up and full speed ahead (all without taking out the fence!) when I’m chiseling… Or how you don’t kill your husband when you’re backing up ever so carefully to line up the two holes in the hitches while he stands between the tractor and the whatever it is you’re hooking up!
Now that folks, takes some concentration! And good clutch control!
So in my revelation yesterday I realized how thankful I am to my parents and my husband for teaching me a skill not everyone has, and how proud I am that I am one of those people who can jump into almost any vehicle and say “Yep! I got this!”
Today is one of those days. It’s chilly and raining outside and all plans for putting in new fence were put on hold for a job that could be done inside.
These decisions are always ultimately left up to the hubby, because if he really wants to get something done, the weather won’t stop him.
Well, today he decided it was time to make jam, Rhubarb Jam. YUM!
But this made me feel a little sad, ya see, I work part time from home for a small business, updating their website and social media sites.
Today happened to be a day I needed to work, so I wasn’t going to get in on the yearly jam making, except for drooling over the mouthwatering sweetness that would waft down the stairs.
I had already pulled some of our rhubarb just after Mother’s Day and made a few little cobblers to deliver to my mom and some others on the way.
Kayla pulled the majority of the rest of ours last night, and Chelsey picked some of our neighbors’ this morning.
At lunch time I came up from the basement to make Fajitas. I had taken a Beef flank steak out of the freezer and settled on a Pinterest recipe from one of my favorite cooks, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.
I whipped up the marinade and sliced the peppers and onions last night and combined them with the flank steak to marinate overnight.
I cranked the stove to high, added the peppers and onions to the pan and in 5 minutes flat I had the house smelling like a Steakhouse! Man it smelled good!
While I was cooking, Chelsey washed and trimmed the Rhubarb. Dan set the table and shredded the cheese and we called Reed for lunch and sat down to try the new recipe.
It was pretty good and I think this recipe is a keeper.
As we put the leftovers away I dreaded leaving the kitchen. I absolutely hate days like this when I would rather be doing what the rest of my family is, especially when they’re in the kitchen!
Uhhh… to the basement I went.
I could hear the progress upstairs as I clicked on the keyboard below.
Chelsey chopped the Rhubarb while Dan did the cooking at the stove. After it was cooked down, he added sugar, pie filling and jello, and Chelsey pureed it and poured it into the jars.
Kayla got home in the middle of the afternoon and jumped in to help.
By 5 I couldn’t wait any longer for a taste. I headed up the stairs to see what progress they had made. I noticed that the sweetness of the jam cleared up all signs of the Fajitas I had made for lunch.
Cherry, Strawberry and Blueberry flavors had been created and I couldn’t wait to try my favorite, the Strawberry Rhubarb!
There were quite a few jars on the table and they had set a few of the big jars aside for the neighbor who had shared their rhubarb.
Reed, the official taste tester, sampled some of the Blueberry and his eyes got big and he “Mmmmmm’d” how good it was.
Chelsey and Dan told me that Reed had wanted to try a chunk of rhubarb earlier. He popped it in his mouth, made quite a face, and ran to the trash to spit it out! Ha ha!
Here are some pictures of them working on one of the last batches.
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This is where, “Food, Family, Farmin’ and Fun” come together on rainy, Spring days in the kitchen… Jammin’
So… you may have noticed my lack of posting lately. Or not. At this point I’m not really sure how strong of a following there is out there for a writer like me.
But this morning as I was out working in the cold and wind I had a revelation. Well, mostly I got angry.
Last week I had posted on my facebook page a picture of my 4 year old son trying to lead an incredibly cute, but stubborn 2 day old jersey heifer calf we had named “Queen”.
Now I understand that everything I post on my blog and facebook page is public. And I understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion which is fueled by their own perspective.
What I had trouble understanding was how someone could come to the conclusion and actually comment on this photo “Friend or food?”
Now read that again. “Friend or food?”
Really?!?!? Someone is actually questioning this in this picture?
Now, I was really pissed. And who was this person asking such a question? Turns out it was a friend of a friend. I had never heard of them.
So, after cooling off half the day I responded with “What a silly question.” Diplomatic, right?
To which I was met with “Not if you are from a city like I am,” she replied.
Really? Because if you live in the city then when you see a little boy trying to lead a potential Kiddie Calf Show prospect, your first thought is “Friend or food?”
Now this is what I was warned about when I told my husband I would like to blog about what it’s like living on a dairy farm.
And this is the kind of thing I told him I thought I would be able to help people with… understanding our perspective.
So my reply to her was “They are all our friends on the farm” 🙂
To which she almost immediately deleted her comments and unliked my page.
Hmmm. So this is what people can be like?
In my opinion she just had made something out of nothing.
And the longer I think about it, I might be making something out of nothing, but I’m going to take this opportunity to invite anyone who eats on this planet to….
Get out of the city… because that is not where your food is from! Grocery store and food co-op shelves don’t just magically grow food!
FARMERS do!
So let me ask you a question….
How many of you could actually put your own food on your table if you had to? How many of you could produce enough food to feed you and your own family for one year?
I know my family doesn’t at this point… yes, as my husband puts it, we have our own meat, milk and eggs from our farm, but that’s not enough.
I still depend on other FARMERS for fresh produce, the wheat ground for my flour, and I could go on and on and on!
Right now we are enjoying watermelon. Can I grow a watermelon for my family to be ripe and ready to eat in April? Heck no, but I thank the FARMER that made it possible.
Dan and I went to the movie “McFarland” recently on date night. Do you know what I gained appreciation for in that movie? I’ll try to describe it.
In the poor town of McFarland, most of the high school kids, along with everyone one old enough in their families to be out in the fields, were “pickers”. Pickers are the people who actually harvest all of the produce grown in the fields or pick the fruit from the trees.
They are up before dawn to ride out to the fields to pick as much as possible before school starts and after school they return to the fields.
These people are hard workers.
The cross country coach joined them one morning so he could get an understanding of what it was like. He said it was one of the hardest days of work he had ever put in.
Our three girls were all up and helping with chores before going to school too. And when they came home at night they helped with the nightly chores also.
And do you know what my girls are known to be? Hard working. Just like the kids in the movie.
Now, does the lady who commented on my picture know me or my family?
No.
And do I think that anyone that knows my family or has actually visited our farm would ever make a comment like that? I doubt it.
But what I wish the most, is that people wouldn’t be so quick to judge.
Another movie that can give you a new appreciation is “Farmland” . And if that isn’t enough…
Go to where your city co-ops grow their produce. Visit the farms that you drive by. Go out to the fields.
Talk to the farmers who are proud of the job they do everyday. Sometimes pride is the only pay we get. We’d be happy to share our perspective.
Lastly… get your hands dirty! Lose a couple hours of sleep to actually put your own food on your table. Work alongside the FARMERS and pickers and truckdrivers and stockers who put your food on those grocery store shelves.
The headlines are screaming “Consumers want to know where their food comes from…”
It’s more than just the label on the package. Get out there and experience it.
And STOP judging.
Gain some respect for the FARMERS that feed your family.
It’s a windy, cool day here on the farm. This morning was mostly gray, but this afternoon the sun is trying to shine.
It hasn’t warmed up enough, though, to go without a heavy jacket and I almost thought about putting my coveralls on this morning while mixing up, but resisted.
Dan had thought about letting the wood stove burn out, as the last couple days have been warm and the house stayed around 75 degrees.
I made up for it, though, and opened the windows to let the fresh breeze blow through the house. With the temperature topping out at 43 this afternoon, I think he’s glad he kept the fire going.
Even the chickens were trying to stay out of the chilly wind!
And we have some excitement around here too!
Today we are finally getting in the field! 🙂
We have some ground that is fit for drilling some oats and alfalfa. This seeding will grow good quality oatlage, haylage and hay to feed our milk cows.
A neighbor of ours (who doesn’t farm) came this morning and helped work the ground. His young nephew also came along for the experience and Reed had a great time riding in the tractor field cultivating with them!
Then he even got to tag along with them into the woods to get a load of wood and enjoyed jumping on the other little boy’s trampoline when they took him home.
When Reed and I took some more seed out to Dan, Reed was ready to ride again! I suspect he will be sleeping in a couple rounds after the busy day he’s had.
Let’s go Dad!!!Drilling Oats and Alfalfa
When Dan gets done with our field, he will also drill some waterways for a neighbor of ours. Our son-in-law, Jason, will also have some oats to put in this weekend.
With all the Easter gatherings to attend, they hope to finish up today. Happy Easter Y’all!
Well hello there! Did you think I got lost??? I know… I’ve been AWOL lately here in the blog world, but don’t worry, I have lots of ex… good reasons 🙂
Now that daylight savings has kicked in and given us a little more daylight in the evening, we’ve been working later outside trying to get a start on Spring.
And that means a blank computer screen doesn’t really compete with a comfy bed at the end of the day… But, let’s see if I can give it a whirl tonight!
Today we worked on hauling manure out of one of our calf lots. We are planning on moving our momma sheep to this lot in a couple weeks so we are ready to lamb.
I know, you may think it seems late to lamb, but that’s just what works best for us here. We don’t have a barn or building exclusively for sheep to lamb in during the winter months like a lot of people do, so we choose to breed them later in the fall/early in winter so that they come in about May, when the weather is easier on both the ewes and the lambs.
Anyways, we will get the calves moved out and then we will herd our little flock of sheep across the yard to our little calf building so they can get all settled in before those little cuties arrive.
We got done hauling the manure, bedded it with cornstalk bales and inevitably did a little fixin’ today. I managed to crack a board as I was scooping up a bucket of manure with the skid loader, so out came the drill and the long screws and we got it all fixed up again.
We also adjusted the height of the red gate on this pen so the gate swings better. These little jobs always take a bit of time, but we’re glad things work better when they’re done.
Oh, I can’t forget to tell you about our moment of excitement tonight…
Dan was coming out of the calf lot with the skid loader after he had put the cornstalk bedding in. Two calves were running from one side of the gate to the other when Dan came forward to come out… and those two made a quick right and out they ran!
Crap!
Double Crap!
They ran straight up the yard towards the shed, then turned down the hill and ran full-on towards the bins! (I was just hoping they wouldn’t like the darkness down there because if they kept going they would be out in the field!!!)
It took Dan, Kayla, and me on the four wheeler to convince them it was time to go home! Thank goodness they didn’t get into the field.
What a way to end the night, huh? Just made me all the more ready to call it a day.
We still have a lot of manure to haul before we think about planting. If the weather stays good we might get some oats in the ground before the end of the week. That will be a good feeling.
One more thing… we had a heifer calf born to Angel this morning that was super cute! Check out a few pictures I posted on my facebook page and you can even help me name her!
Well, the wind burn is starting to set in and I’m feeling a little sleepy.
Will share more tomorrow, I hope. I have lots of catching up to do!
Today it (finally!) reached a glorious 40 degrees and the sun was shining! February weather was kind of a bugger and we’ve been looking forward to some warmer days.
This morning we had a couple visitors stop in as we finished up chores. It tends to slow up chores when we have company, but we love to visit, so we really don’t mind.
Roger, a gentleman in his 80’s, stops in pretty regularly to visit and see how his Jersey cows and young stock are doing. We enjoy his visits and he keeps us up to date with the latest coffee shop news.
Neighbors of ours also stopped in for a visit. They, too, were heading to a farm auction this morning. We haven’t been to a sale in awhile, and while this sale bill didn’t hold many items of interest to us, one thing piqued our curiosity.
A brooder house.
We have a dozen or so laying chickens that roam free around our farm. In one of our buildings we have some nesting boxes for them to lay their eggs in, but a brooder house might make a better home for them.
Here Nichole is checking our nesting boxes for eggsEven in the snow, the chickens love to roam free!
Well, they had quite a crowd at the sale. I think everyone was ready to get out of the house and get some fresh air.
Since I now live an hour from where I grew up, I have found that sales are often a place where you will see friends you may not see very often, and have time to catch up with what’s been happening.
Today I had fun talking with Ron, a friend of mine from my hometown. I used to work with his wife Dawn and it’s always fun to hear what’s new going on in their world.
They run a fun little operation called Country Boy Salvage and I love keeping up with them on their blog. Check it out when you get a chance.
The brooder house they sold wasn’t quite what we had in mind, but my friend Ron was confident he knew where I might find a couple for sale. Woo hoo! Networking strikes again (smiles!).
After spending a couple three hours or so watching items sell, catching up with friends and enjoying the fresh air, we headed back towards home.
On the way, we stopped at Norby’s, the local farm and home store, to get some supplies. I didn’t get twenty feet inside the door before I was mesmerized by the tall display of new seed packets!
Oh…. the possibilities 🙂
Ya see, seed packet displays are almost as fun as book stores! It’s hard for me to break away from the force field once I get drawn in!
I stand there looking at all the new varieties that I didn’t even know existed! Snake gourds? Miniature pumpkins on a stick? Gourds with necks as long and straight as canes? Those would be fun to paint!!!
And along comes the dream of an acre of garden… covered in pumpkin vines, gourd vines, melon vines, rows and rows of carrots and grean beans and peppers and tomatoes, and not a weed in sight!!!!
Of course I’m just dreaming… sighhhhhhhh. If that was all I had to do. Dan just shakes his head at me. And smiles.
That didn’t stop me from picking out a dozen or so new adventures, though!
A girl has to have hope, right? And I always hope, year after year, for a nice big spot to grow my pumpkins! This year I’m going to hope for enough space to grow all these fun gourds too!
Don’t they look like FUN!?!
When I got home, the Spring fever kicked in again. I reached onto my shelf of gardening tools and gloves, and fertilizer and pots. And out came my trays to start some seeds. Ohhhh, it’s so exciting!
And I want to get Reed to help me too! I’m super excited about that! I think he will enjoy watching them grow and I know he will love helping me put them in the ground when it’s time!
Here are a couple little planters I picked up at second hand stores last year. Aren’t they cute?
I brought them in and washed them up and started dreaming of what cute little flowers I might plant in them. I have them all ready for when I go to the greenhouses this spring 🙂
While I was at Norby’s they had some spray paint on display. I couldn’t resist picking out a couple cans, not even knowing what exactly I would use them for! Obviously, their marketing is working, haha!
Here are a few things I also had stuck away on my gardening shelf. I think they’re both good candidates for the spray paint I picked up.
The Spring Fever was kicking into overdrive as I imagined all of the things I could decorate my new perennial garden with!
My daydreaming came to a halt, though, as I was finished washing dishes… Dan stuck his head in the kitchen to see if I could come out and help for awhile.
Dan, Reed, Chelsey and Jason had started processing some of our smaller calves. I headed out to lend a hand with the bigger ones as we dehorned and gave vaccination shots. It always goes smoother with more hands and I was happy to help.
It was kind of a rodeo today though, with the pens getting sloppy and the ice underneath where it hadn’t thawed yet. The calves had a little Spring Fever too as they kicked up their heels, running laps around the pens.
In a couple hours we had them all done and it was time for chores. Dan put a new grader blade on my skid loader bucket so I was anxious to get out there and get the lot scraped clean.
It really does feel like Spring is just right around the corner today. And then comes Summer!
I am lucky to say that I’ve always gotten along with my mom and she’s always been supportive of me. She has taught me more than anyone in my life and has shaped me into the person I am today. Her unconditional love, understanding, and listening ear have taught me how love should be and I’m lucky enough to still have her here to call on whenever I need her. It is a love that can never be duplicated and I can’t imagine life without her. She is one of my richest blessings and I love her dearly!
Food, Family, Farmin' and Fun 