...in a regular tizzy
and the obvious reason
is because of the season...
Spring, spring, spring! "
It was SO nice outside and was even almost hot! I just laid on the deck swing and enjoyed the day for a while this afternoon until the sun felt like it was going to burn a hole in my skirt, at which time I went inside to cool off! Later, Jacob and I went out cow-checking with our rifles, as the gophers were out! ;)
My mom just got home from Fargo a few minutes ago. She went to hear a presentation on Kangen water---something her friend, Anna has been speaking very highly of. She's all excited about what she learned...
Sarena stopped in for a little while this evening to pick up the computer Andrew fixed for them (again). It was good to see her again and to get caught up a bit on what's been happening in her life the last month. Life gets to be very busy this time of the year on a farm.
So, it was a lovely day! We listened to a message by Pastor S. M. Davis and he talked about things to do/not to do if you're feeling discouraged. For example, don't dress in gloomy colors and pull all of the curtains closed, wallowing in self-pity and darkness..... Today was the perfect antidote for any feelings of discouragement or depression, if a person were suffering from such. :) The sunshine was a gift from God. ~ Good bye mud!
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Wow--was this a glimpse of Summer?
It was GORGEOUS outside today!!! Jacob brought the patio-door screen up from the basement and we opened that door all of the way, plus had several windows open too (even the ones without screens, as there aren't many bugs outside yet. Awwwwwww
I even saw a couple of gophers running around outside! Yeehaw! It's time for some serious target practice. :)
We now have 2 bottle calves. The most recent one is the calf who was stuck in the mud a couple of mornings ago. His mama never reclaimed him (we don't even know who the mother is, as she wasn't by him when he was in the mud). SO, my dad and I finally brought him in the barn with the other bottle calf this evening so feeding him is easier. It's such a blessing to have a milk cow at times like these!
Andrew still is down and out sick on the couch. Thankfully, the rest of us are well and are able to do his chores (outside of his grain cleaning work). He did come out and help us sort off a yearling bull who had broke in with the main herd overnight...
My dad finished his grain cleaning job by Mandan today and got home right at supper time. My mom left mid-afternoon for Fargo to attend a Kangen water conference with her dear friend, Anna. (My mom and Anna grew up together in Eureka, SD). I wonder if they'll get any sleep tonight or if they're talking, talking, talking? ;)
We continue to have several new calves every day. Yesterday, I found a dead one when I went out checking, but nobody was near it. Later, at 3:00am, I saw it was one of my heifers that had it. I don't know what was wrong either as it appeared to be licked off; the head wasn't swollen; it wasn't stuck in a hole so it couldn't get up; the weather was pleasant; it had gone to the bathroom;...? I guess we'll never know some things.
Jacob was a great help to me today in cleaning and reorganizing the house, somewhat. It is so warm out that we are no longer able to use the entry-way as a refrigerator, so that required some rearranging in the fridges. We also went through our huge stack of newspapers and got rid of a ton of them (not quite that many, but they were pretty heavy). Jacob scraped the algae off my aquarium while I made them some brownies. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed the floor and it actually looks pretty mud free right now!
It was a good day!
I even saw a couple of gophers running around outside! Yeehaw! It's time for some serious target practice. :)
We now have 2 bottle calves. The most recent one is the calf who was stuck in the mud a couple of mornings ago. His mama never reclaimed him (we don't even know who the mother is, as she wasn't by him when he was in the mud). SO, my dad and I finally brought him in the barn with the other bottle calf this evening so feeding him is easier. It's such a blessing to have a milk cow at times like these!
Andrew still is down and out sick on the couch. Thankfully, the rest of us are well and are able to do his chores (outside of his grain cleaning work). He did come out and help us sort off a yearling bull who had broke in with the main herd overnight...
My dad finished his grain cleaning job by Mandan today and got home right at supper time. My mom left mid-afternoon for Fargo to attend a Kangen water conference with her dear friend, Anna. (My mom and Anna grew up together in Eureka, SD). I wonder if they'll get any sleep tonight or if they're talking, talking, talking? ;)
We continue to have several new calves every day. Yesterday, I found a dead one when I went out checking, but nobody was near it. Later, at 3:00am, I saw it was one of my heifers that had it. I don't know what was wrong either as it appeared to be licked off; the head wasn't swollen; it wasn't stuck in a hole so it couldn't get up; the weather was pleasant; it had gone to the bathroom;...? I guess we'll never know some things.
Jacob was a great help to me today in cleaning and reorganizing the house, somewhat. It is so warm out that we are no longer able to use the entry-way as a refrigerator, so that required some rearranging in the fridges. We also went through our huge stack of newspapers and got rid of a ton of them (not quite that many, but they were pretty heavy). Jacob scraped the algae off my aquarium while I made them some brownies. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed the floor and it actually looks pretty mud free right now!
It was a good day!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A visit...
After doing the 6:00am cow-check and milking Andrew's cow, then doing the goat chores too, I headed over to babysit. At 10:00am, I loaded up the girls in the M's pickup and we went to visit Lauretta for a couple of hours as she's laid up for a few weeks with her broken ankle. :( It was fun seeing her again and getting out and about with Johanna and Tracy Jo...
My mom went to Bismarck all day. My dad cleaned grain all day and is spending the night with the Karges family, as he's way out there in that territory. Andrew was still sick on the couch most of the day, except he did come out and milk his cow tonight and also helped Jacob chase a bull back in the fence this afternoon.
After chores this evening, I zoomed around the pasture on A's 4-wheeler, checking cows and calves. I was happy to see my black/white faced cow, Ruthie had a beautiful red and white heifer calf. :) It was sad to find a dead calf out there too with no cows around it, so I'm not even sure who had it today? It was so nice and warm outside that the calves were all running around while their mamas ate the hay Jacob had spread out for them.
I'm praising God for sunshine!
My mom went to Bismarck all day. My dad cleaned grain all day and is spending the night with the Karges family, as he's way out there in that territory. Andrew was still sick on the couch most of the day, except he did come out and milk his cow tonight and also helped Jacob chase a bull back in the fence this afternoon.
After chores this evening, I zoomed around the pasture on A's 4-wheeler, checking cows and calves. I was happy to see my black/white faced cow, Ruthie had a beautiful red and white heifer calf. :) It was sad to find a dead calf out there too with no cows around it, so I'm not even sure who had it today? It was so nice and warm outside that the calves were all running around while their mamas ate the hay Jacob had spread out for them.
I'm praising God for sunshine!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Yogurt cultures...
I was doing some reading/studying online today, looking for more healthy recipes that are tasty and came across a website that sells several different kinds of yogurt cultures. I wasn't even aware that there were varying kinds of yogurt (outside of regular and greek), so found this interesting: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/starter-cultures/yogurt-starter.html .
I would like to try making this recipe this weekend, when it warms up and feels like summer: :)
http://www.lexieskitchen.com/lexies_kitchen/2012/8/9/make-cool-aid-not-kool-aid.html .
This is also on the "To try" list:
http://wholenaturallife.com/2012/12/03/coconut-berry-delights-a-tasty-way-to-eat-more-coconut-oil/ .
I baked bread today; made yogurt; baked a cauliflower-crust pizza (for mom and I) and a regular crust pizza (for the guys); and got mostly all unpacked and reorganized. Please pray for my brother, Andrew as he woke up feeling very sick and spent the day sleeping on the couch. I think it's a cold of sorts, but he just feels wiped out. I'll be doing his 6:00am cow check and cow-milking in the morning...
My dad finished a grain cleaning job and then had to run to town twice to get parts for the pickup, as it was broken again. Mom did sessions for people and doctored Andrew, plus did laundry and dishes and the like... Dad, Jacob and I had to get a cow in the small pen/chute to give her a shot, as she gave birth to a dead-for-a-few-days preemie calf a couple of days ago and just isn't feeling well now. She's in the pen with the young heifers now so we can take better care of her.
There's always so much to keep up with in the spring on a farm, but it's a good life and I'm grateful for it (most of the time). :)
God is good!
I would like to try making this recipe this weekend, when it warms up and feels like summer: :)
http://www.lexieskitchen.com/lexies_kitchen/2012/8/9/make-cool-aid-not-kool-aid.html .
This is also on the "To try" list:
http://wholenaturallife.com/2012/12/03/coconut-berry-delights-a-tasty-way-to-eat-more-coconut-oil/ .
I baked bread today; made yogurt; baked a cauliflower-crust pizza (for mom and I) and a regular crust pizza (for the guys); and got mostly all unpacked and reorganized. Please pray for my brother, Andrew as he woke up feeling very sick and spent the day sleeping on the couch. I think it's a cold of sorts, but he just feels wiped out. I'll be doing his 6:00am cow check and cow-milking in the morning...
My dad finished a grain cleaning job and then had to run to town twice to get parts for the pickup, as it was broken again. Mom did sessions for people and doctored Andrew, plus did laundry and dishes and the like... Dad, Jacob and I had to get a cow in the small pen/chute to give her a shot, as she gave birth to a dead-for-a-few-days preemie calf a couple of days ago and just isn't feeling well now. She's in the pen with the young heifers now so we can take better care of her.
There's always so much to keep up with in the spring on a farm, but it's a good life and I'm grateful for it (most of the time). :)
God is good!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Home again, home again...
What a wonderful, amazing, encouraging, fun time we all had those 4 days spent in the Turtle Mountains!!! I have so much to write about, but that will have to wait for another day. Here is a picture of all of the young ladies there (except for Maria U. who was taking the picture). Our hostess, Paulette was downstairs finishing up the batch of salve she made. This picture was taken late in the evening of our "Formal" night, while we were all still dressed in our fancy clothes/hair/makeup... (Can you find me?)
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I actually arrived home last night at 9:00, just in time to change clothes and go out to the barn with my brothers to bed down a spot around a new cow/calf pair that were in there and to tube-feed some colostrum to the calf to get it going. It's doing well today.
This morning, before I went to babysit/work, I found a newborn calf stuck in the "mud" by the water tank. SO, I got the calf-sled and a blanket to wrap around the calf, then pulled it out of the squishy mess and got it in the sled. Jacob came out to help then and pulled the calf up by the house so Mom and he could wash it off before taking it inside to warm it up again. This evening, it was doing well and was walking around outside with the cows. :)
My dad and Andrew cleaned grain again today. The new corn-planter arrived today and Jacob got the big tractor going and helped the trucker get the planter unloaded safely. Spring must be coming soon? There are tons of ducks and geese on all of the lakes around here now. Hooray!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Farewell~
My blog will be silent for a few days after this post as I'm very happily going to be joining a group of young ladies up in the Turtle Mountains for a time of encouragement and studying God's word. I can hardly wait! :) I plan to return on Monday.
My dad was busy fixing the problems on the "new" red truck he bought a couple of weeks ago. My mom was busy with sessions and then took it easy, as she had a deep-working massage yesterday and was aching a lot as a result. The boys worked on different odd jobs. Andrew cleaned several rifles in preparation for the Appleseed event he's helping to teach in Minot on Saturday. He'll be giving one of the history lesson sections, so he's been memorizing that and going over it.... I was in the kitchen a lot, baking things to take up to Paulette's. We also had Johanna and Tracy Jo at our house today for about 4 hours, so that was fun. Johanna helped me water all of the plants (she had a little spray-bottle and squirt the dirt for a long time!). They both helped make blueberry muffins and had fun eating the blueberries, not minding that they were very cold (from the freezer).
There have been several calves born every day. Thankfully, we've had NO problems in the last few days (outside of the one mother and baby we've been working with in the calving pen, as the calf just was very weak)... The most interesting looking calves so far have been: 1. a black calf with a white streak down his back and on his tail (yes, he looks like a giant skunk!), and 2. a red calf with a similar white streak! I'm not sure where that's coming from, as the bulls are all black and the cows are either black angus or charlois (plus a few red). I'll try to get a picture sometime, but not for a few days....
My dad was busy fixing the problems on the "new" red truck he bought a couple of weeks ago. My mom was busy with sessions and then took it easy, as she had a deep-working massage yesterday and was aching a lot as a result. The boys worked on different odd jobs. Andrew cleaned several rifles in preparation for the Appleseed event he's helping to teach in Minot on Saturday. He'll be giving one of the history lesson sections, so he's been memorizing that and going over it.... I was in the kitchen a lot, baking things to take up to Paulette's. We also had Johanna and Tracy Jo at our house today for about 4 hours, so that was fun. Johanna helped me water all of the plants (she had a little spray-bottle and squirt the dirt for a long time!). They both helped make blueberry muffins and had fun eating the blueberries, not minding that they were very cold (from the freezer).
There have been several calves born every day. Thankfully, we've had NO problems in the last few days (outside of the one mother and baby we've been working with in the calving pen, as the calf just was very weak)... The most interesting looking calves so far have been: 1. a black calf with a white streak down his back and on his tail (yes, he looks like a giant skunk!), and 2. a red calf with a similar white streak! I'm not sure where that's coming from, as the bulls are all black and the cows are either black angus or charlois (plus a few red). I'll try to get a picture sometime, but not for a few days....
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
More yogurt...
Andrew saved 2 gallons of milk for me today so I could make 2 gallons worth of yogurt, (which ends up not being nearly that much when you drain it to make greek yogurt).
My dad took care of some business in town today and pushed a ton of snow here at home. My mom went to Bismarck all day and still isn't home. Andrew went and fixed a farmer's truck at the farmer's place, then also worked on some vehicles here. Jacob helped Andrew. I made chili; cake; chicken and stuffing; and did almost a ton of laundry.
It was a good day!
My dad took care of some business in town today and pushed a ton of snow here at home. My mom went to Bismarck all day and still isn't home. Andrew went and fixed a farmer's truck at the farmer's place, then also worked on some vehicles here. Jacob helped Andrew. I made chili; cake; chicken and stuffing; and did almost a ton of laundry.
It was a good day!
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