Some days it's harder...

...harder to count your blessings.  :(  Why is that, that it's easier to thank and praise God in the "good times" than it is when things don't go as we think they should? 

OK, so it wasn't THAT bad of a day.  I did have 2 sick calves that Jacob and I had to feed electrolytes to.  The one is weak in its back legs, so I'm not sure what that's about?  He doesn't look malnourished and his ears were up.  Hmmm

Then, this afternoon, when I went to check the chicks in the barn, I opened the door and saw one of our big orange tom cats sitting right in the middle of the chicks.  I yelled to Jacob, telling him to bring his rifle right away.  He came and shot the cat for me.  I counted the chicks then and found 21 or 22 are missing.  ;(   I tried to figure out how the cat got in the pen.  I spent about 2 hours redoing some of the fencing and adding to it.  It had better be cat-proof now, as I'm not sure what more I could do?  Shoot all of the cats? 

Then too, there are 3 chickens that love to go in the garden in the spot that I tilled and they dig around and dig out my flower bulbs.  Arggggg

Let's see, the good parts of the day were: 

• The kitchen is back in order again
• The kitchen windows/patio door are nice and sparkling clean and the screens are on the windows now
• Most of the flower bulbs are planted now
• My brothers got the windmill started up in the pasture
• All the rest of the 150+ calves are all doing well
• I went out to check on the chicks when I did so there weren't more missing
• We ate rhubarb pie!  :)

My dad just got home from seeding.  He's been having planter problems, so he still has a couple of days left before all of the corn is planted.  The boys have been working on getting the sprayer ready to go.  I think I've mentioned that our farm has gone through a major change this year---as it is no longer certified Organic?    It's sad/hard (we know organic is the best for people), but perhaps is necessary to make land payments.    We're still going to do some natural things too (putting down tons of sugar down to feed the microbes in the soil/applying Basic H to make water more accessible to the plants).   Our hay/cattle will still be all natural.  I'm glad I'm not my dad, being in charge of all these plans/decisions.....    I think most people these days really have no idea how much work and stress farmers really go through and what heroes (most of them anyway) they truly are! 

Busy birthday day!

Well, this was a whirlwind type of a day.  It was my dad's birthday, but he was gone seeding all day until he came home right at 6:30pm and we left shortly after that for our district's reorganization meeting---at which, nothing was reorganized and everything is as it's been for a long time.  Jacob stayed home to feed the cows, as he is still to young to vote at such things.  Andrew and I did the rest of the chores (milking and feeding smaller animals) early before we left, so none of us had supper before we went.  The meeting got out around 9:00pm, so we had a late birthday feast!  It was worth the wait though....homemade lasagna, jello, and angel food cake with ice cream and strawberries.  Yummy!  After our late supper, we gave my dad his gifts.  I think he liked them all.  ;)

The boys worked on several projects here at home.  Andrew helped my mom and I get the cat-proof poultry pen set up again, this time in the barn as the chicks are still too little to be outside at night.  After I went and got a straw bale, Jacob helped us bed down the pen (it's pretty large---about 12'x12').   I washed out some feeders and the large waterer, then Mom and I hauled all 102 chicks out to their new home.  They were stunned.  They just sat there and looked around for the longest time, then they did start eating and exploring.  Hopefully they'll do alright out there tonight, as we have the barn doors closed and they have lots of straw to hunker down in.   I wanted to get a picture of them, but my camera is currently lost, so that didn't happen.

Oh yes...  Kristi M. had given us some rhubarb, so I made a rhubarb pie today and the rest I made into strawberry/rhubarb jam.  I also made apricot jam with apricots from Paula M.  :)  I haven't tested them yet to see if they turned out right or not?

It was a beautiful day, outside of the strong wind.  I hope you all are enjoying the sunshine too!  Soon, once the seeds are in the ground, we'll be praying for some rain clouds to cover the sky...

We've been busy as bees...

...and if you've ever watched bees closely, you'll know they're seldom just sitting still doing nothing!  Yesterday, we took lunch out to the field and had our first picnic of the year.  A little honey bee stopped in to say "Buzz", and to smell our strawberries, then went on it's way. 

My dad has been seeding from dawn to dusk practically the past few days and is getting close to finished.  He probably has 2 days left.  AND, it's his birthday tomorrow!  We're hoping he'll stop a little early in time for the special supper we'll be making him.  :)

Yesterday morning, the guys set together a pen made of pallets.  They built it on the back of the black pickup so I could go get the little calf I'd said I'd buy when Mrs. J. called and asked if I wanted another bottle calf.  They just didn't have time to raise the little guy.  His mother has hardware they think, so they were surprised she even had a calf!  I'll have to get a picture of him, as he is really tiny and cute.  He's red---my favorite cow-color.  :)  I went and picked him up yesterday morning and he's adjusted well to his new home and friends (our other 3 bottle calves).  The boys helped me set up 2 pens in the barn so feeding time is easier...

We celebrated Mother's Day somewhat, although there was still lots of work that needed doing, and we did it.  Jacob dragged (drug?) the driveway, so it's much smoother now.  I filled in some holes where our volleyball playing area is and planted some more things that came in the mail.....    We bought Mom some soap making supplies, so that will be our newest adventure, someday, when we have time.

I babysat Johanna and Tracy today and, after they woke up from their naps, I buckled them in the pickup and took them to my house to see the chicks and calves.  Johanna put her hands up to her face when she saw the chicks and cooed, "Oh, they're so cute!"  :)  They also wanted to see the "Doats" and chickens (aka: turkeys). 

There are rumors of a very windy day tomorrow, so after evening chores, the boys and I spent an hour and a half in putting the 2x2s on top of the greenhouse.  (We couldn't do it before, as we didn't have enough boards, but Mom picked some up in Bismarck last time she was there.)  We also screwed some into the side of the greenhouse, so hopefully all will be well tomorrow evening.

Soon, our cows will need to go up to pasture.  Very soon.  We're nearly out of hay!

My dad and I feel better today (cold wise), so hopefully it will be a short lived bug.

Please pray for Johanna and Tracy's uncle Rob who'll have surgery tomorrow to fix his very broken leg (a result of an accident up in the oil fields) and will later have to have surgery for his broken ankle too...

Well, good night everybody.  God bless you all!

Bountiful baskets...

This evening, we enjoyed some of the produce that was from our first Bountiful Baskets "contribution".   Our neighbor, Kristi kindly picked up our order and delivered it to our door!  (Thanks again!)

Our day was otherwise pretty uneventful, outside of when one of Andrew's cows was out.  Oh, and when my cow (the one we're working with to get her to take her calf) figured out that if she stuck her head through the gate that was leaning against the wall, she could pull back and get the gate open far enough so she could escape!  The guys got her back in the barn after a while of chasing, then had to lock her in the pen, as she was already sticking her head through the gate to do her trick again.  I later went and wired a short cattle panel (the kind with small holes) onto the gate so she could not stick her head through it, then let her out of the little pen into the larger area.  Cows!

We had 4 new calves yesterday.  It must have been a low-pressure time or something, as we had none today.

Yesterday was such a busy day....   For me, it was one of those clutsy days where it seems everything you touch either breaks, drops, spills, gives you a sliver, or cuts you.   You know the kind....

But, anyway, amidst all of that, we did get much accomplished.  After I did the morning chores, my mom and I took my little calf out to the pasture to find its mother and to see if the cow still remembered her baby.  She did not.  At first, it seemed like she might accept it, but as soon as it headed back to the dinner pail, she promptly kicked the calf in the head and ran away.  We took the calf out by a group of other cows and calves, hoping she'd come find it.  Ha ha

Jacob and I spent about 3 hours pushing dirt around, each with a 9030 loader tractor....  My dad wanted the huge hole (that the railway men dug for us to put rocks in several years ago) covered this year so he could plant over it, so we pushed the dirt back in and then Jacob packed it down by driving over it and leveled a pile of dirt on top of it.  I hauled a bunch of loads of dirt back to the farmyard to fill in the holes in the driveway; build up an approach by the hay-yard; and to put by the milk-cow's water tank.

In the middle of our lunch, my dad called saying he needed more corn seed brought down where he was planting.  SO, Jacob and I left right away to load the corn bags on the pickup, then filled the drill while Dad finished putting the fertilizer in and then ate his lunch.  I had not planned to be out in the field, really, so was just wearing some slip on shoes and no socks....  Dad asked Jacob to go fill the fertilizer truck again in Kintyre, so he took off.  Dad asked me if I wanted to ride along 1 round to see how the auto-steer worked and everything, so I did.  That was probably the LONGEST round of the day.  We had to stop 4 or 5 different times because things kept going wrong (pins sheered off, a pulley broke; a chain came off)...   While we were fixing one of those problems, Jacob called and said he'd run out of gas in the truck (which really wasn't his fault, as the fuel gauge doesn't work with the tank that's on there).   Somewhere in there, I stepped into a weed/stalk and it scratched the top of my foot (bleeding wise).

SO, once we finally finished that round, and after Dad got some more pins/tools from the shop, I took some gas/funnels/jumper cables down to Kintyre.  He'd barely made it out on the paved road there by Kintyre, then ran out of gas.  The tank is in a very awkward place (it was homemade by the former owners and not of the best design I must say) and it would have been much easier to get at if we could have lifted the hoist, but the truck will not do that when it can't run, which it can't do when it's out of gas.  SO, we used the teeny tiny funnel that was connected to a small bendable hose which just barely reached from the side of the truck (where we had to have the gas can or we couldn't have the hose high enough to get the gas in the tank) and that took a long time---just to get 5 gallons in the truck.  Of course, we spilled some and it happened to splash on my foot, the one that had the scratch...   But, thankfully, the truck started after a little cranking and we were on our way again.

Once we got the truck delivered back to the field, we decided to check on my little calf again to see if there was any mother/baby bonding going on.  Nope. 

SO, we decided to attempt to get the cow in the calving pen where we could work with the pair.  I tried opening the back barn door, but it got about halfway open, then one of the rollers came off the track.  Jacob backed the pickup by the door and stood on it while I lifted the door and we managed to get it back on, after some time.

Next, we had a rodeo, running the cow around and finally getting her herded into the barn, Jacob on the 4-wheeler and me in the pickup.  Things could always have been worse, as we didn't run over any calves in the process or anything.  Once we got the cow in the smaller pen and then into the headgate, the calf would not suck on her.  SO, thankfully she is a mildly gentle heifer and I was able to milk her without getting kicked.  The calf still would not suck on the bottle, SO, I put the milk in the stomach-tube and fed her that way.

By that time, it was 3:30pm and we went in the house to finish our lunch (and I washed my feet), or to have our snack, whichever way you look at it.  My mom was just heading out the door to Wishek to get some parts for the tractor.  She'd been busy, but the house was still a mess and there was nothing prepared for our special Friday evening meal, so she said she'd stop at the Wishek grocery store to get something.

I went out to the garden then to finish planting all of the flower bulbs and cherry bushes that had come in the mail a few days back.  It was VERY windy by this time and made tilling a small patch kind of a yucky job.  And my feet got dirty again.  :)  I did get everything planted and watered by 6:30.  I'd changed my long, flowy skirt for a tighter, shorter skirt as a preventative to any other disasters (such as getting my skirt caught in the tiller and having my leg chopped off....).

OK, so this is getting very long and drawn out.  Let me just say that the good news is that, by the end of the day, my dad had all of the fields around the farm planted (and I have a greater appreciation for all that he goes through out there!); my mom had a good meal prepared for us and our house was moderately clean; Andrew came home around 9:00; Jacob helped with so many things and can do so much these days; the calf had a belly full of milk again (though tube-fed); and I nearly spilled half a gallon of milk while filling the chick's milk-feeder.  Arggg 

That's why we were all tired. 

Tonight I'm fighting a cold.  I wonder why? 

Please pray for all of the farmers and ranchers at this time of the year!  It's wild and can be dangerous....

I am so tired tonight that...

...I feel like I could sleep for 20 years.  So, if you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know I'm resting in peace.  :)

I'll tell some other time about the busyness of this day.

Lots of seeds went in the ground today!

Everywhere you look, there are tractors in the fields now!  My dad started planting today...  Hooray! 

We have a calf in our kitchen tonight.  One of my heifers had the calf at 6:00am, licked it off, then left it be.  When I checked later in the morning, the calf was all sprawled out on the ground, weak and listless.  She's a very small heifer calf, so I was able to easily pick her up and swing her into the pickup box, then hauled her to the kitchen.   I had to tube-feed her some colostrum and egg, then gave her some probiotic paste.  She's looking much better tonight (her ears are up and she's alert) and is lying like a calf should.  I'm going to get up around 3:00 to give her some more colostrum.    Hopefully by morning she'll be able to stand and can go back out to her mama.

Mom and I worked in the greenhouse today and have it nearly all planted now.  What a good feeling! 

Oh, and just as a reminder, I thought I'd post this gardening tip:

 

Young helpers...

I babysat for the other neighbor children today (Amelia, Michael and James).  We spent about 5 hours at my house, looking at animals and collecting eggs (they rode with me in the pickup to check cows); taking Jacob down to a different neighbor's place to get our truck back home; playing on the trampoline and with outdoor toys; and James helped me some with the greenhouse doors, meaning he held onto the cordless drill and pulled the trigger when I was ready while I stabilized it and pushed on the back of the drill.  When I first cut the hole in the plastic for the doorway, a major heatwave came out of the greenhouse!  The children said it was a giant oven.  After their dad got home from work, I got home just in time for supper, then Mom, Jacob and I did chores. 

My dad and Jacob got the final parts they needed for the corn planter today and Dad plans to "hit the dirt" in the morning!  He spent some time replacing the primer bulb on the small tiller for us this afternoon, but then the tiller wouldn't run, so he fiddled around with that for a while this evening.  He's not sure what's wrong with it, so he got the medium sized tiller started for me and I started working up the soil in the greenhouse.  Several more plants that I ordered came in the mail today, so tomorrow will be a big planting day, Lord willing, of course.

I finished up the east doors (covering them in plastic again and trimming it down to size, then putting the hinges, hooks, and handles back on) and Jacob helped me screw them on the greenhouse.

We ate some sourdough bread super delicious baked sandwiches that Mom made us for supper and so, since they were good (I wasn't too fond of the bread by itself---must be an acquired taste?), I fed the sourdough culture again tonight and started a new loaf rising.  I am not going to let it set for quite so long this time, as it had raised well by morning last time, but I wanted to let it go and see how much larger it would get and then I was gone for about 9 hours babysitting.  By the time I returned, it had fallen considerably, so this time I want to bake it in the morning and see how much softer the bread ends up being.    Do any of you have experience with making sourdough bread?  Have any of you tasted it before----and liked it?