How is it that in no time at all, your life changes in a split second.
When checking my cell after church - I finally remembered to put it on silence this time - I found that there were four new messages. That couldn't be good. The last message was barely discernable, but after giving a good listen, I could tell that Farmer Rick was quite distressed. The first thing that goes through your mind is that he was injured and needed help. Thank God we had given him a cell phone, I thought. But when going over the message, I quickly found that he was calling about our new puppy. Sandy. She was gone.
To back up a step or two, we bought Sandy right before deer season last November. What a joy! The attachment that had developed between Farmer Rick and Sandy was quite evident. Even though I did most of her training, you could tell that she was "dad's dog". Her preferred spot on the hay bale while waiting for a milker change was always next to Farmer Rick. Which was really what I had hoped for in the first place. I had hoped that she would keep him company and provide companionship on the days that I had to work. And that she did. Even when I'd ride in the woods with the other dogs, she preferred to stay back by the house or barn if her buddy wasn't coming.
Well, today, after cleaning barn, Farmer Rick took the load of manure out to the field like he always does. When returning, Sandy was waiting for him in the yard and came running across the arena to meet him in the driveway as he pulled in with the tractor and spreader. You know how accidents happen, all so quickly, but yet in slow motion. As Farmer Rick hit the brakes, Sandy hit a patch of ice and slid under the spreader tire. Farmer Rick quickly gathered her up in his arms and carried her up to the house. He laid her on a blanket in the kitchen and went out to put the tractor away. When he returned to the house, he collapsed on the floor right inside the door. He knew Sandy wasn't going to make it. She wimpered and drug herself over to him and laid in his lap as she drew her last breaths. It just broke his heart.
To all who have lost a beloved animal, farm or no farm, no words can describe the loss of an animal that pefectly displays unconditional love. We have so much to learn from them.
It's getting hard to write, too many tears on the keyboard. Maybe tomorrow morning after chores, or the next day or two I'll again feel like writing . . .
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The snow is back
Just about the time we thought winter was on the way out - it was on the way back in!
At this time of year, you begin to grow weary of all of the snow. Your mind is turning to spring, what machinery needs repair, oils and filters changed, seed purchased, fertilizer ordered and fuel. Just knowing that under that snow is soil that's just waiting to be turned for another year's production needs. Alfalfa is waiting to green up and the grass is sitting on the edge of its seat waiting to sprout and grow.
The spring cows are beginning to calve too. We've had two heifers and one bull calf. I wonder if Farmer Rick is going to run 80% heifer calves like he has for the last four years! We have plenty of heifers anywhere from babies to springers. Nice problem! Gretchen, our next heifer to freshen, is big and black. She's a holstein, swiss and milking shorthorn cross. Her neighbor, Griffin, just calved with a cute little mostly black heifer named JoJo. This year, most of our heifers freshening have a name that begins with a "G". Each year when a calf is born, we name all of the heifers with names beginning with the same letter of the alphabet. This year it's the letter "J". We'll have lots of fun coming up with names that begin with "J" this year! When we name our heifers like this, it's easy to tell at a glance approximately how old a cow is as she ages. Right now, our oldest cows in the herd have names beginning with "B". Do the math - they're getting pretty old, but still doing well, bred back and ready to go another year! Last year, we had two cows that began with an "A", but they are no longer with us. It's hard to see them go, but we know that we took good care of them and they grew, produced, and gave us nice dairy heifers to continue on their legacy.
Horses are itching to get out and do some exploring. We have been out enjoying the snow in the woods again, but have to be very, very careful because there is alot of ice under the deep snow. We will have to wait once again for the gravel roads to melt off and get nice and squishy so that we can head out and enjoy another ride around the block like we did last week. Until then, they get to contentedly munch their big round bale in the daytime and come into their stalls at night to grain and the nice tender green grassy hay and a little bit of grain. Atleast when they are in their stalls at night, they get a break from the wind and don't have to worry about the coyotes that are roaming the woods.
At this time of year, you begin to grow weary of all of the snow. Your mind is turning to spring, what machinery needs repair, oils and filters changed, seed purchased, fertilizer ordered and fuel. Just knowing that under that snow is soil that's just waiting to be turned for another year's production needs. Alfalfa is waiting to green up and the grass is sitting on the edge of its seat waiting to sprout and grow.
The spring cows are beginning to calve too. We've had two heifers and one bull calf. I wonder if Farmer Rick is going to run 80% heifer calves like he has for the last four years! We have plenty of heifers anywhere from babies to springers. Nice problem! Gretchen, our next heifer to freshen, is big and black. She's a holstein, swiss and milking shorthorn cross. Her neighbor, Griffin, just calved with a cute little mostly black heifer named JoJo. This year, most of our heifers freshening have a name that begins with a "G". Each year when a calf is born, we name all of the heifers with names beginning with the same letter of the alphabet. This year it's the letter "J". We'll have lots of fun coming up with names that begin with "J" this year! When we name our heifers like this, it's easy to tell at a glance approximately how old a cow is as she ages. Right now, our oldest cows in the herd have names beginning with "B". Do the math - they're getting pretty old, but still doing well, bred back and ready to go another year! Last year, we had two cows that began with an "A", but they are no longer with us. It's hard to see them go, but we know that we took good care of them and they grew, produced, and gave us nice dairy heifers to continue on their legacy.
Horses are itching to get out and do some exploring. We have been out enjoying the snow in the woods again, but have to be very, very careful because there is alot of ice under the deep snow. We will have to wait once again for the gravel roads to melt off and get nice and squishy so that we can head out and enjoy another ride around the block like we did last week. Until then, they get to contentedly munch their big round bale in the daytime and come into their stalls at night to grain and the nice tender green grassy hay and a little bit of grain. Atleast when they are in their stalls at night, they get a break from the wind and don't have to worry about the coyotes that are roaming the woods.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Snow is Melting!
Is this our January thaw? A little late, but we'll take it! It's like a sudden boost of energy when you can wear fewer layers of clothes to the barn. All at once, you begin to see projects all around you that you wanted to accomplish all winter but just didn't want to dig around in the snow to work on. It's amazing all that appears once the snow melts away.
Farmer Rick worked on a project for the last two days that he finally finished up last night. We now have a new (well, semi-new) door between the barn and milkhouse. We needed a window to put in it, so we found a small sheet of left-over roofing from our sunroom, cut it to size, and Walla! we have a nice window to see into the barn with. That's nice to have because when you're carrying a couple of milkers out to the transport cart, and somebody's carrying an armful of calf bottles in the other direction, you can atleast see the other person coming before you get a door pushed open in the face. We did have a bit of a snare when hanging the door, though. When attaching the spring, Farmer Rick didn't have it quite on the hook. At that time, the phone rang which happens to be hanging right next to the milkhouse door. I answered it and TWING, the spring flung off and came right at my face! Had it not been for the phone cord getting entwined in the spring right before it hit me, we could have had quite an accident. Again, that was one of many, many times that I know that God was watching out for me.
We have had incidents before like that wherein I know without a doubt that we were spared from far greater injury. I don't know how things work in a realm that we cannot see, but I am so glad that we can put our trust in God to see us through. And when the bad times come, and do they ever, we know that we don't have to go through them alone. Sometimes he calms the storm... and sometimes he calms his child.
Farmer Rick worked on a project for the last two days that he finally finished up last night. We now have a new (well, semi-new) door between the barn and milkhouse. We needed a window to put in it, so we found a small sheet of left-over roofing from our sunroom, cut it to size, and Walla! we have a nice window to see into the barn with. That's nice to have because when you're carrying a couple of milkers out to the transport cart, and somebody's carrying an armful of calf bottles in the other direction, you can atleast see the other person coming before you get a door pushed open in the face. We did have a bit of a snare when hanging the door, though. When attaching the spring, Farmer Rick didn't have it quite on the hook. At that time, the phone rang which happens to be hanging right next to the milkhouse door. I answered it and TWING, the spring flung off and came right at my face! Had it not been for the phone cord getting entwined in the spring right before it hit me, we could have had quite an accident. Again, that was one of many, many times that I know that God was watching out for me.
We have had incidents before like that wherein I know without a doubt that we were spared from far greater injury. I don't know how things work in a realm that we cannot see, but I am so glad that we can put our trust in God to see us through. And when the bad times come, and do they ever, we know that we don't have to go through them alone. Sometimes he calms the storm... and sometimes he calms his child.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Return from a mini vacation
Even though it was only for a day and a half, it was nice to get away from the cows for a few hours. The hard part is not worrying about all of the things that can go wrong while you're gone!
When most people in the working world go on vacation, they get paid time off. Imagine having to pay someone to mind your farm so that you can take time off - it puts a whole new twist on "paid" vacation! That is one of the things you have to factor into your cost of your vacation when you have cows. You have to pay someone to do your chores for you, all the time worrying about something going awry while you're trying to relax and catch a few extra winks. A cow going down, tractor not starting, silo unloader breakdown, anything can happen. You just have to trust that your hired help will be able to manage most of the problems while you're gone and pray that anything major holds off until you get home.
Atleast this time, only the silo unloader acted up. But our chore helper managed to piece things together to keep it going until we got home. Now it's time to head back to the barn and start the routine again. It's not so bad - we are thankful to have a job waiting for us upon our return. We have a cow and two heifers due to calve this week, so we'll have our hands full keeping up with that and restocking the woodpile, getting the truck in the shed for an engine rebuild, moving big round bales of hay, on and on it goes! Sounds like the temperatures this week are to be a bit milder, so that makes things a bit easier since you only have to put on three layers of clothing instead of five!
When most people in the working world go on vacation, they get paid time off. Imagine having to pay someone to mind your farm so that you can take time off - it puts a whole new twist on "paid" vacation! That is one of the things you have to factor into your cost of your vacation when you have cows. You have to pay someone to do your chores for you, all the time worrying about something going awry while you're trying to relax and catch a few extra winks. A cow going down, tractor not starting, silo unloader breakdown, anything can happen. You just have to trust that your hired help will be able to manage most of the problems while you're gone and pray that anything major holds off until you get home.
Atleast this time, only the silo unloader acted up. But our chore helper managed to piece things together to keep it going until we got home. Now it's time to head back to the barn and start the routine again. It's not so bad - we are thankful to have a job waiting for us upon our return. We have a cow and two heifers due to calve this week, so we'll have our hands full keeping up with that and restocking the woodpile, getting the truck in the shed for an engine rebuild, moving big round bales of hay, on and on it goes! Sounds like the temperatures this week are to be a bit milder, so that makes things a bit easier since you only have to put on three layers of clothing instead of five!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Super Bowl Champs!
What a game!
One thing about the Packers going to the Super Bowl, is that it makes the winter months a little easier to bear when they continue to extend their season week by week leading up to the big game. January and early February can really drag when your team isn't in the playoffs. The bitter cold that we've had recently is a little bit easier to take when you know you have one more week to look forward to seeing your team move on.
We started milking early and were able to finish up all of the other chores except the final feeding of hay before heading up to the house and throwing the pizza in the oven and setting the munchies on the table. Boy, I sure wish we had that much energy every day to get through chores! The cows were a little confused when we threw the milkers on early, but they didn't complain when their silage was dropped in front of them and their grain thrown on top! When we came down to the barn after the game, not a drop was left and they were anxiously awaiting their bales of hay. Once it was in front of them, they ripped right into it.
Now, back to the cold and usual run of daily chores. We're in for a bitter week of temps. But atleast we'll have a day or to of glee as we reminisce on the great game that we enjoyed. Maybe the warmth of celebration of the green and gold give our green and gold tractors a little extra umph as they try to start these bitter cold days!
One thing about the Packers going to the Super Bowl, is that it makes the winter months a little easier to bear when they continue to extend their season week by week leading up to the big game. January and early February can really drag when your team isn't in the playoffs. The bitter cold that we've had recently is a little bit easier to take when you know you have one more week to look forward to seeing your team move on.
We started milking early and were able to finish up all of the other chores except the final feeding of hay before heading up to the house and throwing the pizza in the oven and setting the munchies on the table. Boy, I sure wish we had that much energy every day to get through chores! The cows were a little confused when we threw the milkers on early, but they didn't complain when their silage was dropped in front of them and their grain thrown on top! When we came down to the barn after the game, not a drop was left and they were anxiously awaiting their bales of hay. Once it was in front of them, they ripped right into it.
Now, back to the cold and usual run of daily chores. We're in for a bitter week of temps. But atleast we'll have a day or to of glee as we reminisce on the great game that we enjoyed. Maybe the warmth of celebration of the green and gold give our green and gold tractors a little extra umph as they try to start these bitter cold days!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Robbing Peter to pay Paul!
Everybody likes to pay bills, right? One of the least exciting things about living on a farm is sitting down and doing the budget when your bills could fill a bushel basket, and you have about a quart pail's worth of money to pay with! I would image that many families right now are experiencing the money squeeze, not just farmers. But, in a way, it may be just a small insight into what farmer's deal with daily, weekly, monthly, year by year as we work as hard as we can to try to fill that bushel basket faster than it's being emptied!
Farmer Rick has done a great job over the years of keeping machinery running, cattle healthy, and the crops looking good. When the price you receive is beyond your control, it can be rather defeating at times, but once again, the joy of being a part of this wonderful process of providing good, clean food to those who need it, makes it all worth it. Farmer Rick and I put money away for rainy days, but with being on a small scale, it's possible. When someone operates on a much larger scale, I feel for them now. Trying to cover thousands and thousands of dollars worth of debt with so little to work with can be rather daunting. I thank God that we chose to stay small, pay down our debt as quickly as we could, and be content with the size of farm that we've been blessed with. We just heard on the radio a few days ago from a business owner who was being interviewed who supplies farmers. He said that he'd rather have 50 small farmers paying on their bill as best they could, rather than have one or two large operations that couldn't pay a dime. That's what he's running into right now. What was that about economy of scale that the university system has been trying to sell us for the last 30 years?
Well, anyway, enough of my soap box. Times are tight. They're tight for everyone. We just take a day at a time, watch our spending, and live each day by faith. As I took a ride this afternoon on one of the geldings, it was so apparent again why we love this land so much. The woods were absolutely silent but for the sound of falling snowflakes. Taking a quick gallop across the hayfield on the way home filled my lungs with fresh country air and gave the old horse a good stretch of his legs. Yes! It can't get any better than this!
Farmer Rick has done a great job over the years of keeping machinery running, cattle healthy, and the crops looking good. When the price you receive is beyond your control, it can be rather defeating at times, but once again, the joy of being a part of this wonderful process of providing good, clean food to those who need it, makes it all worth it. Farmer Rick and I put money away for rainy days, but with being on a small scale, it's possible. When someone operates on a much larger scale, I feel for them now. Trying to cover thousands and thousands of dollars worth of debt with so little to work with can be rather daunting. I thank God that we chose to stay small, pay down our debt as quickly as we could, and be content with the size of farm that we've been blessed with. We just heard on the radio a few days ago from a business owner who was being interviewed who supplies farmers. He said that he'd rather have 50 small farmers paying on their bill as best they could, rather than have one or two large operations that couldn't pay a dime. That's what he's running into right now. What was that about economy of scale that the university system has been trying to sell us for the last 30 years?
Well, anyway, enough of my soap box. Times are tight. They're tight for everyone. We just take a day at a time, watch our spending, and live each day by faith. As I took a ride this afternoon on one of the geldings, it was so apparent again why we love this land so much. The woods were absolutely silent but for the sound of falling snowflakes. Taking a quick gallop across the hayfield on the way home filled my lungs with fresh country air and gave the old horse a good stretch of his legs. Yes! It can't get any better than this!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Another Chilly Morning
It sure will be nice when we can finally put the heavy coats, boots and gloves away for the season! But for now, they are getting quite a bit of use. Although we escaped the "Big Blizzard", we still have to contend with the cold that is sweeping in in it's aftermath. All the animals are tucked in the barn, munching hay. Even the old gelding is staying warm in his weathered blanket. We have a heat lamp set up for a gilt that is soon to farrow. I hope that she waits until it warms up a bit! Keeping those little pigs warm and out from under their momma can sure be a challenge.
But - we are looking forward to this weekend. A warmup is on the way. A good excuse to saddle up one of the horses and head to the woods. Getting away from all the noise and clutter of life, heading to the woods is a welcome relief from it all. Just a gentle whisper in the pines brings quiet relaxation and meditation. I can tell when the horse is enjoying it too when he settles back and rests a hind leg, dropping his head and enjoying a quick snooze as a small beam of sunlight filters through a break in the trees. Just having this opportunity to take in all of God's creation in its ultimate beauty - makes all of the work that it takes to maintain this beauty - worth it all.
Now that the calendar has turned a page and moved into February, our spirits are lifted a bit to see that spring is just a little bit closer. We make plans as to what will be planted where, what tractor needs an oil change, which cows will be calving and so on. We'll soon see the earth crawl out from under its blanket of snow and begin to show signs of life. A blessed reminder of how each one of us can start each new day afresh, given a new opportunity to bask in the love of God and take in all of the beauty that surrounds us.
But - we are looking forward to this weekend. A warmup is on the way. A good excuse to saddle up one of the horses and head to the woods. Getting away from all the noise and clutter of life, heading to the woods is a welcome relief from it all. Just a gentle whisper in the pines brings quiet relaxation and meditation. I can tell when the horse is enjoying it too when he settles back and rests a hind leg, dropping his head and enjoying a quick snooze as a small beam of sunlight filters through a break in the trees. Just having this opportunity to take in all of God's creation in its ultimate beauty - makes all of the work that it takes to maintain this beauty - worth it all.
Now that the calendar has turned a page and moved into February, our spirits are lifted a bit to see that spring is just a little bit closer. We make plans as to what will be planted where, what tractor needs an oil change, which cows will be calving and so on. We'll soon see the earth crawl out from under its blanket of snow and begin to show signs of life. A blessed reminder of how each one of us can start each new day afresh, given a new opportunity to bask in the love of God and take in all of the beauty that surrounds us.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
More wood for the woodpile!
As we watch the thermometer plummet once again, we are quickly reminded how fast the woodpile is shrinking. Farmer Rick spent the afternoon buzzing up a load after morning chores. He's had to put chains on the tractor tires so that he can navigate down in the woods without getting stuck. The snow is getting rather deep. A pickup would never get through there now, not even a 4 wheel drive. When you're working on the wood and throwing it in the old wood-hauler manure spreader, it seems like you're accomplishing quite a bit. But once you get back to the woodshed, unload it all and survey your accomplishment, you realize that hardly made a dent in how much wood you really need!
So, it's back to the woods we go later today after chores.
We have two heifers and a cow that we're watching very closely. All three are due about mid-February. After losing both a cow/calf and 400 pound heifer last month, it would really be costly to lose any others. The young cow that we were going to put in the freezer went to the sale barn last week to give us much needed $$ for property taxes. It was hard to put her on the trailer, but we had tried to get her bred back for quite some time without any luck and she wasn't giving much milk anymore. We have a nice big bred heifer that fit into her stall quite nicely, but it's still hard to let any of our cows go.
Just getting these three safely calved and their milk in the tank would be all the Valentine's present I would ever need this year. (Except maybe a box of pink Peeps!). We'll have to keep everyone updated on how all of the calvings go. When you have a small milking herd, you have to watch every animal very close. To lose one has such an impact on your cash flow and ability to pay bills, so there is quite a bit at stake with each and every calving. Our heifer ratio has been over 80% for the last three years without even using sexed semen, so we have an abundance of heifers - and boy do they eat! It has been such a blessing this last year to have a larger feed supply. After 6 years of drought, it was getting rather expensive to feed all of these animals. But Thank God - we have a nice supply of big round bales and silage for the heifers outside, and the horses have plenty of nice green grassy hay to fill their bellies to fuel that much needed energy to keep them warm this winter.
So, it's back to the woods we go later today after chores.
We have two heifers and a cow that we're watching very closely. All three are due about mid-February. After losing both a cow/calf and 400 pound heifer last month, it would really be costly to lose any others. The young cow that we were going to put in the freezer went to the sale barn last week to give us much needed $$ for property taxes. It was hard to put her on the trailer, but we had tried to get her bred back for quite some time without any luck and she wasn't giving much milk anymore. We have a nice big bred heifer that fit into her stall quite nicely, but it's still hard to let any of our cows go.
Just getting these three safely calved and their milk in the tank would be all the Valentine's present I would ever need this year. (Except maybe a box of pink Peeps!). We'll have to keep everyone updated on how all of the calvings go. When you have a small milking herd, you have to watch every animal very close. To lose one has such an impact on your cash flow and ability to pay bills, so there is quite a bit at stake with each and every calving. Our heifer ratio has been over 80% for the last three years without even using sexed semen, so we have an abundance of heifers - and boy do they eat! It has been such a blessing this last year to have a larger feed supply. After 6 years of drought, it was getting rather expensive to feed all of these animals. But Thank God - we have a nice supply of big round bales and silage for the heifers outside, and the horses have plenty of nice green grassy hay to fill their bellies to fuel that much needed energy to keep them warm this winter.
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