Oh my heaven’s it was in the 20s today when we walked across the road to milk this morning!!!!!! A virtual heatwave has hit the Knolltop!

Now I have to brag about my husband a bit…so please indulge me. Because men today get a bad rap about everywhere you turn, I like to make sure we highlight the great things they do to make our lives so much better on a daily basis….but I know I’ve not always done that.

The other day when I had a meeting in Lansing, I knew I would be sliding in right at dinner time so I made sure I had the main dish in the oven with the timer on it so the oven would turn on automatically when it needed to so we would have a hot meal when I slid in. I just happened to mention to Bobby that we would be having leftovers for dinner and that I would pick up the kids and be home just in time to put supper on the table. (Yes we eat early, before chores so I don’t have to cook afterward)

I had the table set before I left but that was it. When I got home with Sarah, the only one who came home with me that day, I walked in and much to my surprise, the whole meal was on the table! The chicken, stuffing, corn and even rolls were hot and steaming, just waiting to be eaten. When I asked if I needed to make the coffee, he said it was already made! WOW!

Now to some of you, this may not be a big deal, but because my love language is acts of service and I practically melt into a puddle of tears when someone does something for me….this is HUGE! And the fact the Bobby hardly takes up space in the kitchen unless it’s to have his midnight snack.

So, now….on to Patty Hyde’s wonderful brownies….I must clear this up. She was so kind to make brownies for her husband to bring to the MHA meeting the other day and what did she get in return????? Let me straighten this mess out for you Patty. I may not get the words exactly correct, but this is how the conversation went: Dick asked if anyone was going to eat the brownies that HE made for the meeting. Knowing full well that he didn’t make them, I thought I would give him a jab…and I said, “They’re too dry.” Then I laughed and said, no, I was just joking, they were wonderful! Then he admitted he didn’t make them and I said, don’t tell Patty I said that! But nothing is sacred…..he just had to tell you didn’t he????!!!!! BUT Patty, your brownies were wonderful!!!!!

It’s a clear, sunny morning here on the Knolltop….and not to mention cold.

It seems there is a conspiracy to beef up the Michigan Holstein Board of Directors…or so it seems to me. Between the President and Executive secretary of the association and Mooville Creamery, owned and operated by the wonderful Westendorp Family of Nashville, Michigan the MHA board is sure to gain a few extra pounds by the time their board term is up.

The first line of attack was the seasonal favorite, Eggnog. Yes, at the November meeting, Mr. Doug Westendorp came in carrying a cooler full of not only fresh milk from the creamery but wonderfully thick chocolate milk and yes bottles of fresh, creamy, thick eggnog. I went to the cooler and without a thought I picked up a bottle of eggnog and downed it in no time. After enjoying this dairy treat I decided to see what was in it. After further inspection I noticed the caloric content and was astounded when I read that one bottle has 800 calories in it!

No, that is not a typo…I wish it were, especially after I consumed half a days calories in one gulp! My eyes just about fell out of my head and my mouth sprung open…then I remembered I was at a meeting and promptly gathered myself again and pondered whether to have a second bottle or not.

Yesterday was even worse….because it was going to be an extra long meeting, lunch was served. Our wonderful Exc. Sec. brought BBQ sandwiches, the President brought delicious brownies and yep…there on the table sat not only a gallon of white and chocolate milk…but two containers of Mooville ice cream!

Don’t worry, I ate a sandwich first…but then I got up and had a helping of brownies ala mode! Oh my was it good…so absolutely yummy! Then about an hour after lunch….I couldn’t help myself….before I could stop and get some sort of self control I found myself bellied up to the buffet table again filling a cup full of ice cream pouring a can of Pepsi over it making myself a coke float! Oh it was sooooooo gooooood!

See, I told you….it is a conspiracy….I must have gained 10 pounds from yesterday’s meeting! I wonder what Doug will bring next month????

It’s another clear, cold morning here on the Knolltop.

Has anyone ever had an owl in their stable before? The other morning when I was absolutely freezing to death while milking I saw this bird fly through the stable. We have birds come in during the spring and summer, but not in the dead of winter so it kind of took me by surprise. So much so that I stopped what I was doing to follow the bird. It landed on the waterpipe and I moved in closer for a better look. It was a bigger bird and as I got closer I noticed it was an Owl!

I don’t see owls up close and personal so this was really cool. I ran into the milk house to get Bobby and by the time we got back out it was gone. I looked all over the barn but couldn’t find it. When I noticed the cows with milkers on had their eyes sucked back into the eye sockets, I thought I’d better get back to the job at hand.

I’ve got a meeting in Lansing today for Michigan Holstein Association, but no games tonight. Last night Luke’s team won and Luke had a great game, but JW’s team lost…in overtime. What a heartbreaker!

Time to head back over to the barn to bed the cows…..later!

Oh, by the way….the other day when I said I was going to do a “Mandy Nunes” and go curl up with a cup of cocoa…I didn’t mean that’s all she does on cold days on her farm in Wisconsin….she took exception to that comment so I thought I’d better clear that up….she said she wanted to do that….not that she actually did it….Sorry Mandy, didn’t mean to make you out to be a couch potato!

It’s a clear, cold morning here on the Knolltop and I’m waiting very impatiently for the 50 degree weather that Pryorvu said he was having in Montana! It’s got to come here…it’s just got to.

I’m done with winter, officially. I’ve had it with cold weather, wind, frozen water bowls, broken waterlines, hair dryers, endless buckets of hot water, flooded mangers, flooded gutters, wet stalls, paper bags stuck in cracks and crevices, screw drivers, ratchet wrenches and mooing cows. All I’m going to say is that Saturday except for about 3 hours in the middle of the day we were in the barn from 4 am – 10:30 pm thawing and fixing and plumbing and milking and bedding and feeding. That’s it…that’s all I’m going to say…..I refuse to relive that day.

But I will say this, I’ve got to have the four most tenacious, determined farm kids in the world. They stuck with us all day long, never wavering, always keeping a good sense of humor and rejoicing in a thawed pipe or water bowl.

Today is a much better day. Even though it’s Martin Luther King day, they still had school and will play basketball tonight. But right now, I’ve got dishes and oh my yes….the laundry. You could hit your head on the ceiling if you were to stand on top of the mountain of laundry! No, my pride won’t let me show you any pictures….sorry.

Can you say FREEZING? That’s the only word that would describe the barn this morning. Well, actually the milk house. The stable was fine….a warm 35 but every hose and pipe in the milk house was frozen. Even with the frozen pipes I was still only 15 minutes late milking! So with a temp of a -15 and a windchill of -25 we only had three frozen water bowls! Now that’s a huge praise!

The kids are home from school because it’s too cold to teach and learn I guess. I have one question….what do I have to do to get into a union like that?

Last night Bobby, Luke and Jake went to the Hillsdale College game and Sarah, JW and I went to the home girls game because Sarah washelping with a bake sale to raise money for FFA. I really wanted to stay home and snuggle under a blanket, but I also wanted to support Sarah…after all she baked half the stuff they sold and she supplied the ONLY homemade goodies…all the rest was from the store!

While I want to do a “Mandy Nunes” today and curl up with a cup of hot chocolate, I’m destine for other duties. I’ve got a column to write, cows to bed and then it’s lunch with the local funeral home director and his wife…..NO….I have no plans for my funeral (or Bobby’s) in the near future, they are just really good friends of ours. Bobby and Tim have breakfast periodically, but today the wives get to horn in on the fun!

Everyone keep moving…that’s the only way to keep warm in this weather!

It’s -5 this morning on the Knolltop…and I hear that’s warm compared to our dairy farming comrades in Wisconsin and Minnesota! You guys can keep all that really bitter cold weather, I’ll keep my warm -5!

I really think I’m going to quit milking cows until it warms up. They are just gonna have to get along with out me for a couple of months until I can do chores in a sweatshirt. Four layers of clothing is not only cumbersome but it adds to the laundry, takes too much time to put on and take off and my goodness, I think I’m carrying around 30 extra pounds in clothing! Which means I’m using up more calories, which means those half dozen peanut butter cookies that I ate last night while watching “Idol” are free and clear…okay never mind, I’ll keep milking cows…for now.

I’ve got a question, but then again, when don’t I have a question? Do any of you belong to social networks like Linkedin, Facebook, Plaxaco or twitter? Those are just a few I can name that I’m a member of, but I wondered how many of you belong. I’ve found another network called Cattle grower network. It’s a network for livestock producers, but I joined because of my writing and I thought it would be fun to see who was on and who I could connect with.

Okay, dishes await. Then back to the barn where the pipes are repaired thanks to “Bobby the Plumber.”

The blizzard watch and storm warning were cancelled, so last evening Bobby and I ventured out for the boys basketball games leaving Sarah and Cammie with the remaining chores. We figured if the wind wasn’t going to blow, the barn would be fine and it was….until…..

Getting to the barn on time was a good thing this morning because when I walked into the stable to hang the milkers on the milker cart I heard commotion down by Bianca’s stall and then heard that awful sound that you don’t ever want to hear, especially in the middle of the winter unless you’re at an indoor water park…..the gushing of water!

I looked down there and one of the water lines had burst! I happened to be standing right at the shut off valve and quickly turned it off. I looked at Bobby and said, “Praise Jesus that happened while we were here! Otherwise Bianca might be wearing a carpenters belt, trying her “hoof” at building an ark!”

So now that the dishes are done and Bobby is gone to town for plumbing supplies, I’m going to lay down…since we didn’t get in until 11 last night….I’m tired! By the way…the boys won..JV and Varsity!

Oh, things are late here on the Knolltop!

Going to bed all we could hear about was all the snow we were supposed to receive. But waking up this morning there was little more than a couple of inches on top of the 8 we already had. Needless to say, the kids slept in thinking they were off, I was late getting in from the barn and everyone had to hustle around….but they got to school on time and in pretty good shape, meaning no one was too cranky.

My meeting in Lansing was canceled today, which is fine with me, I don’t relish the thought of travelling alone in this weather, under time constraints. So I will get more things done today that I hadn’t thought of doing!

I will even get to cook that pork roast for dinner today. The kids have a game tonight so that means extras at the table!

Dishes await me….oh how they love to wait for me!

Snow, snow and more snow cover the knolltop. We don’t need a cable connecting the house to the barn so we can go back and forth….yet….but we’ve got enough snow for my taste!

Over the weekend, we attended our annual DHIA banquet at Hillsdale College. Honestly if it weren’t for the many sponsors who support that, we wouldn’t have a chance to dress up and go out to fellowship with other dairy farmers and industry folks.

Bobby and I sat with Mark Adam and his wife Donna. Remember Mark? He’s the Packer fairy? And also head of DHIA services here in the Midwest. I’m sure he’d rather be remembered as the Packer Fairy, but really Mark, we need to keep you looking professional….sorry.

We had a great meal, great conversation and I even won a door prize, of which I know the price of because I buy this item regularly and it costs more than the two tickets to the banquet! So, in my way of thinking…I made money by attending the banquet!

Well, I will also get a story out of it for the paper too, so indeed, I really will make a little mad money as my mom calls it!

It’s back to the normal schedule today, chores, laundry, cooking, writing, napping. We’re in for more snow, so who knows if the kids will have school tomorrow??????

It’s another cold morning….10 degrees right now, but no wind! I guess we’re in for some weather over the next 24 hours, but I’ve heard that before.

Last evening both JW and Luke’s teams won their basketball games. They beat Tekonsha and the varsity game went down to the wire. That was their first win of the season…sad but true. The JV’s have a much better record, but I don’t remember it.

I didn’t get my column written yesterday since I had to run some errands and cook a good dinner because it was game day. And yes, I had an extra at my table and he’s becoming a regular on game days, which is just fine with me.

JW and Luke went into pitch early this morning, even though we are in the thick of basketball season…..they’re ready for baseball at the drop of a hat!

Today should be calmer, but I’ve still got to get the column done and then write a story on Bill Broadie and the All-American Beef Battalion.

Have a wonderful Friday…and think good thoughts!