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  • Another spring day!

    It’s another sunny morning here on the Knolltop.

    When we were finishing up chores this morning I said, “Boy, I sure could use a donut from Mr. Kaiser this morning.” And when I walked across the road to fix breakfast…guess who I spotted walking into my house with a big white box? Yes, it was the donut man….Mr. Kaiser! So I made some coffee and I bellied up to the donuts and had my fill of sugar! I love donuts and coffee. I should’ve been a cop!

    I’ve got plenty to do today. It’s a nice day out and I’ve got to write today and do an interview that I didn’t get to yesterday. Grandma is going to bring Jake home today and we will do lunch while she’s here.

    I’d better get to the barn!

  • You know the code….

    It’s a beautiful morning here on the Knolltop. The sun is coming up over the horizon and there is nothing but blue sky here. It’s a crisp morning, but it will warm up today and be a nice spring day.

    Yesterday I traded one kid for another. I gave Jake to Grandma and got JW back. So now I still only have three kids and no matter which one you take out of the mix, it’s always quieter and somehow it’s just not right.

    I also had a meeting yesterday. It was my first meeting as a board member of the Michigan Holstein Association. And I’m sure after yesterday’s meeting, they are wondering why they ever asked me to run for this position! I talked way too much and even got into an argument. But I promised the board I wouldn’t tell anyone what happened in that conference room. You know, it’s the “Vegas Promise.” Don’t worry, when we left we were all friends.

    I’ve got some writing that needs to get done today. And I’ve got to interview a retiring equipment dealer Dave Bergland from Dave’s Farm Equipment. We bought our first tractor from him…..well, our first tractor that wasn’t an Oliver. But let’s not go down that road.

    Better get breakfast on the table!

  • Catching up!

    Spring has finally sprung here on the Knolltop! It was a balmy 55 this morning when we went across the road to milk. It felt like spring and it even smelled like spring! I love it….even though it’s going to get colder today..I’ll take it! The grass is even beginning to get green and my daffodils and crocus are coming up! And I can’t forget those wonderful birds that tell us that Spring is finally here!

    This June some of my children and I are headed to the National Holstein Convention at the Wisconsin Dells. I was looking forward to it before, but now I’m really looking forward to it because one of my bestest friends in the cow world is going to be there!
    Mandy Nunes(left with her family) emailed me yesterday and told me she and the girls were going to be at the convention and were wondering if we were coming. Well, imagine the excitment as both of us realized we were going to be in the same city for a few days and the catching up we were going to be able to do!
    Mandy and I got acquainted through our husbands when they lived here in Michigan and Matt was the herdsman for the Apple Farm. Mandy and I would meet during spring break and we would take our kids to a museum to further their education….when really it was a great excuse for us to get together, eat pizza and blab! Her girls have grown a lot since then. Geneva, the youngest was just a baby when we first met. And those older girls have grown in to beautiful young ladies. And Matt and Mandy haven’t aged at all! (I know, I know, but even Matt deserves some encouragement too sometimes.)
    Now the Nunes live in Wisconsin, have developed a world reknown herd known as Scientific Holsteins and one of Matt’s biggest claims to fame, besides his beautiful wife with a queen-like smile, is his cow, the late Debutante, who was named reserve grand champion at World Dairy Expo in 2005 and the countless offspring of his famous cow family that goes back to the “Roxy’s.”
    Matt’s story is a good one…one that I’m going to have to write!
    For now, I’ve got to get ready to head to East Lansing for a Holstein Board meeting.

  • Spring Break

    Well, it’s spring break here on the Knolltop and this first morning is very foggy.

    Luke is already gone to work for the neighbor today, JW is at Grandmas and I’ve got so much catching up to do from a busy weekend. I’ve got a mountain of laundry and lots of house to clean. And when it gets warmer outside…who wants to be inside? Not me! At least I’ve got lots of help at home this week!

    It seems like all the kids friends have gone to Florida for the week and we’re left home to feed their dogs and cats. I guess a dairy farming family is the best choice to do your chores while you’re on vacation since they never seem to go anywhere! No, don’t feel sorry for us…we’re doing a pretty good job of that all on our own!

    We really can’t complain, we just spent the weekend at a cow show, one of our favorite events in the world!

    It’s time to get back to work.

  • FFA updates

    Hey from the Knolltop.

    I will now try to update you on the last couple of days in our lives…as if any of you care besides my family!

    The recent FFA banquet brought some surprises to my boys and to me. After a wonderful potluck, the FFA advisor, Mike Everett began handing out awards. My boys knew of most of the awards they would be getting until it came to the Star Farmer award. When JW’s name was called off, he was very surprised and pleased to receive it. They were also handing out the awards for the members with the most points. You earn points by how involved you are in all aspects of FFA. So the more you do, the more points you receive. The winner for Junior High was Luke and the winner for Senior High was JW. Boy was I a proud mom! The awards were very nice, but a gas card would’ve been a nice bonus!

    Then at the end Mr. Everett presented me with a pen and pencil set for going to the State Convention and for writing so many positive articles about FFA. Anyone who knows me knows I love little stuff like that. That was a very nice gesture and I appreciated it very much!

  • December 1

    Good Morning…it’s December here on the Knolltop….we woke to 2 inches of fresh snow. I’m convinced it’s still December.

    Yesterday was busy but good. Everyone got to where they needed to be and the boys ended up with some surprise awards last night. I even brought home an honorary gift last night.

    I don’t have time for that now, though…I promise pictures later. Now, I’ve got to head to the barn, finish chores so we can get to the sale today.

  • I’m going back to bed

    It’s a cloudy morning on the Knolltop. I think we’re supposed to get a mix of weather today…but really, does it matter anymore? I don’t think spring or summer will ever come….I’ve given up.

    It’s going to be a busy day here on the Knolltop…and I’m just not sure how it’s all going to work. I think I’ll go back to bed! I’ve got to write my column, take the neighbor’s heifers up to MSU for the show, come back home in time to fix dinner, do chores, fix a dish for the FFA awards dinner tonight after chores and somehow Luke is supposed to do FFA and then have basketball practice. JW also has a game scheduled, but thanks to bad weather we’re almost sure that won’t happen. Watch…it will go and then we’ll have that added into the day!

    After the FFA banquet I have to take JW over to Litchfield to pick up Frank Robinson’s car…you know Frank…the Bovine Beautician…. JW will drive it to MSU, (because Frank rode to his next farm with someone else thinking he would come back this way and get his car.) JW will stay up there to help the neighbor with her show string and be there tomorrow morning for the Michigan Junior Holstein Association Semen sale.

    And at some point, my neighbor and I have to gather everything for this Fiesta basket that we’re auctioning off for the Jackpot show. You know, if I had gotten that done a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have to worry about it. If I were organized, I’d be dangerous! So many “If’s”!

  • Birthday fun

    Good Morning from the clear, sunny Knolltop.

    We had a very busy day yesterday. I spent most of the day editing a story I’m doing for Holstein International. Never in my life have I had to work at editing until yesterday. The story was way too long…that doesn’t happen too often. But when you’re writing a feature about one of the most historical Holstein dispersal’s in the world, the Butlerview Parade of Perfection Sale it’s difficult to stop writing. I had to trim the story from 1650 words down to 1300. It was actually fun to be challenged in this area of trying to say the same thing and convey the same feeling with fewer words. But I got it done…it’s exactly 1300 words.

    Then when the kids got home, I fixed dinner, had coffee and took Sarah, Jake and Sarah’s four year old charge, Alice, to get some volleyball shoes. When we got home, I went out and finished up milking for Bobby so he could take Luke to basketball practice. When I got in from the barn, Sarah had Luke’s cake in the oven and we were wrapping presents. When they got home we sang, opened and ate birthday cake and ice cream. Boy was it good too!

    Today, I’ve got to get a fiesta basket together for a silent auction at the Michigan Spring Jackpot Holstein Show this weekend. My neighbor and I are in cahoots about it.

    Later!

  • Double Birthdays!

    Good morning from the Knolltop. It’s cool and windy here and I guess it’s not going to be a very nice day.

    Today is a special day in our family. Today is Luke’s 15th birthday and my nephew’s, Adam’s birthday too. Come to think of it, it’s Ashley Messing’s (below)birthday too. So happy birthday to all!

    I’m not sure when we will actually light candles and cut birthday cake. As soon as we get done with dinner and chores, Luke has basketball practice and I’ve got to take Sarah shopping for volleyball shoes. JW has baseball practice after school, so he won’t be here to celebrate then, so I guess when we all get back home at 9 pm tonight we will fill up on birthday cake and ice cream and then go to bed with a sugar high! Sugar at any time sounds good to me. I’m afraid I have my grandmother’s sweet tooth!

    At breakfast I recounted the day Lukie was born. It was so much fun to take that walk down memory lane with the kids. They enjoy it as much as I do…even though they’ve heard it a million times. Well, I think they enjoy it…maybe they don’t…that may be why they all got up from the table and left while I was on the part where it only took 3 pushes…oh well. I went through the labor..that entitles me to talk about it incessantly! In fact, any mother who has gone through that much pain is entitled to talk about her labor anywhere, anytime, any place!

    Better get going…lots to do on this big day!

  • Easter and Sweet 16

    Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter yesterday. We sure did. After a great service at church..you know the church is always full on Easter…. we came home and I took a short nap and started on dinner. Of course, the Easter candy was gone by dinner time..around here, candy doesn’t last long.

    I cooked the traditional Easter ham, cheesy potatoes, corn, homemade rolls and the coconut cake for dessert. Although the cake was supposed to be made four days earlier… Sarah and I made in Saturday night and miraculously…all that sugar, sour cream, whipped cream and coconut tasted just grand! After we all laid around absolutely stuffed to the gills, we watched a little more basketball until the neighbor called with her good news.

    It seems the bred heifer at Knolltop Morgans, who is bound for the Michigan Spring Foundation Sale this week, and who wasn’t supposed to calve until the end of the month…had an Easter baby! Rodney as they affectionately refer to him, was born yesterday while the neighborhood was all gone to church. So, the new mom, Rhoda, was delivered here just in time for milking and is coming along quite nicely. Whoever ends up with her at the end of the sale on Friday, will have a very nice fresh heifer.

    And the other sweet weekend happening was MSU beating Pitt! Although Pitt was favored 3 to 1, we pulled out the win….beating them by 11! Now they will take on Memphis on Friday night…I can’t wait!

    So much to do this week while we get ready for our Michigan Junior Holstein annual meeting, the Spring Foundation Sale, the Spring Holstein Show on Saturday….it makes my head spin!