Good Morning from the knolltop. It’s cold here, but not as bad as yesterday. I keep seeing 50s on the weather map out in Washington state and I keep thinking it’s going to come our way, but we haven’t seen it yet! Yes, I’m whining, I want spring to come.

This saturday is a big day in the Hart family….actually Bobby’s side of the family. The first grandchild is getting married. Bobby’s nephew, Brant is getting married to a wonderful gal named Jenny. Now I’ve never met her, but I’m sure she’s every bit as wonderful as her mother-in-law to be has said she is. They will marry this weekend in Kansas City and we of course won’t be able to go. But they’ve promised us lots of pictures and I can’t wait. So we will perk along here going to basketball games and quiz bowl and think of Brant and Jenny saying their “I dos” and pledging their love for one another for the rest of their lives.

I’d like to be a fly on the wall about right now seeing all the preparations that are happening for the biggest day in a bride’s life….until she has children of course, your wedding day is a distant memory when that first child is born….there just ain’t nothin’ that compares to giving birth.

Oatmeal is cooking, better get to it before it scorches!

It’s a cold morning here, 8 degrees out and my feet are cold! I sat by the cornstove this morning to drink my coffee to try to warm up. I’d like to camp out there, but decided that wouldn’t be a wise decision….maybe in my golden years I’ll be able to sit in a rocking chair by the stove and enjoy the cold winter days on the inside looking out.

Yesterday we moved some hay and I had the wonderful priviledge of helping out. I have no idea why I was there, with two strong boys and a husband to handle the situation, I was of little assistance. But I provided comic relief and a good target for snowballs.

The hay loading process went like this: Bobby was in the mow throwing them to JW and JW was throwing them to me then I had to put them onto the wagon for Luke to stack. This was great because although my job seemed like the tough job at first turned out to be the easiest because of JW’s perfecting of the R.P. roll.

So, what’s the R.P. roll you ask? Glad you asked. My dad, Richard Peckens, taught his children how to roll a bale so you don’t have to carry it as far. If you simply toss the bale so it hits on its corner, then it will roll two or three times further…depending on how good of a tosser you are. I have perfected the R.P. roll and now my boys have also perfected this essential farm skill too. Luke came up with the name.

So when JW was a good 15 feet from me, all he had to do was roll the bale to me in R.P. fashion and I just stood there, picked up the bale and put it on the wagon. Life is so much simpler with the R.P. Roll!

Well, it seemed like spring was trying to come over the weekend, but this morning 5 new inches of snow and the promise of more to come has kept the kids home from school again. I don’t think they’ve got a full week since Christmas break….well that may be an exaggeration.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the comment that shady knoll left the other day. She commented about the sisterhood we have here on this blog…sorry to leave you guys out….but she is right, there are a number of farm wives who visit here and we all seem to have the same story. I just think that’s amazing. Someone said that when you are involved in agriculture you’re involved in a huge industry with a very tight knit group of people. I bet everyone of us could go to any state in the nation and have a friend simply because of agriculture. Isn’t that fun?!

With the kids home, I’m not sure what great projects we’ll have today….although digging out a bedroom or two would be a good idea.

It was a busy weekend for the crew on the Knolltop that included more basketball than you could shake a stick at…along with trying to keep the farm running too.

Saturday we watched Jake’s team win and Sarah’s team lose. Jake had 10 points, I don’t know if Sarah contributed to any of the four points her team scored or not. It was ugly. Just plain ugly. Luke then got to see the other side of the court when he referreed two kids games. He said he would never do it again. A direct quote: “The parents and coaches need to get a life, you just can’t make them happy with anything. All they did was yell at us about every call, it was stupid!”

I think it was good for Luke to get that experience…it will hopefully give him a different outlook as he heads back to his side of the court. Speaking of his side, we went to Kalamazoo yesterday for his tournament. They played three games and only won one of them. They were short two players, so they only had one sub and those boys were suckin’ air when they got done. Their last game was against a team with about 12 players…so they would just sub in fresh legs and our boys would just stay out there and get ready to keep fighting. They hung tough and beat the inner city team named Eastside. I was so proud of them.

Luke had 15 in the first game, 20 in the second and 15 in the third game. He was in his glory having a riot. Like Bobby says, Luke has a big motor and can go and go and go. I’ll bet he was the only kid on the team who drove home with his family, changed into his barn clothes and headed out to do more work.

And the topper of the weekend, my Spartans won! Mark my words, they will be in the final four.

Lots to catch up on today…including a trip for groceries since I’m constantly being told there is nothing to eat in this house!

It’s sunny here on the Knolltop today. It’s been a busy morning having to run to town right after I dropped off the kids kind of ruined my routine. The big plus to that was stopping by the bakery for a dozen donuts. Yes, I’m on a sugar high!

JW’s team lost last night and it was a heartbreaker for this team that has done so well this year. They reacted as if they hadn’t won a game all year. How soon we forget our successes in the face of failure.

I’ve got recess duty today, so I get to go spend time watching kids be kids. That’s always a refreshing time. Tomorrow brings more basketball for Jake and Sarah and Luke will play on Sunday. We will all actually be home today for dinner…how nice!

The sun is shining brightly on the Knolltop this morning and it is so nice. When I walked across the road to the barn this morning, the moon was so big and bright it lit up the whole world. Ususally when I enter the barn I have to walk in the dark to get to the light switch, but the moon shone through the windows casting light on the cows faces and it was so cool I just stood there looking at the cows and listening to them rustle around. When I finally got to the lights, I flipped them on and did my usual scan of the barn to make sure everyone is where they should be.

A cow was carrying on about something so I thought I’d better just walk to the center isle to have a look and there she was, heifer number five, bright and beautiful and ready to begin her life. Then it was all down hill from there…

I went through my normal routine of preparing to milk the cows and figured Bobby would put the calf where she belonged when he got time. But I got impatient and decided to take care of her myself. Because everything I do is messy, when I got done dealing with her, what little afterbirth that was left on this new girl, was now on me and my gloves, sweatshirt and overalls were a mess.

Just before I turn the milk pump on, I go through all the stalls to pull down any manure into the gutter that’s on the platform. As I was walking passed a cow named Muck, yes she was named during the Bob the Builder era, she was doing her business in the gutter. Usually that’s no big deal and I steer clear because we all know what happens if a cow coughs when she’s doing her thing…well, for whatever reason I was standing right behind her and she let out a great big cough and you guessed it, I got a good shot of manure all down the front of my overalls. As I walked over to clean myself off, I muttered to myself, I might as well just lay down and roll around in the gutter for as much manure as I’m wearing.

When I came in to fix breakfast, I went straight to the washer with my overalls and am presently waiting for them to get out of the dryer.

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for….the results of last night’s Regional FFA contest. Luke’s team was second and JW placed fourth. Yes, Dub was bummed for a while. But then he realized that the state convention is the same week as the first week of baseball practice and he brightened up because he loves baseball!

One of the reasons JW placed fourth was that he wasn’t prepared for the question. He just got a topic that he didn’t know much about and didn’t prepare for. The other contestants had folders of information they were using to write their speeches and Dub had nothing….maybe because he spent a little too much time on the phone instead of studying for the contest…..hmmmm….everything is a learning experience.

Anyway, the boys who place above him were excellent, in fact the boy who won the contest was also in the discussion meet last fall. When he walked in, I knew he was going to win, he’s more experienced and organized and his mom is the FFA teacher in his district!

My overalls are dry, better head back to the barn.

The wind has calmed down up here on the Knolltop and my washing machine isn’t freezing up now. Yes, my washing machine freezes up when we get a good stiff west wind. Have I told you this before? I feel like I have. Anyway, the laundry room is on the southwest corner of the house and if we get a strong, cold wind, I get ice in the water lines…nothing a little time with the blow dryer won’t fix.

We can mark up another win for JW’s team. They killed Burr Oak last night…I think they finally got into the double digits sometime in the fourth quarter. JW had 10 points and four fouls. There was a kid who was giving JW a hard time under the basket and JW gave it right back. The ref called a foul on Dub and told him not to get into trouble, Dub told the ref that the kid was pushing him around and he was getting the fouls called on him. The ref said, look at the score…JW told the ref, just because they are losing doesn’t mean I’m gonna let him push me around. Now isn’t that a typical 16 year old boy statement?

JW and Luke have their FFA competition today…this is a secret, but it will be out later today, Luke’s team will automatically go to state since there are only two teams competing in his event. JW on the other hand has to earn his position….prayer please!

I think we might have another baby by the end of the day. I’ll keep you posted!

Good morning from the Knolltop. It’s sunny and windy and cold here this morning. The kids have another day off so my schedule is out of whack.

Yesterday morning Bobby and I pulled a calf that was coming backwards…and yes, it was another heifer! Her feet were way down and she was coming butt first. So Bobby had to get in there and manipulate her around so she was at least coming hind feet first. I didn’t think she was going to be alive when we delivered her, but when she came sliding out and she shook her head I was elated that indeed this little calf was alive.

Last evening I was given a real treat. I popped our popcorn and went into the bedroom where Bobby was watching TV and there was one of my favorite movies on…Gone with the Wind. Is there any better movie? No, I don’t think so. I watched it from beginning to end and will pay for it at about 4 pm today when I will have an overwhelming desire to fall asleep.

Now about the new ploy by HSUS to aboloish animal agriculture. I feel no need to rant and rave about it here…instead I urge all of you who make a living with livestock to write a letter to the editor of your local paper and assure your friends, neighbors and community that you don’t agree with the torture of any animal and what the employees at the slaughter plant in California did was wrong. But don’t shrink back into the corner and apologize for making a living from raising animals for human consumption. Remember, we are responsible stewards feeding the world and we need to make no apologies for that!

Trent Loos has plenty of coverage of this at his website and he does a great job of informing us of just what’s happening outside of the mainstream media. Make sure you check out www.facesofag.com to read his commentary or listen to his radio programs.

Happy Presidents Day!

Yesterday felt like spring around here. It was so nice to have a peek at what’s to come in just a few weeks!

The kids have the day off today so JW is gone with a load of scrap metal. Yes we can now call him an official “scrapper.” After he gets back, he and Luke will head to Mr. Kyser’s to work for him for most of the day.

We have a cow calving at the moment…I wonder if it will be another heifer. If so, we can officially say we’ve had a heifer explosion! I was talking to another farmer last evening and he asked what we did with our bull calves and I said we just haven’t had any lately. He then asked if we were using sexed semen and I said nope, we’re just really blessed with lots of heifers.

Well, I’ve got to get back to the barn…..and hand out some jobs for the crew that’s left here at home.

Well, we woke to an icy Knolltop this morning. It was treacherous walking across the road this morning to do chores. But when we got there, we had a new baby heifer to greet us. She was up and roaming the barn through milking time until Bobby finally had a chance to put her in her new home. She makes the twins look like dwarfs.

Yesterday was a full day of basketball. Let me give you the run down. Jake’s team won their game, he had 10 points as he likes to reminds us all. Sarah’s team had a strong start but a poor finish, they lost but Sarah had 4 points.

Luke left with our friends for Midland, about 2 and a half hours north of here for his tournamnet. They called and gave us updates as they went, he played three games and the won two of them. One of the great things was my brother, sister-in-law and two kids surprised him and showed up at the last game….incidentally, it was the roughest game as Luke accidentally elbowed a kid while he was going up for a layup and took the kid out. He made his nose bleed and they had to stop the game to clean up the blood.

Now this is what is so peculiar….Luke said he felt bad. He watched the kid take his shirt off to wipe up the blood from his nose and Luke noticed the shirt underneath said something about praying…obviously assuming the kid and his family were Christians or at the very least attended a church. Then Luke commented that the kid’s dad, who was also their coach, stood around and yelled at Luke from the sidelines about using his elbows. The coach was obviously upset and rightly so….but I don’t think he had a clue of his true colors that came through and the inconsistency that this 14 year old witnessed.

What a great reminder to all of us that there are many, many eyes watching us. Watching us when we pray, watching what we do, what we say and looking to see if what we say and do actually match up.

Even though the bruiser took a kid out of the game, which I know he feels bad about, he’s pretty sensitive, Luke had a great night and is even more excited than ever to be playing basketball.

I needed an infusion of Luke’s passion for the sport, especially after watching MSU lose to those Hoosiers last night. But, if you’re a Spartan fan or an alumni, you’ve learned to lose with grace. I’ve not lost all hope, mark my words…. they will be in the finals!