My sister, Ginny, lives out in Montana with her husband Lars and her five boys, Tim, John, Tom, Aaron and Raynor. She has homeschooled them all their years and has graduated two of the boys and they are now in college. None of this surprises me, but what does surprise me is this picture of her on her horse. She grew up on the same dairy farm that I did and never took a liking to horses. But now she has her own brood of Missouri Fox Trotters. She breeds them and breaks them and trains them. Now, my sister is one of those people that when she puts her mind to something, she gets it done and gets it done right. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that she’s successful at breeding and breaking horses, but what does surprise me is her affinity for horses. Now I see her in this picture on a horse, with leather gloves and her long pony tail hanging out the back of a baseball cap??? Who is that? She’s always been the more feminine of the two of us and now she looks better in a baseball cap than I do! She’s one amazing sister!

My sister, Ginny, lives out in Montana with her husband Lars and her five boys, Tim, John, Tom, Aaron and Raynor. She has homeschooled them all their years and has graduated two of the boys and they are now in college. None of this surprises me, but what does surprise me is this picture of her on her horse. She grew up on the same dairy farm that I did and never took a liking to horses. But now she has her own brood of Missouri Fox Trotters. She breeds them and breaks them and trains them. Now, my sister is one of those people that when she puts her mind to something, she gets it done and gets it done right. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that she’s successful at breeding and breaking horses, but what does surprise me is her affinity for horses. Now I see her in this picture on a horse, with leather gloves and her long pony tail hanging out the back of a baseball cap??? Who is that? She’s always been the more feminine of the two of us and now she looks better in a baseball cap than I do! She’s one amazing sister!

It’s another sunny day here on the Knolltop. But last night wasn’t so sunny for Luke and Sarah. Luke’s team played Reading in a double header. They won the first game and Luke played catcher, then in the second game they lost, Luke pitched and he didn’t think he did such a great job. Sarah’s team also got beat up by Reading. She was actually upset, she never gets upset about losing, usually she’s just happy to be alive. But the real winners were Bobby and I because we left the chores to JW and his friend and they were very successful in not only getting everything done, but getting everything done correctly! I was able to watch Luke’s first game and then head back to North Adams for the remainder of Sarah’s game. I told JW this morning how much I appreciated his efforts and what a great gift he gave to his Daddy and I in allowing us to watch the other kids play ball. (I made Luke and Sarah thank him too.) Today the three boys are down at the neighbors cleaning out a corn bin. I’m going to work in my garden today and plant some flowers.

Yesterday while doing Rural Route, the rooster was crowing outside the window and Kyle and Trent were asking me about my chickens. I told them I only had one hen left and that I had no idea what happened to the other one. Later on in the afternoon, I went across the road to the barn to mow and Bobby informed me that we had 14 new baby chicks! That’s where the other hen was all this time. They are absolutely the cutest things you have ever seen! Mama has her hands full keeping track of all those babies. I hadn’t seen them yet this morning, she’s got them well hidden. The last day of school is today so I will go in and watch the awards ceremony and then head to the store for some much needed food…so I’m told!

Yesterday while doing Rural Route, the rooster was crowing outside the window and Kyle and Trent were asking me about my chickens. I told them I only had one hen left and that I had no idea what happened to the other one. Later on in the afternoon, I went across the road to the barn to mow and Bobby informed me that we had 14 new baby chicks! That’s where the other hen was all this time. They are absolutely the cutest things you have ever seen! Mama has her hands full keeping track of all those babies. I hadn’t seen them yet this morning, she’s got them well hidden. The last day of school is today so I will go in and watch the awards ceremony and then head to the store for some much needed food…so I’m told!

Last evening after leaving the remaining chores to JW, I went into town and enjoyed watching a little bit of Jake’s game and then ran down the street to Sarah’s game and they both ended up winning! In fact, they both smoked their opponents! Gramps and Grandma made it down but they were a little worn out since they had spent the night before at Oldsmobile Park watching their hometown baseball team, Fowlerville, play in a tournament. Fowlerville almost pulled it out in the championship game, but came up one run short when the last out was made. Today is supposed to be hot and windy…a great day for hanging out laundry. I’ve got to mow the rest of the lawn but before I can do that I will be doing Rural Route Radio and then I’ve got to write a couple of columns. I think I’d better have an extra cup of Joe for this line up.

I’m finding out that when you have a farm boy who knows how to work…you have a hot commodity. The neighbor just came by and stole my help for awhile. I told him he’d better have him home by milking time. Another neighbor came by earlier and laid claim to the boys tomorrow afternoon because it’s a baseball free day. I think I might have to make my reservations early to keep my boys home this summer!

Yesterday a lady called me and asked if I would lead worship and do special music for a women’s retreat! I have to call her back to get the details, but this should be great fun! I can’t wait and I’m so excited that God has given me this opportunity to use His gifts!

It’s a beautiful morning here on the Knolltop. The sun is out and it’s very cool. But it’s promising to be a great day. Things are looking up at finding an Ayrshire heifer…after emailing every breeder in the country…well, maybe not quite every breeder…Palmyra Farms in Maryland finally took the bait and emailed me back. They may have a heifer but Mary is going to make some calls for me. I’m excited again. Their national sale is coming up too, so that may have a heifer or two that Matt can afford to check into, we’ll see. Another exciting event is coming up next week at Mooville Creamery. It’s Dairy Fun Day organized by the Michigan Junior Holstein Association. I’ve had a slu of emails from people wanting to sign up…I guess there are some youngsters out there who want to learn more about the dairy industry…and that’s exciting! Tonight we only have two games, Luke’s game was cancelled. I’m glad, I was going to have to miss his game but now I won’t have to. Last evening we had the spring sports banquet and JW earned his varsity letter. Now we just need to get a varsity jacket to put it on. I’d better get going or I’ll never get anything done today, even though I have all my vacuuming and dishes and several loads of laundry finished! I’ve got to mow and hoe today.

Well, last evening we tried something new. We actually left chores to our oldest son and his friend so Bobby could attend Luke’s practice and I could attend Jake’s game. It was like leaving your kids home for the first time alone. I let them milk by themselves while I bedded the heifer pens and fed the youngstock. I hung around as long as I could but I knew I had to get to Jake’s game, otherwise there would be no point in letting them milk alone. So I finally went to leave and the battery in the truck was dead! So then I called a friend who was headed to the game and she came and got me. That was all by design I think. While I was waiting around I noticed the vacuum pump was staying on much longer than it needed to be, so I went over to the barn and sure enough, they just weren’t sure on what do to after the hooked up the milkers to wash and they were discussing their next move. I gave them a hint and they immediately remembered and went on to finish up and I left for the game. This morning all was well in the barn. No dead anything….no blown quarters….everything seemed to have gotten fed and watered, which is the most important thing. Tomorrow night it will happen again as Jake, Luke and Sarah all have games. I think I might need to pray and fast! By the way, Jake’s team won!