We’ve been blessed with some sunny days lately and after the snow in April, I’d say we’re due! Yesterday afternoon, my youngest son Jake was chomping at the bit to get his Allis out and drag the garden. My garden is an extension of the neighbors field and he plows it every year. Then after the field is planted and my garden is tilled, my kind neighbor always comes down and plants at least 10 rows of sweetcorn for me. He says he’s just getting rid of what he has left over, I know he’s being a good neighbor. This year, he planted 8 rows and was planning on coming down with another variety in a couple of weeks. The rest of the garden needed to be planted, but I just hadn’t gotten to it yet and there were some weeds starting to sprout. Jake spotted the weeds and felt the need to take care of them for me. Knowing he might plow up my sweetcorn, I was hesitant to allow him in my garden, but then I relented and said if his older brother Luke helped him then they could drag the garden. As I watched farmer Jake drive his antique tractor back and forth across my garden my heart melted. It was such a beautiful picture of him…but then upon closer inspection that melted heart turned to stone as I noticed half of my sweetcorn rows had disappeared! I was upset for a few minutes, but then looked into my little farmers eyes and realized the value of that sweetcorn couldn’t compare to the value of Jake’s small farming experience. Boys, you gotta love ’em!

Well, my good friend and commrade Trent Loos is up to something….again. He’s taking a stand next week in defense of horse harvesting. The stars in Hollywood don’t think we should slaughter horses so they’ve managed to lobby their way to closing all the horse slaughter plants in the nation. Now we have unwanted horses being dropped off like unwanted kittens instead of being used for useful products like pet food–uncontaminated pet food, I might add. Trent feels a ban on horse harvesting will undoubtedly create unwanted horse problems but beyond that it is a violation of the personal property rights of farmers and ranchers. So Trent has developed a plan. He’s going to stampede the Illinois state capitol on Tuesday, May 8. That’s right, he has secrured horses for anyone who shows up in support of his horse harvest rights rally and they will ride(calmly, not actually stampede) to the state capitol and demonstrate while the Illinois state senators prepare to vote on HB 1711 (an anti-slaughter bill) in committee later that day. What I would like for anyone who reads this is to pray for the group. I guess things can get kind of hairy when it comes to horse slaughter. This needs to be a safe, effective demonstration.

Well, my good friend and commrade Trent Loos is up to something….again. He’s taking a stand next week in defense of horse harvesting. The stars in Hollywood don’t think we should slaughter horses so they’ve managed to lobby their way to closing all the horse slaughter plants in the nation. Now we have unwanted horses being dropped off like unwanted kittens instead of being used for useful products like pet food–uncontaminated pet food, I might add. Trent feels a ban on horse harvesting will undoubtedly create unwanted horse problems but beyond that it is a violation of the personal property rights of farmers and ranchers. So Trent has developed a plan. He’s going to stampede the Illinois state capitol on Tuesday, May 8. That’s right, he has secrured horses for anyone who shows up in support of his horse harvest rights rally and they will ride(calmly, not actually stampede) to the state capitol and demonstrate while the Illinois state senators prepare to vote on HB 1711 (an anti-slaughter bill) in committee later that day. What I would like for anyone who reads this is to pray for the group. I guess things can get kind of hairy when it comes to horse slaughter. This needs to be a safe, effective demonstration.

Yesterday at the baseball tournament, JW’s team split, they lost the first game but won the second. We got home in plenty of time to work outside, so I finally got all the law mowed. Boy, that makes me crazy when I can’t keep the lawn as nice looking as the widow next door. On our farm, we have two farmhouses and our neighbor is the widow of the farmer who used to own our farm. She is meticules about her lawn and keeps her flower beds in tip top shape. It’s nice, not only because we have a pretty view when we look out our window, but she also keeps me accountable. I can’t let my lawn get long when hers looks so good. Besides, we have to keep the farmstead looking neat for the Sunday drivers through the summertime!

Yesterday at the baseball tournament, JW’s team split, they lost the first game but won the second. We got home in plenty of time to work outside, so I finally got all the law mowed. Boy, that makes me crazy when I can’t keep the lawn as nice looking as the widow next door. On our farm, we have two farmhouses and our neighbor is the widow of the farmer who used to own our farm. She is meticules about her lawn and keeps her flower beds in tip top shape. It’s nice, not only because we have a pretty view when we look out our window, but she also keeps me accountable. I can’t let my lawn get long when hers looks so good. Besides, we have to keep the farmstead looking neat for the Sunday drivers through the summertime!

Yes, it’s another Saturday morning and we are off to……a baseball game. As soon as chores are done that is! It’s a little overcast this morning, but it’s going to be a nice day. A great day to mow and work outside. Last night the boys had a game in Pittsford, just a little south of here and they mercied the Wildcats! They got home early, so I had help with chores. Better get to the barn so we can get to the game.

Yes, it’s another Saturday morning and we are off to……a baseball game. As soon as chores are done that is! It’s a little overcast this morning, but it’s going to be a nice day. A great day to mow and work outside. Last night the boys had a game in Pittsford, just a little south of here and they mercied the Wildcats! They got home early, so I had help with chores. Better get to the barn so we can get to the game.

It’s a beautiful sunny day here on the Knolltop. The corn is planted and as I write, the spray coup is going by outside my window. Now I really need to get to my garden! Last evening while I was typing something for my son, Luke, I discovered number one, that his spelling needs some improvement, but the other was his perspective in several areas of his life. He had to write an ABC book with every letter in the alphabet representing something. For example, H was for Holly, his show cow. He went on and on about her winnings in the showring. Another was J was for Jake, his younger brother who was in a tragic accident a few years back and had to learn to walk again. Another was F for football and was actually the insert that was the most surprising. It was with this entry that I learned that Luke loves showing cows more than playing football when wrote that he was not going to play football this fall, instead he was going to take Holly to World Dairy Expo in October. I guess I’d better make some motel reservations in Madison.

It’s a beautiful sunny day here on the Knolltop. The corn is planted and as I write, the spray coup is going by outside my window. Now I really need to get to my garden! Last evening while I was typing something for my son, Luke, I discovered number one, that his spelling needs some improvement, but the other was his perspective in several areas of his life. He had to write an ABC book with every letter in the alphabet representing something. For example, H was for Holly, his show cow. He went on and on about her winnings in the showring. Another was J was for Jake, his younger brother who was in a tragic accident a few years back and had to learn to walk again. Another was F for football and was actually the insert that was the most surprising. It was with this entry that I learned that Luke loves showing cows more than playing football when wrote that he was not going to play football this fall, instead he was going to take Holly to World Dairy Expo in October. I guess I’d better make some motel reservations in Madison.

Well, the day is almost over. When I get some more typing done, I’ll be able to head to my nice soft bed! As I look over the day, I didn’t accomplish all that I wanted to do, but I managed to get half the lawn mowed, my column written, the cows milked with JW’s help as all the rest of the family was at baseball practice and the heifers didn’t get out. All in all, I’d say it was a pretty productive day especially when you add in the fact that I also made a coffee cake to have with my afternoon cup of Joe. The sun is setting on the Knolltop, it’s time to relax!