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  • Fitter number Two

    Good Morning from a breezy, hay scented Knolltop. Because everyone on the county is baling hay when you step outside the smell of newly baled hay rushes over you. It’s a glorious smell that never leaves you. It’s a smell that if you’ve grown up on a farm is as familiar as the smell of manure, corn silage or sweetcorn growing in the garden on a hot July afternoon. As soon as you breath in the morning air it takes you back to your childhood of lazy summer days spent playing in the yard while a whirlwind of farming activity plays out around you. Isn’t that a great memory?

    Okay, now for the Name the Fitter contest. Kudos to all who ventured a guess yesterday, the correct name for the fitter in the picture was “Bear!” And no, I don’t know his real name. And the lady he’s hugging is a familiar face to anyone at any Holstein event in Michigan, I like to refer to her as “Mama Koebel” and her real name is Jennie Koebel from Tri-Koebel Holsteins in Three Oaks Michigan. And she has three girls…wow, they have a lot of threes!

    Now for the next contestant on

    Name that Fitter!

    This fitter hails from Indiana and worked for Hardy’s Holsteins while at the All-Michigan Summer show.

    Here are your name choices:

    “Scooter”

    “Cowboy”

    “Tippy”

    “Ramrod”

    “Blue”

    So…Name that fitter! And yes, you get extra points if you can name the man he’s talking to…he has a nick name too…but he’s not necessarily a fitter.

    You have until 7 am tomorrow morning to send me your guess. Good Luck!

  • Name that Fitter

    Good Morning from a sunny Knolltop!

    We are finally getting back into the swing of things around here…getting the lawn mowed, the bushes trimmed and the guys are hauling manure like mad!

    I was so bummed last night as I walked into TSC and found the double rocker I wanted was gone. It had been marked down half off and I wanted to wait until it was 75% off before I bought it. Well, I waited too long! Now I’ll have to keep looking. Now that I think about it, God must have a free one for me somewhere…I just have to pray for it! I’m also praying for a laptop. And the only reason I’m telling you this is so that when God does provide it you’ll all know it was from Him and not my doing!

    Okay, now for the contest that you’ve all been waiting for! Get ready to play

    Name that Fitter!

    I will post a picture and give you several names to choose from then you post your answer. Now we all know that fitters usually have a nick name, very rarely, unless they are very sophisticated and don’t wish to be called “Hoss” or “Spike” or “Gushie”, will they go by their real name. So while I was at the show last week I took pictures of all the fitters I could find and told them they would be on my blog this week.

    Here it goes….our first contestant hails from Wisconsin. He is a very jovial kind of guy and can be often seen sporting a pink striped shirt and pink plaid shorts. No, not your normal attire for a cattle fitter, but acceptable nonetheless. Thank goodness there is no dress code!

    Here are your name choices:

    “Hoss”

    “Jethro”

    “Hugger”

    “Bear”

    “Twinkle”

    You get bonus points of you can name the woman holding on for dear life wondering if she’ll survive his bear hug.

    You’ve got until Wednesday morning at 7 am to submit your guess. And of course the prize is……having the sheer satisfaction that you know your fitters!

  • Forgotten passwords

    It’s been so long since I posted anything here I almost forgot my password to get into my blog!

    It was a great week at the All-Michigan Holstein show and 4-H Dairy Days. I’ve got so much information floating around in my head and some great pictures to share and I even have a contest I will launch this week!

    Basically last week was a test for mom and her four kids. While I came home each night to help with chores around here, my kids stayed at the show and went to Grandmas each night. If you don’t think laying in bed wondering if they had enough sense to leave the cow show at a decent hour so they could get a good night’s sleep to get back up at 4 am to take care of the Knolltop show string wasn’t frustrating for this controlling mom….I’ll set you straight….it was about as tough for me as the first time I let someone else teach them their ABC’s.

    I know how difficult it is to leave the barn at night. Every step you take toward the door there is this imaginary magnet that keeps you there, people who want to visit, others who have a question, just one more hand of spoons or one last flake of hay to feed. An hour later you find yourself ten steps from where you originally decided it was time to leave for the night.

    For the kids each night got a little later until the night before the Junior show. Just settling in for the night the phone rang. It was JW informing me that they would’ve left earlier but I left the key on in the van and they were getting a jump! Guilt galore rushed over me as I thought to myself, I should be there…why did I let them do this themselves…they need their mommy!

    After an extremely long Junior show, they were so tired they could hardly see straight. Again, I came home to help with chores and left them to fend for themselves. The phone rang again at 9:45 pm. “Mom, did you take the keys to the van? We can’t find them anywhere?” Yes that same rush of guilt but more concentrated with a bit of alarm and a heaping spoonful of “I think I’ll hop in the truck and go to Lansing to save my children!” mixed in.

    My only other option was to pray they find the keys. I mean really, I didn’t want them spending the night in the cow barn and I know God didn’t either! So I knew I could count on Him to find those keys and He did!

    I’ve got lots more news and results and like I said, a contest, but for now I’ve got other things on the front burner that need my immediate attention!

  • Kansas Holstein Heritage

    Good Morning from a very busy Knolltop.

    We are headed to the show for the week, I’ll be back and forth so hopefully I’ll be able to post some news and pictures through the week.

    Did anyone know Kansas was so full of famous Holsteins? From the comment left by that famed Dallas Burton I learned a lot about Holstein heritage.

    I mean really, I know seven people from Kansas and I think that’s half the population. Of course I know all the really important people; three used cow salesmen, a couple of instructors at Kansas State, a rancher and a radio station manager.

    But I never knew Kansas would be such a draw for two editors of Holstein International to come all the way from Holland to roam the plains of Kansas appreciating rich Holstein history….with that hostess with the mostest, Dallas Burton.

    Wow…I guess Kansas is more than wheat, Flint Hills and NCAA basketball champions!

    More about our Dairy Days adventures later!

  • League Champs!

    That’s right…they won!

    Jake’s team beat Pittsford this morning to win the league championships! They were very excited to say the least. There were more parents taking pictures of them after the game than photographers at Princess Diana’s wedding! Well, that’s a slight exaggeration.

    They received medals, trophies and plaques. After the awards presentation we all went over to the coaches house for a team party. The cookout was great fun and the boys had a good time swimming in the pond.

    This evening Luke clipped Jake’s heifer while Jake and Sarah went to quiz bowl practice. Then Luke, Bobby and Jake unloaded straw while I visited with the neighbor. Now it’s time to crash, it’s been a very long day!

  • The straw is waiting!

    It’s another warm day here on the Knolltop. We’ve had a hot couple of days here, but I’m not complaining.

    Last evening the boys ventured out to their ball game only to find the team they were supposed to play got their schedules messed up and thought they were playing another team. The end result was no game. But the unfortunate aspect was that my parents, who haven’t been able to come to any games at all because of my dad’s back, finally were able to get away and come to a game….and they didn’t get to see one! They called from the field and I broke the news to them. I felt awful, so that awful feeling had to be cured! I told them to come to the house and to pick up some ice cream on their way! So we sat around the table and had ice cream sundaes and listened to dad tell stories and watch the boys nearly laugh themselves out of their seats!

    Straw baling is on the agenda today. Jake spent the whole day in the combine yesterday having a great time. I think he even said he took a load of something to Ohio with Rodney. He gets to have so much fun riding around the country in a big semi. What a life!

    Time for breakfast and then off to the work of the day!

  • Trust defined

    Trust Defined: Getting on the back of a motorcycle driven by your 16 year old son and riding around the block.

    That is the true definition of trust or maybe faith. Whatever the word that’s what I had last night as we got home from the baseball game last night and JW said, “Hey mom, I got another helmet, wanna go for a ride?”

    I agreed, with great apprehension and immediately started praying. Looking at Luke and mouthing to him, “Pray for me!” I got on the back of the bike wrapped my arms around the child that I gave birth to and used to bathe in the kitchen sink and we were off.

    It really wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I can hardly ride in the car while he’s driving without great anxiety so putting my life in his hands on a motorcycle was not good for the blood pressure. He kept the speed down to 35 mph….I know, that doesn’t seem very fast in a car, but on a bike, it seems faster than a speeding bullet!

    After a couple of miles I was able to relax and enjoy the ride. Turns were a bit tricky especially when he said, “Lean with me!” Yeah, right…I ain’t leanin’! All in all, it was a very nice ride.

    They had a double header last night and it was ugly. They lost both games and it was ugly. JW was a relief pitcher for one inning…80 pitches, walked four batters, and 18 runs were scored…..did I mention it was ugly? They play Homer tonight…let’s hope it’s not so….ugly.

    Yesterday I was on Rural Route Radio with Trent Loos and Kyle Bauer, you can click on the links below to listen on the Internet if you’d like. It was great fun, like always!

    Today is writing day, columns, stories, interviews. I’m working on a story for Holstein International about Indiana Holsteins. That is turning out to be a lot of fun. Word on the street is that the crew from HI, Jan Bierma and some others are here in the U.S. traveling the rural roads of Kansas with the hostess with the mostest, Dallas Burton! They’ll be visiting with some influential Holstein breeders and enjoying some breed history with Dallas, the Holstein Historian.

    I’m sure they will have fun with lots of stories to tell.

  • It’s that time of year

    You don’t need to look at the calendar to see what day it is, wheat harvest is underway, it’s hot and Ag Expo is underway, yes, it’s the middle of July in Michigan!

    Yesterday I watched the first combine harvesting wheat to the south as I painted the back of the barn. So that means farmers across the state are torn, do they go to Ag Expo or combine wheat? What a decision. Ag Expo will be important if they have money to spend by the end of the year, but if not, then they will stay home and keep their nose to the grindstone and send another family member in their place. That means the grounds will be filled with grandfathers and young grand children, the ones who could afford the time off the farm!

    The boys baled hay all day yesterday and finally came home when the All-Star game was in it’s second inning. And yes, we are boohooing because the National League lost.

    Today will be a prep day for our Summer show next week and then tonight the boys have a baseball game. Last night’s game was cancelled so nothing to report from the local diamond.

    If anyone heads to Ag Expo, be sure to report in to the rest of us who can’t go! And remember to pray for Jericho today!

  • Troopers and Battles

    Good Morning from the crew at the Knolltop.

    Painting is the name of the game today. Yesterday, Jake, Sarah and I tackled the back of the barn. It was a real trip with Sarah afraid of heights and wasps swarming around us. But we got a big chunk of it done without falling to our death or getting stung! We will head back out this morning after breakfast and tempt those wasps again.

    I was very proud of Sarah for sticking with it. She really was very uncomfortable up there and still stuck with me. She’s a real trooper. She was tested over the weekend too when the little girl she was babysitting fell and cut her head. I was at Jake’s ballgame and my cell phone rang. It was a panicked Sarah telling me I needed to get there right now…she needed me! After telling her to take a few deep breaths and to calm down, I was able to talk her through the rescue operation. By the time I got off the phone she was in control of the situation and had a plan. It turned out the little gal didn’t need stitches like we thought she might. It was just a small cut, but you know how those head wounds bleed and make you look like you’re doing battle with Goliath!

    Better get to breakfast!

  • Busy Monday

    Good Monday Morning from a sunny Knolltop!

    We had a day off on Saturday because of the rain. Jake was supposed to play baseball, but buckets of rain came down and postponed it until Sunday. So instead of a day of rest on Sunday, we had it on Saturday. Although after the rain, it cleared up, got humid and forced us to the pool Saturday night.

    Yesterday Jake’s team won both games and is now in the championship game on next Saturday morning! They did a great job and Jake pitched a no-hitter. He’s so excited about it.

    It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day and the great thing about yesterday was that it was too far away to come back home in between games so we packed a picnic lunch and while we had two hours until the next game we went to a park in Camden and enjoyed a picnic. The funny thing was when we got done eating, JW and Luke tackled the ancient merry-go-round. It was broken, so what do two farmboys do? They climb underneath and start fixing it! They got to go a couple of rounds, but then it broke again. This whole scene reminded me of when they were toddlers and we made the trek with my parents out to Montana to see my sister and her family. Every time we stopped for a meal we would get our food, go to a park and let them run around for awhile so when they got back in the car they would be ready to ride for awhile. That memory was sparked yesterday while they were playing on the playground and we were still eating.

    Okay, today is a work day and then off to Grand Rapids for a funeral visitation. A good friend died recently, Roger Meyer of Rod-er-Dic farms in Byron Center died from his battle with cancer. He fought it for a long time, in fact every morning when I would put the second milker on the cow, Ruth, I would pray for Roger and the family. Now I will just be praying for the family and if you would pray for them too, that would be great.

    Roger’s son, Paul was in college with me and has been a good friend over the years. He was almost destine to be a bachelor until Sherry Strautz caught his eye and snatched him up last April…the lucky girl! Well, he’s pretty lucky to have her too since when I talked to her last Saturday night she was breeding a cow at 8 O’clock at night and couldn’t answer the phone because her arm was you know where….!

    Gotta go…please pray for this family!