By the way, this picture is at the Bull at Pinehurst Farms Golf Course, the site of the sale. I can’t wait to hear all about how the cows were presented and the really fun and important stuff, like who was there, what the sale staff wore and how the ring was decorated! You know, the stuff that makes a successful sale and sets it apart from all the other run of the mill auctions!
More details as they come!
Imagine my surprise when begrudgingly I went into the Senior High awards ceremony yesterday and JW received the Citizenship award just like his brother Luke! Wow….I’ve got to citizens in my household! I was so very proud of both of them. JW also won a Spanish award and the top grade in History!
We had a busy night last night with JW in the play again, Luke and Sarah had practices and Jake had a game. I tell you what, I don’t know what we’d do if it weren’t for great parents who are more than willing to give our kids rides here and there! Jake rode with a team mate to the game while Bobby and I finished up chores. Then we headed to Jake’s game where they tied (don’t ask)and then got back to the school just in time to see JW sing his song one more time. Then we made our exit and came home to stuff bags with got milk? erasers, pencils, magnets and other fun stuff to give away to the kids at school today.
Yes, today there is a field day at school and it is a country theme….so guess who is supplying the animals, tractors and straw? Yep…us. JW and Luke took our tractors to the school early and then they loaded up some straw for a straw maze for the kids. We are giving away goodie bags and ice cream to the elementary kids. It should be a fun day! Yes, I will take pictures….I hope.
Now on to some other news, the Pinehurst and Fieldstone dispersal in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin was held last night as David Bachmann dispersed his historic herd of Holsteins and a boat load of memorabilia. It was held a The Bull at Pinehurst Farms Golf Course, so you know it was a fun event! My source, Dallas Burton of Burton-Fellers, Sales, Inc., called and gave me an unofficial sale average, so I will wait until I hear the “official” average, but I hear it was a great sale!
On a very sad note, Holly, you know, the cow that Bobby loves more than me, aborted last night. She was five months along with a Dundee calf and was due in September. We were so excited about this calf. But last night as we milked she looked unsettled and was jumpy. She just wasn’t herself. As I stood there and looked at her I thought to myself, ‘I wonder if she’s trying to abort that calf?’ Then I convinced myself that wasn’t the case. But this morning when she walked in the barn she had afterbirth hanging from her. The bright side is, we will try to flush her, which is what I wanted to do before she got pregnant.
Calling all prayer warriors!
And, one more note…please pray for my dad. He’s indisposed right now with a back injury. He was working on his equipment last week and whatever he was prying gave way and he fell right on his behind. After a trip to the ER he is now on pain medication and can’t do anything. So, please pray for him if you would. Thank you! And I’ll keep you posted! Oh, yes, and pray for my mom as well….you know what it’s like to take care of a man….who isn’t the best patient in the world….who is also a farmer…..who has hay that needs to be bailed…..this prayer request is getting more serious by the minute! Thanks again!
It’s one more beauty of a day here on the Knolltop. This morning has been too busy already!
After I came in from chores, we had to get cleaned up for Jake’s student of the month assembly. Then after we heard about what a great kid he was, we went down to the other gym and watched the Jr. High achievement awards. As the awards progressed I was surprised at how many Luke received. When he handed me the bundle of certificates and pins I looked them over and saw that he got an award in every subject! But the one that means the most to me was the citizenship award. One boy and one girl from each grade is picked and voted on by the teaching staff based on the kids attitude, their success as a student and going above and beyond in the school whether it be helping with something or just being cooperative. Luke received that award last year too. This is the award that makes me the proudest. It’s so important for our young people to be responsible citizens in their community, regardless of their grades and athleticism.
JW will have an awards assembly this afternoon…so I’ve got to get my column written before then!
Speaking of the ‘Dub’, last evening we went to see the high school drama club present “Grease.” Acting as Vince Fontaine, JW got to sing Hand Jive. He grabbed that mic stand and went to town singing. Okay, so I’m bragging here….but he didn’t miss a note and acted the part perfectly! He wasn’t afraid to just lay it all out there and have a good time. I was very proud of him!
He will perform it tonight if he remembers….last evening after baseball practice he got home at about 6 pm. The play was at 7 pm, but I figured he came home to get something or to eat. He and I were visiting about practice and he was so excited because there was an ex-baseball player there who was giving him advice on his pitching. So all he was thinking about was baseball. At 6:25 I asked him if he should be at the school. His eyes got really big and he turned into the Tasmanian devil in a whirl of motion all the while saying, “I forgot about the play! I was too busy thinking about my pitching…Oh crap! I gotta get over there!” And he was out the door in a flash!
How do you forget about something you’ve been rehearsing for weeks? I just stood there and doubled over with laughter. That is quintessential “JW!”
Better get to my writing!
Good Morning from the sunny, 40 degree Knolltop!
Let me address the skidsteer comments from yesterday and then we’ll get into today’s ranting and raving by the redhead! First, P and F…..what are you going to do with two skidsteers when all the cows leave the farm this fall? Open your own landscaping business? Give free rides to the neighborhood kids? Use them as gardening tools?
And threecollie…you said you’re too chicken to learn to run the skidsteer…this is good, very, very good. NEVER learn to run that piece of machinery and you’ll save yourself from taking on another workload! Besides, what did we have kids for if it weren’t for working on the farm? (JOKE!)
Now, on to my latest venture. A couple of weeks ago, I was told of a Christian writers group where they discuss how to get published, how to write books, where to search for publishers, grammar, style, everything a writer loves to learn about. There were two groups, a beginners group and an advanced group. Well….of course, because I was a 10 year veteran of the writing world I naturally thought I would join the advanced group. So, I filled out the application and then waited to be invited. NOT!
When I received a rejection notice in my email I about died! WHAT? They won’t let me in the advanced group? Who do they think they are? They had invited me to join the beginners group. After taking total offense to the notion that I wasn’t good enough to be a part of the advance writing group, I decided to join the beginners group convincing myself I would be such a great encouragement to these fledgling writers.
I joined and was accepted and began to receive daily emails about a daily topic. The moderator would post a question and everyone was expected to answer. When I began scanning through the postings I soon figured out why I wasn’t accepted in the advance group. I didn’t even know as much as the beginners group! They discussed passive voice, argued the definition of literary fiction and offered tips on how to get rid of unnecessary words.
Oh my, since joining this group I’ve not only learned a ton, I’ve also learned how much I didn’t know! Some of these writers in this group have published books or are working on a book. They’ve been to writing conferences, are searching for publishers, asking how to find the right editor and all of them have a blog!
I’m glad I’m a part of this group, they are teaching me a lot. About the only thing I have to offer them is the knowledge of where milk comes from!
Is there anything better on the farm that a skidsteer?
It’s a cloudy morning here on the Knolltop and getting cooler by the hour.
I just came in from witnessing one of the best inventions ever created for the farm: the skidsteer!
Cleaning a calf pen was an essential task this morning so we could take back control of pen maintenance! Bobby runs the skidsteer and I stand by and move gates, clean out the corners and help put the calves back where they belong. I’m really just the support crew. It was sheer delight as I watched him come in to the pen and leave with a big scoop of manure! And the best part was, I just stood there. I didn’t have the back breaking task of pitching the whole thing out by hand like we used to do when we first moved on the farm!
And in a matter of minutes I had a clean pen with calves bouncing around on clean shavings! It is a glorious sight and a very good feeling knowing your livestock have a clean, dry place to live! And for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about be glad, that means you have no calf pens to clean!
Over the weekend, Luke played in two 3 on 3 tournaments. An eighth grade tournament on Saturday and because they were feeling especially strong and competitive, they went back on Monday and played in the high school tournament. They got banged around a lot with those big boys, but loved every minute of it! They lost all but one game and had a great time doing it!
Tonight JW plays at home against Camden and Jake will have his season opener against Pittsford tonight. He is so excited!
Another beautiful, yet cool here on the Knolltop.
It’s been a busy day today, I’m working on a story for Holstein International and I’ve run up against some roadblocks, but they are slowly getting ironed out! I usually don’t have trouble like this, but I guess I needed the challenge. NOT!
Last night JW’s team traveled to Burr Oak and they mercied them! It was great! Bobby and one other set of parents were the only two there for our team. I guess the gas prices are starting to keep people home. I was glad Bobby went, but the interest rate on the second mortgage to pay for the tank of gas is a little high.
Jake had a scrimmage last night too and he did really well. He got picked to be on an all-star team tournament for next weekend. So next Saturday, Sarah will be playing volleyball in Detroit, JW will be playing baseball in Tekonsha and Jake will be playing baseball in Hudson. Hmmmm….with only two parents I think we’d better rent another mom or dad!
Better get back to work!
It’s a cool morning here on the Knolltop where we are stirring up the neighborhood with unauthorized personnel on the lawnmower.
Our lawnmower has been giving us trouble this spring. Usually I bug and bug and bug til it gets fixed. But this year I decided on the “hands-off” approach. Plus, I’ve got so much writing to do, I hardly have time to mow.
So, two weeks have gone by and the yard is beginning to look like…..well….a jungle. Getting lost on the way to the barn is a regular occurance…at least that’s what I say when Bobby asks why I’m late.
Apparently, the long, upkept look was getting to Bobby too and he started to look at the mower. Three “mechanics” later, the mower was fixed and Bobby had taken over as the greenskeeper. This was all too strange to the rest of the neighborhood and the phone lines started heating up.
I received a call from a neighbor who was inquiring about the new lawnboy I had hired. She said another neighbor had called her inquiring about him too. The first neighbor said, “Is there something wrong with Melissa? She always mows the lawn and now I see Bobby out there mowing, he never mows. I just wondered if she was alright.” To which the second neighbor replied, “No, I don’t think so, but I’ll call to make sure.” She called and we had a great laugh over the fact that Bobby being on the lawnmower was cause for worry!
In 17 years of marriage, Bobby has mowed the lawn three times. And after looking at the strips of grass left here and there I say to myself…he will never mow the lawn again as long as I live!
It is a sunny but cool morning here on the Knolltop. It was 40 when we crossed the road to milk.
Yesterday I interviewed a dairy farmer from Indiana for a story I’m writing for the Michigan-Indiana Holstein News. Marion Hooley, the Indiana Master Breeder award winner, lives in Goshen and is a very chipper gentleman in his 70s. As we visited about his life as a Holstein breeder he told me he is legally blind now. He can’t drive anymore and it’s very difficult for him to see, but he still does relief milking for his son who now runs the dairy. He told me he drove his Gator through the cow pastures from his house to the farm every day.
He told me he had this thing called a Merlin that magnified small print so he could still read his Holstein magazines. As I listened to him talk about how thankful he was for his Merlin and how wonderful and supportive his wife had been through the years and how much he loved breeding Holstein cattle, I thought about how blessed I was. Not because I have my youth, my eyesight and my health, but because I got to listen to a man who didn’t have any of those things and I heard his positive attitude loud and clear. His gratefulness and humility was a great dose of medicine for me.
Okay….off to write another story, this time about Newell Rawlings from Rawlingdale Farms in Armada. He was the Michigan Master Breeder award winner.
It’s a cloudy morning here on the Knolltop, but I think, no, I know it’s going to be a great day, no matter what the weather or circumstances!
JW’s team won both games of their double header last night. JW pitched the second game and did really well. He was hitting well too…but don’t ask me any specific stats, cause I just don’t know!
Right now the vet is out doing surgery on a D.A. Carolyn…one of my favorite show cows is under the knife! JW and I think she’s got A.D.D. She acts so goofy all the time. Every day when I go in to prep her or prep the next cow she turns around and tries to lick my hair. I back up, then she stops. I inch forward trying to stay just out of reach of her long tongue and she reaches around again and no matter how many times I think I’m safe from the reaches of her lick, she gets me….somehow she gets me. In the morning I don’t care because I still have to take a shower, but in the afternoon when I know I have somewhere else to go after chores, I really don’t like sticky hair!
Bobby has gone back to his old business as a hoof trimmer. But these days he only gets two done in a day and the people are really slow in paying! But the good thing is, he never has to leave the farm. He’s been busy trimming his own cows, which he detests. He’d rather have another hoof trimmer in to do it, but he knows how silly that would be, so he’s been doing a couple each day. He’s so good at it too.
When he stopped doing it full time he still had guys with show steers calling him to come trim. He told them he wasn’t doing it anymore, but they wouldn’t stop calling so he told them if they brought the steers to the farm he would do it. AND he charged them a lot more too. Do you know those steer jocks would haul two or three steers here to the farm every 4-6 weeks during the show season to have those steers done? Because they had it done so often, Bobby didn’t have to do much, just trim a little here and there and they were done. But when those guys would take the steer out of the chute, they were sure that steer walked and looked 300% better than when the walked in the chute. They really believed their steer would have the edge in the show ring because of a good hoof trimming job. It was so funny!
Better get to breakfast!
It was a very busy weekend here on the sunny Knolltop. On Saturday Bobby, Jake and I went to Sarah’s volleyball tournament while JW went to motorcycle school and Luke played in a 3 on 3 basketball tournament. Sarah’s team fared well, they placed fourth in the gold division. No, I don’t know anything about the divisions…..scoring…..placing….nothin’…not a thing….zippo. The only thing I can gather is that “gold” must be good. All I care about is watching her and seeing her team improve over time.
It was Bobby’s first tournament….and he compared it to watching paint dry. But like any good dad, he cheered the team on and paid close attention to Sarah…and then had to analyze the whole thing.
Luke’s team placed 2nd in their tournament. When he came to the barn that night, I said, “Hey there’s Mr. Second place.” He absolutely hates losing and really hates it when I rib him about it. But since it was just a 3 on 3 tournament and not the State Championship…I had to trash talk a little. He grabbed me by the arms like he would take me down but I got lose. Then, a safe distance away and standing between cows I said, “That’s okay Lukie….everyone’s a winner!” Oh how he hates that statement! He just gave me a big grin and then started in with the blow by blow commentary of each game. He and Jake are famous for their sports commentaries…you really don’t even have to go to a game to know what happened, they are excellent with all the details. Luke has been that way since he was five.
Then on Sunday, Luke was asked to play on a high school 3 on 3 team. Some kids from Jonesville asked if he would play, boy he loves playing with the older boys. So Bobby, Jake and Luke headed for Jonesville, JW went to take his motorcycle test and Sarah and I went to church….where we all should’ve been!
Today, JW has a double header and yes…I remember…thanks to my neighbor Lori from Knolltop Morgans, that I have to provide the food!
Better get on it!