Good morning from the Knolltop. Yes, it’s warm this morning….32 out and it’s going to get warmer. By the end of the day we will be smelling like spring and wishing April were here! At least I will…I love spring.

Yesterday I was again pleased with the human race and realize even the “big” people care about little people. A couple of weeks ago when we attended the Top 10 Invitational Sale, Jake and I were visiting with Mark Adam….a “big” person. No, not just in stature, although he is a very tall man with a booming voice and a real strong presence. Mark is also a VIP….head honcho….the big guy….whatever you want to call him…..of Northstar Cooperative based in East Lansing. For those of you who don’t know, Northstar is a semen company and they also the ones who do all the milk testing here in the midwest and they obviously sell other dairy supplies and products…you get the idea.

Anyway, we were visiting with Mark and he and Jake struck up a conversation about the Packers. They discovered they had something in common…they both loved the Packers. A season ticket holder, Mark said the next time he went to a game he said he would bring a hat back for Jake….well you know Jake was thrilled with this thought and so was I because his Atlanta Braves hat was becoming unrecognizable.

Well, as a mom, I know how busy people get and I figured that would be a nice gesture, but I have to admit, I didn’t think Mark, in all of his busyness of running a company, would even think about the promise he made to a ten year old Packer commrade.

Yesterday when I came in from chores, there was Jake meeting me at the door with what else but a Packer’s hat! I couldn’t believe it! Not just any Packer’s hat…a custom fitted Packer’s hat! And in the box was a very nice note from Mark. I was absolutely amazed by his kindness and thoughtfulness. For a man to take the time to buy a hat for a little kid in North Adams after a 10 minute conversation about a football team….that just blows my mind.

So, from the bottom of my heart….Thank you Mark! You are an awesome person in my book. And Jake is trying to figure out your phone number, he wanted to call you last night to thank you….by the way, he hasn’t taken the hat off yet…except for this morning’s breakfast when his father insisted that he remove it!

Today Sarah and I have a girls day out. Through 4-H we were able to attain FREE MSU girls basketball tickets. So we will be heading north to my former home of five years and cheering on the green and white. Although Sarah has a wardrobe of MSU green and pink, I will be in green and white.

Jake and Bobby will keep the home fires burning today while Luke and JW work for Mr. Kiser…after they do their chores here!

What a morning here on the Knolltop. We started out kind of slow since the leader of the farm is feeling under the weather. When that happens, things just don’t go like they should. After chores, I was fixing biscuits and gravy for the clan plus two extra boys who spent the night and a knock came at the door…it was Mr. Kiser bringing us donuts for breakfast! I gave him a cup of coffee and we all had a feast for breakfast.

Now the older boys are gone to work for Mr. Kiser and I’ve now got to get going on the day’s work in the house.

Last night, JW’s team won their game and the varsity won too. JW fouled out of the game and was all smiles. What a kid.

Well, my work is waiting patiently! Hopefully I can get back to this computer later today.

It’s going to be a beautiful sunrise here on the Knolltop. I can see the sun starting to light up the sky and with all the snow…it’s so pretty!

First off, let me clarify something for Linda and anyone else who thought I was serious about my laundry. I didn’t have 17 loads from one kid, that was an exaggeration…although I think I might have come close…it seems like I do 17 loads a day! And yes, a front load washing machine was wonderful…when I had it. My parents had mercy on me one year and bought me one…I wore the thing out! When it was going to cost more to fix it than it was worth, I decided to get a new one. Well at the time we were paying $4.00 for a bushel of corn and selling milk for $13 a hundred…you don’t have to do the math…I will….it was bad! So instead of a new washing machine I bought a used one that was in the paper…it came with a used dryer that I still have in my back room that I haven’t had to put into use yet. The funny thing about this washer is that it is from a laundromat and so it has a coin deposit thing you have to slide in and out to start it. Don’t worry, it’s fixed so I don’t have to pay for each load…it’s “free.” So there you have it…that’s my laundry saga.

There was an incident the other day that just made me chuckle and I’ve been wanting to write about it ever since, but have forgotten! The other day when we were coming home from JW’s basketball game it had been snowing and there was a fresh layer of about 3 inches on the roads. So to say the least it was slippery and everyone was going a bit slower. On the outskirts of town there is a hill known as Buck Hill and we were approaching it when we saw this truck in the ditch. As we got closer we noticed it was a kid on JW’s team and his older brother and they were clearly stuck in the ditch. There were three other vehicles ahead of us who had stopped, but strangely enough hadn’t gotten out to help the boys. So when we got up to them, Bobby and the three boys all got out and rushed over to the truck to help. They all got on the front of the truck and pushed and in a matter of seconds the Kast brothers were back on the road.

When my boys walked back to the van they were all about three feet taller with huge bulging muscles and the confidence of David…at least that’s how they acted. It’s amazing what a surge of testosterone will do for young men!

Speaking of testosterone…if I get a chance later on today I will give you a run down of the typical day on the farm yesterday…it started out with lots of breakdowns…but ended up with great success.

Better get on my day…writing and errands to do today!

Good Morning from the snowy Knolltop!

We ended up with a total of a foot of snow and it’s still coming down right now. The boys will find out how passable the roads are since they’ve gone to basketball practice this morning. I’m sure they will be fine.

Since all we did yesterday was goof off and eat, today we will get back to work and dig out of this mess. I’m still doing laundry….over the weekend, JW decided to clean his room and that meant bringing 17 loads of dirty and some clean laundry down to my laundry room. Oh boy….and then yesterday Luke caught the cleaning bug and he cleaned and rearranged his and Jake’s room…again, 17 loads of laundry! So while I like having them take the initiative to clean their rooms and have them look so nice, I do have to pay a price for it. Yes they should do their own laundry…but I find it just as easy to do it myself. Folding laundry gives me time to think and figure out what I’m going to do next.

Well, I’d better head out to the barn for the rest of morning chores….later!

With the new year came nine inches of snow last night. It began about 10 pm and didn’t quit until this morning. Bobby is plowing snow as I type and it’s pretty slippery out there….but it sure is pretty.

Yesterday was a great day at my parents celebrating Christmas with my family. Like I said we would do, we ate until we couldn’t eat anymore and then we ate some more! When I arrived I made a pot of coffee so we could have some with the hot cinnamon rolls, muffins, cookies and cheese and crackers that mom had spread on the kitchen table. After downing my first cup of coffee and several goodies, we opened presents. After enjoying all of our new things the little boys went out to sled on the “mountain” and we began making dinner preparations while the big boys cleaned up all the wrappings.

Things were going along as expected until Jake came running in to tell us one of the cousins had a crash on the mountain and then it was all down hill from there….well, it wasn’t really, but I couldn’t resist the pun.

The littlest cousin hit his head and was pretty miserable. By the end of the day he was fine, but he gave us grown ups a bit of a scare….so much so his parents decided to play it safe and take him to the ER. A good report this morning shows he’s back to normal….thank God!

We enjoyed a dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, Amy’s homemade rolls, fruit salad and pumpkin pie, lemon pie and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. Yes, I ate too much again. We got home just in time for chores and then because the snow was coming I made Bobby go with me to the store for some “snowed-in” provisions. I hate being snowed in when I’m low on the essentials of life….like butter and coffee!

When we finally were in for the night, we enjoyed lots of football!

So today we will continue with our New Year’s Day tradition of eating nothing with any remote hint of nutritional value. Chips, dip, candy, pop, pizza, whatever we feel like eating and we will graze all day long while we watch football!

My house is a total mess and totally out of control…so I think that will be something I will try to tackle…ha! I’m on a run! I did it again!

Have a great day!

It’s snowing here on the Knolltop and it sounds like we’re going to have a good storm tonight. They are predicting anywhere from 6-12 inches…so we’ll probably get 2.

Today we will have our last Christmas celebration with my family. We will get together and open presents, eat and fill ourselves til we’re miserable and then eat a little more…small bites don’t have any calories you know. Then we’ll watch and help the kids play with their new toys. My brother and his wife and two boys will be there along with my crowd. My sister said she just can’t make it from Montana to here this morning…so she will miss out. She’s got cows to milk anyway…she can’t be gone all day!

The bad thing is, I messed up, I didn’t even think about asking what I was to bring for the gathering today until last night. So I will show up with the strange combination of fudge and cheese and crackers. I made the fudge last night while I was wrapping the last of the presents. And what a blessing…we ran out of scotch tape and had to use masking tape! We are such a mess around here!

Well, better get going to grandmas house!

Okay, since Linda brought up the question of how Don Imus got on RFD-TV, we’ll visit that issue.

I don’t know why he ever got on…their publicity was that rural America called in and wanted him. I’m not sure why. My question was, who knew Don Imus before he got into this trouble over his racial slur? I didn’t but I guess those who listen to a lot of talk radio did.

After investigating him and his Don Imus Ranch for kids with cancer I was unimpressed. Why? Because his wife, Deidre, serves all vegan food. Which means there are no animal products used in their menu. She doesn’t believe that animals should be used for human benefit. Okay, is anyone confused yet? Why would RFD-TV put anyone on their network that is totally against their network audience? RFD-TV is for rural America…they have farming shows, horse shows, equipment shows, tractor shows, everything to do with agriculture and yet a three hour time span is devoted every weekday morning to a man who’s wife is against animal agriculture. That’s a problem in my book…how about yours? Besides, like I said in Rural Route Radio, he has an ego as big as this galaxy and has a face for radio….not TV!

Because I believe in being the squeaky wheel, I wrote a letter to RFD-TV about my concerns and asked them to take him off the air. I never heard back from anyone from RFD-TV. I’ve only heard that people in the industry think that Imus will bring RFD-TV down. He’s already done that in my book!

Okay, off to the day’s events. I have to take Sarah to a friends house for the day and then do a little shopping! And JW’s team lost yesterday….they just weren’t themselves. So we’ll look forward to next week when hopefully they can get back on the winning track!

Well, from what I hear from Pryorvu, Four Dot Dairy in Joliet, Montana is back in the milk peddling business….yeehaw!

My nephew, Tom, and his family support system have been selling fresh milk out in Montana and making a killing, I might add. Well, it’s a killing compared to what we sell our milk for, I don’t think my brother in law is ready to sell his custom cabinetry business and become a full time dairy farmer with two cows just yet.

Now after having both cows dry for a spell…(get it? dry spell?…HA!) they are now back in business with the new heifer delivery on Christmas Eve. How fun for them to have a new Ayrshire heifer! As Pryorvu described, I’m sure it was a beautiful sight to see this newborn on Christmas Eve, with fresh snow. How nice of you to create that word picture for us!

Now for the Knolltop update….yesterday JW’s team lost to Jonesville, I think they just had too much Christmas fudge and eggnog. They just weren’t playing their best. Today they will play Reading…hopefully they’ll come out with a win.

I made my final guest appearance for 2007 on Rural Route Radio with Trent Loos and Kyle Bauer yesterday and of course it was a total riot. We discussed everything from the tiger attack to the mistake it was to have Don Imus on RFD-TV. I love doing radio!

Now, I’ve got to play catch up, a column to write and laundry to do!

Good morning from the snowy Knolltop. The snow is coming down and it’s sticking which makes for a pretty morning. But I don’t think it’s going to stay, we’re supposed to warm up today.

JW has a basketball tournament today and tomorrow, so we are back on the bleachers at noon in Jonesville. I’m so excited because it’s not at chore time. We can actually see the game from beginning to end without missing any of JW’s fouls! Win or lose they will play at least one more game tomorrow, if they win they will play two games tomorrow.

Yesterday Luke and Jake spent the day on the ice. Luke got new hockey equipment for Christmas and headed out to see if there was enough ice. Remarkably there was…so he and Jake invited Brad over and they played most of the afternoon. Right before dinner the phone rang and it was Luke (he had my cell phone) asking me if I wanted to come out and play….I hated to refuse, but I had to, it was dinner time. They needed one more player to make the teams even, so when I couldn’t come, they called in their friends and all of a sudden I had a three extra bellies at the table for dinner!

After dinner they were headed back out to the ice til dark, but then the neighbor needed help loading hay, so they all went down to help load up some hay and by the time they got done it was nightfall. A little darkness didn’t slow them down, they headed for the hockey arena anyway and had a great time. They got back just in time for some snacks and a little game of ghost in the graveyard. While they played outside, Bobby and I sat down in our quiet livingroom with a bowl of popcorn and read the paper.

Better get breakfast on the table!

I had every intention of getting to this computer yesterday but between the downloading of songs in multiple mp3 players, this computer was occupied most of the day. So Merry Christmas a day late and several dollars short now!

Was anyone else as tired as I was yesterday? It seems like for a week I’ve been on a napless, sugar high. Then I stayed up late working on Bobby’s gift, which was worth every lost wink. He loved his year of Holly in a frame…her winnings, her ribbons, her pictures….he really loved it. It was probably the least expensive gift under the tree besides the Texas Longhorns baseball cap that JW and Jake were fighting over!

After baking several batches of goodies for the neighbors, I was actually able to save some to give away to the neighbors. You see I would bake, kids would eat, I would bake, kids would eat…and on and on. I hid some goodies away and then I brought them out on Monday to put in pretty little gift bags and put a Martha Stewart bow on….but I didn’t have any bows or bags….I hid those too, last year, when I bought them on sale and couldn’t find them. So I pulled out the paper plates and zip lock bags. I packed my pack mule up with several plates of goodies and sent him out the door for delivery. Jake walked down the road with his basket of treats handing them out to the neighbors. I loaded up JW and Luke for the distant neighbors and sent them out for their deliveries, they got to drive.

After a Christmas Eve of eating too many shrimp, drinking too much eggnog and the last present wrapped, I fell into bed. On Christmas morning we got the milking done and the kids came out to help finish up the rest of the chores so we could open presents. With all the work done, we sat down to listen to Bobby read the Christmas story out of one of Bobby’s grandfather’s Bibles. Woodrow was a baptist preacher and this summer his widow gave Bobby one of Woodrow’s old Bibles with all of his notes in it. Boy is that a treasure!

Then we opened gifts one by one and it was a great time. Then with the house in complete disarray, I put the pumpkin and pecan pies in the oven along with the ham and laid down to watch a movie with the kids. Boy that was all it took, I didn’t want to move after that. But Sarah and I went to the kitchen and got to work. She set the table and got the stemware out for the sparkling grape juice and together we put dinner on the table. We had ham, creamed potatoes, corn, baked apples, sweet potatoes, pistachio salad and rolls. We topped it off with coffee and pie and then laid back down til milking time!

It was a great Christmas, I’ll share pictures later, right now I’ve got to get the biscuits and gravy on the table!