Finally!...Maybe?

  It looks like maybe spring is finally going to be here, yippee!!! Tonight they are calling for some snow and sleet but the highs after today so far all start with a 4 or a 5 and the lows are all 30"s or close to it.

  I am so ready to start planting things. I didn't start anything in my greenhouse yet this year because as cold as it was if I did I could of probably just forwarded our milk check to the electric company. Well this weekend I am going to. I asked my husband if he could get me some dirt to put in my containers. He gave me a look like I had 2 heads, last year at this time we could get the dirt, then he said it is frozen. Of course duh, I knew that. I asked him how soon did he think he could get me some dirt and again with the 2 head look, so I went and bought some dirt. I am going to fill one container and put in some carrots and lettuce in another and my broccoli and cauliflower I will just start in seed starter containers until he can get me dirt ( it is not cheap to buy). Every year I plant these items in my garden they just get eaten. I am so excited. I was in my greenhouse cleaning it out ( my family thinks it is a storage shed) and I noticed all the little spider egg thingies, OH BLAH! I really do not like spiders at all. If a big ugly one crawled on me ( or even a teeny tiny one but they are all big and ugly to me) I would probably strip naked on the spot ,screaming until I found out where it was if I hadn't croaked from my heart attack yet. That is how much I hate them ( I know kinda whimpy). Well anyway, I had to go get Alicia ( she helps us milk) and tell she had to come get those egg thingies out of there for me. I don't know if those eggs inside still could hatch after the cold but I wasn't taking any chances, so I made her do it. She was grinning at me the whole time. She knows how much I hate them because any time she sees a spider she pre warns me about it. I don't even mind snakes ( of course I am not going to touch them but I won't have a heart attack if one is in my vicinity).

 Well a few things to do inside and out to the greenhouse before afternoon chores. I hope spring is coming for everyone else too and this snow sleet tonight is our last. Happy Spring, toodles!!!

Our latest calves

 

He is sticking his tongue out at me!

  These 2 are our latest calves. The first one is a big guy, I feel sorry for his momma who had to push him out. He is a Brown Swiss/Lineback bull and the second one, just a little guy, is Jersey/Lineback. They won't be with us long though because we don't keep the bulls. I wish they were both heifers because they are both so cute. We have been having bulls or twins lately which is really ok because back in Nov/Dec we had a whole bunch of heifer calves.

 

My grandkids

  Of course every grandma, well in my case Mooma, has to put a picture on of the grandkids! My grandson, Matthew is 4 and his sister, Maci is 1. Matthew actually did not want his picture taken so I did a lot of begging and he agreed. What 4 yr old doesn't like pictures. He posed but would not smile but I kept clicking and begging and he finally smiled but by the 10th pose his sister had had enough and was getting up to leave. So after all that I would say this one turned out pretty good! I will have to tell my son to come to the blog on his phone and show Matthew and maybe he will think that is cool and in the future be willing to be photographed.

Some random events lately

  It was a cooler day today, it seems like we have a warm one the a cold one. So today on this cold day I baked bread and made homemade ravioli. This is my first time making homemade ravioli so not sure if I will like this particular recipe for the pasta part. The pasta seemed to dry out fast and what I cut away from the mold I could not put back through the pasta machine without it falling apart. The ravioli's do look good, I filled them with beef and I froze them and will make them on a day I make homemade sauce and French bread, today I made a loaf of white bread. We  ate at a party today so I didn't have to make dinner so no trying the ravioli today. Can't wait to try them though but I think I will look in to other recipes too.

  We don't usually have to much time for parties but today's was for my husband's sisters birthday. She is going through chemo right now for Stage 3 ovarian cancer so we made sure we made it to this one. She isn't always feeling the greatest so we wanted to get to see her when she was having a better day.

  We also had to have the sheriff here the other night because when I opened my back door  to go out on the porch I could see all the lights in my car and on my side mirrors which happens when you open the door. I backed up shut the door and got my husband to go outside with me. He did have to shut the back door of the car to close it and wanted me to go with him to look around in the sheds and barns but I told him no way was I going with nothing to even hit someone if they pop out of hiding so we went inside and called the sheriff. The sheriff did point out the footprints by the car that went across the driveway ( looking like they ran to hide when I opened the door) and then down the driveway towards the road. I am hoping it was someone that maybe was looking to see if he could get something out of my car or maybe it was someone looking to steal diesel fuel since the tank was right there across the driveway but they weren't able to pump it and decided to look in the car. I am hoping that it was maybe one of these scenario's and not someone looking to come in the house. Unfortunately my son is a little spooked by it and is a little nervous at night now and is constantly looking out the window. I hope this goes away. This upsets me the most, home is where you should feel comfortable and safe and damn the people who want other peoples things for nothing. My husband now wants to get an outside dog and I am against this. I am hoping this doesn't repeat. We did have diesel fuel stolen a couple years ago out of the tractors but never had anyone coming by the house that we knew of.

  Well I think while I am still spunky I will go do some crocheting, I am trying to get a duck pillow done for my granddaughter for Easter.  Toodles for now!

A good day

  The sunshine is out and how nice it is. The chickens wandered out to enjoy some of the rays and I was able to open some barn doors where the calves are and let them enjoy some more sunshine. You can even tell the milk cows are happy for the sun, when we let them out of the barn to milk they turn their noses up to smell the air and go over and stare out into the pasture. Hopefully soon we can let them out as long as it doesn't get too muddy out. I am so happy that now when you look at the forecast there is hope, there is actually a high in the 50's for us coming. There is also the possibility of another snow storm but we have to wait and see but the day after that back in the 40's.

  Today with the some help we got done with the morning milking and made it to church. It has been a few years since we have gone and it was nice to be able to go. We hope we can go every Sunday. When we got home I baked a loaf of bread. The smell of bread baking is one of my most favorite smells. I made this loaf from the book Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day, it was so easy and there is still dough in the frig for 2 more loaves. All I have to do is take it out let it set and rise and pop it in the oven, I haven't tasted it yet this is the first time I made it from this book so I am hoping it all turned out. Homemade bread is so delicious!

  Tonight my son and his family are coming for dinner. It has been a little while since we have all gotten together ( they live about an hour away) and I am excited to see the grandkids. My grandson is 4 and my granddaughter is 1. I am sure my grandson will be excited to see Pop Pop ( I am MooMa) and get a tractor ride. Pop Pop ranks over MooMa in his eyes cause of those tractors ( I don't drive them). If Pop Pop is gone with the tractor then me and my lawn tractor are sufficient enough for a ride. Pop Pop is always the first person he looks for when he gets here. I will have to work on my grand daughter and hopefully she won't choose those tractors too or maybe I will have to learn to drive them. I don't learn now because I figure that is just more jobs I will get to do with the already too many I have now.

  It is really turning out to be a great day and the sunshine helped top it off! Hope yours is great too!

Here we go again

  It was so nice we got about 4 days in the 40's and I was starting to feel a little cheerier. I would stay outside after chores a little longer and do a few extra things. I peeled back the layer of clothing from 5 or 6 layers to 3. I actually had one less load of laundry to do each day cause the guys wore less layers too, I was feeling hopeful! Nope - back to freezing again and snow and  below zero lows predicted again, YUCK!! How much more can we take before we all move south. I bet the cows agree with me and they would probably follow right along in hopes of sunshine and green grass.

  It looks like the beginning of March is going to be nasty. I just hope that in like a lion out like a lamb holds true, I will cross my fingers. Stay warm everyone!

A little daydreaming

                                                                                Then

                                                                              Now

  Just sitting here remembering when the grass was green and the garden was in. I just can't wait to garden and work outside in the yard again. It is going to be in the 40's again today so the snow is starting to melt and I can see spots of grass peeking out ( brown grass of course) but going back down after today. It is so windy today though. At least in the forecast the worst I see so far for lows is in the teens and not any negatives, so that means the glass is half full right? Just hoping and wishing for the time it is full!

Lineback Cows

 

 

  We know someone that cringes every time she comes to our farm and sees our lineback cows. She cannot understand why we would want to milk them, they are a beef breed she says ( they are actually a dual breed). Above is a few pictures of the udders of 3 of our first calf heifer lineback cows who freshened months ago, I think they look good and are very promising ( they could use the iodine washed off them before any more pictures). They also help with the components in our milk, we usually run about a 4.2 butterfat.  My husband fell in love with the first lineback cow we purchased so now with AI and now our own bull we have several of them and so far so good!

Some new calves

  We finally had some new calves, it has been months. The first cow, Boo Boo, had a bull calf and last night when it was below zero Brown Brown freshened. She had her calf just at the end of milking and when the girl who helps us(Alisha) checked on her she was sorta sitting on her calf and she killed it. Poor thing she was probably trying to keep it warm and unknown to us till the morning she had a twin and unfortunately he didn't make it either. It was so cold last night.

  It has been months since I had to milk a cow into the can or even bottle feed a calf. I took a picture of Boo Boo's calf that I was going to post but now when I try to upload my pictures they upload too big. I am not very good with computers so I am not sure what I can do to fix this, #1 son is the one who fixes my glitches and he lives almost an hour away and is busy right now. It really is frustrating me, I need to take a class. It is probably something simple too but like I said it is not my thing.

  Well I hope to be able to do pictures before too long, hope it is warming up for everyone. It is going to be in the forties here in a couple days, can't wait!!! Keep warm- Toodles!

Cow tails to the west?

  I know that everyone hates the weather and have been doing a lot of complaining, myself included but they changed our low tonight from -4 to -15, BLAH!!! I was reading in the farmers alamanac the old myths about the weather and the one said - cow tails pointing to the west the weather is best, cow tails pointing to the east weather is the least. So I was thinking I should get the cows in front of the barn and make them stand with their tails pointing to the west ( I might have to tie them up for that) so then we could have nice weather. What do you think, would it work?

Some homemade snacks

    

 

  I have been trying lately to make the things we like from scratch. That way we can eliminate some of the preservatives and dyes and such. Today I made wheat crackers ( not too bad), granola bars ( pretty good), and caramel corn ( who doesn't love that). I was going to do cheese crackers also but ran out of time.

 

  I had to put in some laundry, wash some eggs, and then it was afternoon calf chores ( I actually have milking off tonight). When I came in it was put together dinner and then I was pooped. I decided take a break and sit a little, relax and catch some of the Olympics until the guys come in for dinner. So off to the Olympics and the couch for me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Some of the girls

I felt that I shouldn't leave them out

 



Reba

 

 



Dog

(She is my favorite)

 

Suzi

(My son's favorite)

 

Nora

(Our Normande heifer)

 

Some of the little girls

 

(Another little one)

 

Miss Chicken

(She isn't with the others because they tried to peck her eye out)

 

Sadie

(Doesn't that look like a I wish it was spring look)



Cows or kids?

   Don't you just love when the cows act like kindergarteners! When we are done milking, the cows leave the milking barn and go up to the free stall barn. I am not usually the one who takes them up but I wasn't busy and I said I would do it. Well they all went in but Hannah. She was determined she was not going in. I chased her from one side to the other, back and forth, back and forth, past the door each time - look at the funny farmer she likes to run. Then Hannah ran into the area where the manure is pushed out from the barn until it can be loaded into the spreader. Into the manure she went and was ready to jump the wall and head for the road. I ran and jumped over the gate and in front of her and headed her off - look the funny farmer likes to jump too. So back she went.
 
   Well the skid steer  is parked up there and of course enough room on each side for a cow.  I went to one side she went to the other, went to that side she went back to the other, back and forth, round and round - I like this funny farmer she likes to play games. Why does she look angry this is fun! At this point the ability of my blood pressure medicine is being tested. I was able to get the attention of the girl that helps us and she came up to assist. Her on one side me on the other. There now Hannah was headed in the right direction and headed to the barn door, good right! Wrong!!!

    The bad cow likes to jump too, right over the gate and out into the pasture ( of course ruining the gate in the process). Now my son has come up to help also. So the helper stays to block the manure and wall and we go out to get her. Bad cow likes to run also, farther and faster then the funny farmers but my son keeps running after her - look this funny farmer likes to run too! All of a sudden she stops, turns around and heads back. Great, she runs past me and me and funny farmer son are able to herd her to the entrance to the barn, We got her now, we got her blocked there is no where to go except to the barn. Wrong again!!!

   Funny farmer bowling- cow = ball, funny farmers = pins. Bad cow turned around and we tried everything but finally got out of the way before she ran us down.  Bad cow on the run again but funny farmer son was determined and a little mad by now and ran after her again, farther this time. When he caught up he would go right and she would go left, side to side, back and forth (this scene looked familiar). I yelled to funny farmer son to never mind, leave her, I hope a bear comes out of hibernation and eats her!! Funny farmer son gives up and funny farmers go in for breakfast. About an hour later funny farmer son goes to check on bad cow and bad cow must of realized it was her breakfast time too and was ready and waiting to come in the barn. By now the other cows ate all the good stuff and only hay left for bad cow.

   In the milking barn we have a gate in front of a door so when it is nice we can open it and let the breeze in but no cows out. Hubby had to take that gate to replace the one bad cow ruined. We would put plastic bags behind that gate, seems I am the only one who knows how to take them to the dumpster but I have been busy so behind the gate for now to keep cows out of them. Well no gate and big pile of bags so when the cows were done and were leaving they would jump in the pile, spread them everywhere and we would go pick them up. More cows done more jumping go pick them up again ( more funny farmer games). Cows watching are thinking don't you love when funny farmers act like kindergarteners! Hannah actually was brave enough to come on my end of the barn to get milked tonight. Hey Hannah how was breakfast? Was that grain yummy? That's right you didn't get any, aww that is awful I feel so bad for you( yeah right!)   I swear if cows could they would cut each others hair, eat paste and stuff marbles up their noses!

  Well this funny farmer has to go take blood pressure medicine and get ready for bed so I can be spunky if we play more funny farmer games tomorrow. Cows love to play in the snow and it looks like we got quite a bit headed our way. Toodles!

Some pictures - The men of the farm

 

 

 

The man of the barn

(not very photogenic)

 

 

The men of the pen

 

 

The man of the heifers (really not photogenic)

 

 

The man of the coop

 

 

He thinks he is man of the house ( the real men of the house were unavailable at the time of picture taking)

 

 

And Sapphire - not a man at all but followed me all around begging me to take her picture! She was very photogenic !!

 

Chores and cooking keep me busy

  Oh this computer is driving me crazy. I don't know if it is my computer or the satellite service but everything is taking forever, so haven't got on here much the last few days. I will have to have son #1 look at it when he visits.

  Well since it was warmer yesterday I was going to go out and take some pictures but plans changed. They finally started combining corn ( so many things went haywire and cause huge delays) and I had to make lunch for the guys. I whipped up egg salad since I always have plenty of eggs, made some homemade potato chips and some orange n cream drop cookies. Once that mess was all away and afternoon calf chores done then I made chicken and slicks ( got that off the cooks country show) and homemade dinner rolls for dinner. After that it was the Syracuse basketball game then bed. So no picture taking, with the computer it might have been a pain to get pictures on anyhow. Hope to soon though.

  I don't watch too much TV but when I do I like sports, cooking shows and one of my favorite shows is Alaska the last frontier. Thank goodness for the dvr so I can watch them on my schedule and not theirs. This week is the Olympics so I will be watching all of them I can and of course tonight is the super bowl. Football is my favorite. Making meatball subs and peanut butter bars for tonight. I love to cook just wish I had more time for it. Making things homemade takes more time then the already prepared food.

  Well a couple of the dry cows look like the might be having little ones sooner then I thought. Maybe I will get a picture of one of them. Well if my computer lets me I am going to read some other blogs then get things around for the game. Toodles!

I am on a roll

  This is my third post in a few days, that is more than I did in the past 2 years. I did miss posting and reading blogs and I have found some new ones I enjoy.

  It is still quite the same on the farm. Cows- still no one looks like they are going to have a calf anytime soon, Pigs- still driving me nuts when I go to feed them. I will get in there with them and move their feeders close to the fence and put their feed in and go back out to dump in their milky water and cause the ground is frozen those buggers have moved the feeders where I can't reach them,UGH! If I had a couple of more hands I could take everything in at once. Chickens- still laying a good amount of eggs, although found one dead chicken today. Poor thing and never the one that pecks at me when I gather the eggs. Barn cats- too many, want some!!! Farmers- cold!!!! and the male ones get a little grumpy, lol.

  Well sat down last night and attempted to get some crocheting done but about 2 minutes in to it eyes got heavy. I fought long and hard (about 2 minutes too) and finally gave in to that horrible thing called sleep. Oh the torture, but sometimes we just have to make some sacrafices now don't we. Unfortunately the football afghan I am working on still only has 2 of the 60 footballs done that are needed for it. Hope the family has good patience it may be awhile.

  The girl who helps us made dinner tonight. She brought chicken patty penne parmesan so no cooking for me. Well I said I would make dessert, whatever she wanted and she requested homemade cinnamon rolls that made my hubby happy. So during the time I would make dinner I watched a couple of cooking shows.

   Well that sleep thing is calling me again. Got to be all bright and bushy eyed for the girls in the morning. Toodles for now.

It's a heat wave - Sorta

Oh I can't stand this cold, single digit highs and below zero lows-PHOOEY! Today I suppose is a heat wave compared to the last week or so, it was 26 for a high, woo hoo! Of course we live on a hill so with the wind chill it didn't always feel 26 but an improvement it was over past days. Unfortunately right back down tomorrow for awhile too but it is cold all over. My husband keeps saying just think it is 1 day closer to spring but when it is -5 when he says that it really doesn't make me feel any warmer. Hope you all are keeping warm as possible.

I actually get 2 night milkings off in a row, tonight and tomorrow. What will I do with myself. Actually I have a million things to do, never a dull moment, but I just wonder where to start. I could do a nap, I have heard about those but never quite get to try them out,lol! No better not, besides I am a light sleeper and people are in and out of the door all the time and it wouldn't work for me.

I did put beef stew on for dinner so I don't have to worry about that. I probably will catch up on some book work and maybe later when the guys are watching tv get out my crocheting.

Well going to do laundry, got to get all those layers done so tomorrow morning I can get all bundled up to go milk the girls. I always tell them I am glad I am not a cow cause I get to go in and snuggle under the covers to sleep and they get the barn. If I had to choose, hanging out with the chickens would be better. Their coop is not to bad when I go in to get the eggs. Well toodles for now, keep warm!!!

Back again!

   I know over a year ago I said I was going to start posting again and only got one done. Well I hope to be better this time.

    It has been busy on the farm. We now are milking about 85 cows about 20 dry cows ( sometimes they dry some off when I am not there and I lose count), and about 20 bred heifers. It has quieted down in the new calf department. From the end of October into the beginning of December we had 30 heifers freshen so there were new little ones all the time and boy was I busy with the bottles. No bottles right now everyone drinks out of a bucket and I am happy. Although we did switch towards the end to the acidified milk replacer and the self feeding nipples and that saved a lot of time. I don't think it will be too much longer though before new calves start again just not as quickly because they will be just from the dry cows right now, the heifers won't freshen till spring.

  I have been doing a lot of make from scratch cooking lately. I usually get Sunday night of from milking and I try to make something new from scratch. I have made homemade mayonnaise, tater tots, ketchup, of course lots of bread, chicken soup, beef stew, soft pretzels, lots of bake goods anything to try to eliminate some of the preservatives and such in premade processed foods. Of course we still have our own milk, beef pork and eggs and when the chickens are past egg laying time the go in the pot for the chicken soup. Some probably need to go now but I do love my chickens so they stay longer then they should.

   I hope to get some pictures on and hope I do get the time to keep posting and of course reading some of my favorite blogs too. Gotta to go check on things, so cold here right now going to make sure things are not frozen and such and told the family I would make homemade mac and cheese for dinner so I better get that going. Toodles!