Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Taking a break~

We took an afternoon to spend time hanging out together!  Here are a few snapshots from our family time!

Fall

Life around here has been busy as usual.  My hubby and son have spent many LONG days taking corn off.  We are down to just about 15 acres left to do!!  But, they decided to take a break for some deer hunting! : )  In the mean time, we have the guys here emptying the manure pits onto the fields and plowing them!  It makes a great fertilizer, and it is a lot cheaper!
We have also done a little remodeling.... No, it isn't on the house.  We have been working on the calf barn!  We ended up tearing down the old milk room, and redid it from the ground up!  We should have it finished up this week so we can move back in!  We just have to do some painting, put up the trim, and the plumbing. It will make it so much nicer mixing milk for the baby calves! 
Around the house we have been finishing up all of the canning and freezing for the fall.  We are down to just the squash and pumpkin left.  I have been kind of waiting to finish them up because I love to decorate with them outside.  We have also had my family come to visit us!!!  We have had a great time!!  The time seems to go by sooooo fast.  We did an early Thanksgiving with them today since they are going to head back home before then.  Blessings~



Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Latest News

Thought we would share our latest news with you.  We are going to be adding to the blessing in our family!  Our new little one should arrive the middle of April! ( I do always end up going overdue though, so it just might end up being a May baby.)

Psalms 127:3  Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.

Other then being sick and tired we are all excited!
Blessings

let's try this again......

As you can see from all my postings.... NOT.  I have been without internet again for the past month.  It has been a busy around here.  We took a family vacation out east!  We were in 5 different states and Canada in the 10 days we were gone.  It was a lot of fun making memories with the children.  We spent time visiting with family and some friends!  We tried to make sure we did a few field trips too.  One of the highlights was the Almanzo Wilder Homestead.  I will try and post some pictures soon!
Upon our return home we have been busy trying to get some more canning done.  We did up apple pie filling, apple sauce, and then today we did up salsa and tomato soup.  It sure smells good in here! 
My hubby has been busy getting things ready to combined corn.  I have a feeling that it will be ready to do before we know it. 

Friday, August 12, 2011

long time no see......

Sorry I haven't posted in soooooo long.....  our Internet hasn't worked at all this last month.  It has been a busy month.  Lets see if I can give a quick summary of it! 
We had an open house for our son who has graduated from high school.  *Pats self on back*  I can't believe that we did it!  It seems like just a few years ago we started teaching him...... then I turned around and he was finishing up his senior year.......  now on to the next phase of life... he is going to take some dairy classes online this fall, along with classes he is staying home and working along side his dad on the farm!

We have spent a lot of time doing straw lately....I even had to drive tractor a lot.  I am so thankful for older girls who could keep things running at home while I was out in the field!  They ended up having to do a lot of the milking so we could get the straw in before the rain. Thankfully that is finished for this year!

After we finished up straw we even took a little time off and went out to the lake!! 
 Blessings~


Friday, June 24, 2011

Finished up 1st cutting...

Thought you might like to see a few pictures of how we do hay around here! 

Ben drove this tractor pulling the chopper and a dump truck...
Then the dump trucks are driven from the field to the bunk and dumped off....
the hay is then pushed up into a pile and  packed down
Elli even got a little ride!
After we took all the hay off we then had to cover the pile with plastic.  The plastic is put on the pile to keep the oxygen and rain out.  It helps keep the haylage from molding!  We hold down the plastic with tires... I guess I will have to post a picture of that later.  I didn't get one on my camera yet.....  Blessing~


Sunday, June 5, 2011

Rain & Spring Planting

This past few weeks have been busy, but what is new!  We have been trying to get the rest of our corn in.  We are down to about 200 acres to go!  Which should go within the next few days.  It is late this year due to all the rain we have had.  We have had a lot of fields under water most of the spring. 
This is what our little creek looked like after one of the rains we had. 
I finally got some of my garden in!  I cheated this year and bought some things already as plants!  And last night I got them all mudded in!  Hopefully I will be able to get more of the garden worked up tomorrow and start getting my seeds in!  I can't remember ever getting it in this late.  I did look for seeds with the shortest number days till mature!  It will be interesting to see how everything turns out~
JUNE is dairy month!  Let's celebrate with a smoothie!  Blessings~

Friday, May 20, 2011

A little peak into our day!

6:20  Alarms went off (it was nice being able to sleep in a little!!)
6:30  Coffee was made and the guys headed out to the barn to start feeding the cows.  Normally it only takes one person, but my hubby's tractor is broke down till tomorrow.  That leaves him using the skid steer to load the feed into the mixer.
Abby headed out to do up her chores too.  She had to feed her veal and gather the eggs.  Then head in to get breakfast started.
7:00  The rest of the girls get up (all but Little Elli!) it is time for them to get their bedrooms cleaned and then head out to the barn to get their chores done.... more calves need feed, goats need feed and milked, and the bunnies get feed.
8:00 Breakfast is ready...... the girls are all in and ready and Ben comes in!  Great!  Called to let Dennis know that breakfast was ready.... you know just in case he lost track of time!!  He was busy helping a cow.... she wasn't feeling the best after freshening. (which is having a calf)  So, as soon as he finished giving her an IV he came in!
9:00 Finally having breakfast and Bible time!
After we finished up breakfast and Bible time it was time to finish up "services" while I cleaned up the kitchen.  (Services are the the jobs that they each have to do around the house!  Jobs or chores just don't sound fun!!  So instead we go by services!!!)
10:10 Leave to head into violin. This morning the girls met their new violin teacher!  She was very nice and looks like she is going to be a great teacher!  While us moms talked with Miss Joanna the children all had a chance to play together!  That is always a highlight of their day!
I couldn't resist taking a picture of these two when I came out!  They are just to cute!!  This is Ezra and Elli! 
12:40 we got home and quickly got some lunch
1:00 time to get going on school!!  Thankfully we are just about done for this year so it doesn't take that long!!! And then it was time to start fixing fences.... after those were finished we needed to build a few more fences for the horses!  We did get one finished, now just a few more to go!!!    
5:30 It is time to go and get the evening chores done.  Which included feeding and milking the goats and feeding the calves.  Oh yeah, and "stretching" the horses!!  LOL or in other words riding! 
While they were all out doing up chores I did a little more housecleaning.  And made dinner! 
7:00  we all enjoyed a meal together of homemade pizza out on the deck!!
7:30 time for dinner dishes, any unfinished chores, and then SHOWERS!!!
8:30 younger girls head to bed!  Followed by anyone else who is wore out after a long day!!

Hope you have all enjoyed a glimpse into our day!  I should get off now to get the little girls into bed!  And hopefully before to much longer my dear hubby gets back in from the barn.  I am not sure what all he had to get finished up after dinner.  Blessings!  

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Fun times!


This is what happens when a 2 year old dresses herself!  She thought she was big stuff!  She went through her drawer to find something to wear because she wanted to go "outside" and momma wouldn't let her with go out with her little WHITE dress on!  Just a little reminder~ we have had over 5 inches of rain this past week......  white and mud just don't go well together!!  "Elli cute now!"  Gotta love it!
In between the rain we have been getting we have been working in the flower beds!!  The ones that aren't under water are looking so nice!  One good thing about all the rain is that our ducks have a lot of places to swim!
Not to mention that the girls have a spot to do mud baths!  Isn't clay good for you!  (They had better make sure they clean up after themselves!)
It is the little things that somehow make each day such a blessing!  Hope you enjoyed a few of the "fun" parts of our life!  Blessings!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Busy day......

Today has been busy with working the fields, putting fertilizer on, and doing lots of running back and forth to the fields~  As I type they are out planting corn!!!!!!!  We are so thankful that the rain has held off!  We are praying for a few more nice days!!
We had two new baby calves born today!!  A boy and a girl!  The girls excitement sure doesn't wear off, even though we have new calves born almost every day!
Here are just a few pictures from around the farm!
Here is one of the new calves

a few of the milking cows enjoying some dinner!

The skid steer coming back from the barn

our new duckling!

and Eliza's new horse CD Jack of Kings
or as called around here SP

Hope you all have enjoyed your day!  I am off to go out and spend some time with the girls and their horses!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Finally Planting!

Here is our rock picking crew!! 
Yes, even Elli "picks" rocks!

Look who got caught taking a break!

This is the tractor working the field!

 And this is the tractor that my hubby is driving!  He is planting the alfalfa with peas and tritucule.  The peas come up quicker then the alfalfa which helps keep the weeds out!  He is hoping to get the field all in yet tonight...... I have a feeling it is going to be a LATE night.  After he plants Ben then goes over the field with another tractor and a huge roller.  The roller helps pack the ground which keeps the moisture in and also smooths the field out as well! 
All part of a days work!  Enjoy your spring!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Egg-less Vanilla Pudding

With a few children with allergies to egg I love finding recipes that don't call for them!  Here is one that is a keeper around here!

Egg-less Vanilla Pudding
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar (can use raw)
3 Tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon butter

Heat milk to scalding.  Stir together sugar and cornstarch.  Gradually add to hot milk.  Stir continually till thickened.  Remove from heat and add in the vanilla and butter.  Stir in till butter melts.  This can be cooled for later by covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating, or can be eaten warm!

This doubles very well!  And in my case I use like 8 cups of milk 2 cups sugar........  It works great with either goats milk or cows!  Hope you enjoy it!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Where do my days go?

     Where do my days go??? They seem to fly by faster then ever anymore.  And I am not sure if that is that I always have a ton to do, or the farm is keeping me busy, or just that I try to fit to much into each day..... oh well, I had better quit wasting time trying to figure it out!!  And try and get the most done I can!
     We finally got into the hay fields today to spread some potash!!  Now we just have to wait till the rest of the ground dries up a little more and we should be able to get the hay field planted and then the corn! 
     Now that all of our goats have freshened we are getting lots of milk everyday!  So, today we needed to use up some milk!  We made cream cheese and mozzarella!  Now we are down to a gallon of goats milk in the fridge!  My girls love it on the days that we make cheese!  Fresh mozzarella is one of their favorites!  With some of the whey we get off the mozzarella cheese we make homemade bread!  So, that was Eliza's job today!  It sure smells great!
     Tonight my hubby and I have a 4-H meeting.  We are both on the Dairy Committee.  Tonight we get to  In just a little over 3 months is the fair!  So far 2 of the kids have gotten their veal calves!  We only need 2 more!  We have been having lots of calves born, but they have been heifers!  (For those of you who might not know what a heifer is.... it is a girl!)  As dairy farmers heifers are a good thing!!  Sorry kids!

Feeding calves!

 Helper!


Farm life isn't all work!  We do have fun! (No, this picture isn't on sideways!)  Abby likes to entertain herself while she is waiting for the switch to finish!
And at least part of the day is spent out with the horses!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Abby's Bread

Abby's Bread

3 Tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
dissolve together, then add:
9 Tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of salt
6 tablespoons of oil
2 2/3 cups warm water
2 eggs
whisk all together and then add
10 cups of flour.
Knead together and then let rise till doubled. (about an hour) Punch down and raise again.  Then divide into 4 loaves and place in greased bread pans to rise. 
Preheat oven to 350 while loaves rise.  When they are doubled in size bake for 35 minutes.  Remove from bread pans and brush the tops with butter!  Enjoy

I think spring is finally here!

The kids have been spending lots of time out doing ground work with the horses!  Even little Elli has been out!  She thinks she is a big girl now!
After she is finished with the ground work she enjoys a nice ride! 

I love spring!  It is neat to see all of the new babies!  This is one of our ducks that is sitting on her nest!  We should have some babies in another week!
With spring here means that all of the older kids are picking out their calves for the fair!  Miranda has her veal all picked out!

as you can see she wants to make sure no one else feeds it!  I think Western is going to be one spoiled calf!!

I just hope she does okay when it is time to have to sell it at the fair.....  last year there were many tears shed over having to sell her calf.

Elli loves being outside with all of the animals!
We spent some more time outside today doing a little more yard work!  It is sure nice having older children who enjoy helping out!  It might just be she knows that if she doesn't help out she may have to go and milk the cows so someone else can come out and help!


.
the rest of the day was spent in the kitchen baking pies, cake, bread, and dinner rolls for dinner tomorrow!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Pedicures anyone?

Today was pedicures, well kind of!!  We had 30 of the cows hoofs trimmed today.  No, they don't get polish, but their "nails" do need cut!  Each of them get pedicures about twice a year.  I could go for a pedicure about now!  Other then keeping cows around for the hoof trimmer we talked with the guys we custom hire to plant our corn.  It is getting to be that time of the year, even if the weather doesn't seem like it!  Looks like things are all squared away and ready as soon as the weather warms up a little and the fields dry out. 
While the guys kept busy around the farm, I took some of the girls to town to do a little grocery shopping.  I also had  to pick up a new drying rack.  Our dryer isn't working, it isn't getting hot.  Looks like it is the heating element.  So, while we wait to get it fixed or go and get a new one I have clothes hanging by the wood stove drying.  I guess I can be glad they we have to wood stove going to help in the drying process!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Horses for little girls!

We have 7 "real" horses around the farm, and lots of "play" horses!  I thought you would like to see some photos of Elli who is 2 playing on her horse!
Elli Riding her Neigh!
oh no, it bucked her off

I think she might need the doctor!
Yes, we hear this everyday......  The only problem is when she is inside playing like this, she then thinks it is fun to go out and ride the BIG horses and try and fall off!  Not so good!  What a fun age!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Cows don't know weekends....

The weekend rolls around and it would be really nice if the cows knew that it was the weekend and would just wait to be milked till at least 10!  But, that isn't the case.....  the alarm goes off at 4:30am.  The cows need to be milked and feed and the baby calves all need feed.  After all the chores were finished Dennis took the older 2 children with him to head out to an auction.  It wasn't the best day to spend outside, but who am I to say!  I don't really care to stand out in the rain!  The day was very profitable for them though!  They ended up purchasing a few things that they needed around the farm, and a few things that they didn't need!  They finished up in time to get back home to do the evening chores.  Everyone in the family has their own chores to do except for Elli who is only 2!  The 2 older girls went out to milk, while Ben feed the older calves, Miranda milked and feed the goats, and Cassi feed all of the baby calves.  Miranda ended up going down to the parlor to help the big girls milk, while Cassi did up the chicken and duck chores.  Everyone finished up so we could all enjoy dinner together as a family.  Sundays we try and spend a few hours relaxing after church and before we head back out to do the afternoon chores!  So, I am off to enjoy my coffee!!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Wow what a busy week!

This past week I didn't know if I was coming or going.....  We finished up Maple Syrup on Monday ending up with a grand total of 91 gallons!  Tuesday was spent  just working on chores around the farm so we could take off on Wednesday!  Wednesday we went up to see my Grandpa and a couple Aunts!  We had a great visit!  It is hard to believe that he is going to be 94 in September and is still doing great!  Thursday found me on the road again.  I had a Dairy Communitactors Meeting in Lansing with Michigan Milk.  While I was away the guys worked on cleaning up the bunk silo's.  That then brings me to today!  Today the guys kept busy doing more spring cleaning around the farm!  Tonight the girls feed calves, and milked the goats while the guys did the evening milking.  Hopefully this next week I will be home little more!  Happy Spring

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Maple Syrup

This has been our 15th year of doing maple syrup!  I can't believe that we have been in the business that long!  Today when we were out gathering and pulling buckets I took a few pictures!  Thought you might like to see some of what goes into making syrup!

 dumping the sap into a tank to take back to the sugar shack!

this is what a tree looks like when it is tapped! 

Look there is sap in here mom!

everyone helps out!
I will try and take some pictures of the main lines and evapator later!