Knolltop Farm Wife

It's a cold, breezy, kind of sunny day here on the Knolltop . They say we're in for a snow storm tomorrow...I'll believe it when I see it. JW had a scrimmage last evening and I guess they did well. We didn't get to it simply because it was too early. He loves his new uniform...the warm ups have snaps all down the legs so he can just snap them off and toss them on the sidelines. Kind of reminds me when he was a toddler and all his pants snapped up the inside so I could change his diaper. He used to love to unsnap his pants....I haven't reminded him of that....yet. I've still got to write my column today...yesterday I had other things I was writing. I just got a new writing contract with Farmworld , it's a weekly paper much like the Farmers' Advance that circulates in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and is now moving into Michigan....hence the demand for Michigan writers. My first story will be in next week. The Indonesian kids will come tomorrow and spend th...

Good morning, we are blowing off the hill here on the Knolltop. It's windy and cold...well it wouldn't be too cold if it weren't windy...but anyway...it's cold. Yesterday I spent an interesting day away from the farm at the Michigan Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids. After getting up and doing my calf chores, which was all I had time for, I headed west and 2.5 hours later I was in big G.R. sliding in just in time to drop my coat in the media room and head to the first discussion. It was held at the Amway Grand Hotel....probably the most impressive part of the day was that I could park in a parking structure a block away from the convention center and I didn't have to walk in the cold to get to the hotel...it was all enclosed in a skywalk. Yes, this country girl is easily impressed! I also love escalators and revolving doors, those are just so much fun! Anyway...about the meeting...it was a fun day of visiting with people and taking pictures and listenin...

Yes, that's right, we are still cheering this morning as we celebrate the boys win last night over Jackson Christian and my beloved Pastor Mike. I know I may sound like I'm a bit overboard...that's because I am! The boys beat the Royals 31-26 in a very sloppy game. Our boys didn't look all that great but they kept chipping away and after the first quarter were never behind again. It's very strange for me to listen to a wonderful man preach great sermons Sunday after Sunday and then have a burning desire to beat his team on a Monday night. I guess that's because I've never had a pastor who also coached a team...which is really kind of cool in my book. After the game I took my green North Adams shirt and rubbed it all over Pastor Mike and even offered to get one for him so he could wear it next Sunday to preach in. He declined my offer and we had a great time sparring over the game...all in fun. But the parents of his team didn't see as much humor in o...

It's been a long weekend around here. Not only because of the holiday, but because I must have eaten too much pie or turkey or cranberry relish or something, but I haven't felt well all weekend. But I'm back among the living and ready to head into another busy week. It's another chilly morning here on the Knolltop, actually it snowed last night and is kind of foggy now....very strange weather we're having. Okay, now pardon me while I talk about sports for a few minutes. Tonight Luke's undefeated 8th grade basketball team will take on one of the toughest rivals in the league....Jackson Christian. They are a private school, but then again, you could tell that by the name....anyway....they have a reputation for having a great basketball program. Last year their Varsity team was in the semi finals and beat Redford Covenant Christian...why is that team important? Because Durell Sommers was on that team and Durell is now playing for Michigan State, he promised hi...

It was a chilly 20 degrees this morning when we walked over to milk. My hands stay cold the whole time I milked. That moon was so bright and beautiful this morning, it was amazing how it lit up the whole farm. While others are out shopping this morning, I'm in my nice warm house fixing blueberry pancakes, sausage and perked coffee. After I enjoy that we will all head back out to the barn to finish up chores and wash the rest of the windows on the east side of the barn. Bobby is on a cleaning kick in the barn, last Saturday he and the boys washed the pipeline and swept down cobwebs. He also washed all the windows on the west side of the barn....I think there are 15. Then tomorrow we will curry the cows off and wash tails....we classify in a week and we want the cows to look nice. Yes they will get dirty in a week, but next week we won't have as much washing to do if we take the first few layers of manure off this week. I don't think I'll get much shopping done thi...

It's snowcovered here on the Knolltop. When we went across to the barn this morning we were bucking the wind and snow. I had to move fast to keep warm, but once I got in the barn, the girls kept us warm with all their body heat. A first happened last evening...Jake made his first batch of brownies. He wanted something chocolate and so he decided to make some all by himself. I was looking at all the shopping flyers that came in the mail and I heard SArah and her friend Sidney giving him pointers. When I went out there to check on him, he had all the ingredients dumped in the bowl and was ready to mix. Not your conventional way of making browines...but they were delicious as we enjoyed them at 9:30 pm...not the best time to be partaking in such a treat. Time to go make the breakfast...this morning we'll have biscuits and gravy and blueberry pancakes and bacon. I hope you all have a great thanksgiving!

It's a cool, rainy morning here on the Knolltop. A miserable day to be outside, so Bobby said he's going to put the cows back in for the day so they don't have to spend it outside getting wet. We received our official pictures back of Holly and Hollywood and they are nice. At least I like them, Bobby and Luke say Holly doesn't have enough milk in her udder...and she doesn't....but I still like her. I have one more comment to post from a reader of the blog...Russell Gammon who is currently on a trip to Haiti with his work for the Liberty School for Women, of which I am now a proud owner of one square foot! Here is his comment: You really got me going with your comment regarding spoiled Americans in today's posting! Add spoiled Canucks/Canooks too and at least I know I'm in that number! Today was our first day in Northern Haiti in Cap-Haiti en, a large city. We were once again reminded how grueling life is here and how very, very good so many of us in North A...

This weather is crazy! Yesterday I milked in my long underwear...this morning just a turtleneck and I was warming up fast. It's 54 out and foggy this morning on the Knolltop . I like the fact that we can't change the weather...that's one thing we aren't in control of..although the Al Gore would like us to think we are....with all his global warming rhetoric. Anyway... I made one mention of spoiled Americans and did I get the email. Boy...you people really want to hear about how spoiled you are! Here it goes....after visiting with our friends the Tingleys who are home for a visit from Indonesia, we were awakened to their way of life. We had just a small taste of what it must be like down there. The first tidbit was when their ten year old daughter looked a the bowl of grapes on our table and said, "Mom....look..it's grapes!" She was honestly excited about having grapes because they don't have grapes in Indonesia. As we began to talk, I found out they ...

Good Monday morning from the Knolltop. It's a windy morning...I was chilly milking this morning in the barn. And I'm back to my long underwear...so it's cold, in my book. Recently we've had three first calf heifers freshen and they've all been great to get along with. I'm always a little apprehensive about these gals since they are just learning what it's like to be a cow and the rigors of giving milk twice a day. It's tough business eating all you want and laying around as much as you like and not having to go anywhere to use the restroom. Really the toughest job they have is standing still for about five minutes while we milk them....tough life. One of the heifers is Miranda and she has been a dream. She's giving 90 pounds and she's just two weeks fresh....which is awesome in our book. But she has one problem...she lets her milk down quickly and it doesn't take her long to milk out...BUT when she thinks she's done she just lays d...

It's rainy here on the Knolltop ...and as I write, Ohio State is beating up on Michigan...this day couldn't get any better! Last night we had some friends join us at Luke's game and then come over for some fellowship. First of all, Luke's team won, I think the score was 55 - 11 or something like that. Anyway, we all came back here afterward and had chili, hotdogs , chips and homemade salsa, donuts, carmel corn and cookies. One of the couple's was our Pastor and his wife and the other couple are some friends who used to go to church with us but now live in Indonesia, they are just home for a visit. These folks have three kids who are just a real blessing to be around. Of course one of the reasons I like them is because the oldest daughter is the who I have picked out for Luke. And as it turns out, the second oldest daughter now has her first crush on JW . When they were getting ready to leave, she asked if that "Tall Kid" could come live with them i...

Good Morning from the kind of clear, but cool Knolltop. I'm on an errand frenzy this morning which includes oil filters and groceries...I'm sure you can figure out which stores I'm headed to. We had a very quiet night last evening..no games...no practices....just sitting at home eating popcorn. Although there was some controversy in the barn. Sarah has created a "Who has the cleanest heifer pen" contest between she and Jake. She has drawn up a chart on the white dry erase board in the barn, complete with a key for what all the symbols mean. I had to spend a day just learning the key and what I was supposed to put where. At the end of chores I'm supposed to judge who has the best looking heifer pen. Each of the kids has a heifer pen they have to clean which includes scraping out the front of the pen where there is no bedding and then putting clean shavings on the bedding pack in the back of the pen. It doesn't take very long and when it's done each day ...

Okay...who knows what holiday it is in Michigan today? I'll give you a hint...it involves lots of ammunition....a little shack out in the woods....and adult beverages. Yes, it's opening day of firearm deer season! Rural kids from all over the state have excused absences from school to go deer hunting today...there are probably some school districts up north where everyone takes the day off! When I came across the road to the house this morning at about 7:00 daylight was just breaking and I heard a couple of shots. Honestly, I think some hunters just shoot so they can be the first ones to fire their gun in the morning. In a couple of hours they will all gather back at their deer camp and one at a time they will give every detail of their morning hunt...right down to how many steps they saw a doe take or the exact number of deer they saw and where everyone of them was positioned or exactly what time it was when they heard the first shot...yes, they are very detailed in their...

Good Morning...yes, here on the Knolltop we can see the sun for the second day in a row! Last evening JW, JW's FFA advisor, Mr. Everett and I traveled to Blissfield to a Discussion Meet sponsored by Farm Bureau, specifically for FFA members. JW and I had no idea what he was in for...Mr. E. signed him up and told him he'd pick us up at 5:15 pm. JW got home from basketball practice at 5:10, swapped his basketball clothes for his official FFA outfit and we hopped in the car and headed east. JW's biggest concern was if he was going to get anything to eat before the contest...fitting for a 16 year old boy. We fed him on the way and arrived at the high school. Upon seeing the other contestants studying their notes, JW looked at me with big eyes and said, "I don't have any notes to study...what are they studying? I have no idea what I'm doing!" With my reassuring mom look, I said, "It's okay, this is a learning experience for you this year, we'l...

Good Morning from the Knolltop. Hey...guess what? It's CLEAR! And we can see the sun coming up....and it's beautiful. Having a sister who lives in Montana, I'm reminded that fog and mist are a novelty to them. She has told me she enjoys the few times there is fog out there in that dry, arid country. They're so dry out there, my nephew questions why I hang laundry out on the line because he says it's too humid here for it to dry. Now that's dry country! Does anyone remember the professional bovine photographer Frank Robinson? Yes, I'm sure you haven't forgotten last week's picturing episode...but did anyone know Frank was a comdedian? The combination of someone with a sense of humor behind a camera can be a dangerous thing as you can see here with the "twin behinds" shot of me trying to get Jake's kitten out from under Holly and Dan Carroll trying to get Holly's feet set. You're too funny Franklin! As you can see in the next shot...

Okay...little did I know my pie making abilities would be brought out to the light when I posted this pie thing. Yes, that's what happens when your college roommate reads your blog! Julie I do remember my first solo attempt at making a pie in our Cedar Village apt. It was apple and I think Mick, Brit and Jamie were coming over that night for supper and we were going to study for a test in Farm Systems Management...a class that I needed a lot of help in and only one of these guys was from a farm...oh boy....what great study partners they were....NOT! Anyway...as I remember Brit took a big bite of my wonderful pie and began laboring at chewing this creation...it was like he took a huge spoonful of peanut butter and couldn't get it off the roof of his mouth. It was so funny and I'm laughing as I type this. You see, you have to measure the lard by the water displacement method....I hadn't mastered that little detail....I just filled the cup up with one cup of water and t...

Good Morning from the Knolltop ! It's another rainy, overcast day...but it was warm enough that I didn't have to wear my union suit under my barn clothes...that's a good thing. Yesterday when I mentioned my mom making that unique Shaker Lemon Pie...I left out one minor detail and that is: My mom is the best pie baker in the world! Hands down...don't even tell me about your mom or grandma...they can't compare to the wonderful pies that my mom has made for years. She passed her lard crust recipe down to us girls and we continue to practice and practice to make as good a pie as she can...but to know avail...we come up short every time. So with that said...her making a pie that tasted so bad was not easy to accept and if that same pie were put down in front of me after supper today...I would still take a bite trying to convince myself that it really isn't that bad! I see from the comment from yesterday that Patty can make a pretty good pie...maybe you should bring o...

It's raining on the Knolltop this Sunday morning. What a great day to stay inside and bake! Looking through a magazine last evening while Bobby flipped through channels, (boy is that annoying), I found some recipes using pumpkin and lemon. I think I might try the pumpkin lemon pie...I'm not sure how it will turn out, but it's worth a try. It's can't be near as bad as the shaker lemon pie my mom made one time. It was years ago and Martha Stewart was a new phenomenon on TV. She worked through a recipe for Shaker Lemon Pie and my mom thought it looked good so it must taste just as good. She worked on that pie all afternoon, making sure to follow the recipe just right. It called for so many lemons she thought she might have been reading it wrong. But she forged ahead and when it was all done the pie was beautiful. She brought it to the table with a very accomplished look on her face. We were all looking forward to this new creation and of course we all took a piece. Whe...

It's still overcast here on the Knolltop. The sun peeked out yesterday for a little while and it was a beautiful morning and afternoon before the clouds moved back in. Today I've got to run errands. Usually I like to wait until the weekend to go to town, so the kids can go with me if they want to..it's more fun to take the kids...it's lonely grocery shopping by myself. But today, Sarah is the only eligible shopper because the boys all have to work...and not here. Earlier in the week the neighbor called and said he wanted to reserve JW and Luke for today. They called early because they knew the boys seem to be busy working for someone every weekend and if you don't call early, they're gone. Another guy reserved them for the Friday after Thanksgiving...now that's planning ahead..but this is the same guy that has stopped by at least three different times and couldn't catch a boy at home. Then last night, the grain farmer up the road called to reserve J...

It's been an eventful week...and I'm ready for some slow days. The weather is the same as it's been the last three mornings here on the Knolltop...cool and cloudy. How many different ways can I say that? Several if I sat and thought about it...I guess. We had a new arrival last night as we finished up milking. Charlene was born! I'm going to call her Charlie. Charlie is out of one of our show heifers, Knolltop Outside Carolyn and she is out of a great cow family so I'm very excited that she had a heifer. JW is in a musical this week at school. His first performance was last night and they will put it on again tonight. The play is Once Upon a Mattress and it's funny. JW is a knight and has a couple of songs to sing in it. He's very good...yes, I know I'm his mother...but really he is good. Grandma and Gramps came down for it last night and Grandma said he was good too...yeah, I know that doesn't hold any weight either! I forgot to mention that I was ...

It's the same today as it was yesterday...cool and overcast. I'm now wearing my union suit under my barn clothes in the morning...yes, it's that cold....to me. Yesterday we had a wonderful time picturing Holly and Hollywood. Frank Robinson the photographer and Dan Carroll from Select Sires got here and Frank started scouting out the place to picture. He found his place and then noticed the front porch of the house. He said he thought some pictures there would be fun to take...I said...YES..I think so too! Bobby rolled his eyes. I had washed the girls yesterday morning..yes that was a cold job and even colder for the cows, but beauty has it's price. So they were clipped and ready to go when it was time for the pictures. Frank and Dan had a few finishing touches to put on the ladies and they were ready for their glamour shots. The kids got home just in time to help out. Luke got to hold the cows, Bobby and I were at each shoulder, Jake was at the tail, Dan was the noisema...

It's a cool and cloudy this morning on the Knolltop. The milking is done and the kids are in school but we've got a big day ahead of us. Yesterday morning Bobby began thinking out loud. He wondered if Frank Robinson...the Bovine Beautician would be around any time soon so we could get Holly pictured again. I emailed Frank and sure enough he said he could be here today at 3 pm. So today at 3 we will be picturing Holly and her daughter Hollywood. Holly was on her way home from Louisville yesterday and her ride took her to northern Indiana to Heath Penick's farm. So Lori, from Knolltop Morgans and I hopped in the truck and headed down to pick her up. It was perfect timing...we pulled in the driveway and they pulled in right after us. Holly was so glad to get off that trailer...but she had to hop on another one to ride home. When we got home she gladly hopped off again, headed to her stall and dove into the feed that was in the manger. The good thing about picturing today is th...

SNOW! It's spitting snow here on the Knolltop ...we're just not ready for that yet! Well the boys made it home last night and we're glad of it. I can breath a sigh of relief knowing the whole farm isn't on my shoulders anymore. I can handle the cooking, cleaning, laundry, calf feeding, pen cleaning, milking and writing..but don't give me all the feeding, cleaning, grinding and manure hauling. I just don't like having it all fall on me. I think of Mary Lou Topp in Ohio and when her husband died a premature death, the farm responsiblities fell on her and her boys. She took over that farm because her boys wanted to keep farming and together they've made it work and have been mighty successful at it. I admire her, especially after a three day stint of being alone but I don't want that load! Another lesson to be learned for anyone involved in showing livestock. When Bobby got home last night and began to describe every detail of the show he said in Holly...

Well, it's over....and we did pretty well. We were all gathered around the computer...me and my mom a little ways down the road was Lori from Knolltop Morgans, Nana in Griffin, GA, Aunt Carole in Flower Mound, TX and Aunt Ginny and Tommy in Joliet, MT. We needed a conference phone line for all the chatting we did while Luke was in the ring with Holly. "Do you see her yet?....yes, she just entered the ring...no, not that one...yes, the big white cow..does Luke have a white shirt on or a blue shirt?....Oh my doesn't he look grown up...oh my isn't he cute....Oh my she looks the best I've seen her look...Oh my well there's no doubt about it, if Holly doesn't win then that judge doesn't know what he's doing.....uh...Holly..don't put your head down....stand still Holly....Oh Luke don't let her do that....that doggone Holly....I bet she hasn't acted like that in a month of Sundays....she's being pulled in...she's in third...no fourth...

It's a breezy cool morning here on the Knolltop . The cows are milked and the kids are off to school. I went over and plugged the tractor in this morning on my way in from chores. The other morning it was a bit hard to start so I thought it might need a little warming up this morning. I just talked with Bobby, he's all ready for the show...and it turns out the cows will show first so Holly will be in a little earlier than I expected. She will be in the ring at about 12:30 or 1: oo pm..we're guessing....if you want to see Holly live and in person...well kind of....go to http://www.livestockexpo.org/index.htm and click on Freedom Hall East Ring, then after a minute or so, it will show up and you can watch too! Of course those of you who think I'm about as silly as I could be about a cow showing at a national show, you are probably thinking I'm out of my tree about all of this...but this is what breeding purebred cattle is all about. You breed for a good one and when...

It's been a perfect Sunday here on the Knolltop. Since we had to set our clocks back last night I don't have a clue what time it really is anymore. When I went to bed, I just left my clock alone and turned the alarm on and got up when it went off and milked the cows when I thought I was supposed to. I hate the time change... I want it to just stay the same all the time. We were able to get to church...on time....and then afterwards, because a third of us were not here, we stopped and had brunch at Bob Evans and then did a little shopping at TSC...Jake bought a tractor....and then came home to a nice quiet nap! That constitutes a perfect Sunday...church then dinner out then a nap! JW worked for the neighbor all day today and got home just in time to milk with me. The report from down south was different. I recieved this email from Russell, I just had to share it with you. Remember, he's in Louisville at the show and it sounds like they are having a whale of a time down there...

It's another sunny morning here on the Knolltop. We've had such beautiful weather and it was nice yesterday for the international delegation that stopped in. We had such a great visit as Patrick Buckley and Jason Hayes from Austrailia and Russell from Canada stopped in for some iced tea, sweetrolls and lots of story telling. Bobby had a captive audience as he spun his stories of his days on the road fitting cattle and they willingly listened to every word. While Russell knew every cow Bobby rattled off, (two peas in a pod--they know pedigrees back to the beginning of time) Jason and Patrick didn't even have the first clue who Charity was...but they knew some of the contemporary cows so they could add to some of the conversation. We talked, ate, looked at the cows and then of course they demanded that I bring out the "A" to get their picture taken with it. I finally gave in and had Luke go get the little beauty. No, not really, I had Luke go get the tractor so I ...

Good Morning from the Knolltop! It's a typical clear cool fall morning here with the sun just coming up over the horizon and there is frost on the windshield of the tractor sitting out in the field behind the house hooked up to the grain cart that is full of that gold stuff that is now worth more money than it's been in a long, long time. Today is an exciting and busy day because we are hosting an international delegation here on the Knolltop. Yes, there will be people from Austrailia and Canada coming to the farm today to see the herd. They are due to arrive after lunch and I will have a buffet of cheese and crackers, apples and apple dip, grapes, fresh, hot sweetrolls and of course milk, iced tea and coffee. This all sounds so exicting doesn't it? It sounds like something that would happen at Arethusa Farm in Connecticut or Mohrfields in Ohio on a regular basis, but really I have to come clean. Jerseyboy, aka Russell Gammon, the executive secretary of Jersey Canada an...

It's a cool clear morning on the Knolltop and at 5:30 am, Holly was being milked and then was loaded onto the trailer and was headed to Hardy's to be loaded onto another trailer to head south. By now, she should be somewhere in Indiana and her crew awaits her in Kentucky. I told you before I wouldn't believe she was going to Louisville until I saw her on a trailer headed south and now she is! For those of you who have never shown a cow, this all sounds like "udder" foolishness, (couldn't resist) I know. But Holly is very special to us here on the Knolltop and wherever she ends up this weekend, on the top(highly doubtful) or on the bottom(I hope not) she will still be the same special cow when she returns home safely. Bobby, Luke and Brad will head out early Saturday morning and will stay there until after the she shows on Monday. The show starts at 11:30 am and I was told by Lori of Knolltop Morgans that you can watch the show on the North American Interna...