Knolltop Farm Wife

Well, I have to say, someone who reads this blog is a major prayer warrior! Yesterday morning the gutter cleaner worked like a champ. Yes, it needs some repairing, but besides that, it worked really well...it can only be attributed to God answering someone's prayer! More prayer is needed for the Knolltop...please don't stop now...God's on a roll...keep praying for the whole operation...if you don't mind! Unfortunately, other obstacles got in our way of making it to our district meeting...but that is the way it is on a dairy farm. You learn that early on...you may or may not get to where you're going. If you get there, you will probably be late. Of course staying home proved to be very productive...I got all the laundry done...after I de-iced the water lines going into my washer. The laundry room is on a southwest wall and when we get a good stiff wind, no matter what, the lines freeze. So I was up on my washing machine with my handy blow dryer getting them th...

Yesterday with my 40 degree temps, I was chuckling at Mel from Pryorvu and how he posted his chilly temps and how they had to make sure everything was plugged in. I'm laughing no more....it's down right cold this morning. It's 1 degree with 25 mph wind and a -20 windchill. Now that's just not needed in my world. We are on our way to our Holstein district meeting this morning with the neighbor...providing chores go well, the gutter cleaner gods have not been good to us lately. So I may be on my way to Mooville Creamery today or I may not....it's all up to the gutter cleaner. For those of you incline to...PRAY! Gotta go get cold again...it takes about 10 minutes just to put all the clothes on...yes, I'm a baby!

The kids have the day off of school today since it warmed up and then cooled down just enough to ice the roads over. As of this morning we have very little snow...most of the ground is bare and it's very warm...41! I like this! But it's supposed to get cold and nasty tonight. I don't care...I'm just glad to have the kids home. In fact, I found out that in all the craziness of teenagehood, they still are human...sometimes. When I came in last evening early from chores so I could go grocery shopping because I was working on a story most of the day yesterday, JW was standing there in the kitchen. I looked at him and I must have looked really stressed or something...even though I wasn't anymore stressed than any other day. He looked at me, reached out and gave me a big hug and told me he loved me. Wow....I kept waiting to hear the request....the confession...the other shoe to drop....but it didn't. He just wanted to hug me and tell me I was a great mom. No...

Well, I'm glad it's Monday here on the Knolltop . Last weekend was too busy for this family! On Saturday I was privileged to speak to the Michigan Cattlewomen's group at the Michigan Cattlemen's Annual Meeting. Boy did we have fun! After listening to Mark Thomas of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association talk about marketing and then hearing the new director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture speak at a delicious lunch it was the ladies turn to slip away and have some time of encouragement . Although I had heard rumblings of some of the men wanting to join the ladies at our conference, I kept telling them "no!" I guess they thought cattle worming might not be the most thought provoking topic of the day. Who could blame them? So as we all got in our places and were settling in for our afternoon session a man came bursting through the door! Randy H. the auctioneer from Napoleon Livestock...and he's the owner too. He said he wasn't...

We are in answered prayer overload on the Knolltop! Two days ago we had one vehicle and I was praying and asking you to pray for another vehicle so I could get to the Michigan Cattlemen's Conference today. Well, Thursday my parents offered to bring me a vehicle and Friday morning our truck showed up in the driveway with a new transmission! WOW! All I can say is thank you for your prayer and thanks to God for his provision! So that brings me to my next thought...if you people are so good at this prayer thing...I shouldn't be the only one who is beinging prayed for....you should be too! So if you have a prayer request that you want to share with us...let me know. YOu can post it here so we can all read it or you can email it to me and I will keep it confidential if you like. What I'm getting at is that we are seeing God work in our midst and it's exciting....get in on the action! I'm headed to EAst Lansing for the conference....yes you can pray for me!

Last evening, I had the best time with the Monroe County group of farmers and conservationists. There were so many nice people there, I loved visiting with every single one of them. There is just something about a farmer that is so appealing. Maybe it's there great sense of humor or the wild sense of adventure or the fact that they are such risk takers. But I really enjoyed talking with all those folks...especially Delmer Cilley and Herbert Smith. More about them later. I was able to see a few old friends...one of them was Larry See, a man who thinks blogs are for those with nothing else to do. Well, he might not have put it in that context....but I love teasing him. I'm hoping he'll log on today and take a gander at my attempt to educate the world on agriculture and stay connected with folks. Larry is the father of Dr. Todd See, one of my old college friends. Todd and his wife Leslie were on the livestock judging team with me at MSU . Yes, that's where they ...

Okay...God works at lightening speed! My mom called me this morning and offered to bring a truck down to us on their way to Iowa tomorrow. She hadn't read the blog yet so she was being used by God and didn't even know it! Isn't God Great!!!! Thank you to all of you who have been praying today. I so appreciate it. And I just got off the phone with Bill Broadie of the All American Beef Battalion it was a great interview and I'll have more on that tomorrow. This is exciting stuff!

It's another cold cloudy day here on the Knolltop. I think it's about 10 out, but no wind...so that's good. Today I get to interview a guy named Bill Broadie from Kansas. He has started a campaign to get steaks for all of our troops in Iraq. He and a board of directors have begun the Beef Battalion. I'm doing a feature on him and I'm looking forward to interviewing him. When I spoke with him yesterday he was on his way to Ft. Worth to tape an interview with the American Rancher, a show that airs on RFD-TV. I'll let you know how it goes! In the meantime, tonight I speak in Monroe County and anyone who wishes to say a prayer or two for me, I would appreciate it. It seems something really good is going to come out of this and the reason I know this is because I have had a lot of spiritual warfare this week. Now, some of you are thinking..."this woman is really whacked out! What is she talking about....spiritual warfare?" I'm not whacked out, ...

Good Morning from the Knolltop! It's cold here..although I received warm greetings from a dairy farm in New York state....it's still cold here! Hey you guys in the west...send us some warmer weather..I'm tired of winter already! JW's team won last night and so did the varsity team with a half court shot at the buzzer for the win. We beat Jackson Christian and my pastor and his wife sat with us so we were able to enjoy the victory in their company! Oh....did that feel good. They were good sports about it. I was reading a blog yesterday from the North east and they were elated that Pennsylvania reversed their labeling laws and decided it was okay to put rBST free on their milk labels. This is a big step backward, I think. Anything that incinuates that our milk supply....our WHOLE milk supply is less than nutritious or safe is dangerous and wrong. Milk is Milk. But I'm not getting on the bandwagon today....I'll let you do it. Do any of you out there have an opinion...

It's another winter day on the Knolltop . It's cloudy, snow is falling and we're supposed to be getting 2 inches or so. Just enough to cover the ground and make things look pretty. It was actually warmer this morning when we ventured across the road to the barn....it was 22 out. I talked to a dairy farmer yesterday and he asked the obvious question...anything frozen? It's funny how we think about the same things because we are all experiencing the same situations. Trying to keep the cows eating, drinking and milking while weathering the cold temps and wind that can freeze water pipes and drinking bowls quicker than anything. I was on a conference call yesterday with AFACT . This is a group of farmers and industry people who have formed an organization to preserve technology in agriculture. It's name says it all, American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology. AFACT was birthed out of the push from processors for dairy farmers to stop ...

The sun is not shining here on the Knolltop...partly because there is cloud cover, but mostly because the Packers lost yesterday. Jake was so bummed, he wanted to stay home from school....well, that was as good as an excuse as any. I told him I'd send an email to his buddy and fellow Packer fan, Mark Adam extending his condolences. That wasn't much comfort to him. But MSU beating Minnesota kind of took the sting out of the loss....at least one of our teams won. The Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference is coming up in a couple of weeks. Again, this year I've been able to help plan the Partners Program...aka...the women's program. I wrote a column last week inviting everyone to it. I will include it here today..I'm still chuckling...it doesn't happen very often that you laugh at your own writing...what a joy! Along with the Partners Program, I also get to emcee the Thursday night banquet....I get to introduce the guest speaker....guess who? Trent Loos. Y...

Well, it's a very cold morning here on the Knolltop. Although the orange sunrise peeking through the trees in the east was breathtaking....it made for a rough morning in the barn. Things were going fine, until we started the gutter cleaner. With time running short before church we were trying to get done in time. But to no avail, when I saw that there was no way we would get the gutters cleaned and the bedding done before church I told JW to take the kids and pick up the extra passengers and head to church without us. The nice thing is having a son who can drive, before we all would've had to stay home, but now at least half of us can go to church....that made me feel much better as a mom! So now I will do a little baking and just a little cleaning on this really cold, breezy morning here. I think the windchill is down to -15. Not bad if you live in North Dakota the wilds of Manitoba...but we haven't had this kind of cold yet this winter and I'm not adjusted yet! I...

It was down in the single digits this morning on the Knolltop. But the barn was warm. Last night while I milked, Bobby and the boys brought in all the dry cows and heifers and tied them in to the empty stalls in the barn. It was a rodeo as those heifers who haven't been in the barn since they were six months old came in and challenged every barrier there was. But every one of them is now tied in a stall. The amazing thing was the difference they made this morning as we walked into the barn. It was so much warmer in there....I loved it! It will be a rodeo this morning as we let them out to bed the stalls and get them back in...it will be good to have all the kids to help us out! Last night we went and supported the girls basketball team as they lost to Litchfield. After the game we always stay and help the athletic director and his wife...good friends of ours, clean up the trash and fold the chairs and stuff. While we clean Luke and their son, Brad, shoot baskets until we final...

After a cold windy night on the Knolltop, we went to the barn and found everything just as we left it last night. No frozen water lines or anything...now that's a real blessing! This weekend promises to be even colder, so we'll have to button the barn up good and tight tonight. Bobby and JW got home at 11 pm last night with the report of a win for the JV's and a loss for the varsity. JW fouled out...a good night for him. Today they only have a half day of school, so they are excited this morning. I think I'll include a column today... Truth from the Trenches By Melissa Hart Are you ready for some courage? Here’s my courage transplant for the beginning of the year. It was about a year ago and I was complaining out loud about how cold it was outside and I just didn’t want to do my daily walk in the cold. I blurted out, “I need a treadmill!” Realizing it was a buyers market for milk and a sellers market for corn, there was no way I could ever sque...

Good Morning from the Knolltop. It's supposed to be a warm day today and then get cold and windy. Being on a hill in an old farmhouse on a windy day is not a good combination! Sarah redeemed herself and didn't know it. Last night when she came home from AWANA she asked if she could invite one of her friends for next week. Okay...I can breath a sigh of relief. After thinking about it yesterday I realized that she has gone to church her whole life and really can't imagine not going. So I'm sure she is thinking everyone else does too and they just need to go by themselves. Wouldn't it be great to live in such a rosy world? I'm thankful I have a 12 year old who still sees the world through rose colored glasses. I had a nice surprise this morning. With my eggs, ham and toast, I found a jar of peach jam on my jelly shelves. I didn't think I had any left, but I guess I had one more jar of it. And boy was it good on my toast! Bobby is headed to JW's g...

Good morning from the Knolltop! It's sunny here and that helps brighten the spirits! I am still laughing at an episode I had with my daughter Sarah yesterday. I think I will be laughing for a long time. We are members of a church that is about 35 minutes away from here. We've been going there for 14 years now and although we have looked for a church closer to where we live, we always end up back at "home." So needless to say, when we invite people to go to church with us, if they are children we have to take them with us and if they are adults we usually caravan. Over the past year we've had one friend of Luke's go with us and he has been very faithful in going....every Sunday. Now JW has a friend and she's been going with us the past few weeks too. The other day, a few of JW's other friends decided they would like to try this church too. Now we only have a seven passenger van and JW's truck and our truck is in the shop...so needless to say ...

Good frosty morning from the Knolltop . It's still a little snowy here...nothing deep though. Last weekend at the DHIA banquet, Jake and I stood in the buffet line with one of our local vets and we were visiting about stuff. I figured I'd save myself a phone call and I told him I had two cows, standing side by side in the barn, who had D.A.'s (displaced abomasum or twisted stomach's) and I needed him to come by on Monday....not over the weekend, I was too cheap to pay for a weekend call. He looked at me trying to figure out if I was serious or not. I assured him I was and that he or someone else from the practice really needed to come by. He said okay. Monday afternoon the phone rang and it was him...he asked me "Were you really serious about those cows with D.A.'s?" I reassured him that I was totally serious. He said he would be over at about four. When I headed to the barn to milk the doc was out there with his stethoscope listening to the cows ...

Good Monday Morning from the Knolltop! It snowed a little last evening. Yesterday after church, we came home and I decided I would not take Luke to his practice...Bobby wanted to and I didn't feel the need to tag along. Besides someone needed to stay home and get a decent dinner on the table. After they left, I cleaned up around the house and then I did something I rarely get to do....I laid on my bed, covered up with a quilt and watched RFD-TV! I think I was there for about an hour or so, it felt so good to watch a bunch of horse stuff that no one else likes to watch but me. I think it's interesting to hear everyone's perspective on how a horse should be trained. Then I figured I'd better get started on dinner. I made ham, fried potatoes, salad and french bread. While all that was cooking I hopped on my new treadmill for 30 minutes before they got home. That's fun because I listen to one of the kids mp3 players and I love to just hear music going into my ears...

It's been a very busy day here on the Knolltop and it's still going strong. Last evening JW's team beat Burr Oak. After Luke, Jake and I got done doing chores we called one of my girlfriends and we went out to Saucy Dogs BBQ place and had a bite to eat. When we got home, I crawled in bed and Jake and I watched a little TV. It was nice just to lay there and spend time together...Luke was on the phone to his girlfriend... hmmmm .... Anyway, this morning everyone had to get out to do chores so we could take Luke to his AAU basketball tryout in Adrian. JW went to work for Mr. Kiser and Jake had to stay home to go to his basketball practice. Sarah finally came home from her sleepover....exhausted of course. When we got home from Luke's tryout, I took Sarah to her practice, picked up Jake and came home for a short nap. Then I hustled in to get Sarah, got home just in time to slap something on the table for dinner and put in my barn overalls in the dryer and start...

It's overcast here on the Knolltop . I guess we are supposed to get rain off and on today and through the weekend. Bobby will go to JW's game tonight in Burr Oak...a long way from here. And Luke, Jake and I will stay home to do chores. Sarah has a birthday party to attend...so she misses out on chores tonight. Speaking of Sarah...we just got home from seeing her be honored as the Student of the Month in her class. It's pretty neat deal, all the parents of the honored students are invited to the school for donuts and juice and milk and then we listen to what the teacher said about each honoree. This is what Mr. Parks had to say about Sarah: One of the key lifelong guidelines is No-Put Downs. Despite the lame name, it is an important lifelong guideline. Sixth graders are not always known for always being kind and thinking about the feelings of others. It is nice to have a student like Sarah Hart in my room because I know that she will be thinking of others and won...

Yes, I'm a bit late posting this morning. That's because I had to run to town early this morning and get some hydraulic fluid and some other things, then I had to run lunch money into the school for the kids, they were almost down to eating a free PB&J unless I deposited some money in their accounts. Althought how bad can PB&J be? It keeps your sides from caving in. And then when I got home I had to help finish chores, clean up a few breakfast dishes start a load of laundry and pick up before I felt like I could get to the computer. And the first thing I did was respond to some newspaper editors about running my column. I'm trying to get my column in some papers around the midwest and they all claim they don't have room. What I want to say is, you always have room for good material! But I don't. I just send them some samples and pray they like them enough to start running it. A few weeks ago Farmshine finally ran my first column and I got a few resp...

Last night JW's team won again. They were really playing well and JW had 3 fouls....yes, you could say he had an off night. It's a partly sunny morning here with a stiff breeze...no more balmy weather, we're back to winter for a while. It sure was nice to just wear a sweatshirt with no long underwear out to the barn for chores! The mercury light is out in the yard...boy is it strange to walk out of the house and have it so dark outside....we didn't realize how much light that thing casts until it quit working. I wonder if we're the same way, we don't realize how much light we cast on others....hmmmm Better get going...lots to do today!

I just heard a rumble of thunder and I can't believe it. We must have moved to Georgia and I didn't know it. This weather feels just like the south on the few occasions that I've been there during the winter. I like it. Last evening was such a hoot during chores. I told the kids after Christmas break they needed to start working with their show calves. While we were milking I saw JW and Luke get rope halters and drag their June calves out for a walk. What was so funny was that JW has Pami's heifer, Pontoon who is the friendliest of the two calves and Luke has Holly's heifer, Honey. Neither one of these heifers has been worked with, they only get their chin scratched when I get in their pen each day to clean it out. They love having their chin scratched. When the pulled them out to walk down the isle, Pontoon fought it every step of the way while Honey walked along as if Luke had been working with her for months. It was so funny to see JW fighting and pull...

It's a balmy 55 out this morning and it's a good thing because Jake wanted to wear his new Packer's hat to school. Over the weekend, Jake had another big blessing. The farm family up the road are good friends of ours. They are crop farmers and run over a lot of ground. In the fall and spring, Jake gets to "hang" with these folks...he calls it working. Last year, the whole family received Carhart farm coats with their farm name embroidered on the back. Jake was very envious of these jackets and they knew it. They told him they would order one for him...or so Jake said they said they would order one for him. I kept thinking to myself that it was more of a hope of Jake's and not a promise of these nice friends. Well, me of little faith, Jake showed up in the barn Saturday night to do his chores with a brand new dark green Carhart coat that said, " Schoenberger Farms" on the back. I was elated that they thought so much of Jake to buy a farm c...

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...

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 thi...

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'...

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...