Knolltop Farm Wife

It's snowing pretty hard here on the Knolltop. They didn't predict this much snow, but it seems to be piling up at a pretty good rate! It's been a slow week on the sports front. With JW's team all done and baseball not started yet, we are in a lag for games. But tomorrow it will pick up with Jake and Sarah's games and Sarah also has quiz bowl. And tonight our varsity team will play Pittsford in the district finals. It's anybody's guess who will win, it will be a great match up. And yes, I'm in mourning from my Spartans losing last night to Wisconsin. I don't even want to talk about it. I think I'll put one of my columns in today. It was one about auctions, in fact the president of the Michigan Auctioneers Association wanted it to reprint in their magazine. So, I'll post it here for those of you who don't get the Farmers' Advance. Truth from the Trenches By Melissa Hart It can be a useful tool, a fun event, a way to pass time o...

Good Morning from the knolltop. It's cold here, but not as bad as yesterday. I keep seeing 50s on the weather map out in Washington state and I keep thinking it's going to come our way, but we haven't seen it yet! Yes, I'm whining, I want spring to come. This saturday is a big day in the Hart family....actually Bobby's side of the family. The first grandchild is getting married. Bobby's nephew, Brant is getting married to a wonderful gal named Jenny. Now I've never met her, but I'm sure she's every bit as wonderful as her mother-in-law to be has said she is. They will marry this weekend in Kansas City and we of course won't be able to go. But they've promised us lots of pictures and I can't wait. So we will perk along here going to basketball games and quiz bowl and think of Brant and Jenny saying their "I dos" and pledging their love for one another for the rest of their lives. I'd like to be a fly on the wall abou...

It's a cold morning here, 8 degrees out and my feet are cold! I sat by the cornstove this morning to drink my coffee to try to warm up. I'd like to camp out there, but decided that wouldn't be a wise decision....maybe in my golden years I'll be able to sit in a rocking chair by the stove and enjoy the cold winter days on the inside looking out. Yesterday we moved some hay and I had the wonderful priviledge of helping out. I have no idea why I was there, with two strong boys and a husband to handle the situation, I was of little assistance. But I provided comic relief and a good target for snowballs. The hay loading process went like this: Bobby was in the mow throwing them to JW and JW was throwing them to me then I had to put them onto the wagon for Luke to stack. This was great because although my job seemed like the tough job at first turned out to be the easiest because of JW's perfecting of the R.P. roll. So, what's the R.P. roll you ask? Glad you a...

Well, it seemed like spring was trying to come over the weekend, but this morning 5 new inches of snow and the promise of more to come has kept the kids home from school again. I don't think they've got a full week since Christmas break....well that may be an exaggeration. I couldn't help but laugh at the comment that shady knoll left the other day. She commented about the sisterhood we have here on this blog...sorry to leave you guys out....but she is right, there are a number of farm wives who visit here and we all seem to have the same story. I just think that's amazing. Someone said that when you are involved in agriculture you're involved in a huge industry with a very tight knit group of people. I bet everyone of us could go to any state in the nation and have a friend simply because of agriculture. Isn't that fun?! With the kids home, I'm not sure what great projects we'll have today....although digging out a bedroom or two would be a good i...

It was a busy weekend for the crew on the Knolltop that included more basketball than you could shake a stick at...along with trying to keep the farm running too. Saturday we watched Jake's team win and Sarah's team lose. Jake had 10 points, I don't know if Sarah contributed to any of the four points her team scored or not. It was ugly. Just plain ugly. Luke then got to see the other side of the court when he referreed two kids games. He said he would never do it again. A direct quote: "The parents and coaches need to get a life, you just can't make them happy with anything. All they did was yell at us about every call, it was stupid!" I think it was good for Luke to get that experience...it will hopefully give him a different outlook as he heads back to his side of the court. Speaking of his side, we went to Kalamazoo yesterday for his tournament. They played three games and only won one of them. They were short two players, so they only had one sub...

It's sunny here on the Knolltop today. It's been a busy morning having to run to town right after I dropped off the kids kind of ruined my routine. The big plus to that was stopping by the bakery for a dozen donuts. Yes, I'm on a sugar high! JW's team lost last night and it was a heartbreaker for this team that has done so well this year. They reacted as if they hadn't won a game all year. How soon we forget our successes in the face of failure. I've got recess duty today, so I get to go spend time watching kids be kids. That's always a refreshing time. Tomorrow brings more basketball for Jake and Sarah and Luke will play on Sunday. We will all actually be home today for dinner...how nice!

The sun is shining brightly on the Knolltop this morning and it is so nice. When I walked across the road to the barn this morning, the moon was so big and bright it lit up the whole world. Ususally when I enter the barn I have to walk in the dark to get to the light switch, but the moon shone through the windows casting light on the cows faces and it was so cool I just stood there looking at the cows and listening to them rustle around. When I finally got to the lights, I flipped them on and did my usual scan of the barn to make sure everyone is where they should be. A cow was carrying on about something so I thought I'd better just walk to the center isle to have a look and there she was, heifer number five, bright and beautiful and ready to begin her life. Then it was all down hill from there... I went through my normal routine of preparing to milk the cows and figured Bobby would put the calf where she belonged when he got time. But I got impatient and decided to take care...

The wind has calmed down up here on the Knolltop and my washing machine isn't freezing up now. Yes, my washing machine freezes up when we get a good stiff west wind. Have I told you this before? I feel like I have. Anyway, the laundry room is on the southwest corner of the house and if we get a strong, cold wind, I get ice in the water lines...nothing a little time with the blow dryer won't fix. We can mark up another win for JW's team. They killed Burr Oak last night...I think they finally got into the double digits sometime in the fourth quarter. JW had 10 points and four fouls. There was a kid who was giving JW a hard time under the basket and JW gave it right back. The ref called a foul on Dub and told him not to get into trouble, Dub told the ref that the kid was pushing him around and he was getting the fouls called on him. The ref said, look at the score...JW told the ref, just because they are losing doesn't mean I'm gonna let him push me around. N...

Good morning from the Knolltop. It's sunny and windy and cold here this morning. The kids have another day off so my schedule is out of whack. Yesterday morning Bobby and I pulled a calf that was coming backwards...and yes, it was another heifer! Her feet were way down and she was coming butt first. So Bobby had to get in there and manipulate her around so she was at least coming hind feet first. I didn't think she was going to be alive when we delivered her, but when she came sliding out and she shook her head I was elated that indeed this little calf was alive. Last evening I was given a real treat. I popped our popcorn and went into the bedroom where Bobby was watching TV and there was one of my favorite movies on...Gone with the Wind. Is there any better movie? No, I don't think so. I watched it from beginning to end and will pay for it at about 4 pm today when I will have an overwhelming desire to fall asleep. Now about the new ploy by HSUS to aboloish animal a...

Happy Presidents Day! Yesterday felt like spring around here. It was so nice to have a peek at what's to come in just a few weeks! The kids have the day off today so JW is gone with a load of scrap metal. Yes we can now call him an official "scrapper." After he gets back, he and Luke will head to Mr. Kyser's to work for him for most of the day. We have a cow calving at the moment...I wonder if it will be another heifer. If so, we can officially say we've had a heifer explosion! I was talking to another farmer last evening and he asked what we did with our bull calves and I said we just haven't had any lately. He then asked if we were using sexed semen and I said nope, we're just really blessed with lots of heifers. Well, I've got to get back to the barn.....and hand out some jobs for the crew that's left here at home.

Well, we woke to an icy Knolltop this morning. It was treacherous walking across the road this morning to do chores. But when we got there, we had a new baby heifer to greet us. She was up and roaming the barn through milking time until Bobby finally had a chance to put her in her new home. She makes the twins look like dwarfs. Yesterday was a full day of basketball. Let me give you the run down. Jake's team won their game, he had 10 points as he likes to reminds us all. Sarah's team had a strong start but a poor finish, they lost but Sarah had 4 points. Luke left with our friends for Midland, about 2 and a half hours north of here for his tournamnet. They called and gave us updates as they went, he played three games and the won two of them. One of the great things was my brother, sister-in-law and two kids surprised him and showed up at the last game....incidentally, it was the roughest game as Luke accidentally elbowed a kid while he was going up for a layup and too...

Good Morning from the sunny Knolltop! It's pretty, but cold, like 12 degrees cold. We had a very nice evening at home last night. I sat on the loveseat in front of the cornstove eating my caramel corn, reading Farmworld while Sarah chatted away about a story she was writing in english. It was so nice to just sit and listen to her, face to face, listening to all her silliness. Listening about the events in her life and the emotion that goes with it. It's also fun to play dumb so she tells me more...I love that. As I listen to this young lady, I can't help but remember my awkward self at that age. She is a carbon copy of me at 12 years old, only she has cute dimples that I never had but always wanted. I said silly stuff, thought silly stuff and tomorrow was something I just never worried about. Come to think of it, that sounds like me today! Now, about this book that I want to write....I've had all positive feedback except for one. So with that I want to say tha...

It's an overcast morning here, but a nice 25 out! The twin girls are doing well this morning as I reported to inquiring Jake. He and I are the caretakers of the babies, so we report to each other when things aren't quite right. I told him these two little girls will need extra attention...glad to see he's taking it seriously. JW's team won last night and Dub played a lot. He had 6 points, 5 offensive rebounds and 4 fouls. The last two came within 30 seconds of each other....I think they had their eye on him...he is an easy mark. Luke didn't get to the game, he had practice, he starts his second basketball season tomorrow with a tournament in Midland. That's up near the thumb, so if any of us go, it will only be Bobby. Luke's excited...he got his uniform...boy they are nice. They have home and away jersey's, warm ups and practice jerseys....all with their last name on the back. That's impressive to a youngster! Well, I've got to finish up...

It's a sunny morning here on the Knolltop. Happy Valentines Day to everyone! Jake had to make some valentines last night because I forgot to buy any. I told him homemade valentines are way better than store bought, but he didn't believe me. Oh, well, those kids just look at them and throw them in a bag and then the moms chuck them when they get home, so why waste the money? Anyway, Sarah and I stamped some cool stamps on them while he addressed them. Of course being a boy what did he write? "Happy V-Day." Typical boy. And then Sarah decided that wasn't good enough so she started writing in the whole word "Valentine" until Jake threw a fit and demanded that she stop. She did. So then this morning I received a call from the school, it was Jake, he forgot his valentines so I had to run them in and then run to the barn for chores....all that to say this....I'm late in posting today! Yesterday a cow started to calve while we were finishing up for...

It's a beautiful sunny morning here on the Knolltop. And it's supposed to warm up! Yesterday we had a lot of snow and it was just plain cold out...I was so glad to get in by the corn stove last night after all the running of the day. JW and Luke pulled it off yesterday at the district FFA competition. Luke thought his team was awful and wouldn't make it out of districts. Much to his surprise they placed first! Which means they will advance to regional competition in Sand Creek next week. As for JW, well, he told me he thought he did well, but didn't have the time to write his speech because they had mix up in the order. He told me he only had half the time and had to just make it up as he went along. Like I said, he's good under pressure and placed 2nd, so he will go to regional competition as well. If they both place at regionals, they will go on to the state convention and compete there. I'm so proud of them! And thanks for all of you who prayed for t...

Well, the kids had a day off yesterday due to the cold weather and blowing and drifting snow. But they will go back today...it's just cold out there this morning. Last Thursday, JW and Luke were supposed to have their FFA contest, but it was rescheduled because the host school didn't have school that day because of the snow storm. It was rescheduled for yesterday, but was postponed again because of no school. So today is the finally the big day for the FFA contest and it will go rain or shine, blizzard or not. So.....you know what that means....pray for JW today! (Thank you!) Sarah spent the weekend at Grandma's house getting totally spoiled. Between eating out and going to the outlet mall, they hardly had a chance to catch their breath! But I'm not complaining because I was the recipient of some outlet mall purchases....is there anything better than new clothes? Well, I've got some writing to do today....and some phone calls to make....and some thinking I need to d...

It's 0 degrees out this morning and thank goodness the wind has died down because it was brutal all day yesterday. When we went to the barn to milk last night, the milk house was frozen. This morning was much better, but the skidsteer doesn't feel like running too well...it's just too cold! I had a great time at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference. When I left Thursday morning, I left 2 inches of snow to drive into 2 feet of snow. A two hour trip took three and a half. And on the way, I did Rural Route Radio with Trent Loos so that slowed me down...I actually sat in a McDonalds parking lot and did the show and then went the rest of the way to the conference. Trent dogged me about not being able to get there on time....but what doesn't he dog me about? Thursday evening I returned the favor when I introduced him. I said he had come up with a new clothing line for pets called the Loos Wear pet clothing line made from his red shirts....believe it or not, there were a ...

2008 Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference....pictures, words later!

Well, it's icy here on the Knolltop...a real trick walking over to the barn. School in in session and the kids were bummed about that. The only day they really want to go is Friday and that's because it's winter homecoming. JW is singing during half time with the jazz band and one of Luke's best buddies, Brad, is on the homecoming court as the 8th grade representative. I guess he's less than thrilled at having to wear a tux and walk out in front of everyone with a beautiful girl on his arm. Give it a few years...that will change. JW's team beat Tekonsha last evening, JW only had 2 fouls....they came pretty quickly. The varsity lost. Tomorrow night JW and Luke will compete in the FFA District leadership contest. Luke is on a conduct of meetings team, he went to state last year with the team, but this year he said they'll be lucky to make it out of districts. JW will compete in the extemporanious speaking contest. They pick a topic when they get ther...

The kids are at home on the Knolltop....the work list has been given out and they are all heading outside for to complete their jobs. It's so nice to have free labor! It's very foggy here and very warm, in fact I didn't even wear a sock hat to milk this morning...that's how warm it is. Lots to do today...JW still has a game tonight....and I've got some writing to do before I head for Frankenmuth on Thursday. And meals to fix, laundry to do and buy a few groceries. Well, I'll never get any of it done sitting here!

It's an icy morning here on the Knolltop...but the kids still have school. The trees have ice, and there is a crust on the road, but it's not that bad. Did you watch the superbowl last night? Wasn't that a great game? Yes, we sat in the livingroom eating our pizza and hotwings...compliments of our neighbor, she gave us a gift certificate after Jake and Bobby plowed her driveway and shoveled her steps last Friday. So we used it and had a great time eating and watching Eli and company take the wind right out of Tom Brady's sails. You see, Tom Brady is a U of M grad and Plexico Burress is an MSU grad so you now know why we wanted the Giants to win. Plus what mother wouldn't want to see two brothers go to the superbowl in consecutive years and win? It was a great game and we enjoyed every bit of it....yes, especially the commericals. On Saturday, Jake won his game, he had 16 points and Sarah's team lost their game, she had 2 points....they only scored 4. They...

Good Morning from the Knolltop. It's overcast and a balmy 23 degrees out. The temp is supposed to rise into the 30s today and rain and 40 by Monday. So we are out of the cold spell right now....how are you out there in Montana, Pryorvu? It's a basketball Saturday. Sarah and Jake both have games today and Luke gets to ref two of the little kids games today and then Luke has basketball practice tonight...during milking time...he gets out of chores....again. And I bet at some point we will be watching basketball tonight as we munch on our popcorn. Last night, Jake was laying on my bed watching basketball while I was sitting in a nearby chair reading a book. During the game, they had a mic on one of the players so we could hear what they were saying on the bench and during the huddles. Now this was an NBA player. I looked and listened to what he was saying because it was interesting and then Jake said, as serious as he could be, "See mom, now you know what we talk abou...

We are currently under 6 inches of snow with more coming down as I write. And then it's supposed to blow. And then on Monday we are supposed to get rain. What a winter! The kids have the day off, of course. I don't know of another school district that is holding school in southern Michigan. A three day weekend! YEEHAW! Last evening we drove south to Waldron for JW's basketball game and the JV's won, but the varsity lost...in a close one. Waldron has a very good team this year.... it would've been nice to knock them off the top...but the baskets just didn't fall. Yesterday I had a package arrive....my official Red Shirts! Now I can wear my official American's in Agriculture Red Shirt Friday shirt that Trent Loos is always yackin' about on his radio show. Trent was nice enough to donate one for our auction at next week's Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Frankenmuth....for heaven's sake, it's the least he could do when I've ...