Knolltop Farm Wife

Okay, now I'm convinced that I need to start a prayer blog...in all my spare time, that's what I'll do! All you prayer warriors out there must have prayed up a storm because I just got an update on the Kansas lady and apparently she's had a 100% turn around. This morning she is back to her old self, demanding as ever and she doesn't even remember yesterday. So thanks to your prayers, God's grace and modern medicine....this 90 something wonder woman is doing splendidly! Keep praying for the other lady with back trouble. She will see a doctor today to see what the next step is. In the mean time, I've been out with the kids working with the show string, I'm a complete mess and ready for a nap. We were up late last night going to a football game and then out for ice cream with some friends. WE have no business gallivanting around like until 11 pm! The real excitement began when we got home and Jake came running downstairs screaming about the bat flying...

Okay, while I realize this is a farm blog and I should start my own prayer blog.....you all are really good a praying....so I have a couple more requests that need your attention. One lady in Kansas in ICU with pnemonia complications needs prayer. She was doing fine, but then went downhill, she's quite elderly. And another lady in Michigan with back trouble who is going to see a doctor tomorrow about an on going condition. Please pray for these two ladies. And as I'm updated, I'll update YOU!

It was a beautiful evening for the opening football game last night. It's too bad the ending of the game wasn't as beautiful for our team as the weather. Luke's team lost 31-0. What's worse is his team is mainly made up of Freshmen who were undefeated as 8th graders last year. So these boys were a bit disillusioned when they walked off the field wondering to themselves, "What happened?" Luke played fullback and tight end and then the third quarter he was the quarterback. He said his ankle felt fine...of course under 18 layers of tape....it couldn't move! JW was the go to guy for me. Bobby left the barn early to work the chains for the game and JW stayed home and finished up chores so I could get to the game on time. It's so nice to have an extra hand so I don't have to miss out. The kids are out working with their heifers, Luke has gone to bale hay and JW went school shopping. Today is a writing day......that's why I'm not out help...

Good Morning from another cool Knolltop. It took me half way through the heifer chores to take off my sweatshirt...that's a cool morning! Yesterday I said we would travel down memory lane....so here we go. While JW was on a judging trip in Ohio, they stopped at Brookview Farms where Bobby used to be the herd manager. They walked in and Eric Havens greeted them and apparently took one look at JW and said, "You're Bobby's son!" They visited for a bit and then Eric disappeared and came back with several pictures of cows they had bred over the years and all of them had Bobby and the halter. He thought JW would enjoy bringing them home to Bobby and then listening to a story about each cow. And that's what happened. JW walked in the door and immediately took the pictures to his dad and they looked them all over. Here are a few of them. This is Brookview Brightstar Hattie. I don't remember her story...but look at how skinny Bobby is! And this is Brookview Kit ...

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers for Sara! She emailed me this morning and said things went so well yesterday with their situation it left people scratching their heads wondering how it all happened. Well those weren't her words, but that's what she described! So things have calmed down a bit, but she still needs prayer. God is so good to us! I have to comment about the wonderful breakfast I just had. After I cooked the bacon on the griddle, I poured some pecan pancakes on and they just fried up so crispy and nice. Oh my, pancakes cooked in bacon grease is so unhealthy, but oh.... sooooo goooood ! And wasn't I just saying yesterday how fat I was? I guess I'd better walk more! Okay, this is what I want to ask today. Where on this blog does it state or even slightly imply that we have an organic dairy? Do I sound like an organic producer? Do I look like an organic farmer? Do I act like one? No, I don't think I look, act, or sound like an ...

Hey everyone, Sara in Missouri needs some prayer today....actually lots of prayer. She is facing a very difficult situation and needs a miracle. I don't want to get into details, but I'll let you know how God answers when she let's me know. In the meantime, please pray for her! Thanks!!!

It's a clear cool, almost fallish day here on the Knolltop. The sun is shining and it's only about 60 out. I've finally got tomatoes! I picked a few yesterday and put some in our stir fry, along with the cauliflower I picked and some potatoes I dug. It's so much fun to eat a dinner made almost completely of things you grew in the garden. This morning we had a surprise in the pasture. A calf was born from a cow that wasn't due for a few more days. She didn't even look like she was close to calving, but she did and I don't even know what it is yet. I'll find out when we head out to wash and work with the show string. It's time to get back into the groove of working with the heifers again. And this year we are taking a couple of cows to the fair as well. Sarah's 4-H project will freshen in the beginning of September and she wants to take her in the worst way. So I said, if we take one cow we might as well take two! So we'll have right...

Good Friday morning from the Knolltop. Bobby and Jake are off to a cow sale. Bobby wanted Jake to go in the worse way, I'm not sure why....maybe because Jake talks non-stop and if Bobby gets the least bit drowsy Jake will keep him alert. He even called from the gas station in town to see if Jake was up yet and if he wanted to go. So Jake got around in the time it takes to get from town to the farm and they are off to drive north to a sale. He's already called twice with instructions for me. Did anyone see the comments from Pryorvu the other day? Oh my heavens....he makes me sick! With all the canning, preserving and freezing he's doing...and I haven't even gotten into full harvest yet with my garden! The worst part of it is, he lives in Montana...in the hills....where they get no rain! I'm sure he irrigates his garden.....FROM A RAIN BARREL! Here we are in the midwest with lush green surroundings, plenty of water at our disposal and I can't even come ...

It's another picture perfect day here on the Knolltop. Although we need rain, it's been a summer to remember. Yesterday I had the chance to be on Rural Route Radio with Trent Loos and Kyle Bauer again. It's so much fun when I get that chance to be on with those two jokers. Although yesterday I was the resident dairy expert and those of you who know me well....know that's a stretch! We can talk about kids, farms, farm families, communication issues consumer trends or anything else relating to humans but don't ask me to sound intelligent about drug companies, land grant university research and dollars and cents relating to it. And that's what I had to do yesterday. Boy was it difficult. If you listen, you'll hear more of Kyle and Trent than me because no matter how I tried to wrap my brain around GMOs and research and the economic impact and public perception of those, I just couldn't do it! It's always good to be challenge and no matter how I me...

I've got to share a God moment with you! Remember back a couple of weeks when I was complaining about not getting my rocking chair at TSC? I was waiting until the price dropped one more time and then I was going to snatch it up! But much to my dismay, my rocking chair was snatched up by another bargain hunter. I distinctly remember thinking that if I didn't get that rocking chair, God had another one in mind that was better and most likely because God knows I like my stuff for free(remember the treadmill?)....it would be free. Yesterday I was at a lady's home and she was preparing to move into a smaller apartment. She's a matriarch of a family in our church and she has to be as old as Moses! And she's still has it together and was a pretty as a picture when I walked into her home! Anyway, when I went into the room where I was picking up some things she had offered me, I saw this rocking chair. It was the rocking chair of my past... the rocking chair that sat ...

Where has the summer gone? We are talking about going back to school already! It seems like they just got out! I've been busy this morning running errands and now I've got to stay home and do some laundry....it's piling up and there is a limit to how many packages of new socks I'm allowed to get before I have to start washing them. :) Luke is gone to Archbold, Ohio with Mr. Kyser to look at farm equipment, JW is gone to see a friend and then will spend the night as Grandmas and head out on a three day judging trip to Ohio and the rest of us are just staying home to play catch up. It seems like all I've done is run around! Yesterday the neighbor and I had a meeting and then we stopped at the horse stable where three of her horses are in training. I love horse stables...they are a bevy of activity with so many people riding and grooming and doing......stuff. One of her foals is not good enough for the big show and will come back home, the other baby will be tra...

Good Monday Morning from the sunny Knolltop! Let me start off with the bad news....Luke sprained his ankle Friday evening at football practice. He came home shuddering in pain and I gave him some pain medication and put him on the couch for the night. Laying there wondering if it was broken, thoughts raced through my mind, "Should I take him to ER right now? What if it's broken? My baby can't lay on the couch with a broken ankle all night...I've never seen him in so much pain." The next morning he was so much better and my mind was put to rest. I let him relax for the day babying him as much as he would let me. People called to see if he was okay and everyone reassured me it was just a sprain. But in the back of my mind I couldn't erase the thought of it being broken and him suffering through it. So I finally took him into Urgent care last evening and after an X-ray we found it was just a sprain and we left the hospital with him toddling around on cru...

It's another beautiful morning here on the Knolltop where we are off to a busy start. I feel like I've been enslaved to this computer for the whole week but then again, when you make part of your living as a writer...I guess you can expect that. It's just not always where I want to spend all of my time on a 75 degree day. Let's all whine for me now...really, I should be so happy that I work from home and don't have to drive anywhere! In yesterday's post I mentioned the lemonade stand by the young Kietzman entrepreneurs and I said they were Joel's daughters.....leaving out any mention of the one who gave birth to them, fed them, got up multiple times to feed them in the wee hours of the morning and who's body will never, ever be the same again after birthing three daughters (not that she looked bad, she's just a little thing who doesn't even look like she's had one kid much less three ...darn her!). Anyway, Melissa Kietzman was the wonderful, ...

A sure sign of summer time is a lemonade stand. While touring dairy farms in Wisconsin, we went to Jacksons where these precious little girls had a stand all set up, waiting for thirsty customers. The two oldest daughters of well known cattle fitter, Joel Kietzman, who happen to also be the granddaughters of the Jacksons, had set up the stand at their grandparents farm and little did they know the visitors who happened to stop in to look at the cows would also be their best customers of the day. When we got done looking at the cows we headed for a tall glass of ice cold lemonade....okay, it was a short plastic cup, but it was cold and good. Besides, as cute as these little girls were, it could've been warm and tart and the men would've chugged it down and asked for more. What a great memory for these girls to have been at their grandparents farm with a successful lemonade stand. They may never sell another sip of the cold drink, but they will forever think back to the fond memo...

Good Morning from the cloudy Knolltop! We're headed for Ohio today so Bobby can judge another show. It should be a fun day with the kids and I think I'll try to scrape up a story or two for the paper. I really should stay home and put up the bushel of peaches on my front porch that Lori, from Knolltop Morgans brought home from her vacation. It seems she goes on vacation every year and brings home work for me....how does that work? :) I have a new site for all of you to go to, it's a blog of blogs. That's right, a blog that lists farm blogs on the internet. You need to check it out. My blog was recommended to be listed on his site so now I'm there! The link is www.farmblogs.blogspot.com and it should be a fun place to surf! For the first time in my life, I fried Okra yesterday and I can now claim victory in this area of southern cooking. The first time I tried to grow it was the first year we were married and I waited too long to pick it. It was big and tough an...

Good sunny morning from the Knolltop! I'm sad today, football practice has started and that means the kids will be headed back to school and it seems like I just got them home! I hate these short summers! Luke had practice last night from 4-8...yes I agree, a little excessive, but then again, I think everything with high school football is a little excessive, but I"m not getting on that soapbox this morning! Anyway, Luke didn't play last year in Junior High, so he missed a year and is now back out on the gridiron. And his first practice they put him in as quarterback. Now, that makes sense to me because he's got the smarts for a quarterback and the arm for a quarterback. But I'm sure the parent's who's kids have played that position in the last couple of years don't agree with that move....it should prove to be an interesting season. Now, on to the topic I've been waiting to write about and this might have to be my column for next week. But.....las...

It was another busy weekend here on the Knolltop. On Saturday North Adams had it's Heritage Day celebration. The parade started at 10 am and yes, I proudly drove my John Deere A down town through the cheering crowds who gathered on the sides of main street just to see my "A" make it's Heritage Day debut......NOT! I did drive it in the parade, but I was the only one who was impressed with my old iron that went "Putt, Putt, Putt." The boys want to restore it....I really don't care, I like it just how it is....operational.....paint is optional. Which is more than I can say for Luke's tractor. You know the one, that always beats me in road races? Well, his old Farmall was sitting home that day because he couldn't get it started. Even though he always brags about how much nicer and faster his tractor is than mine, I still felt badly because he couldn't take it in the parade. But Mr. Kyser came to the rescue and by the end of the day it was runnin...

We were off to another cow sale only this one was closer and had more surprises. But before I go there, I'd better identify the cute chick hugging my husband in yesterday's post. That cutie is Katrina Nunes , Matt and Mandy's second oldest girl. And when I told her and Bobby to get closer she reacted with hugging him, which gave Bobby quite a surprise. Being the southern gentleman he is, he would never touch another lady even if he were invited. I thought it was quite funny! So on to the sale. We went to Graf's in Dansville yesterday and thought it would be a small purebred sale with a few cows flying under the radar. Bobby was sure he might find a bargain or two and had his eye on a couple of the better cows if they went cheap enough. Everyone else had the same idea and there wasn't a bargain in the bunch! It was a tremendous sale which was great for the Graf family. There were buyers from all over the Midwest and even Arlin Buttke from North Carolina showed u...

Good Morning from a sunny, cool Knolltop! It's a beautiful morning and going to be a great day! So I lied yesterday, I didn't post any pictures. To tell you the truth, after I went through the day, I came in from chores and almost.....I said almost....didn't go with Bobby and Jake to get ice cream because I was too tired. But, I managed to drag myself to the van and ride along for a scoop of Moose Tracks. Really, I don't think I could ever be too tired for ice cream. When I got home, I fixed the coffee for the morning, prayed with my kids and said "Goodnight!" It was 8:30 pm when I fell into bed and it was a great feeling. Now for a few pictures. I will just put a few in today and save some for tomorrow. Bobby and his buddy Matt Nunes took time out to pose for me....they were on to important business! And of course who wouldn't recognize that "Hostess with the mostest" Dallas Burton from Kansas. And finally, Dallas' partner in crime, Ed Felle...

Good Morning from the Knolltop! We've been gone for a couple of days and arrived home last night....no actually this morning just in time for an hour nap and then we were back up to milk the cows. It was a great trip and I've got lots of pictures and stuff to say, but since I'm running on one hour of sleep, I'm going back to bed for a short nap! I'll post pictures and news later today! But I'll just say we had a great time with the Nunes family and touring farms in Wisconsin. And the kids and Grandma did a great job taking care of our livelihood back home on the Knolltop!

Greetings from Wisconsin! I'm sitting in the kitchen of Matt and Mandy Nunes in Wisconsin waiting for breakfast. Yes, we actually left our farm, together, Bobby and I, and have been gone for 24 hours. We haven't done this in 10 years. I can't tell you how much fun this is....when I'm not worrying about what's happening at home! My mom was nice enough to come stay with the kids and they are taking care of the home place. As of last evening they were doing fine. I guess the proof is in the pudding and we'll find out just how often we'll be able to get away when we get back home. In the mean time we will be touring around today and tomorrow we will attend the Summer Event Sale at Fall Creek hosted by Our Favorite Holsteins.

Today is a big day for JW. Seventeen short years ago, he was born after what seemed like a week of labor, well, actually only 18 hours. In Goshen, Indiana our first son was born and I thought he was the greatest thing since.....anything! He was just the greatest! I'll never forget getting him home and not having a clue about being a mom....it wasn't as automatic as I thought it would be. Now that baby is 17! I don't feel 17 years older....but the wrinkles and grey strands give me away! Happy Birthday JW! The female fitter yesterday stumped you all! I had no winning guesses yesterday for our "Name the Fitter" contest. So now I've got to give you the answer....her nick name is "Ace"! Her real name is Kristy Johnson from Minnesota and she did a whoppin' good job for Bruce Rendon and Craig Martin fitting up their huge Jersey string. I watched her haul cow after cow after cow back and forth to the wash rack! Now for today's contestant on "Nam...