Knolltop Farm Wife

It's a calm morning here on the Knolltop. The weather is normal, not too hot, not too cold...just right. We had basketball games last night. While Sarah and I stayed home and milked, Bobby went to Luke's game and they lost in double overtime....what a bummer. Luke was so disgusted, but soon got over it. JW's team lost big to Hillsdale, a much bigger school than North Adams. JW played a good game though. Three fouls.....that's par for him. My brother, sister in law and two nephews make the trip down for both games, that was so nice for them to come. I told my brother it was a real sacrifice for an athletic director to spend his vacation time sitting in bleachers watching basketball! He replied that it was very different because he was watching his nephews and he didn't have to deal with any problems...he could just watch the game. It was fun to sit and visit with them and to listen to my nephews jabber about stuff. Today they both have games and I think I...

It's a beautiful sunny morning here on the Knolltop. Cold, but sunny! After we had ice on Friday, it warmed up into the 50s on Saturday and all the snow and ice melted! Now we're back to bare ground and that's just fine with me. Yesterday we celebrated Christmas with my family at my brother's home. My sister-in-law is the hostesses of all hostesses. Yes her house is decorated so beautifully, she is clever with everything she does and the food on the buffet was not only delicious it was presented beautifully as well. But the thing that makes here the best hostess??? We started with snacks and dessert first and then she brought out the stuff that was slightly good for us! I loved it! So we loaded up on cheesecake, pumpkin pie and sweetrolls and then ate the ham and shrimp....oh it was good! Basketball tournaments for the next two days...better get busy!

Here's what built up on our van since 6:30 am this morning. After morning chores, Luke decided to put on his hockey skates and play hockey on the road. JW has no skates, so he just slides around trying to trip Luke up.

There is ice on the window here in my office. It's an ice storm at the moment...but we will soon have rain and I'm hearing it will be in the sixties tomorrow! This is very strange weather we're having on the Knolltop. Yesterday was a very unusual Christmas for the Knolltop. Usually we get our chores done in a hurry so we can celebrate the day. Not yesterday. The main pipe from the well pit to the barn sprung a leak late Christmas Eve. They let it leak in the barn so the cows could have a drink and then shut the water off while they made preparations to fix it Christmas morning. One call to our farm savior, the neighbor Mr. Mike from Knolltop Morgans, also the resident electrician and Jack of all Trades, had just the part we needed to make another part for the pipe. Interrupting his Christmas morning wasn't in either of our plans but with the cows without water Christmas had to wait on the Knolltop. Late morning Mr. Mike, Bobby, JW and Luke finally got the pipe fixed and...

Picture of the day: Here is our Christmas "Bush" that JW dropped out of the truck twice while bringing it home. Like all Christmas trees, once it's decorated and lit up...it's just as nice as any other tree. The weather was nasty the day they brought it in for me. The weather is vastly different on the Knolltop this Christmas Eve. It's now raining and the road is a sheet of wet ice. Yesterday was a marathon shopping day for me. After getting in from morning chores I cleaned up and the kids and I headed to the mall for a 90 minutes of power shopping. The traffic was thick but we got home in time to dash back out to the barn and milk. While we milked a first calf heifer gave us another bull. After chores we headed back into town for one last round of shopping and when I got home I could finally say I was done Christmas shopping. Today is filled with baking and wrapping....after choring!

Same weather...different day....again. But there is something exciting and different about today! This morning we went out to do chores and while I was going behind the cows pulling down the manure on the platform I caught Bobby coming in the barn with the wheelbarrow. This was out of the ordinary for his morning routine, but I continued to work. A few minutes later he walked back to the springer pen with a rope halter. At that moment, I knew a cow was either calving or had already delivered. I continued with my routine until I came to an empty stall and there I saw a newborn calf. Of course, I immediately checked to see if it was a bull or a heifer and to my surprise it was a heifer! My mind started racing about who it was. Was it Blanche's Goldwyn calf? No, I looked at her yesterday, she didn't look that close to having a calf, it must have been one of the first calf heifers. Quickening my pace caused by my excitment of curiosity, I walked back to the springer pen. ...

Same weather just a different day here on the Knolltop. The wind is from the west so now the west side of the barn is frozen....well it was last night when we went to milk. Jake was a trooper with helping thaw water bowls. He stayed out there the whole milking working on them with Bobby while I milked. The other three kids had a Christmas party with the church youth group down the road. They came out and helped for a while, then went to the party. By the time we left the barn, everyone was fed, watered, bedded and chewing their cud....except the cats weren't chewing their cud, they were purring. This morning it's more of the same, I milked while Bobby thawed water bowls. This wind is supposed to stop tomorrow....yippee! We can stand the cold, and we can stand the wind...but we can't stand a cold below zero wind! This too shall pass. Yesterday morning after chores the boys brought in the Christmas bush. JW finally told me what happened with the tree falling out of t...

It is so snowy and windy on the Knolltop I can only see my neighbor's house from my window and nothing beyond it! The wind is howling and the snow is coming down and we're in for a great storm. Bobby is headed out right now to go plow out the neighbor lady, she's the pianist for the local church and the children's program will be performed this morning...nothing will stop Miss Stanna from getting to the church on time! Sarah's birthday was wonderful. She had the night off from chores and when we got in from the barn we celebrated with cake, ice cream and presents. Bobby and I got her most of her gifts, except for Jake, he bought her a statue of a ballerina. He is so sensitive and thoughtful of his sister. After we gorged on sugar the boys went over to Brads and spent the night. As far as Christmas is concerned, it will be a miracle if we get the tree up this year. I know, I know.....we are really late, but I joked with the kids about going to the Christmas t...

Picture of the day: This was taken at our county fair. It's kind of dark but you can see our line of heifers, well the back end of the heifers.... We're in the middle of a snowstorm right now. Snow, sleet, ice...it's a mess. The kids are off of school, it's bad out. But it's Sarah's 13th Birthday so that makes it a great day!!!!! What a wonderful day it was when my daughter arrived into the world. It was so exciting to put pink clothes on a newborn! I loved it. But I can't reminisce too long....it's time for more chores!

Picture of the day : This is the world renown Palmerton family. L to R: Francis and Patty and Francis brother, Claude. Remember, these are the people who dispersed the famed Hapalson Jersey herd in September and as a result caused havoc in my household by making me buy two brown cows?????? But seriously, they used to be good friends of mine, (just joking) but they've been long time friends of my family and ever since they sold their workload rumor has it they are now out and about RVing around the country bathing in the hot springs in Montana, sipping champagne in the ski lodges in Vale and otherwise enjoying the good life at the end of a long road of dairying. (None of this may be true, that's just what I imagine and it was fun to write.) Good Morning from a calm before the storm Knolltop. We're supposed to get some bad weather tonight and tomorrow, so today is the running around day to get all the things I should've gotten last week if I were a good mother of t...

This is the photo of the day. In the winter, my livingroom is transforms into a basketball court. It was a wild game the other day with the extra boys from school. They have a great time, I'm not sure how well this old farmhouse will hold up though. Trent Loos called and needed a standby for Rural Route today, so of course I said yes because he's always so complementary when he's begging me to be on his show. I'm a push over and I know it and so does he! The only interruption I had was when the school called 10 minutes before the show and said Jake was sick and needed to come home. I had no vehicle so I had to call the neighbor to rescue Jake. So while I was discussing global warming and trying to understand why I care about 650 researchers who don't believe in its effects, I had to get Jake settled in for a day on the couch and then head to the barn to finish up chores. If you listen you'll hear all the sounds of the barn, including the scraping of the ...

It's gotten drastically colder here! JW and I are seriously contemplating moving south. Last night we traveled to Battle Creek where the boys played the Battle Creek St. Philip Tigers. They must have been all prayed up, because we didn't have a prayer of winning. The JV lost by 25 and the Varsity lost by 40. Those Tigers were really good and we just couldn't keep up. But, JW had a good game and so did Luke, even though he tripped a kid, I say he did it on purpose, everyone else, including Luke, said it was an accident. But a mom knows the look in her kid's eye when he is being naughty.....Luke had that look. I'm just sayin'.... Is anyone still working on their Christmas shopping? I am. Sarah's birthday is Friday and she keeps reminding me.....I need to get to a mall! Okay, here's the photo of the day: This is Sarah and I leaving the showring with our heifers at the county fair in September. I love showing cows!

Here's a football picture of Luke last fall. I just got a disc with all of them on it, so I think I'll share some of them here and there. I love this one, he looks like a pro! It's a very strange weather day on the Knolltop today! When we walked across the road this morning it was 48, now it's 32 and getting colder by the minute. We are expected to have ice, snow and wind today. I highly the doubt the boys basketball game will happen today....but we'll see. Friday night we traveled to Litchfield to watch the boys play, Luke's team killed the Terriers(what an awful name for a mascot) and JW's team lost. I'll refrain from any commentary on either game to keep peace in the house. Yesterday morning we were blessed with a Christmas Cantata at church. It was so nice just to hear the choir sing, no acting, no bumbled lines, nothing but beautiful singing by both the adult and children's choir. The only regret is that I wasn't in it. But I'm sure t...

This is one of our favorite cows, Blanche. She's an 89 point Outside due at Christmas time to Goldwyn. Bobby said if she has a heifer her name will be Blessing. And he might even bring her in and put her under the tree! For those of you who aren't familiar with Bulls, Goldwyn is a really good sire who just died recently. This is "Bud" our 19 year old cutting horse. He spends most of his time with the dry cows and heifers. He loves to chase them around, but doesn't do much of that in his old age. He's a great horse that we bought when he was just 2 years old and JW was 2 months. Okay, so I'm not a photographer, but I try!

I've had days when I've gotten behind, but I don't remember getting behind for a week! It seems I've been behind everyday this week and now it's snowballed into a huge backlog today! Sifting through the shoes in the closet with my daughter to find her the right shoes for her band concert last night, my mom came in and chuckled at my ever growing mountain of laundry. And it seems that at the bottom of the mountain was a pair of dress pants that JW needed to wear today because it was a game day. I was ironing Luke's dress shirt, JW was trying to find something decent to wear while Luke was sifting through the dirty laundry in search of his lucky socks for me to wash for his game tonight. Thank God Jake wasn't having one of his daily wardrobe crises! That would've put me over the edge...I already feel like a mothering failure! Then I was late with chores, late with my column and late with this blog post! But I do have some pictures I'll share that I too...

Good Morning from a chilly, clear Knolltop! The moon is full and was so bright this morning when we walked across the road to milk. In fact it was bright when we got done with milking last night too. It's so nice to have that bright light even at night. Yesterday was a busy day that started out just a tad behind. Our alarm clock decided to quit working and of course we didn't find out until I woke up at 4:30 am....a time when we are normally a third done with milking! Jolting out of bed and dashing to the barn, it was a welcome relief when we turned the radio up and heard the kids didn't have school because of the icy roads! For the rest of the day, we were behind. Every time I thought about posting on this blog, I realized I had something else to do. So I just never got to it causing alarm in the South. Getting a call from my favorite mother -in-law at 9 pm last night was a little disconcerting, I automatically thought something was wrong when I looked at the calle...

It's an icy morning here on the Knolltop . We're getting rain right now and the road is a sheet of ice, I'm assuming the paved roads are fine since the kids had school, but I"m glad I don't have to leave the comforts of this little farmstead. Last night we slipped our way to Jonesville to watch the boys basketball game. The JV team won and the varsity lost, but it was close. They were both really good games and it was fun to watch the first game of the season. This evening Bobby will ride the bus with the boys to Climax. It's over an hour away so Sarah and I will stay home and milk the cows. I'm good with that, it will be nice to spend the evening with just Sarah. I think I might try to get some Christmas cards sent today...maybe...who knows. I've only had one year when I was on time, I was organized and sent them out the day after Thanksgiving. I haven't been that organized since. But since I love to get them, I need to send them! Or mayb...

Good Monday Morning from the Knolltop ! I don't have much time this morning, I'm late for coffee and Bible Study with Angie! It was a fun weekend, Sarah and I decorated the house for Christmas, I made yummy Christmas cookies last night with eggnog...it's all gone. The boys had an FFA lock-in Saturday night while Jake, Sarah, Bobby and I had a great game of charades. Tonight is the season opener for the boys at Jonesville . And I might find myself in divorce court over the Capitol One Bowl where Michigan State will take on Georgia. Yes, that is making a major division in our house! The Spartans will take on the Bow Wow Brigade of U of G on New Years Day. It will be one fierce day here on the Knolltop !

Good Friday morning from a cloudy, cold Knolltop . It was 18 when we crossed the road to milk the cows...and boy it felt like it! Last evening Bobby, Luke and Jake wanted to go to the Hillsdale College mens basketball game. They were playing the Lake Superior State Lakers and Micah Hudson who plays on that team is a boy from our church, so naturally I wanted to go see Micah play. So I told them I was going too. Jake was seriously disappointed that I would even think of horning in on the "Three Amigos" fun time at Jesse Phillips Arena. But I went anyway. I asked who was going to get the popcorn and I was told that doesn't happen until half time. When they finally visited the concession stand, I was really looking forward to some good popcorn. They came back with three bags of popcorn and three drinks and I got the message. They were generous enough to share their popcorn, but I still knew I wasn't a part of the clan. Sitting on the end, Jake took pity on ...

I got a little later start here on the Knolltop and it's starting to snowball into my day! Getting to the barn on time this morning for milking I was doing my heifer chores like I always do before we actually start to milk the cows. I slid open the door to connect the hose to the hydrant to water the calves. As I was hooking up the hose I heard a cow with a not normal breathing pattern. Stopping to listen I determined it wasn't the kind of breathing that went with a cow calving that sounded like she really didn't know how she got pregnant and really didn't like what was happening during the painful delivery and could you please get this thing out of me RIGHT NOW! No, this was a cow in distress, but I just didn't know what kind of distress. So like any good farmwife....I went and told Bobby he needed to get his flashlight and see what was wrong. I know, you thought this tough farm woman would've investigated the problem and handled it with confidence, right? NO W...

Well, after a great day off, the kids are back to school, but it's still snowy and windy here on the Knolltop . The older boys went in early to pitch...they've got to love baseball to get up early on a cold morning just to practice! I hope it pays off. Last evening while Bobby, Sarah and I were munching on popcorn enjoying the warm house, the boys invited a couple of friends over and were playing airsoft out in the barn. Why would anyone want to be outside in the cold winter when they could be inside eating popcorn? Jake came in asking for some hot chocolate. I handed him a milk jug and sent him to the milkhouse . When he came back he was so happy to be inside. He said he was glad the older boys had asked him to go get the hot chocolate started. I asked why and he replied that he was cold and wanted to come in. Then I asked him why he didn't just come in, he replied, "The boys would've called me a baby." Oh, what these youngest boys have to endure! Of...

Good Morning from an icy, snowing, no school today Knolltop! The kids are elated to think they don't have school. I am too. The scrimmage went well last night, we had to divide our attention between the JV and Varsity. Luke was in one gym and JW was in another...so we kept walking back and forth. It was fun. The ride home was slow, the roads were awful. I don't know if they were really that bad or we are getting acclamaited to the snow again. This morning Jake and I cleaned out a spot for the calves, they had to move to make room for other cows. Don't even ask where those good for nothin' teenagers were...don't get me started...just don't get me started! Sarah and Jake are out sledding right now, what a great time for pictures but since I just got out of a nice warm shower after being out in the cold, I'm NOT going back out in the cold to snap pictures...sorry, I'm just not that dedicated!

Good Monday morning from the Knolltop ! It looks like Christmas at my house! The ground is covered in the white stuff and it's still coming down. The kids were hoping for a snow day, but as JW and Luke headed in early to pitch, I assured them there was school today. Tonight the boys have their first basketball scrimmage, so you know what that means. We will be running through chores to get to it. It's a half hour north of here, so we will have to really speed the milking along. Over the past few months I've written a little bit here and there about the All-American Beef Battalion with commander in chief, Bill Broadie of Ashland , Kansas. If you've ever really wondered about what it's all about you now have a chance to watch it in action. Cowboy Church, a program on RFD-TV, filmed one of their services at a steakfeed in Manhattan, Kansas. They had their normal singing and preaching, but they did it while a bunch of Iraq war troops were eating big, juicy steaks. I...