Hard loss

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'll be able to watch both of them today!

Prayer request: My dad has his other knee replaced today, if you could pray for him...I sure would appreciate it!

Christmas again.

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!

Ice and more ice

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.

Christmas on the Knolltop.

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 the cows had water....Christmas could begin!

We were opening presents at noon and all of us commented on how strange that was. But I'm sure we weren't the only farm family across the nation who had troubles on Christmas Day. With the weather acting so strange there were bound to be other malfunctions that didn't look at the calendar before they malfunctioned.

So now I'll share a few pictures of the day before Christmas when I had everyone in the act of baking and then Christmas Day.

I had JW and Luke slaving away on Christmas Eve, baking and baking and baking. They tried to sneak away, after they ate their fill of peanut butter balls and were too full to roll anymore. But I got the whip out and gave them 50 lashes and they stayed until the bitter end!

The pecan turtles were done and ready for chocolate...but I ran out, so we had naked turtles.

The pies were baked and the sweetrolls with the burned side down. Yes, I burned the sweetrolls...time got away from me! But we had yummy punch, in the popcorn bowl, Sarah broke my punch bowl last Christmas...no, she didn't throw it at Jake in a rage of anger....just an accident.

The table was all set for Christmas dinner, don't mind the wrinkled tablecloth....my mother is cringing right now at a wrinkled tablecloth, but the day was getting away from me, plus I was out of starch!

After all the opening of gifts the living room pretty much stayed like this until I put the hammer down and the elves started cleaning up.

And that was our Christmas day! Now it's time to have Christmas with the rest of the family up north!

Merry Christmas Eve

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!

Blessed Christmas

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. Where was he? I couldn't see him or hear him, I figured the cow must have been out in the steer barn...but he took a halter, so whoever had the calf had to be halter broke and the heifers that were close were definitely not halter broke!

I continued to look out in the darkness of the pasture but couldn't see a thing with the snow blowing....just then the big sliding door opened, I knew it was Bobby bringing in the new mom. But who was it? It was like slow motion, Bobby walked through the door with the lead rope in his hand and right behind him was......it was her! It was Blanche! I screamed with excitment!

I couldn't believe it! God had given us a Goldwyn daughter out of Blanche! To say the least Bobby has been on cloud nine ever since. The wind can keep blowing, the water bowls can freeze, the gutter cleaner can break...today it just doesn't matter, Bobby received the best Christmas present he could ever get.....Knolltop Goldwyn Blessed.

Another day of cold!

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 the back of his truck. He said he had to open the back glass and put the trunk through the window and hold on to it so it would flip out of the truck. By this time I was able to laugh uncontrollably at this whole situation.

We let the branches warm and relax and then last night after the kids' party and chores we all met in the livingroom to relive every Christmas tree ornament. It's always fun to talk about each one and when we got it and what it means and the silly things the kids have done in the past. I love that. I made some eggnog and popcorn and we enjoyed the evening. But I was so glad to get in my warm bed!

Now Luke and Jake are gone to basketball practice and we just got done with breakfast and will put on our tundra togs that are warming in the dryer and head back out to the barn for more frozen fun!

Who needs a Christmas tree?

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 tree recycling place to get a free tree that someone else already took down because they were going on vacation. We all laughed at the thought of rummaging through used Christmas trees but I'm not so sure that isn't the answer.

Yesterday Sarah and I went to Walmart and picked up a few things. Then we went to a tree farm where we could cut our own...all for one low price. We selected the tree, the farmer cut it for us and I told him my son would be by to pick it up later when he got done with baseball camp.

While I was doing chores, I called JW to tell him to get the tree with his pick-up on the way home. Luke came out a little later and informed me that JW got the tree home....but it fell out of his truck twice and the top was broken off and now my perfect blue spruce tree looked like a bush! I told Luke to put the tree stand on it and bring it in....and I told Sarah to get one of the table cloths we use for the picnic table, put it on the floor in the corner and be ready for Luke to bring in the tree.

When I got in from chores, the tree was still outside due to a broken tree stand and Sarah had one of my good linen tableclothes on the floor, because she said "It was prettier than the oilcloth." AAAHHHHH! Can you say frustration? I walked into the bedroom, changed my clothes, popped some popcorn and drowned my Christmas tree woes in carmel corn!

Today the tree goes up....come you know what or high water!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

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!

What's up for the day?

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 the only granddaughter on both sides of the family who's 13th birthday is tomorrow!

Christmas tree, Christmas presents, birthday presents, cards, money, groceries, cow feed and pizza are all on the must get list for today. Then the boys have a game tonight in Hillsdale and who knows how many kids will show up at the dinner table????

Now it's time to head back out to the barn for more chores!

Rural Route Wednesday

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 floor and the heifer in heat. Yes, it was truly a place where Rural and Urban met today.

Moving south

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!

What's the weather?

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 there will be time for that later in life when the kids are grown!

No Christmas tree yet, I think I might get that this morning, especially if we are going to be weathered in, like they are forecasting. Then we'll have all the kids home to decorate!

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!

Days late

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 took the time to take this morning while Bobby was working and I was goofing off!

Alarm clock woes

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 caller ID. She was just calling to check on us because I hadn't posted! It's nice to know we're being looked out for....actually, I was surprised my mom didn't call, she always calls when I don't post. Maybe I'd better call her to make sure everything is okay!

From the comment left yesterday, I see old Pryorvu is getting things ready for Christmas....glad to hear he's not slacking off out there in the foothills of the Rockies!

Today is the Michigan Holstein Association Holiday sale. JW and I have to sell concessions at it since the Juniors are using that as a fundraiser. This evening the kids have their Christmas concert. So it's never a dull moment on the Knolltop.

By the way, at the game on Tuesday night, the JV's beat Climax-Scotts but the varsity lost.

Fudge or envelopes?

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 maybe I"ll just bake Christmas goodies today. That sounds way better than writing out cards. The taste of an envelope doesn't even compare to chocolate peanut butter fudge!

Sparties Vs the Dawgs

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!

The Three Amigos

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 me and came over to sit down by me. As he was sitting down he said, "Since I know you don't know diddly about Chargers Basketball, I'll sit down here and clue you in on what's going on and who's who on the team." Acceptance was all but had at this point. So I proceeded to act like the dumb mom and by the end of the game we were sharing snickers and M&Ms. But I'll never go again.

I was going to talk about the photo shoot, but now I've got to get to the barn and help get the cows in before the water bowls freeze!

Heifer crisis

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 WAY! I don't like investigating wierd sounding cows in the dark....in the cold dark!

He came running back into the barn calling for my help, well, actually yelling for my help. I quickly made my way to the horse pasture and opened the gate so he could bring the skidsteer into the horse barn, where the distressed heifer was laying on her side, half bloated and not able to get up. I know, horse barn, dairy heifer....they just don't go, but that's a story for another day.

We put a rope halter on her, tied it to the skidsteer and slowly pulled her so she could get her legs under her body and get up. I had little faith in this operation. All I could see was me running to the house for a sharp kitchen knife and both of us standing over her wondering where to make the cut to relieve the pressure. But, as God would have it....she popped up, stood there for a minute to catch her breath and now she is standing at the bunk eating with all the other heifers. Wow....such drama at such an early hour!

And that is why I'm so late! Now tomorrow I hope to share a few photos with you. Yesterday I received an urgent email from Holstein International wanting a picture of me for my new column that will debut in January. This was due a couple of weeks ago, but I actually forgot, well, no, really I just never had a good enough hair day to make a good picture.

So yesterday I threw the camera at Sarah and said, come on...you've got to take some pictures.

Here's a sneak preview!

Cold outside, warm inside

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!

Off to the barn to check on a cow that may be calving and do the rest of chores.

Snow day

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!

Watch the steakfeed!

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. It is the goal of the AABB to feed every man and woman serving in the United States military a beef steak. So far, they've had several steakfeeds with troops either leavning to go to Iraq or coming home. As told from the volunteers who feed the men and women and their families, it's an amazing event that has made a huge impression, one they'll remember for a long time.

So, if you want to watch, you can catch it tonight on RFD-TV at 9:30 pm EST. Or tomorrow at 11:30 am EST. And if you feel compelled to donate money for the cause, you can visit http://www.steaksfortroops.com/ It's a great effort put on by a great group of people and is the creation of one very special, Vietnam War Vet, Bill Broadie.

Gotta go!