Knolltop Farm Wife

Good Morning from the Knolltop! It's 40 out this morning and supposed to be windy and about 60 this afternoon. It will be a good day to get some work done outside to get ready for winter. I think these warm days are escaping us and pretty soon we will see the snow fly. Yesterday we got word that Holly is clear to go to Louisville. Here in Michigan we have to test everything for TB before we leave the state. I don't even think a fly is allowed to leave without health papers! Well, it's not that extreme...it really only applies to cattle. We had to have a clear TB test and all the health papers in order for Holly to go and we finally got all that accomplished yesterday after a bit of a scare. The first test we had done on her, she reacted to it. So that meant she had to have blood drawn by a USDA Vet. Thinking that would take weeks we gave up hope that she would be going south. Our deadline for the vet coming to draw blood was last Wednesday. On Tuesday night when Luke was g...

It's cool here on the Knolltop this morning. I think the thermometer read 40 this morning when we went to the barn. Boy, yesterday was fun and exhausting. I picked up my cohort from Knolltop Morgans up the road and we headed south....way south....deep in the south....almost to Kentucky. I know, that's not the deep south, but from the way the waitresses talked in Bob Evans, we might as well have been in Mississippi. I took my atlas to help us find the quickest route to Mohrfields in Pleasant Plain, Ohio. The map of Ohio was on two pages, the first page was northern Ohio, the second was southern Ohio. Because Pleasant Plain is just northeast of Cincinnati , it was on the second page of Ohio. So naturally when we got through the first page of Ohio I expected my navigator, Lori, to turn the page and we'd be in Cinci ....wrong. We had another 10 inches to go! We finally got there and with my phone ringing I pulled in and parked and answered the call from the boss. His only qu...

Good frosty morning again! Ever have one of those days where you're late and you are frustrated cause you're late? That's this morning...I'm waiting for the shower while I stew about being late. I'm headed south to Ohio for the Mohrfield Sale today. I'm taking my neighbor so it should be a good trip...if I ever get out of here....shower's empty! Have a good one!

We finally have frost out this morning. I don't think I've ever been able to go out and pick fresh tomatoes for a salad in late October. I was even getting peas again...my second volunteer crop! But that's all over with the thick frost out there all over everything. It's clear and sunny out and if I don't get some pictures snapped today the opportunity to show you autumn in Michigan will be completely gone. By the way, I want to wish my sister a belated happy birthday, she turned .......one year older yesterday! We called her yesterday morning and by the time all the cousins got done catching up we had been on that phone for 2 hours! I had gone to town to run an errand and when I got home they were still talking! Happy Birthday Ginny!

It's amazing to me when you begin researching something you find out just how much you don't know. Take radio for instance: Ashley Messing our Michigan Dairy Ambassador is now doing a radio program called "The Scoop." Since I was the one who came up with the "brilliant" idea to do a radio show, I told her I would be here to assist her in any way that I could. So, when she couldn't come up with a title for it....I helped her out. When she couldn't come up with an intro describing it...I helped her out. When she couldn't come up with music for the intro for it...I took a smoke break....and I'm on my fourteenth pack! (Joke) Who would've thought picking music would be that difficult. Just pick a song you like and go with it. Oh no, not that easy. Three weeks into this project I'm thinking the radio program has been completed and ready to be listened to by all of America. Then I get an email from the producer, Trent Loos, who by the way is...

Good Morning from the knolltop. It's breezy and considerably warmer than yesterday. I was hot in my turtleneck and sweatshirt this morning. The moon is still big and bright and making things much lighter at 4:30 am. Last night I went on a moonlit tractor ride. Well, it was actually a tractor race. I brought my "A" up from the tractor barn because I hadn't started it in a while and all the mechanics say you need to start your tractor regularly to keep it running right...okay...I'll go along with that. After my walk I went down and slid the doors open to the barn. The smell of oil-soaked dirt and gas poured out of the doors and I was again taken back to my younger days in Grandpa Peckens farm equipment dealership, otherwise known as "the shop." It's a great smell! I started the ol' girl up and she sounded just as wonderful as the last time I drove her. I drove her up to the barn and parked it right outside the stable so I could see her whil...

I asked and I received! I didn't realize what great informants you blog readers were! I was sent descriptions and pictures of the devastation on the Larry and Sandy Place farm in Perry. It doesn't look good. So today, I hope to find out more details on where the cows are being milked because it sure doesn't look like they could be milked in what's left of the barn. If any of you know that much...please let me know. Yesterday I was in a dairy supply place, J&M Dairy visiting with Jan and Marv Sober...yes, they both hail from my home town of Fowlerville and Jan was a Copeland, just in case anyone was wondering. Anyway, we were discussing the BST issue and what the dairymen are saying down on the farm. As we visited Marv stated that he had heard there was a test being developed at Cornell to detect rbst in the milk. I disputed that fact and swiftly came home to check it out with the rBST guru, Terry Etherton of Penn State. After reading some research I found out...