Knolltop Farm Wife

It's a cold, breezy, kind of sunny day here on the Knolltop . They say we're in for a snow storm tomorrow...I'll believe it when I see it. JW had a scrimmage last evening and I guess they did well. We didn't get to it simply because it was too early. He loves his new uniform...the warm ups have snaps all down the legs so he can just snap them off and toss them on the sidelines. Kind of reminds me when he was a toddler and all his pants snapped up the inside so I could change his diaper. He used to love to unsnap his pants....I haven't reminded him of that....yet. I've still got to write my column today...yesterday I had other things I was writing. I just got a new writing contract with Farmworld , it's a weekly paper much like the Farmers' Advance that circulates in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and is now moving into Michigan....hence the demand for Michigan writers. My first story will be in next week. The Indonesian kids will come tomorrow and spend th...

Good morning, we are blowing off the hill here on the Knolltop. It's windy and cold...well it wouldn't be too cold if it weren't windy...but anyway...it's cold. Yesterday I spent an interesting day away from the farm at the Michigan Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids. After getting up and doing my calf chores, which was all I had time for, I headed west and 2.5 hours later I was in big G.R. sliding in just in time to drop my coat in the media room and head to the first discussion. It was held at the Amway Grand Hotel....probably the most impressive part of the day was that I could park in a parking structure a block away from the convention center and I didn't have to walk in the cold to get to the hotel...it was all enclosed in a skywalk. Yes, this country girl is easily impressed! I also love escalators and revolving doors, those are just so much fun! Anyway...about the meeting...it was a fun day of visiting with people and taking pictures and listenin...

Yes, that's right, we are still cheering this morning as we celebrate the boys win last night over Jackson Christian and my beloved Pastor Mike. I know I may sound like I'm a bit overboard...that's because I am! The boys beat the Royals 31-26 in a very sloppy game. Our boys didn't look all that great but they kept chipping away and after the first quarter were never behind again. It's very strange for me to listen to a wonderful man preach great sermons Sunday after Sunday and then have a burning desire to beat his team on a Monday night. I guess that's because I've never had a pastor who also coached a team...which is really kind of cool in my book. After the game I took my green North Adams shirt and rubbed it all over Pastor Mike and even offered to get one for him so he could wear it next Sunday to preach in. He declined my offer and we had a great time sparring over the game...all in fun. But the parents of his team didn't see as much humor in o...

It's been a long weekend around here. Not only because of the holiday, but because I must have eaten too much pie or turkey or cranberry relish or something, but I haven't felt well all weekend. But I'm back among the living and ready to head into another busy week. It's another chilly morning here on the Knolltop, actually it snowed last night and is kind of foggy now....very strange weather we're having. Okay, now pardon me while I talk about sports for a few minutes. Tonight Luke's undefeated 8th grade basketball team will take on one of the toughest rivals in the league....Jackson Christian. They are a private school, but then again, you could tell that by the name....anyway....they have a reputation for having a great basketball program. Last year their Varsity team was in the semi finals and beat Redford Covenant Christian...why is that team important? Because Durell Sommers was on that team and Durell is now playing for Michigan State, he promised hi...

It was a chilly 20 degrees this morning when we walked over to milk. My hands stay cold the whole time I milked. That moon was so bright and beautiful this morning, it was amazing how it lit up the whole farm. While others are out shopping this morning, I'm in my nice warm house fixing blueberry pancakes, sausage and perked coffee. After I enjoy that we will all head back out to the barn to finish up chores and wash the rest of the windows on the east side of the barn. Bobby is on a cleaning kick in the barn, last Saturday he and the boys washed the pipeline and swept down cobwebs. He also washed all the windows on the west side of the barn....I think there are 15. Then tomorrow we will curry the cows off and wash tails....we classify in a week and we want the cows to look nice. Yes they will get dirty in a week, but next week we won't have as much washing to do if we take the first few layers of manure off this week. I don't think I'll get much shopping done thi...

It's snowcovered here on the Knolltop. When we went across to the barn this morning we were bucking the wind and snow. I had to move fast to keep warm, but once I got in the barn, the girls kept us warm with all their body heat. A first happened last evening...Jake made his first batch of brownies. He wanted something chocolate and so he decided to make some all by himself. I was looking at all the shopping flyers that came in the mail and I heard SArah and her friend Sidney giving him pointers. When I went out there to check on him, he had all the ingredients dumped in the bowl and was ready to mix. Not your conventional way of making browines...but they were delicious as we enjoyed them at 9:30 pm...not the best time to be partaking in such a treat. Time to go make the breakfast...this morning we'll have biscuits and gravy and blueberry pancakes and bacon. I hope you all have a great thanksgiving!

It's a cool, rainy morning here on the Knolltop. A miserable day to be outside, so Bobby said he's going to put the cows back in for the day so they don't have to spend it outside getting wet. We received our official pictures back of Holly and Hollywood and they are nice. At least I like them, Bobby and Luke say Holly doesn't have enough milk in her udder...and she doesn't....but I still like her. I have one more comment to post from a reader of the blog...Russell Gammon who is currently on a trip to Haiti with his work for the Liberty School for Women, of which I am now a proud owner of one square foot! Here is his comment: You really got me going with your comment regarding spoiled Americans in today's posting! Add spoiled Canucks/Canooks too and at least I know I'm in that number! Today was our first day in Northern Haiti in Cap-Haiti en, a large city. We were once again reminded how grueling life is here and how very, very good so many of us in North A...