Knolltop Farm Wife

It's a very sunny morning here, but looks are deceiving...it's 29 degrees out this morning! I had to dig out my union suit to milk cows! It's almost May for heaven's sake! Al, this global warming is killing me! It was a pretty typical day yesterday of trying to get things done, being interrupted and then not accomplishing what I had planned. After running errands, I was back home and gaining when I heard the front door open, that's always a bad sign when the front door opens. That means whatever it is that I'm working on will be put on hold in order to solve a problem. Yesterday one of those problems was the need for a special socket that I guess he thought was in my tool box. Now tell me, how often do I use sockets in cooking or baking? I don't remember the last time I even used a socket. But those tools have been known to grow legs and walk across the road and into my house. Nope...I had no socket. Sorry As I got back into my work....a call on th...

Good Morning from the sunny Knolltop that was forecast to be rainy. I'm glad for the sun, even though it's cool...I'll be able to mow the rest of the lawn today, it's lookin ' pretty shaggy. Especially compared to Miss Stanna's well manicured lawn. Oh that Miss Stanna ....how does she do it? Yesterday my tractor appeared in it's first ever photo shoot. The kids FFA chapter officers wanted to take pictures in front of an antique tractor and then in a modern tractor for a project they are working on for their officer camp this weekend. They have to make a table display for a contest. Because my tractor hadn't been run since Christmas day, it wasn't feeling up to being started. So, Bobby pulled it out of the barn for me so they could stand around it for the pictures. I had them all stand backwards so we could see the school name on their jackets. But now that I look at the picture...my tractor got lost in all the bodies! Then we went down the Mr. D...

Good Morning from a cool and sunny knolltop. Okay..now is the time for the contest results. It's time to see who wins the 17 pairs of white pants, 23 pairs of mittens and 19 pair of pilot's overalls! Are you ready? Let me say first I had to laugh at the fact that the people who should've known this, those who are steeped in the dairy industry were the furthest away with their guesses. And for Matt Nunes who thought she was a steer....steers haven't been that tall since the mid 80s Matt! In the beef industry today we are back to the belt buckle cattle of the 50s and 60s. Although dairy steers are pretty big these days. And Dallas Burton said the picture was doctored...well....I have no idea if it was or not so we'll have to take Frank as his word since he's never lied before. According to Frank, Jo Dee Jetway Klondike is a little over 71 inches tall at the shoulder. She is owned by the Copini family who had champion Brown Swiss cow at World Dairy Expo in 2...

Good Morning from a breezy, cloudy kind of sunny Knolltop. It's amazing what 24 hours in bed can do for a person. After I got done blogging yesterday morning, whatever Bobby had, hit me like a ton of bricks and laid me flat out in bed! I didn't cook, milk, feed calves, do laundry, nothing. I didn't even answer the phone! All I did was lay in misery in my bed and wait for whatever the bug I had to run it's course. When I got out of bed this morning at 6:30 it was amazing how much better I felt! So I'm back among the living and I know my children are glad to have two functioning parents again. Jake got up to feed the calves for me this morning so I haven't even been outside yet. Those farm kids are great! I can't say enough good about how they just step up to the plate and start swinging! Okay, now I've got a contest for us. Frank Robinson sent me this picture. And now we all have to guess how tall this Brown Swiss heifer is. So, get your guessers tuned up...

Another beautiful day here on the Knolltop! From yesterday's post from Julie, my Chicago suburbanite girlfriend, I can see that you can take a girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl! I thought I was the only girl who loved the smell of diesel smoke, fresh turned dirt and grease! It's wonderful to know that I'm not alone! I was working outside yesterday, burning some brush and the wind was blowing slightly...no, my fire didn't get out of control...I leave that to the neighbors! But the wind was carrying the scent of the fully bloomed Magnolia tree and boy did it smell lovely. I don't think there are any better smells than those flowers and trees that bloom in the springtime. Lilacs, apple blossoms, magnolias, lily of the valley...does it get any better than that? I've got to get a new battery for my mower this morning and try to get a column written before I head outside and mow. I can sense that Miss Stanna is getting r...

Good Morning! It's cloudy here on the Knolltop and we got a slight shower, but it's going to be a very beautiful day! Okay, let me address the comments from yesterday's blog. First of all, thank you, threecollie for your kind words. Tim was very special to all of us, as you would expect, I'm just glad we're past the really raw, difficult stage of grief. Secondly, Pat and Francis....you asked when Tim got his pilot's licence....anyone who knew Tim at all would cringe at the thought of him as a pilot! Can you just see him being arrested by the government for flying his airplane over the White House or in a no fly zone saying, "Since when was this a no fly zone?" He was constantly getting into fender benders with his trucks. He was an accident waiting to happen. The great thing about Tim was he wasn't intimidated by much and was willing to try anything. Taking his courage in hand, he would jump in with both feet and then ask questions later. S...

It's a warm, sunny day today here on the Knolltop. It's been a rough twenty four hours for the birthday boy. Too much cake? Too much excitment? He's getting old? Whatever the reason, Bobby has been flat on his back since yesterday morning, sicker than a dog. Poor guy! I think it's a stomach bug that has just wreaked havac on his whole body. He is now taking on liquids and keeping them down, so that's a good thing. So with the boss down and out, the kids had to step it up....and they did. Working in the barn until 8:30 last night, the boys got in and I told them I didn't know what I'd do without them! And I really don't! Twenty eight years ago today my family buried my brother Tim. He was killed in a car accident at the young age of 19. It was a very difficult time for the whole family, but I write about this not because I want to lament over it...but because I have now learned that time heals all wounds. At that point in our lives, you could...