Knolltop Farm Wife

Yesterday I had a list a mile long of things I was going to accomplish. Mow and trim the yard, get the laundry caught up, go grocery shopping, cook a meal that didn't resemble anything we ate last week and get a nap. But as time went by, my ambition left me and all I got done was trimming the yard, grocery shopping, cooking a meal and a nap, with a couple loads of laundry added in. Meanwhile, my lovely neighbor up the road who also spent the last week at the fair told me she had all her laundry done by 10:50 am! Yes, she cheated, she went to the laundromat! I haven't heard from JW directly, but I see from the comment left last evening that the Nunes family is keeping tabs on the boys. The report is that JW and Levi are proficient at pitch fork leaning. You know, pitch fork leaning is a lost art that really takes quite a while to master. I'm glad to see that all the evenings spent in the barn leaning on our fork has finally paid off and he's getting to show off his...

Good Monday Morning from a cloudy Knolltop! After a day of recooperation, the kids are back in school and we are back to normal after a week of the county fair. It was a good week, the kids took on more responsibility and handled it well. They also did very well with the cows. On Thursday we had the open show and we had Junior Champion Honorable Mention with Pontoon and Sarah had Reserve Grand Champion with Sandy. I even got to lead a heifer in the show. We'll have pictures in a couple of weeks when they come from the photographer. We brought the cows and all the tack home on Saturday night and then the boys and I went out and got the heifers and their trophies yesterday morning. Because it was too late for church, we went to breakfast and celebrated a good week. JW is in Madison, Wisconsin this week working the Burton-Fellers Planet Holstein Sale and having a great time. He called last night to give me an update and he said their first night on the job was tough and they w...

Good Morning from a very tired knolltop! It's open show day today, so I have no idea why I'm taking time to write this other than the fact that I'm obviously out of my mind with fatigue and I don't know what day it really is. A brief update: On Tuesday at the 4-H show Jake won his showmanship class and was second with Lexi and Lucy. Sarah didn't win showmanship.... :( but had junior champion with Brandy and Reserve Grand Champion with her two year old, Sandy. Luke didn't win showmanship either but had Grand Champion with the three year old Carolyn. And JW, who wasn't supposed to show at all and spent all morning blowing up tops with Bobby had to don his whites for one class to win it and then went on to win reserve junior champion with Pontoon. (I messed up the paperwork so he had to show one heifer) That's it. Who knows what today will bring, but if I don't get in the shower and head to the fair I know it won't be a happy day for me! pictur...

Good Morning from a cool Knolltop where everyone is busy with the County Fair! We took the cows in yesterday, 8 head, and when we got them all settled in, Luke sat down and said, "Mom, this is too many cows!" Of course the bulk of the work is on him because he is in charge of the crew. JW is only providing transportation this week because he will be gone next week to Madison working the Agriprize/Planet Holstein/Global Impact sale(s). Nana and Joann arrived yesterday afternoon just in time to hear JW sing in the talent contest. I guess he did well...but didn't place in the top three. It was a good experience for him. I'm on my way out to the fair after I shower, make sandwiches and gather up everything everybody forgot. I'm not sure how faithful I'll be here on the blog....but I'll try to keep you updated. Show day is tomorrow!

Good Morning from another cool morning on the Knolltop . Well, thank you for the prayer, yesterday went as well as expected. My schedule was only messed up a few times, but everything got done and I made it to my meeting on time. In fact, I had a few minutes to spare and had time to catch my breath and check my outfit in the mirror. It was a good thing I did too. As soon as I walked into the meeting, I made a beeline for the bathroom...it had been a long drive. Looking in the mirror, I fluffed my hair, check to make sure there was no food or manure on my face and turned around to make sure my outfit was complete all the way around. As soon as I turned I spotted a tag hanging from under my arm! I thanked God for letting me see it and ripped it off! Can you imagine walking out to speak with a tag under my arm? What a hoot! The best part of the evening was the friendly crowd. The worst part of the evening was that almost everyone in the crowd knew me from my childhood. As the emcee introd...

Good Morning from a very sunny Knolltop! It's going to be a very busy day. I've got to load the truck with our straw and tack for the fair then I have to sound intelligent on Rural Route Radio for an hour. Then I have to head out to the fairgrounds with our tack and on the way drop off a crockpot of cheesy ham and potatoes to the boys at the school for their FFA lunch today. After making a pack for the cows at the fairgrounds I've got to stop and get a couple of things at the store and head back home to try to write something, get ready for a speaking engagement that I have for tonight, get my clothes around for tonight and make dinner. All the kids will be home today since SArah doesn't have practice because they won last night and Luke has a game tonight. After supper we head to the barn and half way through chores Bobby will head to the football field, JW and I will finish up chores and I will run(literally) into the house get ready to speak and head to Fowlervil...

JW rolled in last evening with a very heavy bag....full of awards! He was very tired, but had enough energy to spread out all the awards on the table and tell us all about the contest. He said he had the highest placing score, but his reasons weren't as good....that's why he was third. So, let me list his accomplishments and then I'll get off my "proud mom" kick. JW was third high individual over all and his team placed first in reasons, first in Holsteins, first in Jerseys, first in Brown Swiss and first in Ayrshires. They only breed they didn't win was Guernseys. He came home with two medals, three ribbons, a plaque for the Jersey win, a plaque for the Brown Swiss win, a milk bottle for the Holstein win and a really pretty plate with an Ayrshire on it for the Ayrshire win. Both the FFA and the 4-H team won the contest but the collegiate teams didn't fare so well. So as Joe Domecq, the judging coach at MSU, said the future is bright for Michigan Dair...