Knolltop Farm Wife

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...

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!

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.

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...

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!

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. ...

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 t...