What a fun weekend. Off we went to MSU for the Great Lakes Spring Holstein Show. Neighbor Melissa was kind enough to drive the truck and trailer for us. I followed with the car loaded down with all the important stuff like food and drinks.
We settled the heifers into their weekend home after Suzanna gave each of them a bath. After they dried off, Suzanna and I started clipping. What a job!!! I think we had enough hair to make another heifer by the time we were done. What a surprise to walk out of the Pavilion that night into a snow storm. There was about 4 inches of snow on the ground. Not much fun to drive in!!!
Friday morning, when we arrived at the barn, Thomas got very worried. He was the first one in the barn and couldn't see any of our heifers when he walked through the door. Not to worry, neighbor Melissa's son, JW had come up early for the Jr. Holstein fund raiser and since he had nothing else to do, took on the job of cleaning up the nighttime mess and washing our heifers. He had the first one done by the time we got there, so Suzanna helped him with the other two and morning chores were done. How nice to have the extra help!! Friday was also the cow sale that Rhoda should have sold in. I watched a lot of cattle sell while holding an unofficial show moms committee meeting. There are a lot of nice ladies to hang out with at these events and Friday was no exception. The kids attended the Junior Holstein meeting that evening and we headed off to the hotel soon after, since morning comes early on show morning.
JW came through again, as he stayed the night and got up really early, rode to the barn with another family and had the heifers washed early so they could dry and get their "tops blown up". This is an art learned over many years, and one we intend to master before the kids are finished with their show years. In the meantime, we rely on people with more practice than us and Saturday was no exception. Mr. VanRhee was happy to help out and carefully trimmed all but a little hair off the top line of each heifer. Then he used a "livestock" hair dryer to blow the hair up and then uses a product called Clear Magic, stuff with the holding power of industrial strength hair spray, to keep the hair where he wants it to be.
First up was showmanship. Fancy was the chosen animal, but Suzanna had her doubts about how she would behave. While practicing with her Friday afternoon, it didn't go well. It went bad enough in fact, that Suzanna was in tears over the way the heifer was behaving. Well, a switch went off in the heifer's head as they entered the ring Saturday morning, because she couldn't have behaved better in class. She set her feet like she was suppose to and even switched her feet when the judge switched sides. Suzanna came out of the class in first place. The smile on her face was huge. It was a great moment for Suzanna.
From there, she showed her two younger heifers and we were in the typical Hillsdale County position....at the bottom of the class. Then she showed Fancy again and was first with her. So we started and finished on good notes. We even had Frank Robinson, "The Bovine Beautician" get a picture of Fancy when it was all done.
We packed up our stuff, loaded everything up and headed for home. Everyone, including the heifers were tired, but I think we all had a great time. Now this morning reality really hit, as we were up and at 'em at the usual time. Spring break is over and in just 7 short weeks we will be done with school for the year. I suspect time will fly by.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Going missing for a few days
The kids, three heifers and I are heading north this afternoon to the Spring Holstein show. Hubby will stay home until Saturday morning, when he will join us to see Suzanna show her girls. She is pretty excited about showing. She really enjoys it.
I am a little overwhelmed. My neighbor and very good friend normally shows as well, so I have her wealth of knowledge to fall back on. Not so this time. They have too much on their plate already and sensibly decided to fore go taking any cattle to the show. She is still helping me haul up and get set up, but then she will abandon me (not really) she will be there both days and lend a helping hand when needed.
Also, in the past, we have taken our camper and stayed right at the showgrounds. But with temps only in the 40s and a threat of snow and ice, I said no way to the camper. We are bunking up at a Red Roof right around the corner. But.....I still have to organize a home away from home for the gang. So I have a few meals put together that can go in the crock pot. Plus the kids have packed at least 21 bags of stuff to do while they are at the Pavilion (I may be exaggerating.....but they are taking a lot of STUFF!)
So, hopefully, I will still have a sense of humor when this weekend is over. There will be three kids and three heifers still alive and kicking and mommy won't be sitting in a corner mumbling incoherently when I get home.
I am a little overwhelmed. My neighbor and very good friend normally shows as well, so I have her wealth of knowledge to fall back on. Not so this time. They have too much on their plate already and sensibly decided to fore go taking any cattle to the show. She is still helping me haul up and get set up, but then she will abandon me (not really) she will be there both days and lend a helping hand when needed.
Also, in the past, we have taken our camper and stayed right at the showgrounds. But with temps only in the 40s and a threat of snow and ice, I said no way to the camper. We are bunking up at a Red Roof right around the corner. But.....I still have to organize a home away from home for the gang. So I have a few meals put together that can go in the crock pot. Plus the kids have packed at least 21 bags of stuff to do while they are at the Pavilion (I may be exaggerating.....but they are taking a lot of STUFF!)
So, hopefully, I will still have a sense of humor when this weekend is over. There will be three kids and three heifers still alive and kicking and mommy won't be sitting in a corner mumbling incoherently when I get home.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Resurrecton Arrival
This afternoon, as we came home from church, there was quite a surprise in the heifer pasture. There was Rhoda, licking her newborn calf. The kids couldn't get their clothes changed fast enough. Daddy is always the organized one, and got everything in order in the barn before we went out to see what the little critter was. Suzanna, of course, wanted a heifer to add to her herd.
Daddy went in first, since you never know how these first time mom's will feel about having people around their calves. Rhoda was very content with him being around her and Mike scooped up the new arrival and headed to the barn with it. Of course, he isn't like me at a time like that. I would have checked to see what sex it was first, but not him. He had it all the way to the barn first and then confirmed his suspicion. It was a boy. In the meantime, I led Rhoda to the barn and we settled them both in so that we could head to my moms for dinner.
We took Rhoda down to the neighbors barn this afternoon and she was milked for the first time this evening. We fed that precious colostrum to the now named "Rodney". He wasn't' very interested in having his first meal. Mike is pretty sure he weighs about 80 pounds, which is pretty good for a first calf.
Never a dull moment here at the zoo.
Daddy went in first, since you never know how these first time mom's will feel about having people around their calves. Rhoda was very content with him being around her and Mike scooped up the new arrival and headed to the barn with it. Of course, he isn't like me at a time like that. I would have checked to see what sex it was first, but not him. He had it all the way to the barn first and then confirmed his suspicion. It was a boy. In the meantime, I led Rhoda to the barn and we settled them both in so that we could head to my moms for dinner.
We took Rhoda down to the neighbors barn this afternoon and she was milked for the first time this evening. We fed that precious colostrum to the now named "Rodney". He wasn't' very interested in having his first meal. Mike is pretty sure he weighs about 80 pounds, which is pretty good for a first calf.
Never a dull moment here at the zoo.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Laundry Lesson or Her heart was in the right place
The service tech came out to fix the washer this afternoon. He was puzzled by the very odd noise it was making. It was unlike anything he was use to hearing and had him scratching his head for a few seconds. He decided to drain the water out and then wanted me to unload the wet clothes so he could further explore the situation.
Well, as I began to pull laundry out and pull laundry out and pull more laundry out, it became clear what the problem was. Suzanna had put way too much laundry in the poor washer and it simply couldn't move the agitator. The service tech said that she had put more laundry in my top loading washer than a person would put in a front loader. So once I loaded a correct sized portion, it ran fine.
Like I said her heart was in the right place. Her desire was to get the project done in the least amount of time possible. Can't fault her for that.
Well, as I began to pull laundry out and pull laundry out and pull more laundry out, it became clear what the problem was. Suzanna had put way too much laundry in the poor washer and it simply couldn't move the agitator. The service tech said that she had put more laundry in my top loading washer than a person would put in a front loader. So once I loaded a correct sized portion, it ran fine.
Like I said her heart was in the right place. Her desire was to get the project done in the least amount of time possible. Can't fault her for that.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Why is it???
that when you are already feeling less than stellar, more stuff starts happening around you that makes it all seem worse?
Today seems to be one of those days. Of course, I have the cold that has wiped me out. Then very early this morning, as I walked by a heat register, the air from it seemed rather cool. I ran some hot water and it wasn't even lukewarm. Great!!!! Mike rebuilt the fire this morning, but it wasn't very cooperative and took a couple hours before the water temp got back up to where it could actually heat the house.
In the meantime, the kids were running out of clothes, so the laundry had to be tackled, once the water reheated. Suzanna, Thomas and Kathryn worked together, collecting, separate, and wash clothes. Amazingly, there weren't a lot of arguments and the work was going wonderful. Until the washer decided to stop working!! A call to my regular service man did not lead to good news. The earliest they could be out was next Monday. Yikes....this family would be running around in fig leaves if I had to wait that long. I told the lady I would call Kenmore service and see if they could be out any sooner. She wished me luck, but I could hear the scepticism in her voice. Well, my regular guy not being available was a GOD thing, because when I called Sears, they looked me up on the system and reminded me I had purchased the extended warranty on my washer and it was good through 2010. The bonus in the blessing was that they could have someone out tomorrow afternoon between 1 and 5. YES!! Now my only concern is that the problem is something simple, or needs a part that is on the truck. Otherwise, mom is getting a visit from her not so healthy daughter, three grand kids and a boatload of laundry.
Today seems to be one of those days. Of course, I have the cold that has wiped me out. Then very early this morning, as I walked by a heat register, the air from it seemed rather cool. I ran some hot water and it wasn't even lukewarm. Great!!!! Mike rebuilt the fire this morning, but it wasn't very cooperative and took a couple hours before the water temp got back up to where it could actually heat the house.
In the meantime, the kids were running out of clothes, so the laundry had to be tackled, once the water reheated. Suzanna, Thomas and Kathryn worked together, collecting, separate, and wash clothes. Amazingly, there weren't a lot of arguments and the work was going wonderful. Until the washer decided to stop working!! A call to my regular service man did not lead to good news. The earliest they could be out was next Monday. Yikes....this family would be running around in fig leaves if I had to wait that long. I told the lady I would call Kenmore service and see if they could be out any sooner. She wished me luck, but I could hear the scepticism in her voice. Well, my regular guy not being available was a GOD thing, because when I called Sears, they looked me up on the system and reminded me I had purchased the extended warranty on my washer and it was good through 2010. The bonus in the blessing was that they could have someone out tomorrow afternoon between 1 and 5. YES!! Now my only concern is that the problem is something simple, or needs a part that is on the truck. Otherwise, mom is getting a visit from her not so healthy daughter, three grand kids and a boatload of laundry.
Crazy day at the zoo
I am still fighting this cold. At least the kids aren't piling every blanket in the house on me. Yes, it got that bad on Sunday.
To add to the typical chaos at the house, we are doing "doggy daycare" for our neighbor. So Muffin, the poodle, has been visiting the last two days. Emma has enjoyed having a play buddy around. The cats aren't nearly as amused. Butterscotch has performed several sneak attacks on Muffin and the dog spends most of his time looking over his shoulder.
Never dull at the zoo!
To add to the typical chaos at the house, we are doing "doggy daycare" for our neighbor. So Muffin, the poodle, has been visiting the last two days. Emma has enjoyed having a play buddy around. The cats aren't nearly as amused. Butterscotch has performed several sneak attacks on Muffin and the dog spends most of his time looking over his shoulder.
Never dull at the zoo!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Following in moms footsteps...
I have always enjoyed writing. As the existence of this blog shows. Suzanna is a writer too. And we got some neat news this afternoon. An essay she wrote has been selected to compete in the State 4-H Mark of Excellence program. Her topic was "Because of 4-H I can....." She wrote about how it has given her confidence to talk to people, know about her project so she can answer questions the judge may ask her and also giving oral reasons in dairy judging. We are all very proud of her and will wait to see what happens in June when the final awards are made.
Good job Suzanna!!!!
Good job Suzanna!!!!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Stop the world.....Mom is sick!!!!!
Well, the creeping crud has hit me. It started with a funny feeling at the back of my throat sometime early Saturday morning. By noon yesterday, I was wiped out on the couch. I have a cough and my chest hurts. Thankfully there is nothing pressing that has to happen around here, so I can rest and hope it passes soon.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
How kids hear words....
Do you remember as a kid hearing a word in a song or a saying and being sure you knew how to say it, only to find out later in life, you were totally wrong??? My kids are no exception and remembered one yesterday when the kids came home from school.
Thomas and Kathryn had a substitute teacher yesterday. They have had her before, since she is a regular sub for the school. I had to chuckle though, as I remembered the first time she subbed for their class. They had half-day Kindergarten, and because it is a bit of a drive to the school, they went to aftercare for the rest of the day, rather than me make three trips to school a day. They were crazy about their aftercare teacher. They had tons of fun with her and despite the fact that she made him rest every day, Thomas thought she was pretty neat.
One day when I picked them up, he was very upset. It seems Mrs. Cook was sick that day and they had had a substitute. I asked who, and he told me Mrs. Wheelbarrow. I did my best not to laugh out loud and said don't you mean Mrs. Wilbur? No, he insisted, it was Mrs. Wheelbarrow!!! I didn't think it was worth arguing with an upset six year old, but believe me, I was laughing on the inside.
Thomas and Kathryn had a substitute teacher yesterday. They have had her before, since she is a regular sub for the school. I had to chuckle though, as I remembered the first time she subbed for their class. They had half-day Kindergarten, and because it is a bit of a drive to the school, they went to aftercare for the rest of the day, rather than me make three trips to school a day. They were crazy about their aftercare teacher. They had tons of fun with her and despite the fact that she made him rest every day, Thomas thought she was pretty neat.
One day when I picked them up, he was very upset. It seems Mrs. Cook was sick that day and they had had a substitute. I asked who, and he told me Mrs. Wheelbarrow. I did my best not to laugh out loud and said don't you mean Mrs. Wilbur? No, he insisted, it was Mrs. Wheelbarrow!!! I didn't think it was worth arguing with an upset six year old, but believe me, I was laughing on the inside.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Don't light a match.....
that is a polite way of saying our dog had a problem last night. It is always important to make sure things are not where Emma can get into them while we are out of the house. She loves butter wrappers and will dig through the trash to find them. She has also been known to eat a stick of butter if it is within reach on the counter top. One time we realized that she had helped herself to the last of the monkey bread after breakfast.
So yesterday morning in the midst of coping with the time change(Don't get me started on that!!!!)one of the kids realized at about 9:30 that we were the greeters at church, which starts at 10am. That put the hustle on the family, but we did manage to put the almost full bag of trash in the garage on our way out the door.
When we got home, Emma didn't come to greet us. That is a sure sign she was guilty of something. Soon we discovered that she had helped herself half a chocolate chip cake. She didn't seem any worse for the wear, considering what they say about dogs and chocolate. It wasn't solid chocolate, so that may have kept her out of trouble that way.....but it gave her gas and she couldn't even stand to be in the same room with herself. Every time she let off a stink bomb, she left the room and the rest of us suffered the consequences. She wasn't allowed to sleep on our bed last night, that was real punishment in her book.
She seems better this morning and therefore got to ride with me to take the kids to school. Lesson learned....nothing on the counter tops is safe with Emma around.
So yesterday morning in the midst of coping with the time change(Don't get me started on that!!!!)one of the kids realized at about 9:30 that we were the greeters at church, which starts at 10am. That put the hustle on the family, but we did manage to put the almost full bag of trash in the garage on our way out the door.
When we got home, Emma didn't come to greet us. That is a sure sign she was guilty of something. Soon we discovered that she had helped herself half a chocolate chip cake. She didn't seem any worse for the wear, considering what they say about dogs and chocolate. It wasn't solid chocolate, so that may have kept her out of trouble that way.....but it gave her gas and she couldn't even stand to be in the same room with herself. Every time she let off a stink bomb, she left the room and the rest of us suffered the consequences. She wasn't allowed to sleep on our bed last night, that was real punishment in her book.
She seems better this morning and therefore got to ride with me to take the kids to school. Lesson learned....nothing on the counter tops is safe with Emma around.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The dog gets the mouse.....
In the kids song Old McDonald Had A Farm the dog gets the cat, the cat gets the mouse. Not true at our house. The dog is quicker than the cats at our place.
I was folding laundry yesterday and Emma as always was with me. Suddenly she jumped up and raced toward the laundry baskets sitting along the wall. I got up from my chair and moved the first basket. Out ran a mouse, but it didn't run very far. Emma got it. Then Butterscotch came along and checked to see what all the excitement was. Then Hop Sing, the newest kitty in the house showed up. The deed was done by the time those two showed up.
Thankfully we have one less mouse in the house. I have always heard if you see one, there are more. YUCK!!! Hope Emma stays on the job!!!
I was folding laundry yesterday and Emma as always was with me. Suddenly she jumped up and raced toward the laundry baskets sitting along the wall. I got up from my chair and moved the first basket. Out ran a mouse, but it didn't run very far. Emma got it. Then Butterscotch came along and checked to see what all the excitement was. Then Hop Sing, the newest kitty in the house showed up. The deed was done by the time those two showed up.
Thankfully we have one less mouse in the house. I have always heard if you see one, there are more. YUCK!!! Hope Emma stays on the job!!!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Barn Cleaning Wrap-up
I had to follow-up on Saturday's barn cleaning. It was a looooooonnng day. We started around 10am and got back in the house at 7:30pm. Part of what took so long was putting sawdust into the freshly cleaned stalls.
We get our sawdust a gravity wagon load at a time. For anyone not familiar with a gravity wagon, here is a description. They are used by farmers to haul grain. It is a wagon with sides, and a floor that slants to one side and a door on the side of the wagon. That allows the grain to slide down the slant and out the door. We have adapted that principle and use one to get sawdust in. There is a sawmill not too far from our place and they will fill it up for $20, which beats buying bagged shavings!
So we got a fresh load of shavings about a month ago, but had only gotten a little of the stuff out of it since then. Despite the fact that we keep it covered, the water still gets into it. Add that to the fact that it isn't kiln dried, and you have damp stuff that when it is below freezing day after day after day, it will freeze in. As the kids began to attempt unloading the sawdust, it was obvious the stuff was frozen, and a pitchfork wasn't gonna do the job. Dad handed Suzanna a pick axe and Thomas an axe. That made me nervous, but it didn't matter much, since the kids were only loosening about a tablespoon of sawdust at a time. Dad disappeared, and I was sure he decided to take a break while his kids were working hard and accomplishing nothing. Never fear......he soon returned......with the chainsaw. The kids eyes got huge, and mine did too I am sure. But it was logical, sawdust is wood, so why not use the chainsaw to get the stuff out.
We sent the kids to their favorite ice spot for a break and daddy started cutting. The sawdust was flying everywhere, and he began to push blocks of sawdust out of the wagon. Once he got through the first layer of frozen stuff, the stuff underneath was loose and pushed out easily. The kids came back out to the barn and ended up building "walls" with the frozen blocks, which dad then mushed with the lawn tractor.
Once all that was done, it was time to put the barn back together. What a nice feeling it was to be in that nice clean place when it was all done. We were all tired out by the end of the night, but it was worth it.
PS: Obviously I didn't make it to the Stallion Service Auction. Never fear, trainer Mike took care of it and we ended up with just what we wanted and even got some bargains in the deal.
We get our sawdust a gravity wagon load at a time. For anyone not familiar with a gravity wagon, here is a description. They are used by farmers to haul grain. It is a wagon with sides, and a floor that slants to one side and a door on the side of the wagon. That allows the grain to slide down the slant and out the door. We have adapted that principle and use one to get sawdust in. There is a sawmill not too far from our place and they will fill it up for $20, which beats buying bagged shavings!
So we got a fresh load of shavings about a month ago, but had only gotten a little of the stuff out of it since then. Despite the fact that we keep it covered, the water still gets into it. Add that to the fact that it isn't kiln dried, and you have damp stuff that when it is below freezing day after day after day, it will freeze in. As the kids began to attempt unloading the sawdust, it was obvious the stuff was frozen, and a pitchfork wasn't gonna do the job. Dad handed Suzanna a pick axe and Thomas an axe. That made me nervous, but it didn't matter much, since the kids were only loosening about a tablespoon of sawdust at a time. Dad disappeared, and I was sure he decided to take a break while his kids were working hard and accomplishing nothing. Never fear......he soon returned......with the chainsaw. The kids eyes got huge, and mine did too I am sure. But it was logical, sawdust is wood, so why not use the chainsaw to get the stuff out.
We sent the kids to their favorite ice spot for a break and daddy started cutting. The sawdust was flying everywhere, and he began to push blocks of sawdust out of the wagon. Once he got through the first layer of frozen stuff, the stuff underneath was loose and pushed out easily. The kids came back out to the barn and ended up building "walls" with the frozen blocks, which dad then mushed with the lawn tractor.
Once all that was done, it was time to put the barn back together. What a nice feeling it was to be in that nice clean place when it was all done. We were all tired out by the end of the night, but it was worth it.
PS: Obviously I didn't make it to the Stallion Service Auction. Never fear, trainer Mike took care of it and we ended up with just what we wanted and even got some bargains in the deal.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Barn Cleaning
Not the most fun you can have on a farm, but a necessary part of life. So today we will take on that project. We have three box stalls in the barn, and all three need help. Fortunately, we don't have to do it all by hand. Our lawn tractor has a bucket attachment which hubby uses to scoop out the stalls. The front of one stall comes off and the sides for the other two stalls can be removed as well. The only pitching you end up doing is pulling the stuff away from the wall so the bucket can pick it up.
It is a sunny day and suppose to get up in the middle 30s, so it should be a nice day to be outside and enjoy the outdoors.
Today is the Michigan Morgan Futurity Stallion Service Auction. Many stallion owners donate a breeding to their stallion to be purchased at auction. The foals that result from the breedings purchased tonight are eligible for bonus money in 2009 at the Futurity. Trainer Mike and I discussed what stallions would work for our two mares and will hope to pick up one for each tonight. I had hoped to go to the Gala, but think Trainer Mike will have to bid for hubby and I. Barn cleaning takes priority over social stuff today.
It is a sunny day and suppose to get up in the middle 30s, so it should be a nice day to be outside and enjoy the outdoors.
Today is the Michigan Morgan Futurity Stallion Service Auction. Many stallion owners donate a breeding to their stallion to be purchased at auction. The foals that result from the breedings purchased tonight are eligible for bonus money in 2009 at the Futurity. Trainer Mike and I discussed what stallions would work for our two mares and will hope to pick up one for each tonight. I had hoped to go to the Gala, but think Trainer Mike will have to bid for hubby and I. Barn cleaning takes priority over social stuff today.
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