Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Bringing in the Harvest
Without seeing any cows, I know that this is (or was) a dairy farm.  From whence cometh such great wisdom? My clue is the silo. Dairy cows eat silage, and silage is generally stored in silos.

About this time of year, the silos are getting pretty empty. If you have been a diligent farmer, your corn crop is ready to be harvested. And if the good Lord has blessed the crop, it will be enough to fill the silos and feed your cows until next year.

Spring of 2011 was too wet to get an early planting and the summer was very dry; thus Weldon's corn was quite short in comparison to his usual awe-inspiring crop. When we'd drive by, he'd say to the corn, "You should be ashamed of yourself!" But the Lord provided rain before things got too desperate and Weldon did some irrigating down by the river.

Weldon started getting ready for the harvest in mid-September. Preparation involves getting the tractors and wagons ready, sharpening the knives of the corn chopper, climbing in & out of silos to make sure everything is in order, and all kinds of other stuff I know nothing about.

The first week in October saw Weldon & a friend cutting the corn along the road and taking care of the first of the breakdowns.
Can you see Weldon under there?
Chopped corn = Silage

Then came the rain and a week of waiting for the ground to dry out. But when it was time to start up again, with 2, 3, and even 4 guys helping, they were bringing in the corn like there was no tomorrow! Yesterday they finished the fields by the river and behind our house.


Now it's just the corn below Edith's that needs cutting. After all his complaining about the short corn, it appears there will be too much for the silos to hold. But that's a good problem! Big THANKS to the Lord and to the guys who helped so freely and cheerfully.

Sunday, October 09, 2011

KIT CARSON & SONS

Before coming to the farm 7 years ago, I had not been around cats very much and certainly hadn't seen kittens being born nor watched them growing up. What a joy and a heartbreak it has been.

Only a few of the cats had names back then, but in May of 2005 I started naming the new ones. The first (and my forever favorite): Kit Carson.

Carson was just over a year old when she had her first babies, giving birth to them in a junk yard down the road. It didn't take me too long to figure out the perfect names: Sanford and Sonny.


Carson in the junk yard, note the old car seat behind the bicycles.
Her babies under the old car seat
Here they are, maybe 2 months old

Carson was always a good mother and always had her babies down in the vicinity of this same junk yard. Over the years, she had a lot of babies, but usually just one or two in a litter. However, once she had four! I wanted to show you a little video of them, but can't get it to download. Maybe next time :-)

In early 2010, the coyotes discovered the farm and the farm cats. We knew that Carson had given birth to new kittens, down the road as usual. We tried to find them so we could move them closer to the house and hopeful safety. Unfortunately, Carson and her unknown number of babies were never found.

As if losing way too many cats & kittens to coyotes wasn't bad enough, on November 6, 2010, Sonny was killed by wild/stray dogs.

On October 8, 2011, Sanford came to the milk barn for his morning neck rub and I could see he was in a bad way. Weldon gave him a shot of penicillin, but he died peacefully that evening.

The only surviving direct descendant of Kit Carson is Samantha. She has already been a miracle kitty, and it seems the coyotes are taking a break, so perhaps she will live a long and peaceful life here on the farm.

This post is dedicated to Kit Carson, Sanford & Sonny, and all the other kitties who have gone on before. I hope they are instigating all kinds of kitty shenanigans in the lush fields and junk yards of heaven.

Saturday, October 01, 2011

September  2011
Another month, come and gone! I'll try to keep this short and sweet. Here are some of the highlights, in no particular order.
Just for pretty

In memory of the tragedy of 9/11, I read the book Thunder Dog:The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero by Michael Hingson. It was a real eye-opener :-) Seriously, I learned a lot!!

At the beginning of the month, for a couple of days, we were only milking 7 cows! And on the last day of the month (yesterday), we were milking 12 cows. How did that happen? you ask. Well, a cow/heifer on maternity leave has a baby and, tah dah, we have a cow to milk (and a baby calf to bottle feed). Five new little mouths ... 3 heifers, 2 bulls.

This little cutie was born just 2 days ago


I'm about halfway through the book by Ann Voskamp, the author/blogger that I made fun of back on August 4th. I have repented of my attitude and am really enjoying the book. It's a lesson we've heard many times and yet find very hard to live out on a daily basis: give thanks! She has wonderful quotes from a wide range of seekers both past and present. Have I started my list of 1,000 gifts? No ... but I might.

The best part of the month (the year!) was having my mom & dad here for a week! They hadn't been to the farm since they came seven years ago for our wedding. Katie flew in from NY for 4 days and Anna & Marshall came up from Charlotte for the weekend. We didn't do anything too exciting; it was enough just being together.
The nuts don't fall far from the tree?
Let's see, what else? Weldon & I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on the 25th. We've both had a cold for about a week. He is getting ready to chop corn, maybe starting as soon as Monday. Busy, busy.  So, that's enough for September. Anyway, it's October now, so I have to quit.