Deep and Wide

I got this sweatshirt at a women's retreat I attended when I lived in Charlotte. Over the course of those few days, we must have sung Steven Curtis Chapman's song, Dive (written in 1999), at least a hundred times. We were exploring the turbulent waters that can swirl around our lives and discussing how we can "dive" into God to get the help we need.

After moving to the farm, being in over my head took on a "deeper" significance, and the sweatshirt became part of the "milk duds" that I donned every morning. Being downright chilly today, out of habit, I grabbed it and then wondered if I'd ever taken a picture of it. Tah dah!

You don't have to live on a farm to know that life doesn't always feel like a delightful dip in a cool, refreshing lake. It can get deep and stinky. I'll bet you have a few yucky stories of your own. You could probably write a book!

We each have our own way of finding encouragement and strength when we're slogging through difficult days. Writing my book helped me, but the underlying basis for my book was always The Good Book ... the Bible. The Bible has been my go-to source for peace and wisdom since I became a Christian, lots and lots and lots of years ago.

The frustrations, disappointments, and heartbreak of life can be deep and wide, but God's love and provision are always deeper and wider. I'll leave you with these words from Ephesians 3:16-20. I pray you will be encouraged.

"I'm asking God to give you a gift from the wealth of his glory. I pray that he would give you inner strength and power through his Spirit. Then Christ will live in you through faith. I also pray that love may be the ground into which you sink your roots and on which you have your foundation. This way, with all of God's people you will be able to understand how wide, long, high, and deep his love is. You will know Christ's love, which goes far beyond any knowledge. I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God. Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine."

P.S. Weldon is hauling manure today. He doesn't wallow in it; he sees it as a resource. By spreading it on the fields, the ground will be more fertile and grow better corn. And on a dairy farm, corn is a good thing!

Still Farmin'

This is Farm Muse, but it's been a while since I actually posted about the farm. (I'm better at musing than farming.) You may have questions about how Weldon spends him time now that he's "semi-retired." I have answers.

1. Does Weldon still have cows? Yes! Although he stopped shipping milk commercially in January of 2015 and sold his best milkers, he has plenty of cows and calves. He's currently milking nine cows, and just yesterday I had to yell, "Cows are out!"

Youngsters

Milkers

2. Does he still bale hay? Yes! He bales the "good stuff" for the cows and bales the junk just to get it off the land.

Do you see him down there?

A man and his tractor. It's a beautiful thing.

3. Since he doesn't have so many cows, does he still plant corn? Yes, indeedy! But he doesn't have to plant as much as in years past. He planted early corn that's already about 8 feet tall, and the "regular" corn is coming along nicely. This year will be kind of sad because he won't have corn growing on both sides of the road coming into the farm. Neighbors and passers-by will be surprised.

This corn, planted in front of Edith's house, has grown quite a bit since I took this pic.

The corny blogger standing amidst the early corn.

4. Has anything else changed on the farm? Nope. Deer still eat corn. Coyotes still eat kitties. Machinery still breaks down. Following are a few miscellaneous photos.

The manure spreader broke down some time ago ... obviously. Makes a nice planter, doesn't it?

Manure still has to be moved, so Weldon hauls it in this wagon and dumps it on/near the fields.

Flat tire on the truck.

Kitties are still a joy and a heartbreak.

They can also be a "neckbreak" if you don't keep your eyes on the ground as you walk.

 5. So Weldon is as busy as ever? Not quite. He admits he has slowed down some and can't "keep at it" as hard as he used to. His favorite pastime, when morning chores and breakfast are finished, is computer time with his "tractor nut" friends. But, sooner or later, the real world of farming and it's never-ending needs call him back to the great outdoors. Somebody's gotta do it!

Welcome to My World

Farm life. Ah, it's a beautiful thing. Except when it's a totally gross thing, which it is quite often. I'm not going to spend too much time musing over the two items described below. I did, however, think it was only right that I share my new-found wisdom with you. You're welcome.

Since corn is one of Weldon's favorite topics and an area of his expertise, he has taught me quite a bit about it since I came to the farm. Years ago he showed me corn that looked even worse than depicted in the following two photos.

 

Eeuuww. Gross.

Yes, this is corn. But you don't see a lovely cob, do you? What you're seeing is smut. Here is the definition of smut from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: any of various destructive diseases especially of cereal grasses caused by parasitic basidiomycetous fungi (order Ustilaginales) and marked by transformation of plant parts into dark masses of spores; also :  a fungus causing a smut.

So, imagine my horror when just last week Weldon was telling me about some visitors who came to the farm to see if he had any corn for sale. He explained that the garden corn was all gone, but there was still lots of field corn. They walked into the fields to check it out and, when they saw the smut on some ears, they were ecstatic. "This is a delicacy in Mexico. Is it for sale?" Weldon told them they could have the smutty corn.

I still get shivers up and down my spine when I picture the black, rotten, moldy stuff. But it turns out that the "delicacy" is only a delicacy before it hits the rotting stage. When it's "good" to eat (I use the term loosely), it looks like this:

Mmmm. Yummy.

We call it smut, but it's also known as Mexican Truffles or Corn Truffles ... or Raven Scat. It's similar to mushrooms, and they're not so bad, are they? I took a tiny little piece of the corn truffle, and it tasted a little like corn. Weldon sampled more than I did, but an itty-bitty nibble was enough for me. You can discover more fun facts about smut on the website Eat the Weeds. There are even a few recipes for the brave of heart.

Next: yesterday's discovery. I was coming in from feeding the cats and kittens and saw a strange blob, seemingly hanging on the side of the house. I didn't stop to investigate, but hurried in to get my camera. I went back outside and approached the wall very cautiously. What the heck? At first I thought it was a baby snake ... hanging by a "thread" along the bricks?? Can't be. But what?

Eeuuww. Gross. Two slugs getting it on. That's just disgusting. (Sorry, God.)

Eeuuww. Gross.

And then they slithered contentedly up the wall. I have no idea where they went or where he or she or they will have their darling little slugs. I suppose I'll meet them in the garden next spring.

Welcome to my world. Eeesh. I've got shivers.

You're welcome.

Chop that Corn!!

Although it was a touch-and-go growing season, Weldon's corn crop did amazingly well this year. When it reached its optimum potential and was ripe for the reaping, the rains came ... and came ... and came. By the time the skies cleared and the ground was dry enough to support the machinery, the leaves had developed an unsightly blight. But Weldon said the corn and stalks were still full of moisture and the browning leaves wouldn't hurt the cows.

In past years I've blogged about harvesting the corn, but today I'm going at it from a different perspective. Like so many things in life, the actual doing of a job is preceded by lots of other jobs in preparation for the real job, so that's what the photos below depict: getting ready to chop the corn. I'll give you the short and sweet version.

Short and sweet. Get it?
Just a little humor :-)

Wagons, ready!

Tractors, ready!

Chopper, ready!

Silo, almost ...

Silo, ready!

Blower, ready!
















Preparatory work, done! Within two weeks, silage chopped!

Heart-felt thanks go out to the guys who helped Weldon: Alton, a long-time friend; and Jamie, a first-time visitor to the farm who offered his help & was immediately recruited :-)

You can see more pictures and read some of my previous posts about cutting the corn and hauling it to the silos by clicking on the links.

Finally, check out the exciting video footage of filling a silo in 2009. Can you believe it: they are still doing it the same way this year!

Life on a dairy farm. It's like nothing else. And that's all I'm going to say about it!