FARMING ~ need I say more

If you need me - I'll be in my office.

Apple Crisp Please !

After eating a bowl of apple crisp flavored oatmeal this morning Trevor turns to me and says.....

You should get a good apple crisp recipe.

Hello! I have a good recipe and I've made it several times before. Maybe not for quite awhile - like..... maybe two..... or three.... years ago. But I have a good recipe. At least I thought it was good.

My thought about baking sweets is that it than has to be eaten. And, being I'm the one who is at home guess whose butt it attaches itself to. So, I very rarely make desserts that are going to be sitting around calling my name all day.

I suppose after taking a couple years off, a pan of apple crisp might actually be okay. Now, if I can just find that recipe. Hmmmm.



Oh, wouldn't you know it - I'm out of apples!!!

I KID YOU NOT !!!!!

I went into Shopko today and guess what I saw. You're never going to believe it or guess it. I saw Christmas bulbs and ornaments adorning the shelves. AAHHHHH!!! Didn't Fall just get here????

We have a wonderful family that has taken some of our kitties off our hands this summer. Due to a few mishaps they were requesting a few more. You can see how helpful this has been, as there is no more room at the milk dish. And it just so happens I refuse to get a bigger dish. :)

So, a few days back when I noticed that our mama calico cat's belly was beginning to get large and lumpy, I talked to our friend about the opportunity of taking a cat that was pregnant. She thought this would be a good idea. I talked to Trevor about it and of course he said "get rid of it". So, yesterday I gave our friend a jingle to see if I could bring Patches over and she said that I could any time today. Imagine my excitement of getting rid of a whole batch of kitties, although, not as thrilled about getting rid of Patches. She's been a really good cat - just a little too fertile.

Yesterday afternoon I realized I hadn't seen Patches much and this made me very nervous. Last night when we got home from church I see Patches and I immediately start to inspect her because she does NOT look nearly as poochy as she had. I even asked Kale for a second opinion - in case my eyes were playing tricks on me. He agreed and thought she looked pretty skinny. We proceeded to carry all the groceries in the house and put them away, making me forget about investigating it further.

This morning before the kids headed down the driveway to wait for the bus I asked Kale to make a quick run-through of the barn to look for a litter of kitties. To the pain of my ears, he came running out shouting "she had them, there's five baby kitties".

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me??? Could her timing be any worse! Ridiculously, I knew I believed Kale but for some reason I had to see it for myself. Yep, there was Patches, the good mama that she is nursing not five but SIX kitties. 3 black, 1 calico, 1 orange, and 1 white.

Look at her - she's looking at me like "WHAT? What did I do wrong?"

Knowing that there's no way I'm going to move brand new kitties to a brand new home I grudgingly made the call to our friend. I told her the news and told her the number in the litter - of course I had my fingers crossed hoping she'd still want all of them. It sounds like she will still take them all, which is so nice since they have other kitties already. We decided that in about 5 weeks we'd try to make the transfer again.


So, for the time being, Patches and her new family still call this place home sweet home.

Lord, watch over and protect them. Keep them safe. Help them to be good friends. Help them to listen carefully to their teachers. Lord, give them wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Help their teachers to teach in a manner that is easy for the kids to understand. And Lord, I ask that they have fun today. Help them to put a smile on someone elses face today. ~Thank you!

Silage 101

Thought I'd give you the low-down, the scoop, the 411 on the art of Silage. Since I just happen to have by camera with me yesterday I took some pictures to help capture the whole process. Now, I realize some of you already know how this works, but I'm sure there are a few of you that don't. Also, I'm posting on this subject because I have nothing else to write about and so this is all you're going to get out of me today. So, turn back now or hang with me for a couple of minutes.



Where do I begin...




First of all we start with corn stalks that have matured fully and are just beginning to dry down.

Second, we have the tractor which is pulling the cutter which is pulling the wagon.

The cutter feeds in two rows of corn at a time and basically slices and dices the whole corn plant into tiny pieces about the size of a kernal. You can see in the picture above just how clean of a cut it makes. There's only about six inches of the stalk left on the ground.

The cutter than blows the choppings into the wagon.

Once the wagon is full, the truck pulls up right next to the wagon. Literally, it is within inches of the wagon. The wagon lifts up and dumps the load onto the truck.

The truck then races through the field and heads to the pile where it unloads. It is necessary to go quickly so that the cutter doesn't have to wait to dump its next load. There is no sluffing off when you're driving the truck. (except when you're taking pictures for blogging purposes, despite the cross looks you may get from the boss)

When the truck reaches the pile the box is raised up and the silage pours out the back.

After the box is empty and lowered back down, the truck heads back through the field for the next load.

At the pile, the silage is pushed up on the pile and then drove over back and forth several, SEVERAL times with a loader tractor to pack it all down. It must be packed hard otherwise it will spoil and rot.

We cut 85 loads this year and finished in two days. With the bountifull hay crop we're hoping it'll be enough to keep the cows full all winter. My Dad drives the tractor pulling the cutter and wagon and my brother drives the tractor packing at the pile. I'm the truck driver that's rushing back and forth constantly from the field to the pile. It definately makes for a LONG couple of days.

So, now you know the whole process as it happens on our farm. Yes, for tens of thousands of dollars we could upgrade and get newer cutters and wagons - but for the two days out of the year that we use them, our 35 year old cutter and 20 year old wagon will do. Some day, some year, they'll probably get too old and tired for the job, but for now it all seems to work just fine.

Before she headed off for college, Jade gave Kale and Nikia t-shirts from the college she will be attending. How cool is that?!! I told you she was a great person didn't I. It was a few weeks ago that she actually gave them the shirts, but I finally caught them wearing them the same day.





I know Kale thinks about her often. This is how I know.... For Jade's high school graduation Kale burned a cd of some songs that he picked out and gave it to her. Jade wrote a really sweet Thank You note just to Kale. Of course he was in la la land when he received that. Well, anyways..... I find it right next to his bed every night. That's right, he reads it before he goes to sleep every night. Cute huh!

FRIDAY? Already!

Where did this week go? Trevor gets home tomorrow from fishing in Canada. I suppose I better get busy and get this house cleaned or he'll wonder what I did all week. Which, really wasn't a heck of a lot. I did manage to get the lawn mowed before it down poured yesterday. Wow, it came hard for awhile. Trevor, my Dad and Kale re-shingled the garage last weekend. Guess they did it right because after yesterdays rain - NO PUDDLES in the garage. YAY!!

I've got my LimeWire fired up and the 80's a blasting. Let the cleaning begin.


Have a great weekend ladies!

It's official, SUMMER is over.

The kids are in school, football has started, leaves are beginning to turn, Tracy Ferber has put out her Fall decorations, Mums are the only flower in the greenhouses, it's time to cut silage, crops are beginning to lose their healthy green appearance, deer license application deadlines have passed, the swimming pools are closed, and I've taken the highlights out of my hair and colored it dark again.

Yes, AUTUMN is here.

I'm a happy girl again, I got a new coffee maker! Yes, I know, it doesn't take much to get on my good side. However, I will say this. If you are ever in the need for a new appliance or whatever it may be, and it's something that your husband uses or likes, make sure he's along when you make the new purchase. Men like to get the better quality and are willing to pay more for things that are of "necessity" to them. Ever tag along when he decides it's time for a new gun or a new lawn mower, chair recliner, chain saw or whatever? They look at things like quality, horsepower, range, accuracy and what it's all made up of first and don't even think twice about the price. You see, the first coffee maker I bought I had reservations about how much to spend and what it looked like, so I was a little hesitant on my choice. I went with a little cheaper selection because I basically talked myself into believing that I didn't need such a nice coffee maker and they all basically do the same thing. Right??? WRONG!!!! And I knew that, but I still hesitated on spending so much money. So, when I made the return of the first coffee maker, because of it's look and the dumb filter type, and began my search for a different one I made the call. "Honey, want to come help me pick out a new coffee maker?" That's right, we stood in that aisle for about 20 minutes looking over the various kinds and discussed the programmable option, cleaner option, number of cups, stainless steel carafe or glass pot, brew strength and yes indeed, the filter type. Guess what? I walked up to that check-out and payed twice as much as I did when I made the first choice myself. Yessiree, if you want to make an expensive purchase without feeling guilty, just make sure he's along and let him do the investigating. You can't go wrong.

This is the one that we got. No it's not a BUNN - we did look at those, but even I know we don't need to spend THAT much money. It's a Kitchenaide and it makes the most delicious coffee.