In my neck of the woods, snowstorms are a common occurrence. Six inches of snow is just a dusting. Twelve inches of snow is a nuisance. Eighteen inches of snow is a slight inconvenience. Even a Nor’easter that dumps twenty inches of snow and knocks out the power for a few days is taken in…
Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection…
The lovers, the dreamers and me.
– Kermit the Frog
Most doctors will say that there is no connection between a full moon and the onset of labor. Talk to a farmer, and they will most likely disagree. The old timer up the road is a firm believer – he says that if the moon can effect the tides of the ocean, then it can…
Picture it. Thursday night, 2016. There I was, busy chopping and slicing and dicing. Trying my best to get supper made before everyone came into the kitchen whining about being hungry. When suddenly, my daughter came bursting through the backdoor and shouted… COW IN THE LAWN!!! Those of you that live on a farm with…
One of the most peaceful places I know, is in the barn, late at night. Away from the rest of the world, the only sounds that are heard is the slow, methodical chewing of hay… The clanging of the stanchions as the cows jockey for position, trying to find the spot and the soft, low…
I am happy among the cows… In the fields surrounded by the old stone walls… Listening to the calves beller for their mothers… Looking over the mountaintops… Watching the cows silently graze their way across the pasture. Our farm is my happy place.
I had just walked outside with a basket full of laundry to hang on the clothesline, when the old timer from up the road came roaring up the driveway. He needed baler twine because he was making some sort of trap to catch the “damn varmint” that was getting into his corn. I pointed him…
We call him “The Jumper.” He’s a gazelle disguised as a bull-calf Hereford. He can leap tall buildings in a single bound. He is the bane of my existence. Throughout the years, there have been many, MANY calves born on this farm. All have been well mannered and easy going… except for “The Jumper.” He…
MUSE is the theme of the Weekly Photo Challenge. I used to love taking pictures of my kids. Now that both are in their late teens, sitting and smiling for the camera is not in their repertoire. Teenagers… So, I turn to the farm animals. They are always happy to see me, never complain and…
Yesterday was officially the first day of spring. Instead of being heralded with the arrival of geese and a crocuses poking through the thawing snow, we patiently sat through another winter snow storm. Having contracted an EXTREME case of cabin fever, I felt the only cure to my ailment was to lace up my winter…
More snow is predicted for tomorrow {sigh}. Fortunately, the cattle don’t even bat an eye at the snow and colder temperatures. They constantly turn down the opportunity to be in the barn and choose, instead, to bed down by the round bale feeder. The donkeys tell you what they want: outside when there is…
Tommy: “What you do, is you put your shoulder into her and you push.” Paul: “And?” Tommy: “They fall over!” Paul: “This doesn’t strike you as kind of… dumb?” Tommy: “We’re family. We’re going to be doing lots of dumb stuff together. Wait ’til Christmas.” Tommy: “You keep your feet shoulder width apart. Stay between…
Mother Nature gave us a little reprieve yesterday. The days was filled with blue skies, above-freezing temperatures and plentiful sunshine. The girls enjoyed it immensely, munching hay and soaking up the sun. Some of them were so content, you could almost get close enough to hop on their backs, before they opened their eyes to…
The Farmers in the Dell 