We are a dairy farming family who decided long ago to bring our kids home to teach them. We now have graduated 2 and still have 2 left. We have loved watching them grow into the young men and woman that God had planned for them. Not all easy but well worth it. Not to many gray hairs yet!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:17:00 -0500 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:17:00 -0500 You would think with all this rain we have had this month I would have had tons of time to write but alas I have been busy despite the rain. We have not found our heifer nor has anyone seen her since the last time I posted about her. I would imagine she is probably long gone or dead by now. We will probably never see her again, I just hope if she is still alive that she doesn't hurt anyone by running out in front of them. Work in the fields has pretty much come to a stand still. Some of our corn is ok but some is very short(3-4 inches high) and starting to turn yellow due to all the rain. We really need some warm sunny days like more than one in a row! The boys had the run of the farm this weekend so Dennis and I could go camping with my brother and his wife. It was sunny where we were and warm but here is was not so they didn't get the benefit of the sun. We were at a very redneck campground- lots of beverages being consumed in plastic red SOLO cups. We usually go to a Christian campground or a state park so you don't get that as much or at all so it was a bit different for us. Can't say as I would recommend that place to anyone. The site we were at was nice and by the water so that was a plus. When we got there they told us where to park so my brother had the bigger camper and they put him in the "bigger" site but while backing in "Jethro" as we will call him, misguided my brother and he ended up denting his nice new truck because it rammed up under the camper due to uneven ground. "Jethro" kept waving him back not even watching the clearence of the vehicle. Duh!! Jim broke out in a cold sweat when he heard the crunch! That was just the beginning, we in the mean time whipped our camper right in to the spacious site we were given but while we were hooking up the water we heard a spraying sound inside. Yes one of the pvc joints had come apart and was spraying everywhere. So while Jim finished setting up we had to run into the nearest town to get some cleaner and glue to repair the broken joint. You would think a plumber might carry that with him but no Jim didn't have that When we got back we found out that Jim wasn't close enough to his sewer drain so he couldn't hook up which made him a bit mad since he paid extra for that site for a 3 way hook up. We let him have our pipe for extra length and we just emptied before we left.  All in all it was a good weekend just to be able to get away and we have these stories to laugh about now. We have been able to get some things around the barn repaired due to all this rain so I guess that is a good thing. They are working on the cow mattresses today. Some of them over the years have torn and shifted so we are putting in some new ones and smoothing out the sand underneath them so they will have optimum comfort. They make more milk when they are comfortable! Like I always say there is more to farming than just milking cows! Well I guess that is all for now. Let me know if I have missed something you want to know about. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/703755/ Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:17:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/703755/ Well we recieved a call last night from a couple about 5 miles across town saying they just saw a big heifer in the woods across from his house. We pile into the truck and head over there with some grain and a halter in hopes that we can at least corner her in someones barn over there. When we got there she was standing in the woods very still just watching us. Dennis and Ryan head in there with the guy that spotted her. Ryan with the grain and Den with the halter. As soon as Ryan shook the grain pail a little she bolted deeper into the woods but toward the main route into Albion so I jumped into the truck and headed out there to head her off if she came out. She did not so eventually we just left her with the pile of grain in hopes she would come back and eat it. We went home to eat supper for it was now about 6:30 pm. Ryan got onto his Facebook and saw that a friend of ours had just written "I just saw a cow run by my window, down the road" We headed back out but to no avail. This morning around 7 am we got a knock on the door from a farmer in the opposite direction from where we saw her last night saying that he saw the heifer last night after 7pm running around. She ran out in front of a car and almost caused an accident so now we are getting a bit more concerned she is going to do some damage. I guess she reeked some havoc on someones grill in their back yard last night. Dennis called the vet this morning for a tranquilizer gun so I guess we may be going hunting later this afternoon/evening. I just pray she doesn't cause an accident before then. We will let you all know what happens. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/697615/ Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:46:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/697615/ I was scrolling down through some of my past blogs and thought I would update you on our friend Eben, the boy with cancer. He has recieved a donor for his bone marrow transplant. That will take place in July so be praying for him as that comes. His brother is getting married in a few weeks so he can be in the wedding. They moved up the date because once he gets the transplant I think he has to stay in Boston for 4 months and he can't be with people for 9 months. That is a long time for a 14 yr old boy. We finished chopping first crop yesterday and we are covering the pile this morning. I just came home for some water so I guess I should be getting back. Will write more later. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/696449/ Sat, 6 Jun 2009 08:10:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/696449/ Well we started chopping yesterday and it was a little rough, we are trying out a merger and it wasn't working. The preasure washer guy was here to service the p.w. and after I got done milking I went over to hoe back the calves, looked out the window and I saw smoke, like someone was having a campfire. The p.w. was on fire! Nice! Today they were moving from one field to another and this is what happened: The tire from the dump cart snapped right off and rolled into the pond. It is a loaded tire-which means it has calcium and water in it so the dump cart doesn't lift off the ground when you dump into the truck. It was really heavy.So Kyle and Ryan switch places so Ryan can man handle it out of there. I am so thankful that God gave us very strong boys.Finally they got it up enough to get a chain around it, now they have to get it into the bucket. Not so easy! Remember it is heavy!Wait Dad your phone is ringing- it was the salesman from the equipment dealer telling us that a friend of ours just walked in and said we could use his dump cart till we got ours fixed. Isn't God good, what are the chances that our friend would come into the parts place just as he was on the phone with Dennis. That is only a God thing. Ok back to work- we need to get this out of here before we can go get the borrowed wagon. Three cheers!! This is where it is supposed to be! As you can see it snapped right off at the  body. I am so thankful he wasn't going down the road. He had just pulled off the road when this happened. That is also a God thing! Anyway we are back in business because of great friends. Well must go get ready for afternoon chores. Write more later. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/695126/ Tue, 2 Jun 2009 12:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/695126/ I know I promised pics from this years planting activities well yesterday I finally remembered to take my camera out to the field! Tyler has been working very hard to seed down this 4 acre field. The boys are very excited because this is prime deer hunting area. After many many hours of rock picking with the skid steer and many more hours of rock picking with the rock picker and finally cultipacker ran over this to even it all out it looks like this I can't believe how smooth he got it, it was pretty remarkable. Well Dennis and I went around to make sure all the rocks were either covered up or picked and this is what we foundNow I know what you are thinking, Big deal a little rock sticking out, but if the mower hits that it will break or bend the knives so prevention is the key. This is that same rock out of the groundThis is why we take the time to pick them! Anyway, this is the seed that we are planting, it is the combination of alfalfa, rye, timothy, clover. They call it "Cash Cow" but the real reason we used that is because the deer love it and it doesn't hurt that it is good for the cows as well. I guess the amazing thing about this field is that it has been so infested with rocks that we never would have dreamed that we would be grass seeding anytime soon but the boys are determined to have a good deer plot. Whatever gets them motivatedThese pretty purple seeds are alfalfa3 hours later Tyler finished seeding. I will try to remember to take a pic when the grass comes up to show the finished produce While Ty was seeding Dennis went around and trimmed up the trees on the edge of the field so they wouldn't hit the windows of the tractor as they mowed and chopped. There is so much to farming, alot of behind the scene stuff that people don't realize. Well I guess I should get going to plant my garden, it just got rototilled last night! I am excited. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/690781/ Wed, 20 May 2009 06:23:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/690781/ We got a call this morning, actually Jean got the call, yesterday she went to get her haircut across the other side of town and was telling her hairdresser that we had lost a couple of heifers and what do you know, her sister called her last night to tell her they had a stray heifer in their barn. Penny called and said "Her eartag says Toystory is that your heifer?" YES! that is Ryans heifer. We think the other one is still out back traipsing around because we found fresh tracks in the corn field yesterday and they are working out there today so maybe she will show up! We have to go pick up Ryan's heifer tonight after 6. He is thrilled. Dennis has been planting up a storm. He must have almost 100 acres done and he just went out to start our 50 acre field so he is doing well. Last night he wacked his head in good shape and cut it open on the top. I was not home so when I got in around 9 he said "Hey take a look at my head will ya?" I said "Did you hit your head again?" He has a habit of doing that. He said "Yes but I finally got it to stop bleeding." Sure enough he had a 2 inch long gash on the top of his head where he stood up and wasn't watching where he was and hit his head on the flashing light on the planter. That is what you get for working late!!! Nothing good ever comes from working late. Something always goes wrong. Well that is all for now. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/688930/ Thu, 14 May 2009 10:25:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/688930/ We have had a very eventful last few days to say the least. Of course it is spring and it is time to put out the heifers for the summer. We put out 15 heifers and 4 cows in the last week. The first day we just put out the cows to get them used to the pasture so they would be calm when we let out the rest. Well not so much! One stayed off by herself most of the morning planning her escape and around 10 am or so she made a break for it and ripped down some fence as she went. We corralled her into a different pasture that has Kyles beef cows in it and she seemed content. Notice I said "seemed". I left for a supper we were having at church and when Dennis didn't show up I called only to hear that she got out again!! Not only that but she enticed another cow from the original pasture to come along with her! Twice the fence to fix now. Anyway we put them back in the barn because that is where they headed for. That was all on Sat., advance to Monday, nothing good ever happens on Monday. We put those two meatheads back out and left them in the corral this time to calm them down and went to get the 15 heifers to put out with them. Dennis put them in the corral as well and left them in for 3-4 hours, thinking they were calm enough he let them out on his way home for lunch. Bad idea! They took off out of the corral and bolted in every direction. We had 5 I think escape completely but got them all back but two. After chores in the afternoon Dennis and I yet again headed out to fix the fence they had torn down. Then when the boys were done milking around 5 we headed out to track down the lost ladies. One is Ryan's so he is getting concerned that she is still out there. We tracked them for 2 hours and it was starting to get dark. It is amazing how far these boneheads went! Today is Wed. and we still have not seen them. We put the word out hoping they will pop out into someones field and someone will see them. We may go looking for them again today. We have lost one before but she came back, we are hoping they will do the same! Oh yes did I mention that Ryan saw a bear out there last week? I don't think they would have trouble with the bear but I don't like traipsing around the woods knowing there is a bear somewhere. On the lighter side... I looked out my kitchen window last night and this is what I saw: This is Booger, Kyles beef heifer, she is trying on her new necklace. She wasn't very impressed, if you look close you can see the fence running along her backside. She couldn't see to well and kept backing up into the fence and getting lifted. Needless to say, we had many people stopping to tell us that she had a tire on her head. We kept telling them she would get it off but after about 4 people stopping we figured we had better go take it off. Well after the effort of going out and putting her in the corral she got it off by herself just like we said!! Some people get so wrapped up in the "animal rights" that they don't enjoy the humor in the world! We were getting a good chuckle after a few hard days of chasing these stupid animals. Not these in particular, they have never gotten out! By the way this little lady is due in July. She will calve out side and her calf will nurse off her. We are excited because the dairy cows that we have calve and we take them right away and take care of them so this is a change for us. It will be neat to watch them interact with each other. I hope she has a heifer so Kyle can continue his herd. Well I guess that is all for now. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/688483/ Wed, 13 May 2009 05:42:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/688483/ Well yet again we have another turkey on the ground! This morning Ryan went out in the rain and called 8 tom's in and shot the biggest one.He weighed 21.5 lbs and had a beard that was 10.5 inches long. We are going to marinade the breast meat and have it on Sunday for Mothers Day. Yummy! I love it that my boys go out and bring home the meat! Just like in the old days! I know that if all else fails we will never go hungry because all my boys love to hunt. I had a great supper last night at Applebee's. It is always fun to go out to eat with all the kids. Especially now they are older, they get embarrassed so easily. Dennis loves to do things to embarrass them. Today we have to go through the hiefer barn and do vaccinations. That is always an interesting time. Everyone gets covered in... well you know and they try to jump the gates to avoid their shot. But it has to be done 2 x a year. Yippee! I think I might try to get to Augusta with Lynsey this afternoon, she wanted to take me to the Christmas Tree Shoppe for my birthday so how can I refuse that!! I love going there. We cleaned the bird and got his breast meat into some marinade for later use. Ry shot kinda low so he got some pellets in the breast meat. Oh well as long as we are careful while we eat it it shouldn't be to bad. Ok I must go get some work done! Real work! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/686495/ Thu, 7 May 2009 06:40:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/686495/ Well I was surprised out of my shower this morning by my son, Tyler, coming back from the woods with this:He shot his big Tom Turkey on my birthday!! He weighed 19 pounds and had a 9 inch beard with 1 1/4 inch spurs. That info is only for those guys out there that care. He is now in my roaster cooking for lunch. I injected him with some honey teriayki (sp) so that should be good. My sons are taking me out for supper tonight. Applebees!! They wanted to take me to Longhorns but Dennis said they needed to leave something for him! So I guess that means I am going there sometime soon! I don't care I love both places.This is what is going on out side my kitchen window right now! I am glad it is raining so the smell won't be so bad. Well I guess that is all for now. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/686212/ Wed, 6 May 2009 09:59:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/686212/ Well we had a great time in Vermont. We stayed at a very nice hotel The kids loved going swimming and in the hot tub. I must admit it was very relaxing. We had the place to ourselves when we went, then as we were leaving for supper a huge bus of college baseball players pulled in. Needless to say we stayed away after that. They were a little to rowdy for us. My sister Debbie is always raving about when she was little she remembers going to the A&W drive-in for a frosty glass of rootbeer. Well, as we were coming into Middlebury we passed this: This is the first time I have ever seen one so I made, no I asked Dennis to turn around so I could take a pic. for Debbie. It is to bad that they were closed becasue I would have loved to try a frosty glass of A&W so I could understand what she is raving about. Oh well maybe next time. The ride was long and Tyler and Lynsey were in the back seat of the truck that we rented. Which by the way was the best thing we ever did. It was very comfortable and it gave us a chance to try a truck out so when we get ready to trade our Rendezvous in we have an idea what we might like. Anyway, while we were still in Maine we stopped to see Cabellas which Lynsey and I have never been to and they guys are always willing to stop there. Here are a few pics of that. Yes Lynsey is as short as she looks!Tyler is just 6 ft. and Lynsey comes to his shoulder! She comes by it rightly, isn't that right Nana!!Of course we HAD to get a pic of the 2 largest deer killed in Maine. But my favorite pic of all was this one I took on the way out:If you could read that sign is says "Please, no sitting on the cement!" Oh well we didn't read it before we took this but I am sure we are not the first to do so. If you look through the moose front leg you can see the grey truck that we rented. When we got back into the truck I guess Tyler was exhausted, I suppose I would be too if I had been up working since 2 am and by now it was 1 in the afternoon. A telltale sign that he is tired is the red ears! A Turner trait. There you go Grampie that is what Tyler got from the Turners! Well I guess that is all for now. The sale went well and we almost had the top selling cow for the sale but one beat us out by $200. We were so close! We were very pleased with what we got for each animal. We were not sure with the economy the way it is but we did well. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/684713/ Fri, 1 May 2009 08:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dairymaid1/684713/