You Might be a Redneck if...

You use an old stop sign as part of your Christmas Tree Stand...

(For several years, as you can tell)

Or is it just the fact that you snowmobile into the mountains to find a wild, water-deprived ever-green, with scrawny branches, and still try to make it look pretty?

I think it just might be both....

Now, I'm off to buy a tree skirt!

Psst! Don't tell anyone that we took the only stop sign in the whole town. I don't think anyone will really notice as long as no one says anything. Thanks!

Behind!

"I'm a little more behind than I thought..."

I do have a lot of stories to share and a lot of pictures to post! Hopefully I will get to them soon. They include roadkill, preg testing, butchering, and so much more. I bet you just can't wait!

This pig picture does have another meaning "behind" it. It's about our pig. He's in my freezer now.....And so far the parts of his insides are very yummy.

I also want to show you something else I've been working on for Christmas....

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Every creature was stirring, even the mouse.

The hay bales were stacked by the fence with great care

In hopes that the semi soon would be there.

The toddlers were nestled all snug in bunk beds

While visions of tractors danced in their heads.

And I in my apron and he in his cap

Had no time to settle down for a long winter’s nap

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter

I sprang from the kitchen to see what was the matter

Away to the porch I flew like a flash

Tore open the door, while forgetting my sash

The wind from the north, blew the new-fallen snow

Gave snowdrifts of dirt around objects below

When what to my wondering eyes should appear

But eight of our cows and not a single reindeer.

Now Clarence! Now Barry, Now Ethel, and Bertha!

On Howie, on Horace, on Bessie, and Melba!

To the top of the Hill! Back to the feed lot!

Now dash away! Dash away! Before you get caught!

Their eyes how they twinkled, their black hides were hairy

Their bellies were full of grass from the prairie.

They had broad shoulders and utters full of dairy

That shook when they walked like a bowl full of jelly

But soon they moved on, so I returned to my work

Of caning tomatoes and making dessert

.....and then came the writer's block. I can't think of how to end it. If anyone wants to give me ideas, I'll give you a free steak dinner. (You have to come up and visit us of course, but it's totally worth it.)

Chow!

Oops, I mean, Ciao!

Our Very Own Snow Plow

Pretty nice, eh?

It finally stopped snowing and mother nature gave us a beautiful sunset. Ok, we forgive you!

SNOW!

It started snowing yesterday...

And kept snowing, and snowing, and snowing. It started to pile up nicely...

Then came the wind. If you don't know, it really blows up here. The wind is crazy here! Just the other day, I took this picture to prove it to you....

So the wind came, and it blew the snow.....Everywhere....

Into huge, gigantic drifts!

Then it started snowing while it was blowing and pretty much was a white-out blizzard!

Soon after, I opened my blinds to find this at my window.

See what I mean? LOTS of snow!

And our front steps. We've shoveled once already...

So I turned the Christmas music on, and made bread. It's a snow day!

(Most of the reason I made bread is because I did not go grocery shopping BEFORE the storm. So I'm out. Too bad I can't make cheese or eggs....)

Make-over...Sort of..

So this Farmer's wife got to experience a little bit of luxury this week. lol. My husband's aunt is learning how to do eyelash extensions. Yes, you heard right. I guess the price usually starts around $300, and upkeep is about every 6 weeks!

But... since she's practicing, all the luxury is F.R.E.E. Nice, huh? So of course I let her practice on my eyes. And I felt like a princess!

Before...

After...

And that's still without makeup. You don't have to wear mascara with these things!

Loss...

A few days ago, this family lost their horse, Sadie. One morning she just lied down and was gone. My husband thinks Sadie was between 20-25 years old. I guess he's got to look it up or ask his dad for sure. But it's sad to lose an animal, especially a horse that you grew up with. I hear that Sadie was such a good horse. The family was sad to hear that she was gone, but it was probably time. She was getting really old. I was talking to my sister in law who said that her family was saddened by the news. Her 8 year old son asked if they would be able to travel from out of state to come up for the funeral. Too cute. Horses are amazing animals, and this one has a lot of memories with this family.

I took a few pictures a while ago. I don't really have any recent ones, but these will work. The grandkids loved to go for rides around the house with Sadie.

In those last pictures, you can see her daughter, Deni, in the background.

I thought that Deni would be a little distraught when her mother died. I thought maybe she would stay close to her. But she didn't act any differently. Or so I thought. I soon found out I was wrong.

My husband got the tractor so that he could lift Sadie's body and take her out of the pasture. He drove in and then he called me to see if I could come and help keep Deni from running out of the gate. I didn't think that would be a big deal since Deni likes to run away from people anyway.

So I went out there and Deni was VERY concerned that my husband was taking her mother out of the pasture. It was so sad. Deni was running all over the place and neighing as loud as she could. She was quite upset. And she wasn't scared of me anymore! The farmer drove out of the gate and Deni almost got out. Luckily I wasn't trampled, and luckily I was able to keep her in and hurry and shut the gate. Deni was not happy as the tractor drove away. Poor horse! She kept that up for a while, but by morning she was calm again. Now she seems okay, but it was quite the day. Sadie will be missed by this family!

Postal Diggers

The other day, my brother-in-law called. He wanted to know if he could borrow something from my husband, as long as he wasn't using it. The cowboy wasn't there at the moment, so I told him, that I'm sure he could borrow it since they belonged to the family farm.

He asked for some "postal diggers."

Well... I had absolutely no idea what "postal diggers" were, but I still thought it would be fine, so I said, "Sure. I'm sure it's fine if you use them.

Later on that day, when my husband came home for lunch, I told him that his brother called and was borrowing the "postal diggers." He nodded in understanding.

I said, "Is that right? At least I think that's what he said over the phone. He said, "Postal diggers."

"Yep," my husband replied.

Confused I asked, "What in the world are postal diggers?"

He smiled and said slowly, "You mean, Post Hole Diggers? You know, like when I go and build fence. That's how you dig the hole for the posts."

So there you have it. Post Hole Diggers.

Not some diggers that have gone postal, nor do these diggers have anything to do with USPS. Just in case you were wondering...

Another View

My mom came to visit shortly after we moved away from her to live on this farm. When she came in the house, she looked out the window and said, "Well, with this kind of view, why would you ever want to move back?"

And it's true. Isn't this an absolutely amazing view from our front window? I plopped myself down on the couch yesterday afternoon, then decided I better get my camera so I could show you all.

I particularly like this view too...

The timing was impeccable.

Tee hee... good thing he never checks this blog!

Sunset

We have some pretty awesome sunsets around here. And you can tell when a good one is brewing because the inside of the house turns pink. The skies also start to show a pink hue

Then...

I wish my camera could do it justice...

And my favorite: "Reflection on the Sewer Ponds."

Beautiful, isn't it?

(The sunset, not the sewer ponds...)

Ox in the Mire

Or in our case, "Pivot in the Mud."

Last Sunday, just before dark, my husband asked me to come and help him while he pulled the pivot out of the mud. Again, this is a pivot:

And one of the wheels was stuck deep in the mud so the pivot was not pivoting....

So I got in the "outfit" :) ....the old pick-up truck that was my husband's grandmother's truck and drove down to the field where the pivot was.

Now, here is an important detail. It was POURING RAIN outside.

I pulled up to the control panel that had huge warning labels of "Possible Electric Shock"

....while my husband put a chain on the part of the pivot that was stuck, and connected it to a tractor. When he gave me the word, I pushed a few buttons, and he started pulling on the pivot with his tractor/chain combo.

After a few minutes, and lots of rain, the pivot was unstuck. It wasn't so bad.

So I got back in the pick-up and tried to drive out of the field. But now I was stuck in the mud! The cowboy tried to push me out, but once we got it to budge, it got stuck again. Good thing we already had a tractor and chain because now it was dark. My husband had to find a place to hook on the chain, which happened to be on the back of the truck. Then he pulled me out of the field, while I had to steer in reverse, in the dark and in the rain.

That's about as much adventure as this farmer's wife can handle in one day.

The end.

Outfits

First of all... Outfits.

I always hear farmers talking about their outfits.

"Did you see my new outfit?"... "I saw his new outfit yesterday.".....
"I was wondering about your outfit."....."Did you see that outfit?!"....."Hey, that's a pretty nice outfit you have there."

I thought it was pretty strange to hear cowboys talking about their clothes... so often. I thought all that really mattered were wranglers and boots.

Well....come to find out that "my" kind of outfit, is not "their" kind of outfit.

Definition of a farmer's outfit: the type of vehicle(s) you drive

Oooo.. That makes sense now!

Oh Just a Few Random Things...

I'm pretty behind on this blog. Some of the reasons include:

Trying to save our plants from being killed by the frost....

Yes, we bundle them up in blankets, don't you do the same on those cold nights?

Look how shivered, and wilted they are! No! Don't die!

Please!

And other BIG reasons include HARVEST TIME!

The cowboy has been spending his time harvesting wheat, fixing the combine (big machine you have to have to harvest the wheat, unless you want to pick each stem and shake it yerself), cutting hay, fixing something, baling straw, fixing the combine again.

It's been busy.

And then even with all of that, he has time to do this:

Pretty much, he's in charge of the canning. Is anyone else's husband like this? I mean, I don't mind it, but usually the wife is in charge, right?

It's kinda nice to have him doing all the work, and I just get to stand and peel tomatoes. :)

And voila! (Here's half of them, at least!)

What you do not see pictured yet are our many jars of pears, peaches, and jams. Plums and applesauce to come. I've tried drying peaches and apples too. The apples worked out, but the peaches did not....There's a learning curve here.. for this new farmer's wife! (Don't even ask me about my beans. That's a touchy subject...)

Oh, and the other thing? Moley, the cat, is not doing her job! We've been catching a lot of these critters. I'm not so happy about that.

Not only are they gross, but my 2 yr old usually sleeps on the floor and ever since one ran across the room, I will not put him on the floor. So he's been in my bed for a month. Darn mice. I want my bed back!

Thank a Farmer Today! :)

It's a Beet

Things have been extreeeeeeeeeeeeeemely busy around here! It's called "Harvest Season." :)

Anyway, I just wanted to show you what I harvested from my garden today.

Yes, that would be a beet. The biggest beet I have ever seen in my life. Isn't that the coolest thing? I'll have to let you know if it tastes good at this huge size.

I'll blog soon....

Work is Play and Play is Work

My sister-in-law grew up on a potato farm. A HUGE potato farm not too far from here. She said that her dad always used to tell this to her and her siblings. Well, we met her dad last night. And guess what he told us. Yep. "Work is Play and Play is Work." That's the motto you've got to live by. And by golly, he's been successful, so it must be true.

At least I think it's true. You get out here in the country, with these down-to-earth farmers, and they work their brains out. They are always working. You can see them in the middle of the day, and you can see the lights on their tractors in the middle of the night. It might be crazy, but they love it.

Cause you know, what guy doesn't want to work, and drive this around all day...

or this....

or this?

I mean, lots of little boys start playing with trucks and tractors before they can even talk. Aren't these guys up here just livin' their dreams? Seriously. Every time we told a guy that we were moving to farm they would exclaim how jealous they were and how they would love to live and work on a farm. (And all their wives would look at me with pity in their eyes and say, "Oh I could never do what you are doing. I could never move to a farm!) We started to find it quite entertaining because the same scenario would happen over and over as we told each couple of our life-change.

Anyway. Work is play and play is work. It's hard work, but for some reason, they love it. Maybe it's cause in between the hard stuff they meet up again at the quonset, a piece of wheat hanging out of their mouth, lean against the tractors, and shoot the breeze with the other guys. I've seen this plenty of times too....

By the way.... I had to look up the spelling for "quonset." I would have spelled it "quansit." And.. I just found out that's what the big structure is siting outside of our house.

Who knew? Obviously not me. Not until our Aunt called and asked if a certain truck was parked by the quonset. I said, "Quonset? What's a quonset."

And she said, "Oh... that big metal building in front of your house."

Ooooooooooohhhhh....

Change Water

Every once in a while my husband will say, "I've got to go change water." And it would happen at random times during the day and in the middle of the night.

The first time he said that, I replied with, "What are you going to change it into?" Of course I didn't get a reply. So later I asked him in all seriousness, what he meant.

So now, as I understand it, it's what he has to do when he "flood irrigates" a field. He builds a dam in the irrigation ditch, so that the water overflows into the field and floods it. Every so often you have to go and take the dam out of one part of the ditch and put it in another part of the ditch so that it can flood another part of the field.

So that is what he means when he says, "I've got to go change water." He really could say, "I've got to go and move the dam." Same thing. But I guess the latter is not farmer talk.

Since I'd been asking so many questions, he invited us to go with him one night when he had to change water. Here's what it looks like. The dams are pretty high-tech.

He uses some sticks and a tarp.....and some really cool rubber boots

Puts the sticks in the ditch

Sets up the tarp against the sticks

And wahlah!

And by then I was wishing I had some cool rubber boots too. My feet were soaked!

So there you have it folks. That is how you "change water."

Another Phone Call

Me: Hello?

Lady: Hi, this is Jill from the Department of Water Resources. I'm just calling to see if your irrigation well is still on?

Me: Hahaha...heeheehee... Oh good question. I have no idea what you are talking about.

Lady: Oh, okay then. (Chuckles). Is anyone there who would know?

Me: No, they are not, but I could call my husband and ask him for you. He would be the one to know. We just moved here, and I don't know anything.

Lady: Oh okay. That's no problem. Just give me a call back when you get the chance. I need to come out there and get a sample from your well.

Me: Oh okay. Sounds good. I will call you back then.

........

Me: Hey, hun. Is the irrigation well still on?

Him: Yeah, why? (Sounding a little surprised that I would ask a question I knew nothing about)

Me: Well a lady from the Department of Water Resources needs to come out and take a sample from it.

Him: (Understanding now) Oh, okay. Yeah it is. But tell her it's going to only be on for 2 more days.

Me: Gotcha.

And then I relayed the message to her.

But you know, I was thinking. There's going to come a point where I can't say, "I just moved here and don't know anything.." because sooner or later, I will NOT have just moved here. I'll just have to tell them, "Sorry, I just don't know anything." Being new to the farm won't be a valid excuse anymore!

Hay and Straw

Hay and straw, are not the same. Most of you probably already know that, but I didn't know that for the first 29 years of my life. I just found out, not too long ago, that straw and hay are different. They may look similar, but they are different.

I've explained the difference in a previous post, so for some of you who are new, hay is dry alph-alpha and straw is leftover stems from grains, such as wheat.

So today, I thought I would show you some pictures. :)

This, would be hay. You raise hay on purpose, to feed your animals.

And this, would be straw. You don't really raise straw. This is a wheat field. Planted and raised for wheat. Now, that our neighbor has harvested his wheat, the straw is left over.

And what do they do with the straw? Well, my husband said that they bale it. They bale it so that they can give it to the cows. He says they eat a little bit of it during the winter - it helps them to keep warm. Mostly, they just make beds out of it. It's got to be pretty good bedding, I mean, didn't we as humans used to make our bed matresses out of straw? I remember going to a museum and lying on a straw bed and thinking it was horrible. Too funny.

Our wheat is not quite ready to be harvested yet. Which I guess is okay, since they had to get our combine (the big machine that harvests the wheat) ready. You know, there was a dead cat in it, and some other parts they had to replace. I'd have to ask my husband, but I think it's almost ready to go.

And just for your viewing pleasure, he is another bit of scenery for you.

Gorgeous huh? This is on the drive from our little town to the next town. I believe that is a field of Safflower. They make cooking oil out of it. I had never heard of it before I moved here. I'm sure most other people have heard of it. It makes for beautiful fields too!

I also recently found out that potato fields and beautiful. Potato plants have flowers! Who knew? I didn't. I have yet to take a picture for you, but here is one off of the internet.

See what I mean.

Farming makes for some gorgeous scenery.