Category Archives: Farm

6th calf 2015

When we went up to do a calf check before milking this morning, OreoCookie was off by herself. So we milked and then headed back up to check things out. And found this:

It’s a boy! {Click here to see her calf from last year.} The Sarver family will be naming him, so I’ll update this post when I hear what it is…😊

We wanted to give Cookie a chance to clean him up more and feed him, so we headed back home to eat breakfast and then move Padme to join the other calves at our house.👍

Padme was a pretty hesitant walker. Took her awhile to make the trip, but she finally made it.

Her welcoming committee had full tummies from their morning milk, so they were not the most welcoming, lol…😏

Paul helped them out with some introductions…😉

Got back up to get Cookie and her calf, and noticed he hadn’t eaten.😁 Sooo, we brought them down, milked AGAIN, and had plenty to feed her calf.😊

This pic makes me laugh… If you zoom in on Mike’s face, you can see him preparing to carry another heavy calf… This new guy rivals yesterday’s Gungi, and we are old and tired, lol.

Ahhh – but in swoops the next generation! Michael to the rescue!!👏😉

This pic shows Cookie’s calf from 2012 – Sarge – in the front left of the baby mobile. Maybe next year she’ll have her first calf!👍

Blake introduced himself.😻

Not sure, but I think Gungi is photobombing this pic, lol…😜

5th calf 2015

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Michael’s heifer (Banana) had her first calf this morning! {Click here to see when Banana was born.}

Click here for another post from when she was younger.

Or here for another one.

This calf has taken FOREVER to pop out, lol… We cancelled our plans to visit with my Cleveland family on Sunday afternoon because she looked super loose and we wanted to be available to help her if necessary. But she never had it Sunday. Then we missed some baseball on Monday so we could run home & keep up with checking on her every 3 hours for any changes. But nothin’. And so went Tuesday, and Wednesday… We really felt the pull of that difficult line of where: making-yourself-available is very close to: you-are-acting-like-God-can’t-handle-this-without-you.😳 Sooo many good life lessons from farming!😊

And now we see a better picture of “why” Banana progressed as she did. The Lord was preparing her to have her first calf completely unassisted and without an audience. And we are pretty sure her calf is the largest one so far, as well. Mike and Michael were delighted this morning to find this in the field:

It’s a boy! His name is Gungi. (Apparently he is named after the only Wookie Jedi, as featured in the Clone Wars, lol.)😉

Before we could bring those two down to the barn, we moved Han over to join Chewy and Leia next door.

He was pretty resistant to the walk at first, and tried to play possom…😉

But he eventually caught on to the idea of walking…👍

He was a bit apprehensive of trudging through our flooded yard… But some gentle persuasion helped.👍

He made it just fine.👍

It’s a muddy mess right now, but thankfully that is just for a “season”…😊

Then we headed back up in the rain and thunder to bring down Banana and Gungi. Pictures were difficult with all the rain and keeping feet stable in sloshy mud, but Paul did a nice job taking some pics for us since I drove the baby cart down to the barn today.👍

Made it aok! Thank You, Lord…❤️

Tally now: 3 boys, 2 girls.😊

4th calf 2015

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Went up to do a calf check after a pretty heavy downpour and found that Gluey had her calf, AND it was on the wrong side of the fence…😡😁

The fence electric was off, so Mike pushed her calf back under the fence…

It’s a girl! Her name is Padme. (Kinda funny – just like how the movies were released…Leia first, and then Padme!)

{Click here to see Gluey’s calf from last year.}

Now we needed to make a decision. Leave calf with mama for the night or just bring them down to the barn now…?

After observing them for awhile, we decided to bring them down to the barn, milk Gluey, and feed Padme. Gluey was a muddy mess, seemed to like staying close to the fence, and with more rain in the forecast, we thought it best not to wait until tomorrow.

We were really thankful the boys’ baseball was cancelled for tonight! It was nice having them here to help.👍

Paul & I walked behind Gluey, and Michael drove the baby cart…

Gluey got a good scrub down…😉

And she milked plenty of colostrum for Padme.👍

Plus we got a special show from her half-brother, Han, as he danced around in excitement, lol…😜

New tally: 2 boys, 2 girls…😊

3rd calf 2015

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Found Tangerine and her calf this morning when we went up to check the girls.😊

It’s a boy! His name is Han (Can you tell there is a Star Wars theme going on so far?😉)

{Click here to see Tangerine’s calf from last year.}

Before we could bring them down to the barn, we moved Chewy & Leia over to our barnyard. They were excited to be out of the barn!

Chewy was a bit stubborn at first…😏

Meeting last year’s calves on the other side of the fence…😊

Chewy and Leia getting better acquainted…😊

Friends!❤️

Then we headed back up to bring down Han and Tangerine.

Han walked for a little bit, but then he wanted a ride…😉

The boys followed Tangerine down to the barn, and I drove Mike in the baby cart…😏

FINALLY 2nd calf 2015

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Waiting for mamas to have babies is kinda like watching water come to a boil, lol. We’ve been eagerly awaiting an explosion of births each day since our first one on March 21st. But it’s been very non-eventful around here… Fiskars and Chewy are doing fantastic, but if you’re gonna milk one cow, you might as well have MORE, right?? Ahh. Good lesson in patience on the Lord’s timing… Guess He knows we need it.😉

BUT. Finally. Went up at the crack of dawn today, and spotted an extra little body through the misty film of a rain-soaked field!

It’s a girl!! PeaPod is proud mama to Leia (think Star Wars and roundy hairstyle).😉

[Click here to see her calf from last year.]

I had an appointment this morning, so I couldn’t help with bringing them down. I passed on picture taking duties to the boys and their friend, Tyler… (along with Blake, the cat, lol)😏

I’ve been told it all went smoothly…👍

I’m glad the boys had Tyler there to help this morning!❤️

Hooray! Our count is now one boy and one girl. Perhaps we are coming up to a rapid boil here… Stay tuned!😊

1st calf 2015

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Here we go! Last night, Paul’s heifer (Fiskars) had her first calf, making it also our first calf of the 2015 season.👍 {Click here to see the post when Fiskars was born.}

And here are a couple other posts featuring Fiskars from the past couple years: https://robertsfarm2004.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/paul-fiskars/

https://robertsfarm2004.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/banana-fiskars-showing-off-their-winter-coats/

So back to last night… It’s a boy! Paul named him “Chewy” (think Star Wars 😉). The boys were at youth group while Chewy was born, but Mike and I were blessed with being able to witness his birth. Mike even helped a little…

He’s a cutie! Now the next test – will Fiskars get him cleaned up and fed?😳

Yep!👏 So Paul decided to allow Chewy to stay overnight with his mama in the big field, and we would bring them down to the milking barn in the morning. (Gotta say, the control-freak in me wanted to just snag him up, bring him down to the barn, and feed him thawed colostrum since it was supposed to be 18° last night… But – we told Paul we’d honor his decision. We prayed about it together, and were excited for the adventure in the morning.❤️

It was such a beautiful evening to begin our 2015 calving season…

Mike & Paul headed up to the field first thing to check out the situation. Here’s what they found…😊

“Operation distract” started first. Mike fed hay to the rest of the girls to keep them from getting in the way of our parade. It was a success.👍

Next step was to bring Chewy & Fiskars down to the barn. Chewy was THE most laid back and calm calf we have ever had, lol. His tummy was full and he had ZERO ambition to walk ANYWHERE… By the time the 4 of us were ready to bring them down, Fiskars had stashed Chewy in the briar patch. That was fun getting him out, lol…😁

Now it’s Paul’s turn to carry his calf…😉

Fiskars contemplated participating in Operation Distract, but thankfully without too much prompting, she followed her baby through the gate and down to the barn.👍

Fiskars did a great job milking for her first time!👍

Cats were super excited for milking to start back up, too!😜

Thank You, Lord, for new life. And for allowing us to witness just a small snippet of Your amazing creation. Prepare us to handle whatever lies before us as we begin this milking season. Amen❤️

18 years together

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Had to start milking extra early today so we could make it out in time for Michael’s double header. ⚾️

I will never grow tired of sunrises… ❤️

Looking back toward the girls…

Now I’m back at the milkhouse, looking up toward where the girls were…

And then I glance toward Mike in the barn and I do a double take…

I LOVE THIS MAN. ❤️ I love that he sees beauty where I see beauty. I love that I just caught him taking a picture of it like I was. 😍 I love that the Lord has blessed us with 18 years of marriage together. 💏

And I love that he txted me this picture after he took it. That he knew I’d love it. And I do. 💗

We love because He first loved us. (‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭19‬)

Farmily fun with Flat Stanley

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Got a fun assignment from Arizona last week… 🌵

I decided to turn it into a blog post for a couple reasons. First, because I am THE WORST at being prompt at mailing packages out. [Like birthdays, for example. I still have my mom’s August 25th b-day gift sitting on a table waiting to go to the post office. I mean, the gift is DONE and ready…all I need to do is mail it! 😔] And second, I am THE WORST at getting pictures printed… We don’t have a color printer, so the procedure to get a picture printed is just more than I can handle, lol… Especially when the printer at our local Rite Aid doesn’t seem to ever be able to read our travel drives! 😡

Soooo, to my brother, Mark: Hope this post can count as completing Abbi’s assignment – and if you want to print any of these pictures out, you’ll get them quicker than any I’d send from here! 😬I’ll place Flat Stanley and his new wardrobe in mom’s package and try to get it shipped tomorrow… 👍

Now: on to our adventure! 😊

First thing we had to do was prepare Flat Stanley with proper “farm” attire… Custom-made a pair of muck boots for him and introduced him to the dairy girls during the morning’s milking. 🐮Here he is with the boys and ScotchTape:

Next he helped me hand milkers to the boys…👏

Then he “hung” with me in the milkhouse… 🙈

And he helped me bottle the milk. He MAY have taste-tested the milk when I wasn’t looking…not sure how else he may have gotten a milk mustache… 😧

He liked our cats, too. Though they weren’t interested in sharing their milk with him…😼

He wanted to get an up-close look at the calves, so we brought him to see them… 😎

He chose the wrong wire to hold onto and was a little “shocked”… [It was a “hair-raising” experience! 😉]

Then he almost turned into a snack, but Uncle Mike saved him… 😱

Didn’t take long and everybody just went back to business… ☺️

Then he helped me frost Uncle Mike’s birthday brownies… 🍫

And posed for a selfie with Michael… 😏

He fit perfectly in Uncle Mike’s phone pocket on the 4-wheeler, so he was ready for a ride with the boys…🌞

They took him to see the dairy girls grazing in their field…🐄

Fixed him up with a Terriers shirt to root for Michael’s baseball team, and then he partied with us as we shared a dessert celebration for Uncle Mike after the rainy game. Even Aunt Jenny got in on the fun! 🎉

That’s it! Some farm, some family, and some fun. Thanks for sending Flat Stanley to us, Abbi! 💌

😘,
Aunt Dawn, Uncle Mike, Michael, & Paul

Tractor tugboat…

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So funny. Couldn’t help snap these pictures this week. Our lawn tractor stop moving forward while Michael was mowing. My 3 “mechanics” needed to get it next door to the big barn where all their tools are. Paul went and got the 4-wheeler and a chain, so he could tug Michael up the hill next door. Mission successful! 👍

Funny, our school year has started a little differently than planned. Lifeschooling: Mechanics 101 actually began a couple weeks ago with our “farmily” (no, that’s not a typo) truck. Boys got to learn how to replace brake pads, emergency brake cable, and water pump. And this week it’s all about replacing mower belts and patching tractor tire inner tubes. Perhaps next week will be oil changes, fixing muffler holes, and door handles… Ahh, vehicles – such a love/hate relationship! 😬 Truthfully, we ARE very thankful for them, but it seems they are most often used as vehicles to grow our patience. 😉 And that is most definitely A GOOD THING. 👍

So here’s Michael coasting down our hill to hook up to Paul.

All hooked up…

And away they go!

Scraping marrow into beef broth – a new level of weirdness

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Used up our last quart of broth last week, so its time to simmer another 4 roasters of broth. As I was straining the first two batches of broth on Monday, the strangest thing happened. All the bone marrow was STARING at me! I know, I know. I’ve seen it before, and I acknowledged it, but that was it. “Too weird. Not ready for that yet.” (I distinctly remember thinking that and even saying that to several people when it came up in conversations.)

And then it happened. Guilt. “Those articles (like this one and this one) you read a couple weeks ago DID make sense… And look at the marrow sticking out of those bones…” 😉

So, I did it. I took a narrow knife and scraped out the marrow. Whisked it [now I blend it in my blender with a cup or so of extra broth], poured it back into the broth, and whisked it in… Funny thing is, I KNOW bits of marrow have fallen in it every time I’ve made broth. But (for me) there’s just something about taking the effort to actually do it on purpose, lol… 😏

I feel like that’s what happens in my walk with the Lord, too. I can be sooo stubborn. I get into my “autopilot” mode and completely miss the open door in front of me. Or worse, I see the open door, but choose to do what I’ve always done, and miss an opportunity to grow. The cool thing, though, is that EVENTUALLY, I catch on. Autopilot goes off, and I quit fighting change. It’s always hard to see just how much pride I still have in “my way”, but it’s so freeing to finally “see it”, seek forgiveness, and continue forward with a renewed spirit to let the Lord keep me off of autopilot. Thank You, Lord, for being patient with me. Keep making me more like You!❤️

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭23-24‬ NLT)