It's that season. Slow. Everything is slower. The cold makes the days stretch on (well except when you get your appointment card from the accountant and your appointment day was set 2 weeks earlier than it normal and instead of a month to prep for tax time, you have 10 days. Then time seems to FLY!) and if there's little sun that day too? Then it's just endless. The van grumbles and rumbles and takes extra time to warm up, I have to watch how I walk outside because no one likes to slip and fall (especially if, as I discovered, your landing pad is a 5 gallon bucket...Ouch) so no quick hops/skips/jumps for me, and the lower the temp, the slower the cow.
Yes, it's slow season for us. So what does a farmer do when he can't be cutting hay, plowing fields, or planting corn? What do we do before the busy-ness of Spring comes along and calves are being born, machinery is being prepped, and we start counting down the days til tractors can get back in the fields?
Simple. We slow down. House projects get done (or at least further progress is/should be made), books get read, hills get skiied/slid down, cocoa gets sipped, snowmen get made, and who knows, we may even get a vacation in. Because our year is flip-flopped and our busy time is most peoples vacation time (can't make hay in January but you sure can in June and July, right?), this is our season to relax, sit back, and enjoy the days cold though they may be.
Because, before we know it, Spring gets sprung and we'll be back to busy, busy, busy business.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Friday, January 30, 2015
Driveway Drivel
Driving V.E.R.Y. cautiously to the barn last night (and equally slowly home) should have been a big hint.
Slip sliding out to the van this morning should have clued me in even more.
The fact that the traction control kicked in as soon as I put the van in reverse should have decided it.
But I wasn't about to let something as simple as ice keep me home today. I had an appointment to make, a fridge that was emptying out, and thanks to a week's worth of tax time book keeping/number entering/receipt sorting/all that good stuff (Yes dear, I'm still working on those books. I just took a fifteen minute break from typing on one computer to type on the other. I'll be back to the books as soon as I finish this blog post.) a steadily increasing case of cabin fever. No way was I staying home for anything short of a dead vehicle or a sick kid.
And to be perfectly honest, the ice was mostly on our driveway and the dirt roads. Once you are on the highway, it's smooth sailing...er driving...
So I braved the ice rink that leads from the road to my house and off I went.
And off I went indeed. Or nearly so.
Backing out of my parking spot involved me putting the van into reverse and sliding it backwards about 10 feet. Traction control promptly decided to control traction and my van moved in the proper direction after that. Except when the traction control decided to turn traitor.
See Traction Control and I have a love/hate relationship. 90% of the time, it's great. That's when it's OFF. The other 10% of the time, when I actually do need it? Not so much. It likes to think my wheels should go straight instead of turn even though there's a corner right in front of me. Or that the ditch is so much more inviting than the road. Or my wheels are spinning too fast so let's slow them down and make Jill stop right in the middle of that piddly little snow drift that doesn't even come to the bumper but is covering a 2 inch thick layer of ice so once she's stopped she can't go anywhere and it'll take her and her husband a good half hour to get the van unstuck. Yeah, Traction Control and I are frenemies.
So I should have KNOWN to turn off the darn thing before I left. But I didn't.
And here's where I'll admit that my annually expanding experience with vehicles, icy surfaces, and snowbanks came in very handy. Despite how the previous paragraphs sound, I did NOT go in the ditch. I made it to town and back without incident. I will say having the van do a 90 degree power slide around the corner of the driveway unintentionally (impressive when you consider I was doing about 5mph at the time) was a teensy bit thrilling but I don't care to repeat the experience. I think it's just tempting fate (and those ditches!) to try it purposefully.
And the next time I leave, I'm turning off Traction Control before I leave my parking spot. I have this nasty suspicion that computer program/gadget doodad was only playing Cat/Mouse with me today. Next time I may not be so lucky...
Slip sliding out to the van this morning should have clued me in even more.
The fact that the traction control kicked in as soon as I put the van in reverse should have decided it.
But I wasn't about to let something as simple as ice keep me home today. I had an appointment to make, a fridge that was emptying out, and thanks to a week's worth of tax time book keeping/number entering/receipt sorting/all that good stuff (Yes dear, I'm still working on those books. I just took a fifteen minute break from typing on one computer to type on the other. I'll be back to the books as soon as I finish this blog post.) a steadily increasing case of cabin fever. No way was I staying home for anything short of a dead vehicle or a sick kid.
And to be perfectly honest, the ice was mostly on our driveway and the dirt roads. Once you are on the highway, it's smooth sailing...er driving...
So I braved the ice rink that leads from the road to my house and off I went.
And off I went indeed. Or nearly so.
Backing out of my parking spot involved me putting the van into reverse and sliding it backwards about 10 feet. Traction control promptly decided to control traction and my van moved in the proper direction after that. Except when the traction control decided to turn traitor.
See Traction Control and I have a love/hate relationship. 90% of the time, it's great. That's when it's OFF. The other 10% of the time, when I actually do need it? Not so much. It likes to think my wheels should go straight instead of turn even though there's a corner right in front of me. Or that the ditch is so much more inviting than the road. Or my wheels are spinning too fast so let's slow them down and make Jill stop right in the middle of that piddly little snow drift that doesn't even come to the bumper but is covering a 2 inch thick layer of ice so once she's stopped she can't go anywhere and it'll take her and her husband a good half hour to get the van unstuck. Yeah, Traction Control and I are frenemies.
So I should have KNOWN to turn off the darn thing before I left. But I didn't.
And here's where I'll admit that my annually expanding experience with vehicles, icy surfaces, and snowbanks came in very handy. Despite how the previous paragraphs sound, I did NOT go in the ditch. I made it to town and back without incident. I will say having the van do a 90 degree power slide around the corner of the driveway unintentionally (impressive when you consider I was doing about 5mph at the time) was a teensy bit thrilling but I don't care to repeat the experience. I think it's just tempting fate (and those ditches!) to try it purposefully.
And the next time I leave, I'm turning off Traction Control before I leave my parking spot. I have this nasty suspicion that computer program/gadget doodad was only playing Cat/Mouse with me today. Next time I may not be so lucky...
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Last Year in Review
Looks like it's been a while since I last posted. Ooops. As usual, I guess. This is just part of my personality and anyone who knows me should know this. I'm horrid about remembering birthdays (including my husband's as well as my own), I usually get the last of my Christmas cards out after New Years (still have a buncha them to do so par for the course), and I tend to forget things quite easily.
But there's many things I managed to NOT forget over the last year. Here's a recap of 2014 on our farm.
The farm was busy. Well, when is it not? But you know what I mean. We fought rain, snow, sun, and pretty much everything you typically get weatherwise in a year but the fields got planted, the crops got tended, it all got harvested, and it looks like we had a pretty decent year. Not phenomenal but decent. Can't ask for more than that, right?
We started renovating our house again and while progress seems to be agonizingly slow, progress IS being made. The plan is to finish wiring the basement this winter, move the bedrooms downstairs, and then start working on the upstairs. We're still looking at a few years before the whole project is done but what's a few more years when we've been doing this for the last 7 years? :) However, until we can move the bedrooms, our bed shares space with the couch in the living room.
Another big change was in our family. Baby girl joined us in early July and she has been a joy ever since. Her big brother and big sister simply adore her, and spend hours every day talking to her, reading to her, playing with her, and just generally entertaining her. It was an adjustment for me to have a newborn again because until R came along, my 'baby' was going on 3 but it wasn't long until it all started coming back to me. R is now 6 months old, oh so curious about e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g., babbling up a storm, and trying to roll over & sit up. V & A are growing by leaps and bounds too. V will be 5 in just a few weeks and is still farm kid through and through. It's not uncommon for him to ask if he can go with Daddy and be a bit sad when he can't. A hates being left behind because she's Daddy little shadow too. It just amazes me that my almost 5 year old and my 3 year old know more about farm machinery and how it operates than I do but it's like they are little sponges. They just absorb so much when they are out with L in the field, in the barn, checking irrigators, wherever. My kids love farm life and I hope they always appreciate it this much, whether they stay in the agricultural industry or not.
The rest were mundane, ordinary things. We worked on a few building projects here and there on the farms, still have two dogs keeping the rabbits out of my garden and coons out of the chicken coop, the cows are still milking, calves are still being born, and we even squeezed in a trip or two. It's been mostly life as usual.
But there's many things I managed to NOT forget over the last year. Here's a recap of 2014 on our farm.
The farm was busy. Well, when is it not? But you know what I mean. We fought rain, snow, sun, and pretty much everything you typically get weatherwise in a year but the fields got planted, the crops got tended, it all got harvested, and it looks like we had a pretty decent year. Not phenomenal but decent. Can't ask for more than that, right?
We started renovating our house again and while progress seems to be agonizingly slow, progress IS being made. The plan is to finish wiring the basement this winter, move the bedrooms downstairs, and then start working on the upstairs. We're still looking at a few years before the whole project is done but what's a few more years when we've been doing this for the last 7 years? :) However, until we can move the bedrooms, our bed shares space with the couch in the living room.
Another big change was in our family. Baby girl joined us in early July and she has been a joy ever since. Her big brother and big sister simply adore her, and spend hours every day talking to her, reading to her, playing with her, and just generally entertaining her. It was an adjustment for me to have a newborn again because until R came along, my 'baby' was going on 3 but it wasn't long until it all started coming back to me. R is now 6 months old, oh so curious about e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g., babbling up a storm, and trying to roll over & sit up. V & A are growing by leaps and bounds too. V will be 5 in just a few weeks and is still farm kid through and through. It's not uncommon for him to ask if he can go with Daddy and be a bit sad when he can't. A hates being left behind because she's Daddy little shadow too. It just amazes me that my almost 5 year old and my 3 year old know more about farm machinery and how it operates than I do but it's like they are little sponges. They just absorb so much when they are out with L in the field, in the barn, checking irrigators, wherever. My kids love farm life and I hope they always appreciate it this much, whether they stay in the agricultural industry or not.
The rest were mundane, ordinary things. We worked on a few building projects here and there on the farms, still have two dogs keeping the rabbits out of my garden and coons out of the chicken coop, the cows are still milking, calves are still being born, and we even squeezed in a trip or two. It's been mostly life as usual.
Friday, December 5, 2014
50 Blessings
I meant to post this before Thanksgiving but since Christmas is coming, I think it still fits the season.
1. My faith
2. My family
3. My friends
4. A working vehicle
5. A roof over my head
6. Food to feed my hunger
7. Books to feed my imagination
8. Fellowship to feed my soul
9. My commitment to my health
10. The scale (FINALLY) going down.
11. Heat
12. Chocolate
13. Pasty
14. 'I Love You, Mommy.'
15. 'Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Mmmm.' (R speak for Love You Mommy)
16. 'I Love You, Hon.'
17. My wonderful pooches
18. Christmas carols
19. Holiday greetings
20. Pretty the Elf (on the shelf)
21. A fresh new snow
22. An empty sink
23. An empty dishwasher
24. A full cupboard of dishes
25. No laundry pile
26. A clean floor
27. Bedroom walls being constructed
28. Christmas stockings
29. Running water
30. Homemade Lasagna
31. Being the first one to open a jar of peanut butter
32. Friendly cows
33. Friendly calves
34. Homemade raspberry jam
35. Fresh bread
36. Art on the walls
37. A full bookshelf
38. Blueberry muffins
39. Chocolate cake
40. Cross-country skiing
41. Snowshoes
42. Sunny summer days
43. Misty Spring rains
44. Crisp Autumn afternoons
45. Sparkling Winter evenings
46. Christmas trees
47. Decking the halls
48. Christmas programs
49. The joy in a child's eyes as they take in all the seasonal festivities
50. The magic of the season
1. My faith
2. My family
3. My friends
4. A working vehicle
5. A roof over my head
6. Food to feed my hunger
7. Books to feed my imagination
8. Fellowship to feed my soul
9. My commitment to my health
10. The scale (FINALLY) going down.
11. Heat
12. Chocolate
13. Pasty
14. 'I Love You, Mommy.'
15. 'Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Mmmm.' (R speak for Love You Mommy)
16. 'I Love You, Hon.'
17. My wonderful pooches
18. Christmas carols
19. Holiday greetings
20. Pretty the Elf (on the shelf)
21. A fresh new snow
22. An empty sink
23. An empty dishwasher
24. A full cupboard of dishes
25. No laundry pile
26. A clean floor
27. Bedroom walls being constructed
28. Christmas stockings
29. Running water
30. Homemade Lasagna
31. Being the first one to open a jar of peanut butter
32. Friendly cows
33. Friendly calves
34. Homemade raspberry jam
35. Fresh bread
36. Art on the walls
37. A full bookshelf
38. Blueberry muffins
39. Chocolate cake
40. Cross-country skiing
41. Snowshoes
42. Sunny summer days
43. Misty Spring rains
44. Crisp Autumn afternoons
45. Sparkling Winter evenings
46. Christmas trees
47. Decking the halls
48. Christmas programs
49. The joy in a child's eyes as they take in all the seasonal festivities
50. The magic of the season
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