This Week

It's been a mixed week.

-The kids started some school work. They are getting a jump on the "official" start date of Sept. 6.
-I attended my classes. Thus far it's actually fun. I know, all of you who have told me that it wouldn't be that hard - you can say I told you so.
-My favorite husband had quite a few days off of work, but the projects he had hoped to finish kept moving to the back burner while other things became urgent. He was disappointed, but I'm sure it will all work out. A farm has a never ending list of things to do and ours is no exception.
-One of our kittens died today. The kids found it this morning - barely alive. It looked like a predator of some sort had gotten it. The kids made it comfortable (as much as they could) and buried it this afternoon. No, the vet couldn't have fixed this either.
-I have heard from several friends, via e-mail and telephone. It is always nice to hear (or read) a friendly voice.

I hope you have a great weekend.

New Farm Employee

I threatened to get a social security # for Hank following his most recent vet visit. Actually the vet gave me the idea. I asked if we should have Hank's dew claws removed. The vet then asked me if Hank was going to be a working dog. Well, yes, of course. The response was that if he was going to be a working dog we should have the claws removed because they were more likely to catch and tear while "working."

I was telling my parents about this and wanting to get him a SS#. They told me that if we file "farm" on our income tax forms that we can claim Hank's food and vet bills since he can be considered an employee and is a working dog!! YES!

I'm, like, freaking out

I did it. I signed up for two classes (6 credits) - that makes me a part time student. I've gotten a student ID, laptop (the school supplies one to each student), class schedule and books (OVERPRICED). Now the next thing to master is the vocabulary. No, I'm not talking about the "academic" talk. I am referring to the language used by the much younger students. Overheard while waiting in line to pay $65 for two very small books:

"I like let Ashley take my car. I'm freaking out because she like isn't a very good driver and she like just took my car instead of taking hers. I like told her that she could $%# take her own car, but she just took mine. I'm freaking out."

I may not have it verbatim, but you get the idea. How will these kids function in the business world? Will e-mail replace the face to face meetings or the telephone conversations that call for intelligent discourse? I need to like not get too arrogant, but it's really difficult when I overhear what the kids are talking about -maybe it's just left over from summer!

Library Comparison

I've told you a little about the two libraries in Fargo/Moorhead that we frequent. It is difficult to pick a favorite but let me share a few of the differences.

-Fargo has a separate children's section. This is a thumbs up in my book as the non-fiction at Moorhead are mixed with the adult's (I think I mentioned this). I like knowing that my kids are contained in an area while I am off checking the adult side.
-Fargo seems to have more books. I haven't checked the actual volume count, but the feel overall is bigger.
-Moorhead has Fargo beat hands down with their customer service. It is a rare thing at Fargo to find a librarian out from behind the counter and when they are it is generally to shelve books, not interact with customers. Is that what we are, customers? Not sure about the appropriate terminology, but Moorhead could really teach Fargo how to work with the people that come to check out books. Is this due to management expectations/the type of personnel hired/too busy to assist others/???
-Moorhead has a grace period for overdue fines on books. YEAH - we routinely have stacks of books checked out and the fines add up so fast! Moorhead also notifies the card holders via e-mail to inform as to the overdue items. Bravo - way to use technology and save a stamp. Fargo still mails the overdue notices (with the fine that you have accumulated listed on the notice).

Do I have a favorite? Not yet. Do you use the library? Check it out today (oh that sounds like a public service announcement!)

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday 3rd birthday to Payton. We have never met - OR and ND aren't too close and we haven't ventured back to the west coast for quite some time. Happy birthday little girl!

This is taped to my kitchen windowsill

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Those of you who know me well probably know why.

A Sighting!!!!

What did I see? It's a rare thing - seeing what I saw today. Before I share the actual sight, let me tell you that this is an event that occurs so infrequently that there are few that can give an eyewitness report. I've seen it, in my own front yard. No, it's not that long-lost woodpecker, not an insect. It was a farmer in shorts (gasp). Oh, you city people are tuning out right now. I can hear thinking (I do have that gift) - Shorts - everyone wears them after coming home from a hard day's work. NOT here. No way. Farmers are fully dressed at all times and on all occasions.

My best examples come from my great-uncles with whom my father farmed when I was young girl. We lived in the center of ND and my great-uncles were mostly grain farmers - sunflowers were just being cultivated in our part of ND. The "uniform" for a well-dressed farmer was work boots (not tennis shoes), blue jeans (no designer names please), a t-shirt (usually white), and a cotton long-sleeved shirt over the t-shirt. OH, I nearly forgot the hat, always a hat. Generally the farmer advertised the seed company that gave him the hat or perhaps his favorite implement dealer. A farmer's legs were NEVER seen. I mean NEVER. I am sure their legs were/are neon white.

It wasn't until I was well into my 20's that I saw my father in shorts - and that was on a super hot day in Michigan. Of course, he did NOT wear them out of the house. Now I have heard that my Dad wore shorts in Hawaii when he and Mom went there for one of my brother's weddings (his only wedding - 3 brothers). There was supposed to be photographic evidence brought back. Wouldn't you know it - every photo that was taken of Dad in shorts had him behind a bush, standing behind the car door. It reminded me of Wilson on Tool Time.

OK, back to the shorts - funny story to go along with it. When I was a child the very small town where I lived decided to build a swimming pool. Funds were raised. Everyone thought it was a great idea for the kids. Well, the pool staff put together a schedule of lessons - and there was an adult lesson time set for the evening (had to do it after the farmers were out of the field). Wives literally dragged their farmer husbands to lessons as there must have been an advertisement that said couples attend together. My parents took the lessons (peer pressure). I would love to have been a mouse in the locker room when the farmers all put on their newly purchased swimming trunks. Picture the tan lines - including the hat line. We had to wait in the car during the lesson, I never did see anyone's glowing white legs, but the stories are still being told about how my Dad sank like a stone.

I guess I should have had the camera out - you'll just have to take my word for it. And no, I'm not going to tell you the farmer's name.

What's Up?

We are doing home/farm kinds of things today. I have three loads of laundry drying on the clothesline with a fourth in the machine. Favorite husband is working on the starter for the tractor. The kids have been riding horses and are now going to assist with my task of cleaning out stalls in the barn.

Tomorrow we are going to celebrate my Dad's birthday. It was yesterday, but work/errands kept us all apart. We are going to have strudels as the main course. No, it's not the pastry strudel. Strudel is also a German dish of thinly stretched dough rolled up and steamed on top of potatoes (of course), onions and meat. Quite tasty, but time consuming to prepare. Usually we have it once a year - rarely twice. If you want to get crazy you pour cream on top of the whole dish. Can you count the calories and the fat??

The tame kitten count remains at 12. I think that will be all that have a chance of surviving the winter. Fall kittens usually do not make it. I'm really not enjoying buying a large bag of food every week. It's time to give some away. Anyone interested? You can pick your color.

Hank was at the vet this week for his "big boy" shots - rabies, etc. He has gained 15 lbs. in the last month. It's getting a little harder to move him when he doesn't want to go. Hank has picked up some sheep herding skills. Good dog!

#1 Son learned yesterday that his braces are on for approx. another 5 months. He is quite disappointed as the previous target date was October.

The final, for the moment, news tidbit is that we have received 2.5 inches of rain the past two days. Yes, that rain gauge is working nicely and I am the one who put it up!

Happy weekend to you.

Couldn't do it!

We loaded up all of the young sheep and cut out those that we wanted to keep. We had finished when Son #1 called my attention to Daughter #1. She was standing over #48 crying. #48 is a male lamb who we bottle fed because he had "failure to thrive." We decided that if meant that much to her that we could take him off of the trailer too. 17 are being prepared for sale.

A pot of gold?

What do you find if it's a double rainbow? We just saw this during a break in the storm tonight.

Gas Prices Again

Are you as irritated by the high gas prices as I am? I was checking historical data on www.ndgasprices.com. Why are prices at least $1.00 higher than last year at the same time? What has changed in the world in ONE year that could cause prices to jump this much?

From Africa?

Last week our family went into Valley City to the Dairy Queen for an ice cream treat. Behind us in line we noticed a group of five young men (late teens/early 20's) with pretty good tans, farm clothes and talking in another language. Since everyone in ND talks to everyone else while waiting in line (a BIT of a generalization) the lady in front of us asked them where they were from. It turns out that they are working with a custom combining outfit and are from Africa! Everyone then got into the conversation (there are no secrets here) and were asking questions about where they had been combining, how they got the jobs here in the U.S., etc. They said they had an agent in Africa (I think South Africa) who assisted them in getting summer employment. Too cool!

Today is THE day

The kids are, even as I write, sorting the sheep. The list has been on the refrigerator for two days - ever since I got the call from my Dad that prices are up for lambs and that we should get them on a heavy diet of corn and push them out the door. A red underline under your number (if you are a sheep) means that you get to stay. A red circle around your number means that your days are numbered (literally). There are several undecided sheep that have no mark made near their #.

We plan to keep 25 ewes to lamb next spring. We had 13 that lambed this spring. Five were "open" (didn't have babies). SO - 18 of last year's flock will stay on. The remaining slots will be taken by ewe lambs from this year. What gets you a pass on going away in the trailer? Well, we are looking for lambs that are from a multiple birth and have a long body. The multiple birth is a trait that is likely to carry forward (desirable). The long body enables the sheep to carry the multiple babies easier.

Two sheep are being kept in the flock just because. One of our two first bottle lambs is still with us and is the matriarch of the flock. We don't breed her but keep her on because she is a calming influence on the flock. We also keep Peter. He was a bottle lamb a few years later. He is quite cute (even as a sheep, and that's saying something!) and seems to also be a good influence.

This will be a noisy job - the mothers and babies don't accept being separated very well.

Sunset

Sunset on Friday evening (about 9pm). Stop and be quiet for a moment.

Sunday Morning

The kids went out to feed the calves and found lamb #44 dead. No cause of death is known. The lamb was buried before breakfast.

My Dad brought over a load of hay. After unloading the hay the horses hooves were trimmed and they tried to castrate the calves. Let's say the calves need to grow a bit more before they become steers.

More new creatures

This is one of the three new calves that arrived here on Wednesday. The other two didn't feel like posing for photos.

The calves feeding schedule has been altered a bit. The place where they came from fed at 3 and 3 - that's 3AM and 3PM. We don't choose to go that route (as our son said - I'm not sure if that's getting up early or staying up late) so feeding time at the zoo is 7AM, 7PM. That's more like it!

At the moment all three are bull calves. On Sunday, I believe, their status will be altered to steer.

Mi Casa

Yes, this is where we live. I know, our summer project should be painting it. Well, we've tried - last summer the favorite husband diligently scraped and painted a section on the east side (not in these photos). This year it peels. It's old, old wood. I'm not freaking out about it. My sister-in-law says our house has a "beautiful patina."

This photo is from the north west side of the house.

This photo is looking from the southwest. The pictures from my front door are taken from the glass doors.


Look at the beautiful blue sky!! Today has been a perfect summer day. It was cool last night and is absolutely perfect today.

It Lives

It was a somewhat Igor moment (wasn't he Frankenstein's side kick?). The favorite husband and son have been working on an outboard motor given to them by, deep breath here....husband's brother's father-in-law.

This little gem is designed to ease the burden upon the 15-year-old's rowing arms and allow for greater fishing expeditions. There was a lot of father and son bonding as the carbuerator was rebuilt and hoses examined. After several days (and a lot of photographs) of this bonding time, they sprang the motor back to life. This is where the Igor moment kicks in - It lives master, it lives - or something like that.

Lonely

Did you think all of my posts had to be about the weather or animals?

We are nearing the beginning of our school year and I've been thinking about how lonely homeschooling and farm life can be - especially when the two are combined.

Farm life is, out of necessity, quite solitary - or at least confined to your immediate family. I believe that big farms are less family oriented than the smaller, hobby farm. The large(er) farm necessitates contact with vendors and the additional assistance required to make such a farm possible. Our little 30+ acre farm does not require much outside help. We did have someone in to shear the sheep, but that's about it!

Homeschooling is also a somewhat lonely pursuit - again, aside from contact with your immediate family. Our proximity does dictate who and when we see others (along with those pesky gas prices!). We have to be deliberate about interacting - it's not just the neighbor walking her dog in the evening stopping to chat. It's actually traveling to someone's home (this assumes an invitation) to hang out.

Why do I muse about this? Why now? Answers? Only questions.

Harvest Begins

Harvest has begun. The large wheat field to the south of our house was harvested yesterday by at least three combines. The field is very large so we could not see all of the equipment that was working. We speculated that the work began late in the day because it was very humid all morning - the drier the grain, the easier to remove it from the head. We further wondered if so much equipment was being used because we had the threat of severe thundershowers last night, which brings the possiblity of hail. Hail does the harvesting for farmers - pounding the grain into the ground making it all but impossible to pick-up with equipment.

My Dad has a line on three calves - about 3 days old - who may come to live with us for a while. They would be "bucket broke" vs. needing to be fed with a bottle. This should add some more excitement to our days. Let's see - horses, sheep, chickens, dog, cats, and now cows. Why not?

National Night Out

It's National Night Out Day (huh?). The only reason I know that is because the kids are having their Toastmaster's meeting in the park in West Fargo tonight. Our son is the toastmaster and has been looking up some information on neighborhoods and foolish criminals to add to his presentation.

Speaking of stupid criminals http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=98707&section=News I imagine that someone will think twice before tossing a cigarette out of their window!!

Wave Violation

If you have read my post about the wave (see archives - maybe April?) you will recognize the following as a definite violation of the wave protocol.

The kids and I were driving with my sister-in-law last Thursday. We were in her vehicle (out of state plates - whew) and were checking out some of the local attractions - yes, there are a few you skeptics! We were on a gravel road and passed someone going in the opposite direction - they waved. Sister-in-law, being a very outgoing person, waved back, but committed a major infraction - she also honked! I was mortified until I remembered that we were travelling in a vehicle with out of state plates and that the wave/honk recipient would realize that a stranger had committed the infraction.

Back to the one finger (the INDEX finger) wave for me.

News in ND

I LOVE the TV news in ND! When we moved here from Chicago (just before the flood of '97) I laughed at the local news. They reported EVERYTHING, it seemed, from lost dogs to milestone anniversaries and block parties. It felt so small town compared to the big city news.

After living here for 8 years I love the television news - I appreciate the fact that virtually every crime is reported by the newscasters, not just the most sensational crimes because that is all the larger cities have time to share. I really think it's great when the lead story is about the wheat harvest or the street fair in Fargo - that tells me that there is no bad news to use as the lead.

Has the news changed or is it me?

Let's Get Physical (Physically Fit)

OK - it's time again (still) to get out there and move. I have been inspired by my former employer. He turns 50 this week and has become, according to reports (I haven't actually seen this phenomenon) quite buff and physically fit. He has a training schedule that makes me cry (see http://www.lifeisatri.blogspot.com/). If he can move from a coffee guzzling, paper pushing, doughnut eating, couch potato, to a Lance Armstrong wanna be - why can't I? OK, I don't drink coffee, I prefer to burn the paper, haven't eaten a doughnut in months (do you know how much fat is in a Krispy Kreme? - you can feel veins and arteries closing up as you eat), and don't really do the couch potato thing. I guess it's just time to move in a purposeful manner.

Happy birthday Mr. D - enjoy the big FIVE OH.

We Are Family

This past week we were excited that one of my brothers and his family visited us in ND. Kent is an incredibly talented carpenter and has assisted with renovating portions of our parents home (along with another brother, Richard, and his family last summer). This year the focus was on completing the crown molding in the dining room and renovating the library. Exceptional job. Between wallpaper removal, sanding, trim and other work, we enjoyed spending time with them - their little girl was so excited to see all of the cousins. They are driving, even as I write, back to their home on the west coast.

My brother, Kris, and his wife made me an aunt again - their "little" (9 lbs. 6 oz.) girl was born on Friday. She is a beautiful little girl - love the internet - we were able to see photos so very quickly.

Resume

I've found my resume file. I thought I would update it - haven't done that in nearly 8 years. The big question is - How do I describe what I have been doing for the past eight years? I have worked per diem for several organizations - editing policies and procedures, fun stuff like that. However, the bulk of my time has been spent managing our house, CFO, sheep ranch manager, principal and primary educator (including curriculum development, instruction, discipline and so much more), church commitments, and so much more.

Seriously - how do I fill in that gap without frightening anyone?

Varmits

Well, it has happened again. Yes, skunk trouble. My favorite husband was coming home from work late one night last week. He opened the door to our cold porch and surprised a skunk who was eating dog food. Unlike the previous surprises, this skunk decided to let loose with it's favorite weapon - without any warning. The odor, or rather stench, was overpowering and throughout the house immediately - even though the actual back door was closed.

We woke Matthew up (how could the kids sleep with that overpowering smell?) and the two men cleared the porch of the winter coats, recycling bins and everything else in the way of the skunk's exit. He/she didn't choose to leave, so the choice was made for it - yes, a single shot took care of the offender, but the smell lingers on.

I burned candles, scrubbed the walls and cement on the porch, hung all of the winter wear on the clothesline - and yet it still continues.

The day after the "event" my favorite husband was at work and asked one of the other nurses to smell him. "I will not!" she said quite indignantly. After he explained that it was not for an inappropriate reason (and she is also from a farm) - she did give him a cursory sniff. Nothing. Ahh, home free. NOT QUITE - no more than five minutes later an aide came into the room and said, "I smell skunk!"