Well, Rich and I welcomed a new addition to our family on Saturday. Our daughter married a wonderful man and together extended our family. We are very happy for both of them and welcome our new son-in-law with open arms.
It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony, even though it was a sweltering 93 degrees with a heat index of over 100. The reception started off in the heat, but then a brief thunderstorm rolled through, soaked the over heated guests and insited a round of mud-slide and mud wrestling. It was a beautiful and absolutely wonderful event.
I cried when Rich was dancing with his daughter to the song "In my daughter's eyes" by Martina McBride. I guess I never really realized until this last week just how much I have grown to love my step-daughter. I may not be her mother by birth, but I love her with all of my heart. I am so proud of the wonderful person she is.
To those of you who are friends on facebook, please feel free to look at the photos of the event and make sure you compliment the beautiful bride! She was absolutely stunning!
It is nice to get back to normal today. No more running, rushing or planning. Just being able to sit down today is a beautiful thing.
Tomorrow it is back to the daily grind of work! So glad that I decided to make sure that today was an easy day. There was a ton of house work to get done since it hasn't been done at all for the past week.
I will write more about the farm tomorrow...but so everyone knows...things are good here on the farm. The weather is much cooler today and it is quiet here on the hill. I am enjoy the chirping birds and the distant tractors that are working out in the hay fields.
May God bless you all with as much love and happiness as we have found within the lines of our family!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Finding Patience
Not one of my best attributes.....patience is something that comes in waves.
Usually, I can manage to dig deep and find the patience I need to make it through each day but today is a bit overwhelming.
First thing this morning might have something to do with that. Rich and I got into an arguement before I even had a chance to have a piping hot cup of coffee. I messed up and over slept, til (wow) almost 8:30. Rich went out to do chores and came back in grumbling like a wild man. Why can't men just bite the bullet and do one thing without complaining like a five year old? I am tired of dealing with the temper tantrums and accusations of not caring for my animals! Like he knows...heaven help him if he lifts a hand to help me out for just one morning. I will tell you this, I have learned my lesson and will never lay back down to catch an extra few winks as long as I live!
I have a routine. I will just have to grin and deal with it myself.
Then on top of that, I fix breakfast. Heaven help him if he lifts one finger to fix his own food! Just to get yelled at due to the fact that we have no coffee creamer...which reminds me...He is driving my truck because he can't find the energy to take his down to drop it off at the garage...so, that means I have no means of transportation. So please explain to me how I am to go to the store! I am suppose to walk the seven miles one way to get there? I mean geez...how difficult is it for him to stop on his way home from work to grab one container of creamer from the grocery store he passes twice a day?
Then, just to top it all off....my dress for the wedding won't be in until Wednesday as the store only recieves deliveries once a week. And..the wedding is Saturday. I still have to send it out to be dyed to the right color too! I have no patience left today and it isn't even noon!
Yesterday was full of a dozen and a half phone calls that amounted to jack squat. Can't seem to get anything done lately...and I am worn to the bone.
I need a vacation so bad I could rip out my hair and scream!
Yeah I know .... I am doing nothing but complaining! There are just times in peoples lives that everything just gets too overwhelming to bear! and unfortunately, right now is my time!
The animals are all doing great...except Belle, our cow. The hole she had in her back when she came is still not healing...nearly two months and it is still a hole about the size of a pencil eraser. I did manage to find out part of the reason why....there was an orange colored spot on it the other day and when I went to pull it out, thinking it was a piece of hay stuck in there...out came a sliver about two inches long covered in puss (nasty, nasty)...I just want to know how the person who had her prior to use manages to have animals and allow them to get like that. Needless to say, it pisses me off more than anything in the world! This woman should be made to live under the same conditions!!! Grr, just one more thing that makes my blood boil...and then to have Rich accuse me of not taking care of my animals is enough to make me explode like a stick of dynamite under bedrock!
Anyway...enough of being lazy...time to take this nasty attitude out on the barns since they need cleaning up again.
God, if you can, could you please send me a little bit of extra patience to just get through today and maybe the next week? I don't want to sound redundent but how much more do I really have to take.
God Bless you all for reading this rant...I wish you all nothing but the best and hopefully you are having a better time of it than I am right now.
Usually, I can manage to dig deep and find the patience I need to make it through each day but today is a bit overwhelming.
First thing this morning might have something to do with that. Rich and I got into an arguement before I even had a chance to have a piping hot cup of coffee. I messed up and over slept, til (wow) almost 8:30. Rich went out to do chores and came back in grumbling like a wild man. Why can't men just bite the bullet and do one thing without complaining like a five year old? I am tired of dealing with the temper tantrums and accusations of not caring for my animals! Like he knows...heaven help him if he lifts a hand to help me out for just one morning. I will tell you this, I have learned my lesson and will never lay back down to catch an extra few winks as long as I live!
I have a routine. I will just have to grin and deal with it myself.
Then on top of that, I fix breakfast. Heaven help him if he lifts one finger to fix his own food! Just to get yelled at due to the fact that we have no coffee creamer...which reminds me...He is driving my truck because he can't find the energy to take his down to drop it off at the garage...so, that means I have no means of transportation. So please explain to me how I am to go to the store! I am suppose to walk the seven miles one way to get there? I mean geez...how difficult is it for him to stop on his way home from work to grab one container of creamer from the grocery store he passes twice a day?
Then, just to top it all off....my dress for the wedding won't be in until Wednesday as the store only recieves deliveries once a week. And..the wedding is Saturday. I still have to send it out to be dyed to the right color too! I have no patience left today and it isn't even noon!
Yesterday was full of a dozen and a half phone calls that amounted to jack squat. Can't seem to get anything done lately...and I am worn to the bone.
I need a vacation so bad I could rip out my hair and scream!
Yeah I know .... I am doing nothing but complaining! There are just times in peoples lives that everything just gets too overwhelming to bear! and unfortunately, right now is my time!
The animals are all doing great...except Belle, our cow. The hole she had in her back when she came is still not healing...nearly two months and it is still a hole about the size of a pencil eraser. I did manage to find out part of the reason why....there was an orange colored spot on it the other day and when I went to pull it out, thinking it was a piece of hay stuck in there...out came a sliver about two inches long covered in puss (nasty, nasty)...I just want to know how the person who had her prior to use manages to have animals and allow them to get like that. Needless to say, it pisses me off more than anything in the world! This woman should be made to live under the same conditions!!! Grr, just one more thing that makes my blood boil...and then to have Rich accuse me of not taking care of my animals is enough to make me explode like a stick of dynamite under bedrock!
Anyway...enough of being lazy...time to take this nasty attitude out on the barns since they need cleaning up again.
God, if you can, could you please send me a little bit of extra patience to just get through today and maybe the next week? I don't want to sound redundent but how much more do I really have to take.
God Bless you all for reading this rant...I wish you all nothing but the best and hopefully you are having a better time of it than I am right now.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Anniversaries, Weddings and Work Oh My!
This past month has been hectic, full of business planning through countless hours. Up til late (like one a.m.) and back out of bed by six! Lack of sleep and high stress are starting to wear me down.
The newest battles have been over flood plain issues and building permits. Everything with this business has been an uphill battle. I just can't wait for the day when all of the preliminary stuff is finished and we are finally ready to open the doors. I have had enough of this to last me more than a life time or maybe two. Between the long hours and lack of cooperation....I am in desperate need for a long overdue vacation. One with no phones, computers and preferrably electricity.
On the person level, things are busy than ever on the farm. We have added another eight barred rock hens and a rooster to our flock. I love hearing the big man crowing in the morning! We will be ready to start hatching some chicks out soon. Time to start thinking long term and be prepared for spring with a new brood. Then in the spring we will hatch out a bunch more that we can either sell or keep, depending on egg demands. Right now we are selling around 15 dozen eggs a week. Not bad for a hobby farm, right? Thank heavens it helps pay for the ever increasing feed bills now that the calves are eating more and more grain.
The turkey poults are happy as clams in their new run. They hardly ever stay in it all day, but they sure do love being outside. They got caught out in the rain tonight as it moved through, but sure didn't seem to mind at all that they were soaked.
The calves are doing great and gain weight steadily. Norman is still having problems on and off with his back leg, especially when the weather is cool and damp but he is growing good and is right on track. Davy and Danny are finally starting to come around to the handling. The both stand about 35-36 inches at the front shoulder already....hard to believe they are growing up so fast.
Belle is steadily gaining weight and is progressively improving. I am still astounished at how well she does with all three of the calves. We are going to wean them this month and have her artificially inseminated, so hopefully we get a heifer calf next spring. We are switching her feed as well to allow her time to dry out, more corn meal for fat. Time to start bulking her up for the winter. It doesn't seem possible that it is that time already.
Buck is doing great...other than with his steadily growing temper. He got mad at me for brushing out Belle a few weeks back and smashed my hand...in the process, dislocated three bones in my hand. The one in my thumb is the only one that continues to nag me, but even that is considerably better now. He is going to butcher nice this fall. He is already approaching 1200 pounds. It is going to provide a whole mess of meat for the freezer this winter!
We have also celebrated Rich's parents being married for fifty years recently. Can you imagine? 50 years? I will feel lucky to live to be fifty. It was wonderful having all of the family together to celebrate though...even though Rich's one nephew just managed to get restationed in Washington State and missed the party. We all would have loved to have him, his wife and little one there with us to help celebrate.
The next order of business is our daughter's wedding! I finally managed to find a dress suitable enough for a "mother of the bride" I ordered it today and hopefully it will be in by the end of the week. I am so happy for her. I want to make sure that her day is extra special. I love the man she is going to marry and they are very good together. And if I may say so...they produce beautiful children. I do love my granddaughter with all my heart...even though she sometimes makes me miss my family so very much.
My sister in law and her two girls are here for the next month visiting from Texas. I am glad to have them here....we really need to get the "city" out of her youngest.
You know, some people have bad luck and they gripe and complain about how miserable there lives are. I have bad luck and I look around me. I look at all of the little things in life that mean more to me than anything else in the world. The smile of a baby, the happy chewing of cudd of the cows, the crowing of the rooster in the morning, the dinners all provided from the farm......I love my life.
The newest battles have been over flood plain issues and building permits. Everything with this business has been an uphill battle. I just can't wait for the day when all of the preliminary stuff is finished and we are finally ready to open the doors. I have had enough of this to last me more than a life time or maybe two. Between the long hours and lack of cooperation....I am in desperate need for a long overdue vacation. One with no phones, computers and preferrably electricity.
On the person level, things are busy than ever on the farm. We have added another eight barred rock hens and a rooster to our flock. I love hearing the big man crowing in the morning! We will be ready to start hatching some chicks out soon. Time to start thinking long term and be prepared for spring with a new brood. Then in the spring we will hatch out a bunch more that we can either sell or keep, depending on egg demands. Right now we are selling around 15 dozen eggs a week. Not bad for a hobby farm, right? Thank heavens it helps pay for the ever increasing feed bills now that the calves are eating more and more grain.
The turkey poults are happy as clams in their new run. They hardly ever stay in it all day, but they sure do love being outside. They got caught out in the rain tonight as it moved through, but sure didn't seem to mind at all that they were soaked.
The calves are doing great and gain weight steadily. Norman is still having problems on and off with his back leg, especially when the weather is cool and damp but he is growing good and is right on track. Davy and Danny are finally starting to come around to the handling. The both stand about 35-36 inches at the front shoulder already....hard to believe they are growing up so fast.
Belle is steadily gaining weight and is progressively improving. I am still astounished at how well she does with all three of the calves. We are going to wean them this month and have her artificially inseminated, so hopefully we get a heifer calf next spring. We are switching her feed as well to allow her time to dry out, more corn meal for fat. Time to start bulking her up for the winter. It doesn't seem possible that it is that time already.
Buck is doing great...other than with his steadily growing temper. He got mad at me for brushing out Belle a few weeks back and smashed my hand...in the process, dislocated three bones in my hand. The one in my thumb is the only one that continues to nag me, but even that is considerably better now. He is going to butcher nice this fall. He is already approaching 1200 pounds. It is going to provide a whole mess of meat for the freezer this winter!
We have also celebrated Rich's parents being married for fifty years recently. Can you imagine? 50 years? I will feel lucky to live to be fifty. It was wonderful having all of the family together to celebrate though...even though Rich's one nephew just managed to get restationed in Washington State and missed the party. We all would have loved to have him, his wife and little one there with us to help celebrate.
The next order of business is our daughter's wedding! I finally managed to find a dress suitable enough for a "mother of the bride" I ordered it today and hopefully it will be in by the end of the week. I am so happy for her. I want to make sure that her day is extra special. I love the man she is going to marry and they are very good together. And if I may say so...they produce beautiful children. I do love my granddaughter with all my heart...even though she sometimes makes me miss my family so very much.
My sister in law and her two girls are here for the next month visiting from Texas. I am glad to have them here....we really need to get the "city" out of her youngest.
You know, some people have bad luck and they gripe and complain about how miserable there lives are. I have bad luck and I look around me. I look at all of the little things in life that mean more to me than anything else in the world. The smile of a baby, the happy chewing of cudd of the cows, the crowing of the rooster in the morning, the dinners all provided from the farm......I love my life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)