The Post Where I Compared My Dad to Van Halen

Tap, tap tap....
Testing...is this thing on?
Um, hey...it's Rachael..you know the "CowLady"?

Yeah, it's been a while.
What?
Oh, Edna...yes she has seen better days, maybe during the Cold War.

It's been so long since we have spoken!

So much has happened...like...stuff.
OK, not really.
But we did start chopping on Monday!
(I'm not really excited about that...please read that sarcastically.)

On one hand I am actually excited about filling the trench silo with nutrient-rich green feed for my cows.
On the left hand(because Edna takes better care of that one), I am super bummed about being stuck in the pit pushing and packing silage.
Dread like the dentist, dread.
Heavy stuff.

You know what I don't get?  (And I fall for it every time..)
I don't get why people, after they find out I am a farmer, enjoy telling me how much they "love to get on tractors", and "do farm work".
'Cuz they don't.

If I had a nickel for every person who has told me that, combined with all of the "calf feeders" out there...I would have a bunch of nickels...
Like .5 times infinity.

During this time of year BossMan gets waaaaay pumped up.
I'm talking Van Halen before a concert, pumped.
So pumped that he breathes chopping and planting corn.
Thinks about it 24/7.
You get the picture.

It is during this season that I sink back into my shell, hoping to go unnoticed.
Notsomuch.

When I'm not feeding cows/calves, treating cows, breeding cows, pulling calves, speaking spanglish really bad, I AM on the tractor pushing up silage OR in the dump truck trying not to kill anyone hauling silage.
I go from one immediatelytotheother.
...and mumble under my breath.

At the end of the day I am not in a good place.
Happiness is at the beach and I am doing my best to take everyone else's happiness from them.
It's about survival...and hand lotion.
These are just the facts.

Today, we should finish chopping and filling the first pit...Hallelujah.
When we are finished, we will move all of the equipment across the farm to the rest of the rye and begin again.
Woot.

I'm just not a tractor driver....I can't help it.
I would rather walk in fire.
But I DO like to feed my cows, and I DO want them to have high quality forage.
Oh the things I do for them....

Oh, I almost forgot!
On your way out today..you know, to drive the tractor...come in the back way.
Why?
Because you will see this....

The canola is in full bloom...

So pretty! I blogged about it last year here.

This is the spot where my sister Malinda got married.

But you may wanna pop an allergy pill first.

Love and sneezes,
TractorDrivinCowLady

The Light

I often look at light, the way it illuminates things.
Thinking someday I might,
Be on the other side with wings.

I would cast a shadow on doubt,
On fear and distrust.
All of the hurt, would be only dust.

The true and the honest,
Would shine like the stars.
Bearing witness to the lessons they learned from their scars.

Not one would shine brighter,
For we came from the same.
He gave His life, so we would know His name.

He put a light inside each of us,
Hallelujah we sing.
And praise without question, our Savior, our King.

Love,
HumbledCowLady

I Go Back

We have been married for 3 weeks, just 3!
It seems like longer, in a good way:).

Occasionally, at random times throughout the day, I will take a minute and go back to a moment.
Just one single moment from our wedding week.

Do you do that?
Does this fade?
I don't want it to.

This morning I went here...

This was 'Sweetie Pie II'...our honeymoon cottage.
If I close my eyes I immediately feel the breeze....

I am sitting on our porch, overlooking the ocean and Chuck is lounging in the hammock.

It's warm...but not hot.
It's secluded...but in the middle of everything.

I don't want to leave, and I most certainly don't ever want to forget.

I take deep breaths, trying to inhale as much of the ocean air and I can.
The waves are big and crashing...some on the sandbar and some on the shoreline.

Every now and again a fighter jet interrupts the serenity of my space, invading the solitude of the day.
Just momentarily.
Long enough to give me a sense of security...that there are men and women out there, making this moment possible.
Brave men and women.

I start thinking about their sacrifices, and am brought back to this place by a seagull...who has landed on the rail.

I turn my head and it flys off, towards the seemingly endless blue water.
I look at Chuck who has fallen asleep, undisturbed by the noises and winged visitors.
And I am at peace.

I realize I have only a few short days in this place.
Only hours to imprint this memory.

However this feeling, a sense of peace where the heart and soul meet, is mine forever.
No matter where I go.

Three hours, three days, or three weeks.
I have this.

Love,
DreamingCowLady

Everyone's a Comedian

Would you like to know the answer to the most-asked question?
...Do you know what that question even is?

The question, asked at least once, by every child before they get to the age of ten is...

Why

Did the

Chicken

Cross the

Road?

Well...why did it?
Hmmmm Smarty McSmart-ay?

I'll tell you why!

Because it layed an egg on my bobcat seat and I sat on it....
...after I took those pictures.

It better keep running.

Pretty doesn't even touch this.
Huevos rancheros anyone?

Love,
SunnySideUpCowLady

Moving Day and Marshmallow Hoarding

...go hand-in-hand.
At least for me, they do.

Ever had to move?
I bet you have.
Was it an enjoyable experience?
If so, is it because you hired someone?
Don't be ashamed...you can tell me...

Last Saturday Chuck and I made the move to our new house...and I learned things that I shall keep neatly tucked into my back pocket until they are needed.
Thank you.

Chuck has been living in his apartment for around 7 years, that's s-e-v-e-n years of stuff.
You know what I'm talking about.
The stuff that he accumulates and, like any other guy, doesn't ever get rid of.

Take incense for example.
Wow.
Let's let that image sink in....

I'll never forget the day I walked into his apartment and immediately time-warped into That 70's Show.
You know when you smell something familiar, and cannot help but have a flashback to whenever it was you first smelled that aroma?

As I entered the room, I expected to see him laying on the couch with his Birkenstock-clad feet propped up on the table, wearing bell-bottoms and rose-colored glasses.
It reminded me of lava lamps, and that store in the mall where all the weird people shop.
It was like a smell, to cover up a smell....to cover up a smell.
I couldn't help myself when I blurted out, "Is that incense??!" (I even wrinkled up my nose.)
...that's when my future-husband smiled at me...likeitwasnormal.

I'll never let that die.
Eva.

I threw that away on Friday night...in a separate bag that I taped up so NO ONE could EVER know that it came from us.
So embarrassing.

The second thing I did was begin to de-safari his bedroom.
I started with the Lion King print above the bed, and followed with the animal figurines....
Two by two they went, all lined up...giraffsesesesss, lions, tigers...all ready to board the big cardboard "ark" labeled "rummage sale".
It.was.liberating.

I remember hearing Chuck say, at least a dozen times, "Man! I don't get to keep anything!".
He was correct.

Really what I was doing was helping him.
I was drop-kicking him into the twenty-first century, one stick of incense atatime.
I could have made a life-size wax figurine of him, using all of the old used candles I found.
siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

I could be mistaken, but I think I caught him shed a tear as I vetoed the black, fuzzy house shoes and sent them on their way...
But honey! You don't even have a smoking jacket and you don't drink scotch....

I did find out a few things about myself....
Should the world come to an end, if anyone needs spaghetti noodles OR marshmallows...I'm your gal.
We don't even eat spaghetti.

The scary thing is...I don't recall buying all of the bags of mini marshmallows.
We don't make s'mores!

I also have more holey socks than the Vatican, and enough half-empty bottles of lotion to make an elephants skin as smooth as a babies' butt.
Contacting the zoo today.

But we made it!
We are pretty well moved in, and I have successfully stuck all of Chuck's things in drawers making them virtually impossible to locate.
Heh.

Anyone need a telescope or snorkel?

Love,
MarriedToAHippieCowLady

Crops Are Cool: Gnarly Barley

'Sup?

Being that today is Monday, and more than likely you are going back to work after a wild weekend of partying, I feel the need to have an educational post.

Never mind that the previous statement made no sense...I'm suffering from a new house hangover...bear with me.

What do you know about barley?
Nothing?
That it's in alcohol?
That it's a grain?
...wake up!

 

Barley, for the most part, is pretty darned gnarly and I'lltellyouwhy....
(Gnarly being "cool", "hip", "innnnnn"...)

Barley is cool, because it's cheaper than corn...and corn bygosh is KING!
We are growing barley this year to help take the place of some of the corn in our ration for the cows and calves.

Corn, for the most part, is irreplaceable...
-FULL of energy.

Cows need energy to function, meaning they gotta have it to produce milk, reproduce, and l-i-v-e.

Corn is loaded with nutrients, however it's like gold.
...and we all know gold is expensive.

So, how do us budget-conscious farmers deal with the expense of feeding lots of animals?
We crop.
...You knew that.

Lots of our commodities(feeds like hominy, soybean meal, distillers grains...by-products) are purchased, however when acreage allows we try and grow as much of our own feed as we can.
Hauling 'aint cheap folks.

Farmers are very good at making the most out of what they have.
Not many fields lay fallow for long.

One crop is planted and harvested, followed by another...and another.
To keep the land healthy, crop rotation is utilized and fertilizers are applied regularly.

There are certain types of crops that thrive in heat, as well as cold weather.
Enter: Barley.
Like rye and wheat, barley is chill.  It thrives in cooler weather.
Corn's not that tough.
Kinda like that juice-head at the gym...he may be big and flashy, but you ask him to come work out in the July heat and he crumbles like a house of cards in the wind.
(Just go with it...)

We don't usually grow barley, but since corn has sky-rocketed as far as price goes, we decided to grow it over the winter.

Barley is highly comparable to corn as far as fed nutrients goes.
BUT it's still NOT corn.
You just can't beat the amount of energy those golden kernels have packed in them.

Barely is hearty, and grows all winter long.
Once golden, and dried out it can be combined...(seeds harvested only).
Some farmers may chop the barley when it's green(entire stalk), or combine it for high-moisture barley(seeds harvested before they are dried out).

We will combine it dry and grind it for feed.
"We" being Tim not me...or the mouse in my pocket.

Hopefully by growing this we can cut down on some of our feed expense, and the headache that coordinating feed delivery can cause.
(Remember those occasional "I'm OUT of hominy and the truck driver got lost!!!" come-aparts I have? Yeah, we are trying to avoid those.)

See?! Barley is cool and farming can be fun!

I suppose I have bored you enough this morning, I promise I will tell you alllll about marshmallow hoarding tomorrow...
It's scary-true.

Have a gnarly day!
Love,
TheInformativeCowLady

April Employee of the Month!!

It's that time again!
Time to announce the April employee of the month, here on the farm...no foolin'!

Before I announce, I would like to say a couple of things....
-My feet hurt from neversittingdownyesterday.
-I woke up and didn't know where I was...newhouse.
-It took me 15 minutes to get to work..usedto10.
-I am in love with our house...Godhasblessedus.

OK!
On to the piece de resistance...

The April Employee of the Month is.....

Mr. Chuck-IHaveTheBestWifeEver-Garner!!
Wooohooooo!!!

(I mean really...were you surprised?!)

The month of March was tremendous for this guy, yet here he is..fit as a fiddle!

Chuck's stats:
Height: 5 foot-astallasme.
Weight: I would guess, but then I would cry.
Age: Heh..
Claim to fame: Duping his wife into buying him a horse..Immasucka.

 

This past month he has been very busy, yet has handled everything in stride...
-He drove to and from Seaside...and listened to me...
-He bought a house...hello BIG money...
-He got married...now it's all ours...
-He got a horse...and so did I...
-He realized just how much stuff he has...half of which is now in the dumpster...bye bye 'African safari' in the bedroom...(there were giraffes and elephants coming out of the walls...)
-He moved his stuff...ay yai yai..

Don't be fooled though, April is gearing up to be a bear as well...
-Caden's baseball season kicks into gear..."Do we have practice today?" "When's his next game?" "WHERE'S your GLOVE?!"...
-We have to get settled in...I've never seen him mow...
-We bring Gus home from the horse farm...this is the part when I get a horse...
-We celebrate Easter!!! (It's an important day:).)
-He celebrates his birthday!!!

Now that he is officially part of the family, Chuck (I think) feels more inclined to come out to the farm whenever he pleases.  This leads us to his future plans....
-To be a dump-truck driving, horse riding, manure-covered farmer...on his off days:).
-To begin a life with his son and wife, in their new home.

All in all, the farm considers Chuck-Ihavethebestwifeever-Garner, to be an rising star!
The potential is there and the desire...what more do you need?

...I guess a larger name tag..

 

Congratulations Chuck!

Love,
YourCowLady