Be A Mama, Mama

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During calving season, we are always watchful. Although most of our cows are all seasoned pros (some too seasoned, as one is 13 years old!), problems still may arise during the birthing process. A calf may be too big, or turned wrong, or a heifer (first time mama) may not tap into her natural instinct and take care of that little wet thing she suddenly finds laying on the ground next to her.

The first calf born this season was born to a mama that had already calved 3 other times. I consider her a pro, so there shouldn’t have been any problems. And there wasn’t when she had the calf, but later, as The Farmer watched, he noticed that the calf was still in the same place where it had been born and that mama was too far away for safety’s sake. Upon further investigation, the cow just didn’t seem to be responsible at all. In fact, another cow was watching over her baby closer than she was. When the calf would get up to nurse, the cow seemed impatient and uncaring, walking away and kicking at her baby to get him to stop. Fortunately, he was very persistent and seems to be doing well now.

In the short video below, The Farmer is tagging the calf. Usually, he is looking over his shoulder hoping not to get mauled by an overprotective “mama bear”. However, even after her precious bundle of joy runs across the fence into the neighbor’s woods, this unconcerned mama is more interested with chewing her cud than keeping watch over her helpless newborn.

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/dJ-7QW_XBJU&source=uds

The calf continued to run over the next hill and through the fence.

After waiting around until almost dark to see if mama assumes her responsibility, The Farmer finally decided to intervene. He crossed the fence and began “mawing” like a baby calf (he’s quite good at “maw” calls). Finally, mama’s interest awakened enough for her to investigate. She came to the “rescue” about the time The Farmer coaxed the calf close enough to the fence that he poked his head through. Mama and baby were reunited and walked away without so much as a “howdy-do” or a “thank you” to The Farmer.

As I watched this unfold, I thought about human moms in general (I always compare cow mamas to human mamas, you wouldn’t believe how much we are alike) 🙂 This was a sad comparison, though. I thought about how some mamas have children and then seem too eager to abandon them. Having a baby is easy (I should know), but the endeavor of the day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month, year-to-year labor of raising children is the most important part of parenting.

When I saw the cow look up from her grazing and ignore the situation until the calf crossed the fence I grumbled, “It’s too late to care, now”.  Nonetheless, that’s how some parents are. They allow their children to run, to make their own decisions, to watch out for themselves, while they are busy with work, or play, or whatever takes them away from their job of being the adult authority figure, and only show interest when they’re child crosses the line–gets into trouble, leaves home, or causes embarrassment to the parent.

If God has allowed you to be a parent, then be a parent. Be vigilant, watchful, alert when it comes to your children. Guard them against danger, difficulties, and error. Don’t ignore them until they cross over the fence and someone else has to chase them back. If you have had a child placed into your custody, then be a PARENT.

Protect them from being harmed or damaged (physically and emotionally)

Arm them with the tools they need to succeed

Require them to be responsible

Earn their respect by being a good role model

Notice them; they need your time and attention on a daily basis

Transfer them to their own life (allow them to move away) when you have finished raising them, by preparing them along the way

Fall Has Arrived

Enloe Farms, ,

The days are slowly becoming shorter and the nights are dipping down into the 50’s. The official first day of autumn is just around the corner, but fall has arrived early on the farm. Our fall-calving season is in full swing, and we have six brand new baby boys kicking up their heels in the field. (Which is very exciting because steers are worth more than heifers).

We had some beneficial rains in June and cooler than normal temps in July, which left our fields green and fertile. Unfortunately, the weather turned dry and hot, and now our fields are beginning to suffer the consequences. We got less than 1” of rain the last two months.

Our cattle are on a rotational grazing cycle, which means we move them every three or four days into a fresh paddock of grass. Because of the dry weather, we have to move them more often to keep the grasses as healthy as possible. Believe it or not, the cows always tell us when they need to move on. When The Farmer jumps on the four-wheeler, if they are ready to move, they begin bawling, “Mooooove! Mooooove!”  So he lets them into a new paddock, because happy cows make happy calves. 🙂

My Gratitude List

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Life on the farm isn’t always a bed of roses, what life is? But this morning was just another reminder of how fortunate I am to be a farmer’s wife.

When I walked outside this morning, the temperature was in the high 60’s, that’s very unusual for this month, which normally is in the high 70’s or low 80’s in the morning. A lot of times the air is dry and humid, but not this morning.

Baxter and I took our walk up and down the driveway, around the fields, lingering to take in the sights: geese on the pond, red-headed woodpeckers snatching the cat’s food, baby pears hanging on the trees, and the wonderful smell of fresh-cut grass, which daughter #4 cut last night. Even the weeds around the flowers were a pleasure to pull out this morning. (wow! Starting to sound a little too mushy 🙂

At any rate, the peacefulness of the morning gave me another occasion to be thankful for my “haves” instead of dwelling on the “have-nots”.

Do you ever do that? Take an inventory of the blessings you have received this side of Heaven, whether big or small.

Here’s a small part of my list:

  1. knowing Christ as my Kinsmen Redeemer

  2. having family, both close and faraway, that know me and still love me (some of them even like me)

  3. the freedoms that we still have here in America

 

 

More Important Than A Royal Birth

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The top story of the day is “Kate Middleton In Hospital Having Royal Baby”. Even as I write this, the mob of reporters (some who have flown in from all over the world) are stationed in front of the hospital awaiting the arrival of the third heir in line for the British throne. People are placing bets on the gender, the name, time of arrival, and the length and weight of the little Prince or Princess of Cambridge.

As a mother of nine, I realize as much as anyone does the importance of the birth of a new baby. I can see how the next heir to the British throne would be important to the Brits, but we broke ties over 200 years ago, so maybe our top stories for today should start with one of these headlines:

  • Detroit Declares Bankruptcy after 60 Years of Financial Irresponsibility (18 billion dollars in the red)

  • Top Government Leaders Undermine Court Ruling by Injecting Racism into the Zimmerman/Martin Verdict

  • Gas Prices Soar Nationwide- Up $.12 in One Week

  • Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Employer Mandate Delayed-Employees Will Still Be Held Captive

  • Unfair and Unjust Furloughs for Our Military Heroes

  • Congress Needs to Stop Wasteful Spending (and live on a budget like the rest of us have to)

  • The Tea Party Demands Answers Involving the IRS Scandal

  • All Americans Should Demand Answers to the NSA Scandal

  • Family Members of the Murdered Victims in Benghazi Want Washington Held Responsible

  • Underemployment/Unemployment—Highest it’s Been Since 2003

Okay, in case you are really curious (and living under a rock), Here is the announcement:

The Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son

Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well.

Local County Fair

Enloe Farms,
The Farmer and I took the two youngest to the local county fair. Sorry to say it was anything but fun. Too small, too unorganized, too expensive. 🙁
Wouldn’t be a county fair without goats, pigs, and horses
Blue Ribbon Winners
Carousel
Funnel Cakes, Corn Dogs, and Cotton Candy
Ferris Wheel
Mud Run (hmm…)

 

How Does Your Garden Grow

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e779d-gramingreenhouseFor many years The Farmer and I  put in a fairly nice sized garden. We planted about 12 tomato plants, 2 rows of green beans, some peppers, onions, watermelons, cantaloupes, cucumbers and whatever other plants my Dad would give me from his greenhouse.

My parents own A & N Greenhouse, out on Hwy 47 towards Potosi. (you know where that is if you live locally) It’s too late this year, but that’s the place to go when you want really good garden plants and flower baskets.

Ok, back to my story. As I was saying, we

used to put in a nice sized garden. A couple of years ago, Daughter #1 enlightened me to the efficiency and ease of square foot gardening.  I really loved the idea. The Farmer made boxes for the plants, we put down a weed cloth to deter weed growth,  we sectioned off the boxes into 1 ft. squares, and then we planted the vegetables according to a chart that I had drawn up. I was really excited to do this, because square foot gardening was supposed to be easier (less weeding), until I saw The Farmer re-seeding the yard around the boxes. When he was finished, the garden was full of grass seed. It didn’t take me long to lose interest in this gardening style (there were still weeds!)

So the gardening set idle for a season or two, until we determined that we were going to have fresh garden tomatoes on our BLTs. We both like the idea of having a garden, but he doesn’t have time to weed the garden and I don’t want to. 🙂 So, necessity being the mother of invention, we came up with what I thought would be a simple plan–patio gardening.

Here’s what we did:

Early one morning, The Farmer went out to get our special mix of highly organic soil. This is the field where the cows winter. A visitor came as he was mixing the fertilized soil with peat moss. At one time these tubs contained protein supplement for the cows. I guess Otis (the bull) remembered, but wasn’t interested when he found that The Farmer was filling it up with dirt.

The Farmer mixed the soil and peat moss, and loaded the tubs into the bucket of the tractor. He used the bucket of the tractor to lift the tubs on to the back deck. I know it looks like he does all the work, but I planted the tomatoes and peppers, and harvested them each time we used them…and cooked ALL the bacon (everytime). 🙂

We only did 3 tubs. You can see the remnant of the sq. ft. garden in the background. I planted 1 tomato plant and 2 pepper plants in each tub. I later discovered that I should have planted the pepper plants in a tub by themselves. Live and learn!

Update: the buckets worked well. We had plenty of tomatoes that summer, and they were easily accessible. This method does require a LOT of watering, especially on hot, humid days. But the weeds are minimal.

From The Pasture To The Picnic

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It takes over a year to get the perfect steak on our picnic table.

The calves are born in the spring. They stay with mama until weaning time, which is sometime in November. At this point, we put them in a pasture by themselves where they stay until they are well over a year old. Soon afterwards, their diet is supplemented with locally grown hormone-free/antibiotic-free corn. This is what gives beef it’s highly prized marbling texture and increases the meats flavor and tenderness.

At the beginning of the next summer, when we see the calves approaching their optimal weight, we begin contacting our customers and set an appointment up with our butcher at Swiss Meat. A quaint locally owned family business (but that’s a story for another day).

After two or three weeks processing time, The Farmer and I pick up the meat and bring it back to the farm so our local customers can pick up their meat from the farm where it was raised.

The steak that took 16 minutes on a hot grill took 16 months to prepare.

      So we savor every bite!

This is what we had for supper last night. I also made Homemade Peach Cobbler for dessert.

I added the recipe >>Here<< or go to the "Recipe” tab on the right of this page.

Family Reunion

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This past week we had our annual family reunion on my Dad’s side. Besides a funeral or wedding, this is usually the only time families living far apart get together. I have a great family (for the most part :)), and I love seeing uncles, aunts, and cousins that I haven’t seen since last year, or sometimes haven’t seen for longer than that. We enjoy catching up on what everybody has been doing and meeting new additions to the family-sometimes through birth, sometimes through marriage.

 My Dad and Mom have officially hosted all the family reunions since 1995. There were many other impromptu reunions that just happened over the years, because people decided to come together at their house. Thanks Mom and Dad!








One of the first family reunions that we went to when The Farmer and I were first married, I volunteered to bring a dessert. The only cookbook I had at that time (or maybe one I had borrowed from Mom) was one that my Grandma Lorene’s church put together for a fundraiser, which is probably one of the best I’ve ever had.

Searching through the pages, I found the recipe for Banana Split Cake. Sounds great, right? I recognized all the ingredients, except one. The recipe called for one stick oleo. I know what you’re thinking, but at the time I was a young bride and didn’t have much experience in the kitchen, unless you count a frozen pizza or a TV dinner.

So I went to my local IGA searching for oleo. Much to my relief I found the oleo next to the sticks of butter (imagine that!). Taking my one pound of oleo home, I followed the recipe to the letter, measuring the ingredients meticulously, allowing the oleo to come to room temperature before mixing it with the other ingredients.

The last thing I had to put on top of the cake was the whipped topping. Remembering the way my Mother spread meringue or icing by making little peaks, I spread the whipped topping onto the cake. It turned out beautifully! Off to the reunion we went. Carefully packing away the little dessert that I was sure would WOW everyone! My first dessert, a Banana Split Cake—how impressive!

When dessert time came, I got out my beautiful Banana Split Cake, and just as I had anticipated, the ooos and wows started coming in. I cut a piece for The Farmer (before he was THE farmer), because I figured since it was my first dessert, he deserved to be the first to eat it. Then I cut pieces for my uncles and others.

But then a hush settled among the ooos and wows, and someone asked (I remember who it was, but they shall remain nameless here), “Did you put butter in this cake?”

“No”, I answered and started naming off the ingredients.

“There’s a lot of oleo in this”, chimed in others.

I remembered I only put in one stick, just like the recipe called for. And began to think that maybe there had been something wrong with the recipe. Someone must have typed it wrong.

“How much oleo did you put in?” asked one proficient cook.

“It called for 1 stick”, I answered defensively.

“It tastes more like 1 pound!” stated the cook.

At that time—the time when my whole family was turning against me, the family that I had been born into, that I had spent all my life with, extended family that I had shared my summers with, the people that I would have given my life for—I turned to look at The Farmer who was not only eating my dessert, but he was ENJOYING my dessert. It was at that moment that I knew I would always love him and support him. 😉

Although the memory of that first family reunion may have been idealized just a bit, the unadulterated truth is I did make a Banana Split Cake that called for 1 stick of oleo, but I ended up using 1 pound of oleo.

To redeem my reputation, I made the same Banana Split Cake at the next reunion; it was the special dessert that I had hoped for. I began making this dessert for every reunion we have, and every year it’s turned out perfectly, but every year I’ve been reminded of that first time when it tasted like butter. It’s just something I’m always going to be known for, but that’s okay.

Something else I’m known for is being late (unfortunately), so my Mother and I had decided long ago that I would never bring a salad or side (something that needs to be there when the meal is first served). But I would bring a dessert, then it wouldn’t matter how late I was. I began bringing most of the desserts for the family reunion, and now that my girls are women with their own husbands and households, they have been helping, too. This year we ended up taking 10 desserts.

Here are the desserts I took.

apple pie, cherry pie, cheese cake, coconut cream pie, lemon meringue pie

and of course a Banana Split Cake.

For several years, I have been making a double sized Banana Split Cake;

not as pretty, but I believe I have been completely exonerated. 🙂
I have included some of the recipes under the Recipe tab at the top of the page.

Checking The Cattle

Enloe Farms, ,

The other day Baxter and I went out to check the cows, and I couldn’t believe the enticing aroma wafting in the breeze. I stopped the 4-wheeler and just sat there for a bit enjoying the sweet smells of the summer pasture. Mmm…

The field is covered in little white flowers, which I think resemble some type of small daisies, and The Farmer thinks that it is a weed called Snowcap. But whatever they are, they make the fields look beautiful.

Baxter and I found the herd laying around under the cool shade of a small group of trees in the field. The babies are looking so good. With the abundance of pasture this year, mama is doing well, so baby is doing well.

Look at this baby! He was born in March.

Not bad for 3 months old.

We have other babies on the farm, also. A few weeks ago we discovered that we had eggs; not chicken eggs but Kildee eggs. The poor mama laid her eggs in our busy driveway. These birds like to lay their eggs on gravel or small rock, but I’m betting they didn’t realize how busy our driveway would be. I put a little table over her nest to keep the eggs safe from some crazy motorist.

When the Kildee perceive someone or something is going towards their nest, they run in the opposite direction. Their nature is to lure you away from their nest. They begin running, then they begin to squawk, and if that doesn’t get your attention, they flap around and at times appear injured. It’s quite a routine.

Unfortunately, when The Farmer was bringing in the bales of hay, the mama bird (I assume) about worked herself to death, because she is nested in front of the gate where he brings in the bales. So every time he brought a bale through the gate she would begin her ritual.

We are not the only ones awaiting the arrival of these new babies—so is the cat!

Update: The eggs are missing! I don’t believe it was the cat’s doing, because there is no physical evidence. So I choose to believe that the mama and daddy birdies rolled their eggs off to safety where no human being nor cat being will be able to ever harm them.

(I Do believe in fairies; I DO believe in fairies…)

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Must Be Summer, Because We’re Putting Up Hay

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One of the tell-tale signs of summer is putting up hay.

The Farmer woke up one cool, cloudy morning and decided that he was going to start cutting hay. The weatherman made a prediction of low clouds but no rain, and The Farmer believed him.

Not me…I had often been duped into believing that the weatherman could actually predict the weather here in Missouri, and had finally come to the conclusion that whatever was reported on TV was never what was going to happen.

So being the “supporting” wife, I informed The Farmer that if he insisted on cutting hay on a day when every physical sign pointed to a wet weekend that I would emphatically say, “I told you so”, when he was raking up wet hay.

Fortunately, The Farmer was right (must be farmer intuition). He pressed on, even under the pressure of low lying clouds and an unyielding spouse, and was able to get the first field cut, tethered, raked, and baled before the rain came.  

Cutting grasses while they are young and tender is best because the nutritional value is at its peak. It also makes more tender and tasty hay during the winter months (so I’ve been told).

The ideal time to cut hay is on a clear, warm, summer day, but sometimes that’s not possible, so The Farmer tethers the hay to dry it out faster. A tether machine picks up the hay and scatters it around to allow the hay to aerate. This step isn’t always necessary during really nice weather (just sayin’).

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After the hay is cured, it is raked into windrows and then baled.

 

 
 
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9StIukpbFmc]

 

We stack our hay and then cover it with a tarp. This is the first field and the first cutting. It really looks like a good year for hay, which is encouraging, because we had to buy a lot of our hay last year because of the drought.

Maxwells Attic

Date Night With The Farmer

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One of the most important aspects in a good marriage is communication. When two people are coming from different backgrounds, different lifestyles, and different traditions, it takes a lot of communication and hard work to come together as one flesh.

Ideally, some matters are discussed and settled before marriage: where to live, go to work, go to school, go to church, spend holidays, maybe the number of children that you will have or not have. Then life happens. Reality starts to set in and all the difficulties that go along with it. Plans change, goals are reset, and dreams die and come back alive in other forms. Sometimes couples start drifting away from where they started until they get to a point that they don’t even know the person that’s sitting across the breakfast table from them.

Most husbands and wives live in separate worlds. The Farmer and I certainly do. He has always gone off to a world that I hear about often and see occasionally. He works 40 minutes away from home and after a 40-hour week of hard, physical labor, he comes home to work on the farm, or fix a vehicle, or fix some other physical or mental difficulty that occasionally raises its ugly head.

Although there was a time when I would pack the kids up and go off to a job, fortunately, I stay at home and keep the home fires burning (sometimes at a ferocious roar). My world is filled with home school, child rearing, and housekeeping. Occasionally I am the farmhand or the riding boss.

Like most couples, there are very few and precious moments that we get to spend together, so years ago The Farmer and I set aside a sacred day and time apart for just the two of us. It is at this time that we come together and reclaim the time that is so needed in order to maintain a oneness between us. His world and mine come together. Sometimes it causes a tornado, but more often it brings unity. We adjust our goals, or reset our family’s GPS, or simply recover our sanity.

Saturday night is our official date night. We hold it as a sacred time. Most activities get pushed aside for this evening. And if something happens and we can’t make a Saturday date night, we do it on Friday or Sunday night. We haven’t always had this, but we realized early that it was a much needed ritual to keep us on the same track. Having a large family often makes it difficult to find babysitters, so we didn’t go out often in the early years, but as soon as our kids were able to stay at home by themselves, we made date night a priority.

So what is a date night with The Farmer like? Well, I’m glad you asked. Last Saturday when we went out, we recorded a moment by moment timeline of our date.  In case you haven’t been paying attention to my blog, we are a farming family who have raised nine kids on one income  (well almost, three of them are still teens). So our date nights are usually pretty cheap. We do have the occasional anniversary or birthday celebration, but most of the time we are very frugal. It has always been our decision to go frugal and often, as opposed to splurging and not being able to go out every week.

 

McDonald's
We usually eat in the truck, so our first stop is McD’s to get a 32 oz. soda for $1.00

If we do go into a restaurant, we drink water because soda is crazy expensive in restaurants!

Jack in the Box
On this particular Saturday, we decided to eat at Jack’s house

I did blow my diet, but was rewarded with a coupon for a free taco on my next visit. 🙂

Often we go up town to eat. We love to sit and watch traffic pass.

We often discuss the history of the town, or imagine how it was back then.

MFA building
Of course we have to drive past the MFA and…

cannon in town square
The cannon in the town’s square “Cool Hand Luke”

Then we drive around looking at…

Other people’s fields, other people’s cows, and other people’s farms…

Of course, coming home is truly our favorite part of the date.

Now that it’s nice outside, we are able to spend the rest of the evening together on the front porch.

How To Peel A Hard-Boiled Egg Without Smashing It Against The Wall

Recipes, , ,

How To Peel A Hard-boiled Egg

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????–Without Smashing It Against The Wall

Well the title may be a little extreme, but some of you may be able to relate to what I’m talking about. Several times in my life (usually before a big BBQ), I have tried to make deviled eggs and end up peeling chunks of the white part off, because the shell won’t come off.

One time I was having the kids over and deviled eggs was on the menu. I boiled the eggs, sat them aside while I fixed everything else, and at the last minute remembered that I hadn’t gotten them fixed yet. As usual, I cracked the egg shell on the counter and started peeling away the shell. And as usual, it took part of the egg white with it.

I usually made extra eggs just for this reason, so no problem. But then I started peeling another one…same thing. And the next one and the next…each egg was completely ruined because I couldn’t get the shell off. On the last one I attempted, it started tearing apart so I struck it with my hand and smashed it all over the counter. (temper, temper) I was so frustrated, now I had no eggs and a mess to clean up, too.

I knew I had to find a better plan. I searched the internet to find out how to peel a hard-boiled egg and found that there were many opinions out there.

  • Peel it hot
  • Peel it cold
  • Peel it fresh
  • Peel it old…

Fortunately for me, Daughter #2 shared the best way I’ve ever found. Her husband’s grandmother gets all the credit, but I thought I would share it with you.

Take a straight pin (I use one I got from a corsage) and pierce the egg before cooking.

111 pin in egg

Place the eggs in a pan of water that just covers the top of the eggs. Bring to a boil and cook on medium high for 10 minutes.

112 boil eggs

After the eggs are finished boiling, run cold water over the eggs. Just until they are cool enough to touch. Crack each egg until the shell resembles crackle glass, and place them back into the water.

113 crack eggs

After you have all the eggs cracked, simply peel the shell off; it should peel off without any problems.

114 peel eggs

Works for me every time!

115 perfect eggs