Back In The Saddle

Ahhh, I am so excited to be riding again!  Up until the past week I had ridden my horse only a handful of times since I have had Claire.  Priorities just change after having a baby to take care of.  Though I do miss riding and going to shows, my horse just doesn’t compare in importance to my family!

 But, the past week I have made time to ride again.  Now that it is a little warmer I am able to get up before the toddler to ride in the crisp cool mornings.   It’s funny how the time on my horse is completely different than it used to be.  I used to be training, concentrating, and always thinking about ways to better my horse’s performance.  Now it’s just nice to be outside, by myself, in the peace and quiet with time to think.

 Not only is the brisk air refreshing, but taking a morning ride also gives me time to reflect on what has been going on lately in life, thank God for all the blessings in my life, and think about what is truly important.  Family, loving, laughing, great friends, and beauty in the small things are what I hold dear.  I sometimes find myself getting caught up in all the hustle and bustle of life, and find myself worrying about things I can’t change or worrying about things that really don’t matter when the day is all said and done.

I love this time that I’ve made for myself.  It gives me a chance to circle back to all those people, thoughts, and moments that are truly important!

Holy Cow!



The cow peaking under the milker for her picture to
be taken.  Notice her id tag around her neck.

A few weeks ago at the Farm Women’s Symposium I had the chance to tour a robotic dairy farm.  I had never seen anything like this and thought it was very interesting!  This particular family dairy farm had a fire in 2001 and had always talked about having robotic milkers one day, and knew that having to rebuild after the fire meant it was time for that change. 



Each cow gets automatically logged
in the computer.

There are about 200 cows milked on the farm.  The cows decide when they want to be milked, and go at their own will into 1 of the 4 milkers on the farm.  Then the process can begin.  Upon entering the milker a neck identification tag is scanned.  That allows detailed information to be logged each time the cow is in to be milked.  Information such as: date, time, milk production, temperature of each quarter of the udder, etc.  All of this information is important for the farm owners to monitor for any changes or problems the cows may be experiencing.  The computer will also notify the farm owner if a cow doesn’t get up to be milked often enough, so they can check on her. 

Teats being scrubbed prior to milking.

The cows are given a sweet treat while standing in the robotic milker.  Her teats are gently scrubbed.  Then a scanner, that reminded me of a barcode scanner at a retail store, scans for each teat and gently directs each milker into place.  The whole milking process takes about 5-10 minutes, depending on the cow’s production.  After the milking is done, an antiseptic iodine solution is sprayed onto the teats.  All of this is done automatically by the robotic milker and documented in the computer!  I was fascinated! 

Teats being scanned so milkers can be attached.  You can see the faint red scan on the udder. 

 

 Full side view of the robotic milker.

 

The interesting technology didn’t stop at the milking.  The farm also has an automatic manure scraper to keep the isle as clean as possible.  There also is an automatic back scratcher that the cows can enjoy if they choose to.  There is a robot that pushes feed close to the cows so they can comfortably eat.  And the cows even enjoy the comfort of a water bed in each of their stalls.  Everything at this farm caters to the cows’ comfort!

                                                         Robot pushing feed to cows.

 

Cow activating automatic back scratcher.

The cows were all very calm, happy and friendly.  The cows are used to seeing large groups of people who come to tour the farm and even enjoy their pictures taken!  Even with all of the technology used there is still plenty of labor associated with the whole process.   The farm owners stay busy feeding cows and calves, growing and harvesting feed, caring for cows about to calve, and maintaining the business end of the farm, just to name a few!  Just because robots are utilized here doesn’t mean the owners don’t stay plenty busy!

I am standing on the comfy stall water beds!

Thank you to the Farm Women’s Symposium for arranging this visit and the Foley Family Farm for opening their barn doors to us!   I found everything very interesting and couldn’t wait to pass on the informationJ

 

Happy National Ag Day!

I feel a little embarrassed to say that I was unaware that today is National Ag Day!   A friend and contact through work mentioned it to me this afternoon, so I had to check it out and talk about it. 

“The Agriculture Council of America hosts the campaign on a national level.  Ag Day is about recognizing - and celebrating - the contribution of agriculture in our everyday lives. The National Ag Day program encourages every American to:

• Understand how food and fiber products are produced.
• Value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy.
• Appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.”

So why is it important to celebrate National Ag Day?

“Agriculture provides almost everything we eat, use and wear on a daily basis. But too few people truly understand this contribution. This is particularly the case in our schools, where students may only be exposed to agriculture if they enroll in related vocational training.

By building awareness, the Agriculture Council of America is encouraging young people to consider career opportunities in agriculture.

Each American farmer feeds more than 144 people ... a dramatic increase from 25 people in the 1960s. Quite simply, American agriculture is doing more - and doing it better. As the world population soars, there is an even greater demand for the food and fiber produced in the United States.”

That is just a small amount of the great information found on the National Ag Day Website; check it out!  www.agday.org

So next year on March 19th you can bet I will be celebrating and promoting National Ag Day all day long J

Gifts From Auntie Erin

Today my mom got home after visiting my sister for a long weekend.  I have mentioned before that Claire’s Auntie Erin loves to spoil her, and she did it again.  It comes as no surprise that Claire’s family loves to spoil her.  She is the only grandchild on both sides of the family and she is 1 of the 2 great grandchildren on both sides of the extended family. 

Claire wearing her new earrings

So today in the gift pack from Auntie Erin, Claire had a few cute outfits and stick- on earrings!  The earrings made me chuckle; a blast from the past, something I hadn’t seen in a long time!  Erin and I used to use so many stick on earrings when we were young since we didn’t have our ears pierced until we were teenagers.  Since Claire doesn’t even tolerate hair clips I was worried about her leaving the stick- on earrings on, but she did and we really got a kick out of seeing her wear them!    Thanks Auntie Erin!  Now Claire ready for spring with her new outfits and stick- on earrings J

Miscommunication Keeps Life Interesting

Do you ever feel like even when you have everything organized things don’t go as planned?  Well last night poor Brad was the victim of my organization gone bad.  Last night I had plans with a friend to take the dogs and Claire for a walk.  Even though I was planning to be gone I still wanted to still have a nice dinner for Brad.  So while Claire napped in the afternoon I made dinner in a casserole dish, set it in the refrigerator and planned to just throw in the oven after my walk.  Perfect plan I thought!

As I was packing up my dog, Claire, and the stroller to head out for our walk Brad pulled in the driveway, and I mentioned that I would be back in an hour or so and dinner was in the refrigerator.  I failed to mention that it still needed to be baked!  Oops! 

On my way back from our walk, I texted Brad to tell him we were almost home and also said “dinner will be ready in an hour”.  Almost immediately I had a confused husband on the phone asking, “what do you mean dinner will be ready in an hour?  I thought you said it was in the refrigerator!” 

Brad had eaten a large section of the casserole that had raw egg in it thinking it was all ready for him!  In between my laughs I apologized for my miscommunication and asked “weren’t the noodles slimy?”  He said they weren’t too bad, ha-ha!

So when Claire, the dog and I got home we BAKED the remaining dinner and ate it.

So here is the recipe for our dinner last night…and don’t forget the baking step, or communication step! J

 

Spaghetti Pizza

Ingredients:

·         12 oz. spaghetti, cooked and drained

·         ¼ c. butter, melted

·         2/3 c. parmesan cheese

·         2 eggs

·         12 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded

·         32 oz. spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce (combined)

·         1 # ground beef, browned and drained

·         4 oz. sliced mushrooms

·         3 oz. sliced pepperoni

Directions:

·         Combine spaghetti, butter, parmesan cheese and eggs; spread into greased 9 x 13 pan.

·         Layer ground beef, sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and mushrooms.

·         Bake at 350 for 60 minutes.

Did You Know?

While in Frankenmuth for the Farm Women’s Symposium I had the privilege of stopping at Zeilinger Wool Company.  This neat shop has over 100 years of experience in manufacturing, processing and selling wool products.  We got to tour the yarn mill, and also see how the wool comforters are put together.  It was a very interesting stop and I learned a few things about wool!

·         Did you know that wool isn’t just for keeping warm during the cold weather? 

Wool products do keep you warm in the winter, but also cool in the summer; a very economical product!

·         Did you know that the wool fiber itself isn’t what causes products to be itchy?

The chaff (small pieces of hay) that gets imbedded in the wool is what causes the itchy feeling.  So higher quality wool, that has been washed more thoroughly will be softer to the touch.

·         Did you know that a sheep produces darker wool each year it is sheared? 

Just like us, a sheep will gray as it ages.  So the first year a sheep is sheared the wool is whiter than it will ever be again.

Hope you enjoyed those quick tidbits as much as I did!

Chillin' With My Gnomies

The annual Farm Women’s Symposium was held in Frankenmuth this year.  The symposium is a 3 day event that women involved in agriculture are invited to every year.  A large spectrum of information is presented: anything from transitioning the farm to younger generations, gardening for pleasure, or predicting the weather could be covered.  Along with presentations the ladies enjoy a bus tour of the area! 

This year my mother-in-law and I attended the symposium and enjoyed our time with some fellow crop farm ladies.   Frankenmuth is known as Michigan’s “little Bavaria”, and has some interesting history, shopping and dining.  Check out our picture while having fun in Frankenmuth, and keep following to hear about some to the things I learned at the 2013 Farm Women’s Symposium!

 

A Horse's Sole

Before trimming

Today was a beautiful winter day and it began spending some quality time with my 2 horses.  I have enjoyed owning horses for 18 years now.  Having horses isn’t all fun; they come with quite a bit of maintenance.  For instance today I had my horses’ soles maintained.  Horses’ hooves grow similar to our finger nails and therefore need to be trimmed on a regular basis. This process isn’t painful for the horse, just as trimming our finger nails isn’t painful.  Every 6-8 weeks I have an appointment with a “farrier”.  The farrier specializes in trimming and shoeing horses.  The trimming or shoeing depends on what the horse is used for, diet, age, health condition, etc.  So it is important to have a farrier that is experienced and knowledgeable. 


Just trimmed, rasping is next step

Since my horses aren’t being used for anything specific right now, their appointment included a trim of the hooves, but no shoes.  My horses’ farrier methodically picks up each foot one at a time, carefully and accurately trims excess hoof growth, then rasps the edges of the hoof for a smooth finish.  The whole process is done in under ½ hour and doesn’t bother the horse.  Left unmaintained a horse’s foot will grow too long.  A long foot on a horse can cause inappropriate gait, stress on ligaments/ tendons in the leg, possible abscesses, and several other health conditions.  So thank you to the farriers who care for horses’ feet!  An uncommon but very necessary occupation!

Finished foot!

With spring right around the corner I am hoping to be able to ride my horses more.  I do miss riding during the winter months.  Along with horseback riding, spring will bring lots more excitement on the farm!  Calves to be born, crops to be planted, and some much needed warm weather!  So keep following for updates on all of the fun to come on the farm this spring!

Inspiration

Last weekend Brad and I had the opportunity to attend the annual Young Farmer Leaders’ Conference.  The conference is for farmers in Michigan who are 35 or younger.   The conference is a great time to network with others who are passionate about farming, and hear many different opportunities with in the agriculture industry.  

This year we met a few new people, spent some quality time with some friends we don’t see nearly enough and rekindled some relationships with a couple we haven’t seen since last year’s conference.  I expected the conference to be educational about current issues in agriculture, and how to better our operation.  But the most valuable information I took from the conference was motivation and inspiration that I wasn’t expecting.

 One speaker talked about being careful who we surround ourselves with and being mindful of our own actions before being critical of others.  “Wow”, I thought, “Look in the mirror before pointing my finger at someone else!”  I appreciated this advice since it is a difficult yet important thing to do.  The speaker also urged us to learn from bad experiences, and focus on positive things.  After all, there ALWAYS is something positive going on in life.  Life is too short to be anything but happy, so love the people who treat you right, and wish well to the people who don’t.