Life Is A Gift

I see my grandparents once a week.  Claire is a very fortunate girl and gets to spend one day a week with her great grandparents.  So last week when I picked Claire up in the afternoon my Grandma mentioned that my Grandpa had just had a stress test since he recently noticed he gets out of breath quickly.  The stress test showed some abnormalities and the doctors recommended doing a heart catheterization procedure. 

I listened to my Grandma and expressed my concern, but out of the corner of my eye I was watching Grandpa as he scurried around after Claire and went about doing his little outdoor projects that he always has going.  I thought to myself that nothing must be seriously wrong; he is so active, bright, and always up to something.  Little did anyone know but there were serious health concerns lurking around, just waiting to be found and addressed.

Thursday night I received upsetting news from my mom.  Grandpa had his heart catheterization and the doctors found some major problems.  Problems requiring open heart surgery the next day.  Ugg, there was a knot in my chest and tears welled up in my eyes after I got off the phone with my mom.  How could this be?  He is so busy, happy, and hardworking; how could he have something so serious going on? 

The next day surgery went well and now he has a long recovery road ahead of him.  A good friend and I were talking about everything the day of surgery.  Her grandfather also went through the same surgery several years ago and has felt wonderful ever since.  She assured me that it is a long recovery road, but with a great outcome.

Moments when I am reminded about how fragile life is always seem to blind side me.  I try to find the positive in life, appreciate things, and count my blessings.  Yet God has a way of reminding me that you cannot plan for everything and that life truly is a gift. 

A Busy Week

Whew, what a week!  Do you ever have those weeks that just seem to be a whirlwind and you feel like you can finally breathe when it is Friday?  Well that was this week for me! Brad is still busy in the fields.  He is planting soybeans now, but still working very long hours which leaves me to play “single mom”.

Monday is typically a busy day for Claire and me; groceries, laundry and dinner to the fields.  But this week we also added in a couple hours of running around for my veterinary technician job.  We drove 35 miles in one direction to pick up special milk and ice cream, and 60 miles in the other direction to pick  up logo t-shirts.  Then we had to find a place to store all the goodies until we would use them for our special community event on Tuesday.


Claire meeting a chicken.



Claire visiting with the goats.  Thanks to my mom for taking
Claire around while I was working :)

Tuesday I worked, but it felt more like play than work.  This was our 5^th year that Apple Grove Veterinary Care has hosted a Community Youth Day.  A completely free event for anyone to attend; young or old.  We have a few stations inside, where kids get their own stethoscope to take home, listen to a dog’s heartbeat, stop at stuffed animal surgery, and get a quick tour of the veterinary clinic.  Then outdoors there is a petting farm.  This year we had lambs, goats, a calf, alpacas, a mini horse, chickens, and ducks.  There was even a station where kids could learn how to milk a cow.  And to finish off the event….ice cream sandwiches and milk!  It is so much fun to watch all the kids and adults enjoy themselves. 




Claire really excited about the alpacas!

Wednesday I also worked at the veterinary clinic.  A normal routine for me, but we all seemed a little tired after the big event the day before.

Thursday we got rain.  Which we needed, but didn’t really welcome it since we still have planting to do and you can’t plant when the fields are wet.  The best part of the rain was that Brad was home.  And, oh how Claire missed her Daddy and enjoyed having him home!  We didn’t do anything exciting, just hung out together inside, but that is just what we needed after a busy couple weeks of only seeing each other in the fields.

Claire spending some quality time with
Brad on a rain day.

Now that the rain has stopped its back to work to finish up soybean planting.  And then we really can say “whew”, and sit back and watch the crops grow!

Meals To The Fields

A person cannot work around the clock without proper nutrition.  That’s where I come in! “Meals to the fields” is what I like to call it.  I joked with Brad that I was going to start a small business catering to farmers in the area, ha-ha!  I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy baking and cooking, and having a bunch of hungry, hardworking farmers gives me a great opportunity to share my love of food!

Between my mother in- law and me, our guys get pretty nice meals out in the fields.  Not just sandwiches, we have full course, meat and potato style meals out of the back of our cars.  A home cooked meal is a small comfort of home that they can enjoy while sitting for what sometimes seems like endless hours in a tractor or combine.

The first year I tried to do this for everyone it didn’t go so hot.  I have come a long way in both my cooking ability and my organization since then!  My debut year of “meals to the fields” I tried to make healthy meals.  That was my first mistake.  I realized you cannot feed a spinach salad topped with chicken to guys working around the clock.  It isn’t something they really enjoy anyway and sticks with them for about 30 minutes.  They need hearty, rib sticking meals! 

The next mistake I made that first year was sending food out in containers with utensils that I wanted back.  I am positive that after that first harvest I had only 2-3 spoons left in my drawer.  Stuff just gets lost, and their priority isn’t getting things like that back home.  The first priority is getting the job in the field done safely and efficiently!

And the last mistake I made was packaging food in inadequate containers.  Food presentation isn’t my strong suit anyway, but by the time the food bounced around in my car for 15 minutes getting to the field I was surprised they would even eat it!  I mean, the applesauce was always running into the other components of the dish, and the main course had slid off the plastic wrap covered plate onto my car seat.  It was bad!

It is an understatement to say there was a serious learning curve that year!  But now, I have it down! It isn’t that hard for me now, and I encourage other farm wives to give it a try if you haven’t already.  Your farmers will really appreciate it J

This is how I do it: 



My car organized with dinners, water, and utensils.

·         Plan the menu a week in advance; including side dishes and desserts.  Make a grocery list simultaneously while making the menu.

·         Stay a step ahead if possible.  If I can brown burger for a casserole, throw things in the crockpot, assemble the lasagna etc. the night before, I do!  Then I only have the baking step the next day.  It makes life a lot smoother!

·         Make the side dishes or desserts the night before if possible.  Cookies, cakes, dessert bars…almost any dessert I take to the field tastes just as good if baked the night before as it does baked same day.

·         Lay out all ingredients (that don’t need the freezer or refrigerator) out next to my stove the night before, along with the recipe.  Then I know what I am doing the next day.

·         Keep a picnic basket stocked with plastic utensils, napkins, and bottled water in the back of my car at all times.  One less thing I need to pack each evening!

·         Take advantage of the local food surplus store to purchase Styrofoam divided “to- go” containers, small plastic containers, and Styrofoam soup bowls with lids.  These disposable containers are very inexpensive and are extremely handy to serve and transport meals.  And the Styrofoam keeps the warm food at an appropriate temperature.  But, the best part about these containers is….I don’t need them back!  I am not missing ½ of my kitchen when field time is finished, ha-ha!

·         Make an assembly line.  While finishing up cooking for the evening, I lay out the quantity of Styrofoam containers I need that evening across my counter.  As soon as the food is ready it is easily loaded in containers.



Claire patiently waiting for Brad to come to the front of the field
....and eating some of his dinner while waiting, ha-ha!

·         Finally, I plan out my stops.  Many times we have equipment running in a few different fields in one evening.  I make sure my last stop is at the field that Brad is working in so Claire and I can do what we do best; ride and talk with Daddy in the tractor or combine J

Yes, it is a lot of work!  But, I feel like it is my contribution to helping everyone in the fields.  And, I always feel better during busy field time if I am very busy at home.  If I sit around trying to relax, the season drags on for me.

For any farm ladies wanting to give this process a whirl, I have several recipes that travel really well to the fields!  Really anyone could try this; it would work great for camping, game days, picnics, etc.  It’s quite a trial and error process to find what dishes travel well and which ones don’t.   Just send me a message of what sort of food you are looking for and I will gladly share any recipe I have that worked well and tasted great J

 

What's Going On In Our Fields Right Now?

We are planting corn.  No, not sweet corn; we are planting field corn.  Field corn has many different uses including animal feed, and is also in several processed foods such as cereal.

Different farmers do things differently.  There are many “right” ways.  This is just how we do things. 

What happens when we plant corn?  First the weather has to cooperate. Corn planting can begin when the weather is right, which for us typically anytime between the end of April and beginning of May. It needs to be fairly warm so the ground isn’t too cold for the seed.  It also needs to be fairly dry when planting corn.  When I started dating Brad I remember thinking that the soil looked too dry, but that is the way they like it.  Nice and dry when the corn is planted and then it can rain.

Claire checking the field.
You can see how dry it is.

When the field is dry enough, someone goes out to pick rocks.  Now this isn’t the rock picking that I remember doing when I was young which involved a 5 gallon bucket and walking around the fields.  This rock picking involves tractor with a bucket on the front and a rock picker implement hooked behind.  When the rock picker or bucket is full the rocks get dumped in a fence row.  Picking rocks is important so more delicate equipment, like the planter, isn’t damaged by the rocks.  It’s also important since rocks don’t grow crops, ha-ha.

                                          

                                                          Tractor pulling the rock picker.

 

When the field is rock free someone can go in to “fit” the field.  This is done by a tractor pulling a field cultivator and a crumbler.  The field cultivator rips up the ground which was plowed the fall before.  The crumbler, which follows the field cultivator, does exactly what you may think it does; crumbles the ground.  The ground needs to be dry, and fine for corn planting.  


Tractor pulling the field cultivator and crumbler.

You can see how nice the ground is;
dry and fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then the planter goes in to plant the corn.  A tractor pulling a corn planter plants the corn seed and also applies fertilizer simultaneously. There are several different sizes of corn planters, depending on the farmer’s wants and needs.  In just a few short days we should be able to see little green corn sprouts starting to poke through the dirt.  It will continue to grow through the summer, before it dries down in the fall and is harvested.

Planting corn.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother’s Day is this weekend.  I don’t know why we have to wait for a specific day during the year to celebrate our moms?  We should regularly tell our moms how great they are, right?  So since I don’t tell my mom enough this post is for her. 

My mom taught my sister and me so much while we were growing up.  How to laugh, love, be caring, be sweet, be thoughtful, be organized, be responsible, and work hard.  When I find myself being excessively organized or being thoughtful toward someone, I know it is my mom coming out in me.  

Me as a youngster helping mom make some cut out cookies.

 

My mom also taught me to enjoy cooking.  Since I was very young my mom would teach me and let me help her cook and bake.  Now that I have Claire “helping” me all the time I know that my mom allowing me to help was probably and inconvenience for her sometimes, but she included me just the same.  As I have grown older I really have come to love baking and cooking!  Thankfully I married someone who doesn’t like to cook so I can do it all the time J

Me standing up to the counter helping mom
 make something yummy!

 

I think all daughters go through phases with their moms.  I know that I loved spending time with my mom when I was young, seemed to grow apart from her through late teenage years (which I am sure broke her heart), and now she is one of my best friends.  It’s funny how things change.  Now that I am a mom I think it is amazing how gracefully and patiently my mom handled the phases I went through.  She must have known that I would come full circle and just waited through the storm.  I hope I can be as wise and compassionate to Claire as she grows up.
My mom isn’t only a great mom to my sister and I, she is a wonderful grandma to Claire.  Claire loves to spend time with both of her grandmas and her great grandma.  She is lucky to have so many great ladies loving her J  A few weeks ago Claire and I went to visit my mom and go for a walk together.  My mom shared some cookies that she had made and said they were “healthy”.  I loved the cookies, tweaked the recipe just a bit, and started making them regularly.   I’ve included the recipe below.

Me helping grandma take ends off green beans from the garden.
Or, at least that is what I am supposed to be doing....looks like
I am eating them!

I also have to also mention that I have a special grandma who I am very close with and so thankful to have.  She and my grandpa are always very supportive and fun grandparents.  They now nurture Claire just as they did for me while growing up.  Not all children get to spend time with their great grandparents on a regular basis; Claire is fortunate!

I also have another mother in my life.  My mother in- law is the most amazing mother in- law I could have!  I know many times people cringe when talking about the in- laws, but I couldn’t be more blessed to join the family that I did!  I look up to and admire my mother in- law so much and hope I can develop into a great farm wife and mother like she is.

So here’s to all of the wonderful ladies in my life!  I wouldn’t be the women I am today without you molding, shaping, teaching, and nurturing me since I was young.  I know there are many girls who don’t get the opportunity to be around so many great women like I have been.  I am truly thankful for the time I spend with you, love you all, and hope I have many more years with you!



Claire helping me clean up after we made
cookies.  She loves to clean up the spatuala
with her tongue, lol.

Here’s the recipe for the cookies my mom, Claire and I enjoy together.  The cookies have a cake like texture with a hint of honey.  Very yummy!

Ingredients:

7 tbsp. butter, melted

½ c. sugar

1 egg

¼ c. plain Greek yogurt

1/3 c. honey

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 ¾ c. flour

Directions:

·         Cream butter and sugar together. 

·         Beat in egg, yogurt, and honey.  Set aside.

·         Sift together dry ingredients.  Add to wet ingredients.

·         Bake at 350, for 10- 12 minutes.

 

 

Just Another Day

Oh my goodness, this wonderful weather has me pretty much living outside J  I absolutely love it, and so does Claire!  We are literally outside playing or working from about 8am until 8pm.  With the exception of an afternoon nap for Claire.  Spending so much time outside also leads me to neglect my blog.  So, I am going to get back on track and start sharing more regularly again J

8am. Claire wakes and her feet hit the floor running.  We get breakfast and dressed as fast as possible and make our way outdoors to start chores.  Feeding the dogs, horses and cat is one of Claire’s favorite tasks right now.  She very carefully pours the food into each animal’s bowl.  She is so cute and such a great helper! 

Next we take the ATV down the lane, around the pond, and through the woods.  Claire insists on sitting in the passenger seat like a big girl rather than on my lap.  The dogs go with us and usually enjoy a morning swim.  The trails in the woods have been really beautiful for the last week.  Pretty little white flowers cover the ground and there are no bugs out yet!

On our way back to the house we check on the wheat field.  The wheat was planted last fall and will be harvested this summer.  Wheat is my favorite crop, just because it is so pretty, and I love it when it is behind our house! 

Then we check-in with Claire’s Uncle.  His cattle have been calving lately and Claire enjoys seeing the calves and especially her Uncle!  Like people cows are pregnant for 9 months.  Sometimes cows do need help calving with their first calf.  Usually after they have calved once the cows are independent for future calving.

The afternoon is our down time.  Claire naps and I do house chores and get dinner started.  When she wakes, we are up and playing outside again.  During the late afternoon Claire has to take her playing inside so I can pack dinners up to get them out to my family while they are farming.  This is probably Claire’s favorite part of the day since she gets to see her Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle.  She also gets to ride in the tractors and play in the dirt.  If we happen to take dinner to the fields and not ride in the tractor Claire is very upset and cries all the way home.  I’ve learned it just makes for a more enjoyable evening if she rides in the tractors J

As we make our way back home close to bed time, we have just enough time for a bath to rinse all the dirt and sweat from the day.  I am thankful that Claire does sleep well at night.  I do too after chasing her around all day, ha-ha.  That’s just another day for us!

Help Your Pets Enjoy The Beautiful Weather

It is so nice to have warm sunny weather on a regular basis!  The weather change brings lots of thoughts to my mind.  As a farmer’s wife I am thinking about the busy planting season.  As a mother I am thinking about all the fun Claire and I can have in the sun.  And as a licensed veterinary technician I am thinking about what we need to change for our pets during the warm weather. 

It seems when the weather gets nice people like to take their dogs for rides in the car.  My dogs always enjoy riding in the car.  If you plan to take your pets in the car with you please be aware of what happens when pets are left in a parked car.  It becomes a dangerous incubator for any pet! On the picture below you can see that even when it isn’t hot outside it is too hot for your pets in a parked car.  So please be careful and mindful of pets in your car. 

 

Also important for your pets during warmer weather is having free access to clean water.  Dogs and cats cannot sweat and therefore sometimes have difficulty regulating their temperature, especially if they cannot drink water when they need to.  Especially during play time in a dog park or a walk down a trail- have water readily available.

Warm weather also brings mosquitoes carrying heartworm disease, fleas, and ticks out in full force.  Heartworm disease left untreated can be fatal.  Fleas cause severe irritation and can induce allergies.   And ticks carry nasty diseases such as Lyme disease. The good news is that all of these problems can be prevented with products as directed by your veterinarian. 

So those are just a few changes that I feel are important during the warm spring and summer weather.  I advise you to refer to your veterinary clinic for more information or recommendations.