All The Dirt

You guys seem to like the silly little post I did on fixing up my bedroom.  So just for fun, I thought I'd show you some of the other things I've done to the farmhouse since buying it in April of this year.  None of it needed any major overhauls or anything, but I've had a lot of fun adding my style to the place.

 Confession: I hate to do laundry!  Always have, always will.  I'm pretty domestic, I think.  But the tediousness of all that folding and matching and remembering to switch the wet things to the dryer ahead of the mildew setting in.... Oiy! Thank God Prairie Granny seems to be quite fond of that chore and helps me stay on top of it. She's like my laundry fairy! 

One thing I had to do was fix up the laundry room.  As you enter my front door, the laundry room and all it's mess is directly to your right.  It's also a walk through to my bedroom and bathroom. A very visible, high traffic spot. And it needed HELP!

 

 

I know some people really love wall paper borders.  I am not one of those people.  I put one up once in my oldest son's nursery and I did like it then.  But that was almost 8 years ago....

 

I also didn't want to keep the wire rack shelves. Maybe in a laundry that isn't right next to the front door it would be ok.  Like in a basement laundry.  But they felt too utilitarian for me....

 

So now....

 

 

 

This is the view you can see from the entry area.... 



You know how I'm a little obsessed with old things?  One of my very best friends gave me this old cabinet the other day.  (You know who you are and I love you to pieces. Even when you don't give me things!)  It was forgotten in a storage trailer for like a million years, covered in nasty, greasy dirt an filled with wasp nests.... but I LOVED it!  Some wasp spray and a good scrubbing and now it's the perfect cupboard to hold all the laundry soap and stuff!

 

 

The sign above the cupboard was a gift from a dear friend from the church used to attend before I moved to Geraldine. I sure miss her and the sign makes me smile. The piggy bank is the one Prairie Granny actually made for me when I was a baby.  Now it's the perfect place for all those coins we pull out of jeans before throwing them into the washer.

 

 

 

Another friend made this awesome coat rack out of barn wood and antique, wooden thread spools.  It's the perfect place to hang this old time scale that I still use to estimate the weight of alpaca fleece before I send it out for milling....

 

I didn't realize until I wrote this post that my laundry room is so filled with love!  But three of my friends and my mom all helped add to the character of my laundry room.  No wonder I actually love my laundry room now!

 

Bye for now,

B

 

Rainy Day Projects

Ok, so let me start by saying I am not an interior designer. Like, at all.  Not a title I'll ever claim.  But I do like my home and my farm to be a reflection of me and the life we lead.  I like things to be beautiful.  At least to whatever level I can pull off.  (Don't peek into the downstairs family room right now! Two, two year old tornados just hit it.) I don't like to spend a lot of money on many things and try to be as frugal as possible in my pursuit of a pleasant home. 

Today was a very cold, wet, soggy day in Geraldine.  Autumn has definitely set in.  So other than feeding and watering all the critters and making sure everyone looked happy, we've hung out inside.  That gave me some time to do a couple of fun things.  First, hired man Jim and I took down a chandelier from the other house and moved it over here.  The other house is now opening as an assisted living home so the lighting needed to be updated to suit senior living better. 

My room at the farm has been bugging me.... It felt too big and empty. Nice, but kind of lacking character.  I was even tempted to move into one of the smaller bedrooms downstairs that are cozier.  But that would be kinda crazy.... So I decided to quit whining and fix up my room!

I found this photo of what the room looked like when I bought the house....

This is how I had my room for a while.  Nice enough, but I decided the zebra rug was a bit crazy.  It's now in my closet and is very happy there.  It's also nice on my bare tootsies in the mornings.

 

 

 

I had taken some pretty cool photos of old barns, old branding irons, (probably my favorite photo ever) and one of my saddle.  I've had them printed and framed for a while but never got around to hanging them.... until today!



 

 

Now they make that huge empty wall look a whole lot cozier!  The room also desperately needed a better light fixture. I absolutely hate those standard fixtures that the home builders put in! They should be against the law in my opinion! Just kidding.... we already have way too many laws.

 

 

 



So the chandelier now hangs in the center of my bedroom and looks fabulous!

 

The last piece I need to scrounge for is the right dust ruffle for the bed.  Home is always a work in progress if ya ask me.  Some of my favorite things in here are the Boston Terrier pillow from Pottery Barn and the antique phone. You know me and old things, I can't get enough.

 

So now you know what this farmgirl does for entertainment on rainy days.... I'd rather putter around and figure out how to spruce something up than sit in front of the TV all day.  And of course rainy days are good for blogging too! 

 

Bye for now,

B

 



Hey Hay!

Farmer Tom is our cousin over north of Fort Benton.  They have a very busy, family farm that has been operating for four generations now.  Farmer Tom married into the family and into farming.  It's a bit of "new" thing for him, but he has taken to it very well in my opinion.  I am very grateful that Tom and Roger grow some nice hay, put it into nice, small bales and haul it over here for me.

The first load they hauled went like clockwork.  Roger has designed this handy dandy trailer that slides the stacks off the trailer and onto the ground in a very nice stack.

 

Today was different.... Just as I was heading out to take some things to Farmer's Market the phone rang.  It was Cousin Joellyn calling to let me know that some of the hay had fallen off the trailer en route.  Could I please bring a truck so we could get them off the highway and back onto the semi trailer?  Of course! 

 

 

I had the easy part of the job.  The driving along to pick them up, job.  A thunderstorm hit just as we were loading them.  Then it rained....  Jake and Tom are probably pretty sick of stacking bales tonight....

 

Once they got the trailer out to the farm, the next task was to slide the stack off the trailer.  Unfortunately this was not Tom's day.  The cable that pushes the slide down and therefore the hay off, broke.  So there we were trying to figure out how to get about 300 bales of hay off the trailer any possible way other than by hand.  Lucky us! I have this little backhoe sitting here on the farm....

 

 

But our idea of pushing the stack off with the bucket didn't work.  And our idea of pulling the stack off with the straps, didn't work either.  But lucky for us I have this really cool little forklift just sitting here on the farm.... So after we filled up it's big ol' flat tire, we put it to work pushing the stack off the trailer....

 

 

It actually worked! Kind of ....

 

 

Look! It's a bale-ka-bob!

 

 

My very favorite saying these days is, "Good enough is perfect!" That's a quote from my favorite farming guru, Joel Salatin!  The hay is off the trailer!  We'll fix the stack a little and it will be perfect!

Don't ya think?

 

It was a perfect summer evening in north central Montana.  Tom made the comment that it was waaayyyy better to be out bucking bales on a Montana evening than running on a treadmill in some gym.  I could not agree more!  Now we have just two more loads to go.... wish Tom luck!

 

To read more about Farmer Tom and his lovely wife Joellyn, go to www.montanaprairietales.com

 

 

Bye for now,

B



Old Things

I love old things.  It drives my oldest son crazy because he does not understand why in the world his momma scrounges for old, rickety, banged up things instead of buy new shiny ones.  I always hear, "Mom! Why do you like that old thing?!"  I laugh and explain to him that old things have history to them that can't be bought.  I go on and on about the history of this or that and he just shakes his head.

One of my latest "old things" got moved into the house today.  I bought a little table for five dollars at a farm sale a few weeks ago.  It had seen better days.  It was covered in greasy dirt, the nails on one edge had worked their way out and the paint had chipped off to a perfect patina.  I love it!!!  The folks that were moving off the farm had lived there for forty years.  But it seems this table is probably about twice that old.  It's just a guess though.  I imagine that maybe a sweet farmer had built in for his wife to set in the parlor. I can see years and years of beautiful history when I look at it.

A little TLC with an electric screwdriver and the edge of the little table was repaired.  Then I gave it a good scrubbing and it was perfect!

At first I thought I'd put it out on the porch.  But I decided I liked it so much it needed to live in the house.

So I found a little spot next to the couch that looked lonely.  Now it's the perfect place for the phone I got at Pottery Barn that is designed to look really old, but isn't.  The cool thing is, it actually does work! I admit I am a little obsessed with the phone....

My living room at the farm is finally starting to come together the way I had imagined it.  An eclectic blend of old and new.  Western, but not too western.  Know what I mean?  I will be the first to tell you, I am NOT a interior designer.  But I think if we really focus on the things we love, our homes can reflect our lives in a beautiful way.

Bye for now,
B

The Things That Are Important

 

My body is angry.  I was in the hospital over the weekend with some pretty serious health issues.  I won't bore you with the details.  But it is one of those situations that makes you stop and think. And pray.  There is absolutely nothing like staring at your own mortality to make you realize the things that are important. (If I take good care of myself I should be just fine, so don't worry just yet.)

Love becomes more real and raw.  You want the people that mean the most to you to know down into their bones how much you love them.  I love my babies so much it hurts.  Down to their precious, pink baby toes. When I say "babies" I mean all of them. Today my "big boy" is my baby too. Tonight I snuck in while they were sleeping to inhale their innocence.  I'm so grateful for my dear friends (ya'll know who you are) and my family that I can't even put it into words....

 

Today it felt like it was impossible to ignore the beauty that God put before us.  I'm grateful to have the opportunity to really see and feel what matters and what doesn't.  Today I remembered to open my eyes and slow down. 

 

 

 

Tonight's sunset.





 

 Some of the beauty in my yard.

So take a moment, just because, and look around.... 

 What are you most grateful for right now?

Bye for now,
B

 



Pistol Packin' Momma

*Disclaimer: If you are anti-gun, you may not want to read this post.  But it's ok, I'll still love ya....*

Tonight I got to sneak out and ride my Fancy mare.  She's enjoying becoming a horse again after a year of pretty intense training.  She isn't used to being ridden out in the world right now.  The safe confines of the arena are what she has gotten used to.  So out across the pasture we go.  Looking at every little thing, spooking at the dogs when they pop up out of the grass.  Not so fun for me, but necessary....

After our ride....

After she had settled a bit and we were slowly walking up to the barn gate we heard a slight buzzzzzz.... Oiy! Snake!  Fancy jumped backwards and shied away.  I hung on while hoping I wouldn't get dumped on top of a rattle snake!  I hollered across the field to Prairie Granny, who was out in the yard with the rugrats.  "There's a snake!"  Then, "Get my gun!"  I led Fancy to the house, calling the dogs along so they wouldn't get snake bit.  Unsaddled, turned Fancy loose and grabbed my gun.

At first I couldn't find him when I went back.  Of course.  But just as I was hopping back on the four-wheeler, there he was climbing up the big manure pile next to the corrals.  I quickly aimed at his beady little head and fired.  Missed!  That was actually the very first time I shot my gun.  It's a .41 caliber, single action revolver. I have sot some .45's so I figured it would kick a bit.  But it wasn't too bad.  Mostly it was just really loud!  Shoulda wore ear plugs, but I didn't....  I couldn't hear a thing for a few minutes after the shooting.  So when I'm a really deaf old lady, we'll know why!  I promise I'll have ear protection next time!

Anyway, I shot that dirty bugger three more times.  There is no better target practice than a rattlesnake on a manure pile!

See how well they hide?  It's easy to step right on them!
 

Prairie Granny dragged him out so I could take a better photo.

After we disposed of Mr. Snake, we did our evening chores to the chorus of a pack of coyotes somewhere nearby.  Ugh.  But it's ok, Momma's gotta gun....


Bye for now,
B

The Ordinary Not So Ordinary Day

It seems the ordinary day for me is now pretty much anything but ordinary.  I sat down to write tonight and thought, "I don't know if I have anything to write about.  Nothing extra ordinary happened today....it was just an average day."  But wait just a minute.

This morning I got up and actually put on clean jeans and did my hair and makeup before going to do the chores.  No, I haven't lost my mind.  This morning we had a visitor that was due to arrive right at chore time.  A lovely young gal from Oregon came by the farm to interview us for the Fort Benton newspaper. We got to give her the grand tour.  We showed her how we are now raising the calves so we will be able to sell grass fed beef.  We showed her the young Barred Rock pullets that will soon produce fresh, all natural, free range eggs for us.  She got to meet the lambs and the horses and of course the alpacas.  The main focus today was on the alpacas.  It's a new industry in our area and folks might like to see more about them. 

It was also fun to ask Miss Bethany questions.  I learned she up and moved from Oregon to take the job at the newspaper and for some reasons of the heart. Seems there is a lucky farm boy between here and Fort Benton.  She might just end up another of a long line of women who found themselves out on the prairie as a farm wife.... I guess we'll see.  But it sure was fun to show her around and I hope the article lets people know what we're up to out here.

This afternoon I just spent some good quality time playing with the rugrats.  Sometimes the pressure of getting this farm going makes me forget to just play with the kids.  Yes they love going with momma to do chores, pull weeds, plant things, water things and move critters around.  But sometimes we just need to hang out and do nothing productive at all.  Then I had to go haul hay....

 

My big boy came with me for that and he's becoming a lot like his momma and took his camera.  My little staff photographer.  I'm glad he likes taking pictures.

Tonight we also had another not-so-ordinary sunset.  I wonder if I'll ever get tired of seeing the amazing evening skies we get here?  I hope I never take them for granted.

Bye for now,
B

Calf Slobber Jeans

These days when I get up in the morning, I no longer look for clean jeans to put on. Usually the pair I put on in the morning is on the edge of gross. Ya see, if I put on the clean ones with in five minutes of being at the barn they are covered in calf slobber.  And just a little bit of poo.  This is a totally different way of being for me.  I can be a bit of a girly girl.  I try to be nicely dressed every day.  Even if it's just to go to the feed store for a case of dewormer.  I rarely leave my house without makeup.  Particularly mascara and lip gloss.  I just do not feel dressed without a spritz of perfume!  Silly?  Yes, totally and I know it.  I realize the irony in my lifestyle choices.  Lip gloss addict becomes lady farmer.  But now, the mascara and the clean jeans have to wait until after chores each morning.  Then I get into my decent clothes and get gussied up.  Or maybe not, if I'm headed out to build a fence or clean a corral.....

Just for fun I thought I'd show you a bit of the morning procedure. Some folks have asked how in the world I manage to feed ten bottle calves twice a day. This is how we do it....

On this fence we have five bottle holders all lined up.  We let the calves out of their pen and they follow us over to the bottles and we help them get hooked on.  Then they go to town!

On this fence in the feed room we have three more bottle holders.  We separate the calves into two groups to cut down on mayhem and bottle stealing.

A couple of calves sometimes need a bit of extra attention and hang out in their normal pen.  There we can give them a closer look and make sure they are getting over their belly aches and such.  My helper in this photo is my mom,
 aka Prairie Granny!

Notice Prairie Granny is all bundled up.  Yes, it's almost June.  But it has been cold for the last few days!  Our winter coats haven't got to take a break yet.

After they each one finishes his bottle he gets kicked out into the corral to play in the sunshine. 

They follow us out hoping for more food.  But we always make sure each one gets his fair share.

The photo credits today belong to my very talented 7 year old!  He did a great job taking the photos so you could see me and Prairie Granny at work!

This is my big boy with "Superman".

I hope you enjoyed seeing the operation!  Thanks for reading and sharing my blog!


Bye for now,
B

I Used to Hate the Rain

Some of you know I spent a total of about 8 years living in the Seattle suburbs.  There were a few things I liked about the place, the coffee, great restaurants, lots of entertainment, Puget Sound and the ocean.  But I always hated the rain.  The almost constant drizzle.  Gray skies.  Mud everywhere.  Back then the rain meant if I wanted to go ride my horse, I had to deal with the rain or not ride.

Fast forward 15 years....

Rain now makes me smile!  We live in an area that's pretty dang dry for the most part.  Not a desert, but close maybe.  We get enough moisture that we have a nice grass prairie all around us.  Not sagebrush!  But it's also dry enough that every drop of moisture counts.  It's never a bad day for rain.  Rain means the prairie will turn green.  Rain means less chance of wildfires.  Rain means the hay fields will feed the animals next winter. Rain means the people here that make their living growing crops will actually make a living.  There is no irrigated ground around here.  Pretty much everything is dry land farmed.  Without the good Lord sending the rain and lot of people would struggle.  Rain is GOOD!

On Monday it rained!  Really, really, rained!  A gully washer!  Water was running all over the place.  Gutters were overflowing.  It was the most rain I have seen since we moved here.  At least all in one day....

The silly horses have a barn, but chose to get a shower instead!

The rugrats and I were in awe.  We stood at the windows for a very long time and watched the rain.  I know my fields will grow.  I know the garden drank it up.  It was such a blessing....

An hour or so later, the skies cleared....  So we will wait for the next rainy day and be glad when it comes!

 

 

 

Bye for now,

 

B

My Personal Trainers

This morning I spoke to a friend about the possibility of his oldest son coming to work here on the farm for the summer.  (Ya'll know who you are!) When I asked what the young man's plans were for the summer, his dad told me that he was planning on working out with a personal trainer five days a week, all summer.  The kid is very good at athletics, but wants get into better shape.  They do live in Texas after all and football is everything! 

I smiled at the thought of a personal trainer.... hehe.  "Welllll", I said. "I think he'd get just as fit working his butt off on a ranch! You should see how ripped I'm getting!" 

This is actually a very true story.  Every single day, twice a day, I am getting a one hour aerobic workout.  At each feeding of the calves I am running around the barn and the corral.  Chasing them from their pen to the feeding room.  Chasing them out the door into the corral.  Chasing them back into the barn and into their pen.  Hustling to switch the bottles out when they empty and run in a new batch of calves.  (Feeding three to four at a time.) Having to keep my balance against getting mauled and butted constantly.  It is insane!  I just keep telling myself, in 60 days when they are weaned, I will be very glad to have ten healthy steers! But for now, they are my personal trainers! At the end of each feeding I am sweating like a pig.

This is "Batman".  He and his brothers are getting me into shape!

The calves are only a small part of my fitness regime.  Add in the daily raking and shoveling that is just part of farm life.  Walking out to bring in the alpacas every night to keep them safe from the dang coyotes.   Add in trying to keep both my horses ridden regularly, especially Fancy who needs a lot more saddle time..... Plus hoeing and planting the massive garden and dragging hoses all over.  And rock picking.... Oh, I can't forget hauling hay a couple of times per week.  Loading and unloading 80 pound bales onto a pickup to unload and re-stack around the farm.  After the garden is in I will be starting on the many fences that need to be built around here.

All this is why my "old" jeans are starting to fit again.  I am now also a proud bearer of the official "Farmer Tan".  So, by the end of summer I am confident I will be looking a whole lot like I did before I had the twins.  And I will have all of my "personal trainers" to thank!



 



Bye for now,

B



Are Your Wheels Spinning?

 

Do you ever feel like your wheels are spinning? Like you don't ever really get enough done in a day?
With our recent farming endeavour there is now more to get done in a day than ever. Each day we tackle projects that have to get done ASAP. But lots of evenings I sit and think, what did I get done today? It's been such a blur!

Last night I made a friendly competition with a friend to see who gets more done in a day. Which prompted me to write down today's tasks so I could keep track and of course win our friendly bet. Then I added one more thing to my list and decided to BLOG today's projects. Oiy! I'm nuts I think....

 

Today was a major gardening day.

This is the little potting bench I set up to sort my seeds and organize my tools.

This is how things went.....

(Mom made us breakfast)
Got the kids dressed 
Fed the alpacas
Fed the chickens, changed water, gathered eggs.
Fed the horses
Seeded 20 acres of pasture with the 4-wheeler and a seeder, then ran out of seed.
Mowed part of the yard. (Mom did the rest.)
Made lunch for the Rugrats
Rototillered 6 raised garden beds with the small tiller
Took the tractor to town for an oil change
Planted 60 cabbage plants in the raised beds
Planted sunflowers, hollyhocks, green onions, lettuce and sweet peas
Made a casserole for dinner

Some of my little cabbages that I started in my garage.  Now they are much happier!

Some how I managed this list while having 1, 2 or 3 of my sons in tow.  Sometimes grandma had one, sometimes their dad had one, sometimes one was in school.  But right now, I have dinner in the oven and all three are here waiting for it to get done!

Two outta three, hanging out while momma gardens.

After dinner I will go haul some hay to the different areas of the farm where it's needed and doctor a horse that decided to kick through a 4 strand barbed wire fence.  Ugh.  Superficial wounds thank goodness.  Then I'll bathe the kids and put them in bed.  After they're in bed, mom will watch them and I will go put my alpacas in the corrals for the night and tuck in my chickens.  THEN I will get to sit on my porch with a cup of tea and enjoy the views and the perfect evening.  (After a nice hot shower.)  After that I'm sure I'll pass out in my bed until 6:30 am when it'll start all over again....

So then next time you feel like you don't get enough done in a day, take the time to write it all down.  It is very affirming!  Especially if you are like me, trying to be productive and be the best momma you can be! We really are doing more than we think!

Bye for now,
B

Short and Sweet

There's a snow storm expected.  I am truly grateful for the moisture. But I admit I am over the snow.  Kinda wishing for rain instead.  This time of year I start to get the itch to garden.  I have some cabbage plants growing in my garage that would really like to get outside.  I also have some chickens growing in my garage that would really like to get outside!  Just don't tell the mayor!!! 


With the snow storms continuing to roll through the seedlings and the chicks have to stay put.  And I have to stay put in the house more than I'd like to.  But today, my big boy went over to feed the chickens at Grammy and Papa's house and came back with a little present for his momma.  A perfect and wonderful sign that spring really is here.  The classic, free expression of love from little ones to their momma's for generations....

 

HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE!

 

It really is here, the dandelion's told me so!

 

 

Bye For Now,

 

B

Of All Crazy Things

So of all crazy things, we're buying a ranch, or is it a farm?  I think maybe a farm. I'll let you know how it works out.  The thing is, I need a way to have a vocation that is just mine.  The oil field is really not for everybody, including me.  I also need to be able to stay home with the rugrats.  I have always said, "I didn't have kids just to pay someone else to raise them".  Just a personal mantra of mine.  So that doesn't leave a whole lot of options here in Geraldine.  But one of the things I can do, and do pretty well, is grow things.  Critters, gardens and such. 

After doing TONS of research on what is marketable and profitable in farming, I now have quite the business plan!  More details later....  But one of the things that called to me was.... (drum roll....)

ALPACAS!

This is my new buddy Huck.  I just love this guy!

I bought eight alpacas yesterday.  It's a bit like owning a herd of fuzzy deer.  They are shy, quiet, persnickety little creatures.  But I LOVE that my kids are totally safe around them.  They just shy away slowly if my rugrats get too close.  So far every body has good manners.  The only exception was Mudflap, the herd sire.  He was resistant to the idea of leaving his lovely home yesterday and was kicking in protest.  But he seems to like his new digs and is calming down.

Huck, Mudflap, Chip and Banner

The girls are pretty lovely.  Mallory is the "mom" of the group and is a bit cranky.  But she's just trying to watch out for everyone.  Particularly her baby, that I have renamed Genesis.  She came with the name Chaos, but I'm afraid of the negative vibes.  So Genesis it is.

Cricket, Genesis and Ginger with Mallory hiding in the back.

The profit on these guys comes from selling the fleece that is shorn once a year and selling the babies.  The going rate for fleece is about $2.00 per ounce of raw fiber.  More for young fiber or light colored fiber.  Threw that info out just for ya'll that are thinking I have completely lost my marbles!
And hey!  They give me another fun thing to write about!

Let me know what you think! If nothing else, I hope you had a good chuckle.

Bye for now,
B