Porch Time

The weather has been truly amazing this summer.  We have had some heat, but cool days as well and quite a bit of moisture.  The mornings on the farm are such a gift and I'm not even a morning person!
Almost every morning you can find us out on the porch, in our jammies and bare feet.  Me with my coffee of course!

We look out over the critters and listen to the rooster crow.  The little boys get excited when the crop duster planes fly over on the way to the tiny Geraldine Airport. For a few moments everything is perfect.... 

The cares of the day aren't allowed on the porch.  That stuff has to wait until after breakfast....

Have a great day out there everyone.  I hope you all are able to find your own "porch time"....


Bye for now,
B

Small Town Fun

Today, this tiny town of 266 or so swelled in population!  Maybe to even a thousand or two!  Today was the annual "Geraldine Fun Day".  This town goes crazy on this day.  There's a parade of course, games, bed races down main street, beer tastings, cowboy shoot outs and live music.  I never make it to all the events. But I make a point to do the parade.

Our friend Dustin is the shady character in the purple shirt.

Dan is all ready for the bed race!

Watch out! The kids are all driving!
 

Payson and I entered our little Topper in the parade.  Most folks around here haven't ever seen an alpaca before.  With his funny summer haircut, he got a lot of looks and laughs.  He was a perfect gentleman the whole time we were in town and made us proud.

I'm so glad to be living in this tiny, prairie town. 


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

The Rest of the Story....

Today the wind is howling, as it is known to do out here on the prairie.  We are kind of blessed in Geraldine.  The wind doesn't blow here as much as it does just over the mountains in Great Falls. It blows quite a bit more in the spring and I like to think it's trying to blow in some better weather.

Last Saturday I planned to take my big boy on a trip to go pick up five more alpacas.  Then I got the weather report on Friday morning and it said some big ol' wind was headed our way by 6:00 am Saturday.  Not wanting to be caught pulling a good sized horse trailer in a wind storm, I decided to head out on Friday afternoon.  We beat the wind and drove as far as Sheridan, Wyoming before finding a hotel.  With a pool....had to have a pool for the rugrat.  It's probably the only reason he agreed to go along with his momma on a crazy, long trip to get alpacas.  We were up early and talked the hotel clerk into letting my boy swim a whole 3 hours before the pool was supposed to open.  After swimming we scarfed a continental breakfast and hit the road. 

The alpacas we were after had been on Craigslist for an unbelievably low price.  The gal said she had to sell them because they were moving and couldn't take them with them.  She had four girls and one boy.  Two of the girls are expecting with and early June due date.  I saw pictures and they all looked pretty good.

Well, the pictures must've been taken a while ago.  When we got there we found some very skinny alpacas.  The gal also had a bunch of very skinny horses.  Youngsters with every rib showing.  Grrrrr!!  A couple of the alpacas look "ok" but even with all their fuzz you can tell they need to gain.  One of them in particular looks awfully skinny and sad.  You can see her poor little spine and hip bones.  You aren't supposed to see those on an alpaca!!!  I looked around and didn't see any hay or feed in sight.  Just a big ol' patch of dirt.  I'm thinking that poor gal must've ran out of money to feed her critters.  But when that happens it's our responsibility to find new homes for the critters before anybody goes hungry! Ok I'll get off my soap box now....

This skinny girl is named Kate.

As soon as we got the poor things loaded, we hustled back up to Casper.  I know where the feed store is there and we HAD to get them some grub! I was worried about them making the long trip without any feed.  We found some awesome Timothy hay and put the whole bale in the trailer with them.  They dove in and started eating frantically, before I could even cut the strings.

We drove like crazy so we could get them home as quickly as possible.  The original plan was to overnight again in Sheridan.  But instead we pushed through.  We rolled in at 3:30 am on Sunday.  You should have see the joy in those little alpacas when we unloaded them into a nice, green paddock with all the hay they could eat!  They jumped out of the trailer and immediately rolled in the grass and took nice long drinks.  It was as if they were saying, "We don't know where in the heck we are, but man this is nice!"

From the left we have Zoe, Topper, Kate, Sadie and Lina. 

 

One of the best parts of this little alpaca adventure is how much my boy likes them.  I also love that my little rugrats can be out there in the pens with me and I don't have to worry.  They really are very gentle creatures and that is so nice!  I love my horses, but my little ones can't just hang out in the corrals while I'm feeding my horses. Alpacas and kids go together!

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

Sometimes You Get a Red Calf

I was out at Prairie Momma Trish's today.  I always come back with good things to write about.  At least I think I do....

Sometimes life doesn't go at all the way we plan!  Lately my life has been just like that.  While I would much rather it was not as upside down as it is, I realize that blessings almost always come out of tough experiences.  Some things that come to us as a struggle can actually be blessing in disguise.

 One of Trish's lovely black heifers was bred to a very nice, registered, black Angus bull.  Trish's black cows always have black calves. That's what they're supposed to do.  Yesterday, Trish got a surprise! Meet "Latte"....

He is a beautiful little bull calf, perfect in every way.  But he's red.  The one and only red calf on the place.  With his breeding he was practically guaranteed to be black.  But he's red as red, with a little pink nose.  But Trish is happy.  He's a healthy calf and pretty as can be.  He's just not what was expected.

With life throwing curve balls at me right and left, I decided to pretty much chill out today.  But the boys got restless and I needed to change my chill out plan.  So we went to Trish's and had way more fun than we have any where else.

 

The chutes became a jungle gym....

 

 

The pea grinder became a sensory play station....

 

 

And the old tractor was the most fun ever!

 

 

 

 

 

And just for fun, here's an update on Charlie.  He's doing fantastic and now gets to go out in the field!

 

 

 

Bye for now,

B

A Cup of Sugar

At five minutes before six tonight I saw a note that sent a wave of panic through me.  I was looking at Payson's stack of schoolwork from his backpack. There it was.... a little note that said, "Don't forget to bring cupcakes to school tomorrow!"  Somehow I had missed the memo from last week.  I quickly scoured the pantry and realized I did have a cake mix but I only had three cupcake wrappers.  The clock now read 5:57. I dashed down the block to the tiny store we have here, hoping they'd still be open and hoping they'd have cupcake wrappers. Knowing they close at 6:00, my chances were slim on both counts.  I pulled up and saw the clerk driving away to her house, store all closed up.

Next, I stopped by my grandfolks.  Grandpa sometimes bakes a cake.  Ya never know, maybe they'd have cupcake wrappers.  Nope.  No such luck.  Then I thought of my friend Miriam. She is always baking something yummy from something she grew in her garden.  She is the queen of homemade bread and jams. I knew she'd have cupcake wrappers!  I popped in to find her making dinner in her charming, colorful kitchen.  I apologized for disturbing her and laughed and hugged me. 

I told Miriam of my serious, potential mommy fail and she rescued me!  She had just enough cupcake wrappers in her cupboard.  A few years ago it was all too common to borrow, "a cup of sugar" from our neighbors.  When was the last time you borrowed anything from a neighbor?  It seems much more common to run to Wal-Mart.  Here in Geraldine it still happens quite often.  Miriam said when she is out of something she goes to our other friend Kari's house.  We are happy that we finally have a little store that has some basics on hand.  But the hours are short and supplies are limited.  The next store is in Fort Benton, 26 miles away.  It makes a lot more sense to ask a neighbor than to spend and hour driving for a cup of sugar or cupcake wrappers.

So with Miriam's help I was able to produce two dozen, red velvet cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting.  Payson requested sprinkles and I actually had those in the pantry! The mommy fail was avoided thanks to my sweet neighbor.  Now I just need to remember to put cupcake wrappers on the list for the next trip to town....

'Til next time,

B

A New Skill

More often than not in the months of September through April the roads look like this....

Or worse.

 

It doesn't always make it easy to run to Fort Benton or Great Falls to get supplies or run errands.  Sure, we can usually get through if it's important, but it doesn't mean it's fun.  The other day we had a foot of snow fall and since then we've had some serious wind every day.  The snow is now melting off but there are huge drifts all over.

 

I decided today that I didn't want to drive through the drifts and winds, but the boys all really needed a haircut.  Now this is no big thing for lots of super moms out there.  But it was a big deal for me!  For the first time ever, I cut all three boys hair.  Long ago when I was a very broke single mom I would occasionally take my horse clippers to poor Payson.  A buzz cut worked and was free, but not that cute.

Today I got out my mom's clipper kit and followed the example of the last gal that cut their hair. ( I was watching!)  And did the best I could on two very squirmy toddlers and Payson.  Thank goodness Payson is a pro!  I think the results turned out pretty good!  Nobody will have to wear a hat every day for a month or anything like that....

Notice my big boy is trying very hard to look tough here. ;)



I'm feeling quite proud of myself for this.  A new skill that means one less thing I hafta make the trek to town for!  A little more self sufficient every day, just like a good prairie mom....

 

The rugrats aren't impressed.... They just think their mom is hilariously funny!

 

 

'Til next time,

 

B

Gandolf

Today at 2:00 pm.  The town of Geraldine is just beyond the sign.

On January 12th, 1888 on front rolled through Montana and brought one of the deadliest blizzards in our history.  They called it The School Children's blizzard because so many children died on their way home from school.  The storm hit quickly and many were unprepared.  The day prior had been unseasonably warm and they weren't dressed for it.  Teachers didn't know how bad the storm was before they sent them out. 

Wednesday was spring like.  Warm, sunny, no wind.  I thought how strange it was for January.  That night we learned of the pending storm.  Now we know far ahead that we need to prepare.  We know how bad it will be and how long it will last.  We can plan ahead and have the pantry stocked. I often think of the people that settled this place.  I'm always amazed that anybody even survived here before the days of decent insulation and central heating.  They had to keep themselves alive and their animals too.  Ice was chopped with an axe to water the stock.  Hay was so much harder to put up and store, but somehow they managed.  Kids walked miles across the prairie in all kinds of weather to get to school and sometimes it cost them their lives.  We have so very much to be grateful for.  Yes, in some ways our world is worse off than in 1888.  But in many ways it's better.

Pony looked so miserable that I put him in the barn for the night.



Payson walking home from school.  The whole
20 yard trek.

Now we have the National Weather Service that tracks and now also names our winter storms.  This one is named Gandolf.  Gandolf has made his way East to North Dakota tonight.  A bit of snow is still falling but it's lightened.  Tomorrow will be warmer and sunny once again.  The snow drifts will be the highlight of my big boy's weekend.  The rugrats and puppies will enjoy it as well.  I will make hot cocoa and smile at their rosy cheeks and be thankful for the storm....


'Til next time,
B

Fourteen Kids and a Pot of Rainbow Stew

Well, actually it was chicken fettuccine alfredo.... I'll explain.

The other day I wrote about getting my new puppies from Amy, who I've known since childhood.
Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, here's the rest of the story. 

Amy is Tasha's little sister.  Tasha and I were practically inseparable after school and on weekends in the dirty, little ranch town of Cascade, Montana. Our parents all worked really hard and we were all pretty dang good kids.  We had a lot of time on our own.  Tasha said my house was always more fun to play at, but her house was the one with all the great snacks!  We spent the dog days of summer running back and forth and having sleepovers.  Her parents took us night fishing on the Missouri River.  It's almost seems like a magical childhood as I look back.  It's ironic that dogs brought us back together because we each had a dog back then that we adored and they went everywhere we went. Good old Blondie, Pepper and Spike....

Fast forward about 20 years, give or take....



Prairie Momma Amy

Now we've all got long stories leading up to our current lives.  There are now husbands and kids.  Lots and lots of kids!  Tasha has been blessed with four boys and one princess.  Amy has five boys and one princess.  I have three boys.  Add 'em up!  When we got together the other day we had fourteen kids between us! All but two were rowdy boys! They oldest child in our group is eleven, the youngest is six months.  Tasha's house is a nice, spacious farm house but we sure filled it to the brim!  Tasha's boy Wesley was having a birthday so it made for one heckuva party!  There was a level of chaos I am in no way accustomed to.  Toy guns, swords, trucks, legos and a pretend restaurant all going on.  The big boys went hunting and sledding in the yard for most of the afternoon, but the little ones were right there underfoot.  Ya'll shoulda seen it!

But there was some pretty amazing things going on if you looked through the chaos.  With help from my mom, who was there to help referee, I saw that we have fourteen very happy children.  You would have thought there would be fussing, whining, bickering and the like between all those kids.  But amazingly there wasn't!  Other than an occasional "accident" or boo-boo nobody really complained.  Even Amy's infant barely cried.  That is either some kind of miracle or maybe there is something else at work.

Our kids are all being raised on pretty dang old fashioned values like faith, family and working together.  Amy and Tasha are both brave enough to home school their broods.  (I'm not tough enough I'm afraid.)  Our lives all involve teaching our kids to love the Lord and the bigger meaning of life.  We are all three, Prairie Momma's.

Prairie Momma Tasha

Confession:  When it's comes to being a "Prairie Momma", I feel those girls have got me beat.  I know I live way out here, an hour from the big town.  We don't have a stop light or a car wash or Wal-Mart.  There are six kids in my 1st Graders class.  Things are simple here, for sure.  But this "ain't nothin' ". 

Tasha has to drive 40 miles to a grocery store. Any kind of grocery store. After you turn off the main highway you don't see a thing but an occasional farmstead. Miles upon miles of wide open expanse. Her farm is a prairie classic. Wonderful, mature windbreaks define the yard. Perfect antique red barns and buildings sit below the house. An old farmhouse with tricky wiring. Really tricky wiring. But tons of charm and warmth.  They've got horses, dogs and goldfish for now, but give her time.  I think she's planning her garden for next spring....

Tasha's yard

Amy has it even better! She gets to drive and hour and a half to the grocery store. Her closest neighbors are about a mile away. She has a wonderful little farm with a menagerie of animals. Goats, horses, cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, donkeys, dogs and probably more. She's raising what her family eats and drinks and even makes goat milk soap. (Amy, if you are reading this, you are my hero.) 

Amy's Farm

Amy's princess. Could not resist stealing this pic!

So now you see.... I'm a Prairie Momma, no doubt. But these girls have got me beat! I aspire to learn from them as good friends do....


'Til, Next Time,
B

Curtain Climbers

Some people have "curtian climbers."  Not me.  I have "fence climbers." 

 



Some people's kids throw sand at the sand box in the park. Mine throw rocks and horse poop. Sorry, I don't have a picture of that.  I was too busy pointing out the difference between rocks and horse poop, and why one should not necessarily pick up and throw horse poop.

Some kids get to have all kinds of "play dates" and scheduled activities.  My poor kids have to play with big hairy friends that don't say much.

 

 

Once in a while they get to go to a mall and ride on those quarter operated kiddie rides.  But Usually a "ride" looks like this.... 

 With or without a big hairy friend to add to the fun.

 

 

There have been people who have questioned my decision to raise my kids here.  I was told they would grow up "sheltered" and "clueless to the ways of the world."  I feel it's too bad they don't see what I see.  The rich experiences and unique challenges of life out here on the prairie.  I hope to raise these kids to know what hard work looks like.  And what a day of rest looks like.  And to be able to see the bigger picture.  I thinks it's a real shame that more kids don't get to play with horse poop.

 

What do you think?

 

(I don't think I've ever said "poop" this many times in an essay!)

 

'Til next time,

B