See You On The Other Side

 Yesterday morning my Grammy left us for heaven.  It's a call you prepare yourself to get one day, but also the call you never really think you'll get.  Grammy lived almost ninety years on this earth.  She has been a solid presence in my life and for the past four and a half years a daily presence in the lives of my sons. I'm so thankful that we were fortunate enough to have my grandparents move to Geraldine for this season of their lives.

Grammy was much like many grandmothers I suppose.  She loved her grandchildren. She spoiled us at times.  We knew we could count on Grammy to take us to Dairy Queen every day when we visited her in Seattle. She would take me with her to second hand stores and let me pick out fancy, frilly prom dresses for playing dress-up.  My Grammy's fondness for second hand stores was undisputable. She also dearly loved little dogs, fast cars and jeans with sparkly pockets. She wasn't the kind of grandmother to sit and knit you a sweater.  She wasn't the kind of grandmother who loved to bake you cookies.  She was the kind of grandmother who showed me it's ok for a woman to take off on a road trip alone in a fast car.  She was the kind of grandmother who never set out to impress anyone.  She was always authentically herself with no apologies.  She had a quiet strength and independence that I believe was rare in a woman from her generation.

But she was also a devoted wife to my Grandpa for sixty seven years.  Together they raised four feisty daughters.  She had an unwavering faith in the Lord.  She loved to sing hymns in meeting and the fellowship she had there. So while there is a big empty space in our lives from her leaving, I know she is saving a seat for us at the feet of Jesus. 

So in my heart I haven't said goodbye to my Grammy.  I've said, "See you on the other side."

On The Map!

Last month I got an odd email.  A little gal claiming to be a TV producer wanted to talk to me.  "Yeah suuurreee," I thought.  She said they wanted to film a TV episode about 6-man football and that she had read a blog post I had written about the Rivals football team here in my little town.  (You can read the post she found if you click HERE.)  I wrote it a couple of years ago when a filmmaker made a documentary about the team. So I did a Google search to check out this "stranger" and found she was a bona-fide producer.  So I wrote her back and agreed to talk to her about my little town.

She called one afternoon while the kids and I were enjoying ice cream from the drive-in in Fort Benton.  I sat there with my soft serve dripping all over and told her a love story.  The reasons I moved here, the many things I love about our little place and a few of it's secrets.  We talked about the football team but we also talked about the life we have here and why it's so special.  I hafta say it was a fun conversation because it's basically what I blog about already.

Alyonka let me know they were coming the week that school starts to do some filming.  That is this week.  The kids had their first day of school yesterday and the film crew was there.  The kids were lit up like the Fourth-of-July!  I got to hear about the experience from my favorite high school kid.  How it was weird, but fun, but really weird to be filmed while you're eating!  Gotta love it!

The feeling I'm having about what's happening here this week is.... tickled.  How cool is it that this tiny town in the middle of nowhere is once again getting a little national attention?!  The kids here will likely remember this unique experience for the rest of their lives.  They are feeling so special and important right now.  They get to do a TV show! The children of farmers, ranchers and truck drivers get a few moments to shine like stars.  Yup, I'm tickled for them.

So sometime in the future, look up "Vice World of Sports" for the episode on "The Rivals" and there you will see our little town, right there on the map!

Farmhouse Project: Bedroom

Hi guys!  How've ya been? I have been working on sooooo many things I can't even tell you.  But this is one project I wanted to share with y'all.

The master bedroom in the old farmhouse has been my focus lately.  First, Prairie Granny and I took apart and dragged out the no-longer-functioning, therefore unused, huge treadmill that had overstayed it's welcome by about a year.  Next I decided we needed to squeeze another large dresser into the not-very-large room. 

The only space I could do that was along one wall, right next to each other.  So I scrounged around the house and gathered up enough wall décor to make a collage big enough to span both dressers and treat them like they are one.  I think the result was pretty good!

The next thing I did was figure out what to hang above the bed that was more "farmhousey" than the little sparkling thing that has moved with me from house to house over the years....

Ta-da!  I still used the sparkling thing!  I just hung it from an old window frame that used to be in the chicken coop here on the homestead.  No kidding! I have been loving the ideas I see in magazines and on Pinterest that use old windows and doors as wall décor. Like these....

 I know I still have a ways to go with this room.  With this house, for that matter.  But A little at a time, we're getting there.

There are some things I love about this room now.

My nail head trimmed headboard.
The wall color. Sorry, can't find my can to get you the color. What kind of blogger am I !?
The bench that sits at the foot of my bed. (Found down in the barn at my previous farmhouse.)
The original wood floors.
The ceiling fan that my mom and I installed. Ahhhh....
The original closet doors with their very old hardware.
And of course my new "feature" above the bed.

My "wish list" for this room is:

To someday refinish the floors.

Some nicer, more sturdy and decorative curtain rods.

Fresh, farmhousey, stuff for the bedding.  Like some new pillows and a throw maybe.

But for not spending a single cent on décor to update this room, I hafta admit I am tickled with it.  I would've shown you 'before" pictures but I would have been embarrassed. And I didn't take any. Ha!

Thanks for checking out my little farmhouse project and sticking with me on my little blog.
I've been living a double life.  Well, kind of anyway.  I have two websites.  But I am seriously considering simplifying my online life back to just this one.  Anyhow.... If I figure out how to consolidate all my content I think I will be hanging out over here on "Why Geraldine" a lot more often.

Now make something beautiful,
PB

A Birthday Party for Geraldine

My little town is a pretty special place.  At least some of us think so.  Over the Fourth of July weekend we had us a reason to throw a party.  The town of Geraldine turned 100 years old!  The town was scrubbed, painted, spruced up and fixed up like it had a hot date!  Long empty flower beds were filled, streets were swept and just about everyone put a coat of paint on something!  Then we had a parade. Of course we had a parade!!  Summer in a tiny, Montana town just wouldn't be the same without parades!

 

We had our fire trucks and old tractors and vintage automobiles....

Hired Man Jim at the wheel.

Of course there were cowboys.... and mountain men.  Like, real ones.

We had some floats of a variety you wouldn't see, say in San Francisco or Seattle....

There were something like a hundred entries in the parade this year.  Which is amazing considering there are usually about seven.

Where there are cowboys, you also find cowgirls.  Of all ages....

 

 

 

 

 

But my very favorite.... has to be the draft teams!  I love them!!

So there you have a little view of our small town party.  We also had a concert with the Bellamy Brothers, which had to be the biggest name to ever make an appearance in Geraldine.  Then we had a street dance and the best fireworks show this town had ever seen.  All and all I think we showed our small town pride just perfectly and here's hoping we will see another hundred years for Geraldine.

Bye for now,
PB

Blooming Tulip

 

I didn't think this story would get written. I don't like to write sad stories and I didn't think this was gonna end well....

 

Ten days ago Miss Ivy had her babies.  Twin girls that came just a bit earlier than expected.  Sadly, one baby did not make it.  I don't think she even took a breath.  But one tiny, precious thing was alive.  She was the oddest color for a goat.  In the sunshine she almost looked pink with a black stripe down her back.  Immediately I knew her name was "Tulip".

 

Tulip's first hour of life.

 I quickly noticed that Tulip wasn't in perfect health.  She had a very large, abnormal swelling in her throat. She was weak, cold and had no interest in momma's milk.  Not a good sign for a baby goat.  If they don't get momma's colostrum milk within the first few hours of life they usually die.  Colostrum is how most baby critters get their immunities. And she wouldn't eat....

I reached out to a network of Farmgirls for advice and information.  I also read on the internet about "goiters" in goats and how they are caused by the mom not getting enough iodine. It said the Boer breed is particularly susceptible to being iodine deficient and Tulip's daddy is a Boer goat.  The prognosis was not good.  But I am a "never say die" kinda girl.  While I know that losing animals is a part of ranching, I refuse to just accept that.  I'm stubborn and I hate it when any kind of critter in my care dies.

So I tucked tiny Tulip into my lap on my 4-wheeler and led her momma across the farm to a warmer place in my main barn.  Then I fashioned a make-do goat pen inside the feed room, moved the feed to a safe spot, bedded it deep with straw and hung a heat lamp from the rafters. I used two different ropes to secure the heat lamp because hate those things and the risk of fire associated with them.  But they are a necessary evil.  After getting the heat lamp to just the right height, I grabbed a 5 gallon bucket for a chair and sat with tiny Tulip on my lap, soaking up the heat.  After an hour or two, I milked some colostrum from Ivy and fed Tulip, one drop at a time from a syringe.  She still had no desire to suck and would not even try a bottle. The swollen thyroid gland made it difficult for her to swallow.  I wanted to cry....

Finally, late that night she had an almost normal body temperature so I tucked her into the straw, said a silent prayer and left her and Ivy to themselves.  I really didn't think she'd last the night, but to my surprise she was still hanging in there in the morning.  She ate a bit more from the syringe, protested the iodized salt I mixed into the colostrum, forgave me when I rubbed molasses on her gums.... the day went by and she was still here.

On day three she started to come to life!  She even gave a few half hearted sucks on a bottle!  More syringe feeding, lots of time under the heat lamp but she was ok.

Day four she finally nursed on her own!! Just a little bit, but she did it.  She started with just tiny sips and still needed the syringe but she was getting stronger and her swollen thyroid was shrinking!  I started to allow myself to have hope that she'd live.  I finally allowed my little boys to see her and pet her.  Up to that point I hadn't because I didn't want their hearts to break when she died.  She did start to develop a slight fever and raspy breath sounds so I began an antibiotic treatment right away.

Today, I am pleased to tell you that after 4 days of doubt, 5 days of antibiotics and Prairie Granny and I watching her like a hawk, Tulip is thriving!

Her swollen thyroid continues to shrink.  The pneumonia symptoms are completely gone and she is a happy little goat!

There is nothing cuter than a happy, baby goat!  I think they are even cuter than puppies!

I'm kinda glad I'm stubborn.... and I'm really glad Tulip is too. Stubborn enough to live against the odds. 


Bye for now,
PB

The Knitting Group

Yesterday I got a wild hair.  I decided to grab my knitting projects and head down to the senior citizens center and join in on the knitting group that meets every Tuesday.  I had some new yarns I was pretty excited about and looked forward to being able to knit and talk to some grown-ups for a couple of hours.

This is the scarf I finished at the knitting group.

I did happen to be the youngest woman in the room by and average of maybe forty years.  I think the ladies were a little surprised to see me plop down in a recliner to join their group.  A couple of the ladies knew who I was but the others I had never met before.  So I gave a short run down of who's place I had bought and that my knitting was strictly out of fleece from my own little fuzzy critters.  Then I just listened mostly....

One lady in particular had me fascinated.  Her name is Katie and she has lived all of her life right here in Chouteau County.  I believe she said she was 83 years young.  She grew up on a homestead up in the Highwood Mountains, on Shonkin Creek. 

Her dad was an immigrant from England and her mom had immigrated from Scotland.  She told me how her dad came here, homesteaded the place and was raising sheep up on the Shonkin.  Until the wolves, (yes wolves!) the coyotes and the harsh winters decimated the sheep.  Then he became a sheep shearer and would travel around each spring, shearing hundreds of sheep by hand, in a time before electric clippers. Anything to help make ends meet.

Geraldine in it's early years.

Katie's mother was one of 10 children back in Scotland.  When one of her siblings came here to Geraldine, she ended up following.  Her sister's children had both died within three days of each other, during the scarlet fever epidemic.  The sister was just six weeks from delivering a new baby when she lost her children and sent for Katie's mother to come help with the baby and also work in the general store they ran here in Geraldine.  She was here for a couple of years before Katie's dad came into the store one day.

A friend had told him, "There's a young lass down at the store you outta meet."  So he made the trip to town with the excuse if needing to buy a bar of soap, just so he could meet the "lass".  They met and then courted for about a year before getting married.  He was 47 and she was 28 when they married.  He moved her to the homestead where sometimes it was six months before she even saw another woman.  But Katie says they loved each other and were the happiest couple on Shonkin Creek for all of their marriage.

 I don't know about you, but their story just tugs at my heart.  What a legacy of love to have!  Now Katie's son runs his cows on the homestead place.  They are one of the families that have been here in Geraldine since the very beginning of this place. All because two people fell in love....

I warned the ladies at the knitting group that they might end up on my blog.  I have their blessing and it is my hope I retold Katie's story without errors.

Bye for now,
PB

Mr. Goat's Horrible Not Very Nice Day

 

We have had a "guest goat" for a few months now.  He is hanging out at our farm until Miss Ivy has her babies.  Or maybe just "baby".  We're not sure.... Anyhow, Mr. Goat is here to keep her company because goats really much prefer to be in the company of another goat.  I didn't want Miss Ivy to be lonely!  I'm not exactly sure of Mr. Goats real name, I think it might be Butternut....or Buttercup...or something like that.  But I just call him Mr. Goat.

 

 

 

Today, Mr. Goat had one heckuva bad day.  I don't know why.... and I don't know how.  But Mr. Goat managed to get himself into this little pickle....

 

 

 

 

As my big boy and I were walking around the farm doing the chores this afternoon, we found him in his pickle.  I usually don't do the chores until my son gets home from school.  He's my official gate opener and I need his help.  So Mr. Goat looked to have had himself stuck like that for quite a while.  A few hours at least, maybe longer.

 

The obvious thing we needed to do was remove the panel from the fence and give his poor little kisser some breathing room.  But of course we had walked down to do the chores and my hammer was all the way  up at the house.  (Note to self: Put hammer in big barn, near goat pen.)  So this cowgirl had to hoof it up to the house as quickly as possible.  I tell you what, I am not in shape for a quarter-mile run, uphill, in muck boots.  But I made it without passing out, grabbed a hammer and drove the pickup back down to the goat pen.

 

I yanked the fence staples out and freed the panel.  Then my big boy pushed his behind forward while I did a twist and yank procedure on his head to fit his horns back through the fence squares.  His little head is gonna be sore for a day or two!  And his lips were chaffed and swollen too....

 

 

 

 

 

But a minute or so after being released from the goat trap, he was happily in the feeder, chowing down.... that's always a good sign. 

 

 

I think I'll call Mr. Goats owners and let him know he would like to come home soon.... he doesn't like my fences.


Bye for now,
PB