What a Great Husband

This past week it finally dried up enough to get into the fields and try to get things ready to put some corn in the ground. Well since all the guys were going strong in the field it was my job to take care of all the cattle chores.....when I wasn't in the field. So here was one of the instructions I was givin' from Caleb.


Caleb - "When you go over to the Hansen farm to check the cattle, you need to drag that dead calf out of the field. It had been on the side of the field, but a dog or coyote must have dragged it back on to the field. I would have dragged it off myself but it's been dead for a few weeks and I didn't want to smell like a dead calf."
Me - "So, you want me to go and drag the calf so I get all stinky?"


Caleb - "Yea, and you need to go over there first before Dad gets to that field. That way he doesn't have to stop and won't smell."


Me - "So, you want me to go and drag the calf so I get all stinky? Seriously? I have I to go drag that nasty, stinky, half eatin' dead calf off the field, so you boys won't smell?!?!?"


Caleb - “Well you can wrap a chain around the legs and drag it with the truck. Wait the chain is holding the diesel tank on so you can't use it." "Here's a piece of wire you can use it instead."


Me - "Wow, thanks honey."


So, being the good wife I am, I went and drug the dead calf off the field so the guys wouldn't get stinky and dirty. All I can say is 'Bailing Wire is a Girl's Best Friend.......and evidently her husband is a wimpy little turkey'!!!!

With a little bailing wire I had the stinky little guy wrapped up and drug off. This is all I will show of this experience cause I know you guys really don't want to see a stinky dead calf.

Buyin' Some Ladies!

Recently Caleb's grandparents bought some pasture land right down the road from us and nobody had any cattle to put on it at the time.  Caleb decided he wanted to buy some more cattle and rent that pasture from them. So this past Saturday when a local sale barn was having a special cow sale, Caleb decided to go and see if he couldn't get some ladies to fill this pasture with.

First things we had to do when we got there was get a number so we could bid....if we saw something we wanted to get.

Next we headed out to the holding pens to check out what they had back there.

I almost had a smile here....I think he's thinking "Why did you bring that thing out?"

So to tell a little on Caleb.....before we got to the sale barn Caleb asked " Are you taking your camera in?"

"Yes, why do I embarrass you with it?"

"Ummmmmm....no. Is that the right answer?"

Little did he know, when he bought it for me last summer, that it would go with me everywhere and that included the sale barn.  He had better get use to it cause it's probably not going to change any time soon!

Ok, back to looking a the cattle.

After checking out all the ladies, we head back into the sale barn and get ready for the sale to start.

Bring in the ladies. 

Groups can be sold in any size.  They may bring in only one and some times they may have eight cows in the ring.

Now the anxious farmer looks on, checking each group with care, to see if it looks like something he would like to add to his herd.  There is no visiting allowed while he is looking at the groups that are brought into the ring cause if he looses his concentration he might just loose the group of cows he was wanting to buy or he might get confused and pay too much for a group of cows he didn't want.

After passing on a few different groups he finally finds a few groups that he like and that were in his price range. So he bids on the, buys them and I write the check.  Wait how come I have to write the check?!?!

Next we load them all up and take them back home to our newly rented pasture. We open the back trailer gate and out they go.

Caleb stands back looks over his new ladies as they head out read to explore their new home.  

 Now it's time to shut the trailer gate....

and latch it close and head home to eat some supper.

$6 Smoothie

So smoothies are just plain delicious. I absolutely love them, but I hate having to pay $6 for one at a coffee or smoothie shop…..plus I live out in the middle of nowhere and there isn’t any where to get one.


I worked at a coffee shoe in college for a while and learned some great trick for making these wonderful drinks. So I have been making my own smoothies at home for a long time, to quench my thirst for a fruity icy drink. They are extremely easy to make.....

Roll Call: Orange Juice, check. Ice, check. Strawberries, check. Sugar, check.

Alright, for one glass full you will use about 1/2 a quart of strawberries. Throw them into the blender, then pour in some OJ.  You can also use water if you don't have oj.

Now pour some sugar into the blender....for me there is no such thing as to much sugar, but if you don't think that way then start with a little and do a taste test later to see if you need more.

Now add some ice.  I usually start with a small amount and add more later.

Now let 'er rip.

After the taste test I needed more ice and sugar. Now mix it up again and do another taste test. If it's to thick add more OJ or water....if it's to runny then add more ice.

Now this is for a basic strawberry smoothie......take it and be creative by adding....

maybe a banana

or some canned peaches....frozen would be even better, but I am very stingy with my frozen peaches

my favorite is using pineapple......it's soo yummy!

Today was a peach day.

Now blend it all up again....

....pour it in a glass....

....stick a straw in it and enjoy.

Or if you need to hit the road stick it in a cup from your favorite school and just enjoy.

Hope ya'll enjoy....try it with your favorite fruits. 

If you'd rather have a coffee drink then check out this yummy drink from my friend Jennifer, it's great.

Epiphanie Camera Bags

                      

So I found these bags not long ago and absolutely fell in love with them!! They are not just some pretty purse, but they are actually camera bags. I have a great backpack camera bag for around the farm, but I would love to have one are these beauties.....actually  I want the red one...for a bag that I can take when I go somewhere else. They are Epiphanie camera bags and they are just plain fun!!

Sushi and Springfield

I was raised on a farm in Northeastern Missouri, where we ate beef, pork, and sometimes chicken. Lots of fried, southern style food. Oh how I love that kind of food!!! While away at college I got introduced to all sorts of different kinds of food. One of my favorite foods being sushi. Yes, I said sushi. I know some of you are think 'what that's not farm food'. You are right, but that doesn't mean I don't love to eat it anyway!


Of course me loving sushi, means Caleb hate's it, and when I say hates it, I mean with a passion!! So needless to say I don't have it very often. I can count on two fingers how many times I have had it since we have been married.

Well, a few weeks ago I was talking to some of the ladies, in mine and Caleb's bible study, about sushi and I found out that I wasn't the only one who liked sushi. This got me thinking, why don't we take a girls only trip over to my favorite sushi bar in Springfield, MO. I arranged everything, sent the invites out and got the ball rolling for us to head over for the day. We had six of us girls that were gonna go. GREAT!!! I couldn't wait!!! Our Pastor's wife was gonna drive cause her SUV would be a little more comfortable than my crew cab truck.

So then, with much anticipation the day of the big event arrived. Caleb had told me the night before he was going to be in th field, so it was my job to feed and check all the cattle. No problem. I get up and out the door by 6:30. I get through all the pastures without a problem. Then while I was counting my last group of cows, my phone rings. It's the preacher's wife, sounding less than ok. She proceeds to tell me that she has been up since 2:30 hugging the porcelain god (the toilet). She wasn't sure if it was something she ate or if it was the stomach flue that had been going around, and even though she love's sushi it wasn't top on her list of things she would like to eat just yet, so she was gonna stay home. This meant I had to drive, no big deal I just need to clean a few things out of the back seat, one of them being a wooden block....why is it back there you may ask....ask Caleb cause I have no idea! Anyways, driving wasn't a big deal, since I was just about done and I was going to have plenty of time to get ready a get the truck cleaned out. Famous last words....or thoughts, cause I’m sure I thought them to myself, but I do talk to myself a lot so who knows.

Well, before I can go home a get ready I first have to stop by Caleb's grandparents house and feed our heifer calves, no big deal three buckets of feed and we're done. I get there, fill my buckets, head down and give the girls their feed. While I was feeding them, Pop had closed the gates blocked my only way out. I notice that the gat into the sick pen was opened so there must be one of the older heifers; from the group that had been calving must be sick. So as I am waiting for them to bring the sick heifer up I hear Pop 'hot roding' on the 4-wheeler, which usually means the animal is not cooperating. So I crawl over the gate and look to see what is going on. When I look, I see Pop on the 4-wheeler going back and forth and a young Amish kid no older than 13 trying to chase a crazy heifer who has feet sticking out of her, up into the sick pen, so they can get her in the alleyway and pull the calf. All the Amish kid had in his hand was a rope and Pop was on the 4-wheeler, which really isn't that good to use in smaller confinement. So needless to say they weren't having much luck with getting her to do what they want. So I grab a big stick that is nearby and head in to help. After whacking her on the nose a few times, she finally realized who was the boss, and we get her up where we were wanting her. Since she was one of mine and Caleb's heifers, I thought I should help with pulling the calf, so I grab the chains and put them around the calf's feet. Then we hook it to the puller and start pulling the calf. I would love to have pictures of this process cause it really is neat, but since my hands are covered with all sorts of things I don't want touching my camera there is now way we're gonna get pictures just now. So finally we get the calf out and unfortunately it was dead. We put the heifer back in the pen we just chased her out of, opened up the gates and I am on my way back to the house. I jump in the shower, get cleaned up, and clean out the truck and head on down the road to meet every one. When it was all said and done I was only 15 minutes late so not too bad.

I pick everybody up and we hit the road to Springfield, where we preceded to have a wonderful time and ate some marvelous sushi!

First we had to decide what we wanted to eat. There were so many choices, but I knew before we got there what I wanted to eat. Let me clear some things about sushi up....Not all sushi is raw, actually a lot of it is cooked. I've had both cooked and raw and like them both, but I recommend starting on cooked ones. Also Sushi is not for everyone, but don't knock it till you try it, cause one of my best friends who wasn't a fan of fish loves sushi.

Now on to the sushi. Here's some of the sushi rolls we got.

I don't remember what this one was but Theresa was excited that it was delivered to the table on fire. It was yummy.

This was my plate. On the left is a 'Jurassic Park' roll and on the right is a 'Sex in the City' roll. They are my all time favorite!!

This one is called 'Pink Panther'. Also another yummy one.

Here's a close up of my 'Jurassic Park' roll.

Here's Lauren's plate That's the 'Pink Panther' again on the left and I'm not sure what it was on the right, but I do know that it was another good one.

So, like I said Sushi is not for everyone, as Kim found out.  She wasn't a huge fan of it but she did have fun trying them....

...but she had more fun eating her breaded chicken.

We had such a marvelous time eating sushi and afterwards we headed over to the mall and just walked around and had one great time. Next we went to one of my favorite coffee shops and got some frozen drinks and then headed home.

There is Hope

This winter has been a long and hard one, with constant snow storms since Christmas.

We were constantly putting hay out for our cattle.

Then one day all the snow melted and even though it was a muddy mess we were still glad, cause all the snow was gone.

But the temperatures were still well below normal and it was oh soo cold. We were constantly waking up to frost covered truck and trees.

Then all of a sudden when you think all hope is lost....

...there is a flash of color in the dull brown grass. Could it be, is it really, some beautifil little crocus flowers poping up to say hello?

I love crocuses. They aren't a flashy flower but but they are one of hope. Hope that this cold weather will soon go away and hope that spring is just around the corner.

Just a little hope is all some one need to make it through a tough time or a tough winter. So for all of you out there that think spring will never come these little guys are here to encourage you to just stick in there cause those warm spring days will soon be here.