Happy Blogiversary!

Happy blogiversary to Farmin' in the Ville!  It's been one year since I decided to overwhelm you with my mad writing skillz and useless farm knowledge....aren't you so lucky?  People from far and wide (or maybe...like...two friends) kept saying I needed to "blog."  What the heck for, I thought?  My life is so dull and boring, what on earth would compel people to read about cows and manure? 


Well.....I thought it over and ...heck....there are blogs out there about much more mundane things, so why not?  And one year ago, this very day....I wrote this:  MY VERY FIRST POST. 

Wow....I read back over this blog and think, by golly, I AM entertaining.....NOT!  I am pretty sure The Dairy Farmer (who I KNOW reads our blog) sits and shakes his head. 


We have a small following....maybe tens of people read this.  We do have 230 friends on Brechland Farms facebook, so that's cool and I do see that Farmin' in the Ville gets about 200 or so views when I post.  The whole goal was to share our farming life and spread some knowledge.   When you figure that less than 1% of our population still farms....and the food you eat comes from those farms......well, many of you are pretty removed from your food source.   


What you probably weren't expecting was to be privy to all the "other" stuff too.....you were there through  my major illness, our loss, ,my HSUS rantings  and of course the almond milk debacle.  But, you've all hung in there and kept on reading....and hey....some of you even told your friends!

In honor of our one year anniversary- I have 2 special things planned.   One.....I am going to giveaway some blog candy. I do this on my stampin' blog, but it's a little tricky to have a giveaway for the farm, because we only have milk and butter and they are hard to ship. 

But, I have an idea rolling around in my head....so leave us a comment (either on the blog or on facebook) and I'll put you in a drawing for something real special!  I promise...it's worth it!

Two.....I've asked a guest blogger to join me today to celebrate.  You all know him.......you all love him.....it's none other than......<drum roll please>..........The Dairy Farmer!!!!!

me:  Welcome Dairy Farmer.....thanks for joining my blog chat.

The DF:  kay

me:  we've been blogging about our farm for a year now.  What is it you'd like to say to all our farm following friends out there?

The DF:  Drink your milk.

me:  anything else?

The DF:  nope

There you have it folks...let's give The Dairy Farmer a round of applause!  Thanks for stopping by and sharing a little bit of you with us.  

Oh wait.....you have something else to say?  Please....go right ahead...this is your blog as well as mine.

The DF:  I'm glad you amuse yourself.

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Remembering....

If you are a scout, today is wear your uniform to school day.  This normally occurs early in the school year.....gives those boys something to be proud of.  It's particularly important this year.  Since the 10th anniversary of September 11th is coming up, the boys are asked to wear their uniforms today... in honor and to remember.

Farm boy, Jr. edition is 10 years old.  He was only 7 months on September 11, 2001.  He doesn't remember, but he's trying.  They have been discussing it in school this week and I heard how proud his teacher is at their interest and their maturity as they try to understand something that is sort of foreign to them. 

We looked at some pictures and videos from that day.  Of course, the ones that upset him the most are the photos of those people hanging out their windows so high up above the crash site...unable to get out.  But, don't those pictures upset us all?  I can not imagine the pure hell that must have been going on inside a building that would make jumping out the better option? 

So, I am proud of my scout.  He wears his uniform very proudly.  He has learned to honor those who serve our country.  His leader has taught him to salute a military person and say thank you.  And, Jr. does not take this lightly. 

The other thing Jr. does not take lightly is food.  He is a growing boy and it cracks me up that he's got meat on a stick in his right hand.  I made him stop for a quick picture and noticed that he was taking his sausage out to the bus....it is a long walk to the stop.....and breakfast IS the most important meal of the day. 

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A public shout out

I feel compelled to share something today.  I don't often post twice in one day, but I just want to say this:  The Dairy Farmer and I have awesome kids.

That doesn't mean that The DF and I are awesome parents.....I am sure we are messing up our kids pretty good.  I often tell the oldest that I am sorry she is our starter child.  The one on which we learn what not to do.  But, we have been blessed by God with these two....he has given us very special kids and entrusted them to us....and I am pretty sure I don't tell them enough. 

I'm hoping that they read this some day and understand how much we love and appreciate them (and I am going to start them a "therapy" fund for when they get older and realize that we really didn't know what we were doing).

Today, in particular, it was again brought to my attention that I have awesome kids.  You see, dairy farming isn't an easy job.  Most of the time, it's pretty stressful, and I can only imagine how hard it must be when you are a kid.  We try hard to run our farm and still have "a life."  But, sometimes work gets in the way of life and sometimes it can suck. 

This weekend was an example.  Grandma wanted to have her grand babies for a sleepover.  That was not a problem but they had to wake up early and be home by 7:30am to go to work....on a Saturday.  I don't know if you remember your Saturdays when you were 12.....but I sure know that mine consisted of SLEEPING IN!  It was my day off after a long week of school.  Saturdays were long, lazy days that belonged to me.  But, not for my kids, they work every single weekend. 

Of course, one of them came home ill.  Which put another kink in our "life."  Luckily, we have wonderful friends and they came through to take Jr. Edition to the demo derby Saturday night, something he looks forward to for the entire year.  He got home late and fell into bed....only to be awakened early this morning to again, help feed calves.  He willingly got out of his comfy bed and stumbled out to the barn, allowing his sister, who had been up vomiting during the night, to sleep in. 

Now, today was a special day....because a very special friend was having a birthday party this afternoon.  Jr. and I headed over while The DF stayed with the sick one.   We had a lovely afternoon visiting, but just as a "kids vs. adults" wiffle ball game was about to start, I had to call Jr. over and tell him we had to go home to work. 

I was expecting a heavy sigh, or an "oh man", but Jr. said goodbye to his bud, thanked the parents and got in the car.  WOW.  I complimented him on how mature he is and thanked him for being so willing to go home.  Jr. looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and said "it is what it is."   WOW.  I am sure, when you are 10 yrs old, there isn't anything harder than watching a bunch of your friends go off to play, while you leave to go to work.  I have awesome kids.    

I do love our farm life.  We are lucky that we have employees who are reliable and allow us to have a life.  We aren't tied down all the time, but it is a 24-7, 365 job. Well....way of life actually, and it's a life that is teaching my kids responsibility, reliability, the value of hard work, the value of a dollar.....and that we are here to be good stewards of the land and take care of God's creatures.  Their lives are entrusted to us and if we do not take care of them....they will die.   A hard lesson to learn when you are a kid......we lost a little calf today. 

Well, that's really all I needed to say.  I just wanted to have a proud momma moment and remind myself that I have awesome kids.  Oh.....at this moment, The Dairy Farmer took Jr. back to the birthday party, thank goodness for holiday weekends and friends who live real close! 

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Special visitors......part 2

So, I told you about mantis visiting our farm....that was pretty cool.  I mean, he is one of the Furious Five and all, but he didn't whip out any mad kung fu moves (that I saw anyway).

The people that found mantis.....well.....it was none other than Boo, my better than sliced bread niece and Boo's momma. 

Boo is off school for a few weeks and after the punks and I went "up" to visit, Boo and Boo's momma were coming "down" to visit a few days later.   Just so happened that a big ole hurricane named C'mon Irene was barrelling up the east coast, heading right toward Boo and Boo's new house!  Even though they had plans to visit, they came early.  And none of us complained. 

They packed up their car with all the important things, like Boo's ipod so she can watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,  Boo's best friend- Kitty and Boo's snack.  Boo likes Ritz mini peanut butter sandwich crackers.  But, she takes them apart and eats the peanut butter out and puts the crackers back.  If Boo ever offers you some of her snack...... chances are, she's already chewed it, sucked it or licked it first.  Your best bet is to just say no. 

We always enjoy our time with them.  It makes things fun!  And part of the fun, is making that city girl do our farm work.  She's not yet two, but girlfriend knows how to feed a calf......and I bet there aren't too many toddlers in Jersey who can say that!

It just so happens that a few days before Boo's Big Visit......we had a set of preemie bull calves born.  Oh my word.....are they ever cute!

We weren't sure what to call them.......The Dairy Farmer suggested Mutt and Jeff, but that's just too predictable.   Farm Boy Jr. Edition said ......Sherlock and Sammy.  Why Sammy?  Because Watson was too hard to spell.  Duh.  

Sherlock and Sammy are PERFECT for Boo.  Just like Goldilocks and the Three Bears....these calves were "just right."  

Now, remember.....Boo is almost 2.....and these calves are smaller than her.   They come up to my knee.  Most newborn calves are mid thigh height.....or taller.   Right now, she's saying "milk pease"  and someone will bring her a bottle.  Because around these parts, Boo is royalty and she has two punks who wait on her hand and foot.  

Good work, Boo.  After she was done feeding Sherlock and Sammy, she went and collected buckets for the big calves and then she personally blew off all the flies that kept landing on their milk.  Our calves have never had it so good.  Thanks Boo, you made our job so much easier.   You come back and help anytime. 

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Special Visitors

We had a special visitor at our farm this week.  When we went in to feed our hungry, hungry hippos the other day, this lady was hanging out on the fence.  I'm going to assume it was a lady.  I have heard that after they mate, the ladies bite the heads off their husbands. So... true that, sister.....true that.   I kid, I wouldn't bite the head off my dairy farmer.....well....not literally.

Now, the people who found her are very, VERY special visitors and I'll save that for another post. 

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Y'all ready for this????

I'm guessing a few months ago, I may have been complaining about the state of the hardwood floors in my living room.  Not even "may have"....I most certainly was.  I even remember posting about.  I was issuing a challenge to The Dairy Farmer....a "throwdown" if you will.  I was making a public display in front of tens of people, in hopes of lighting a fire under his bum so that he would get our floors done.  I seem to remember discussing how slow things can move around here.  I haven't looked it up, but I do believe the date was mid April- the 18th to be exact.  But, I'm not keeping track.  I had told him that the floors needed to be redone before any new piece of furniture entered this house...and we have a new sofa on order. 


In the meantime- we had spring tornadoes, summer droughts, late summer earthquakes and most recently, a hurricane....needless to say, my floors were still in the same state of disrepair.

I went to visit my sister and Boo, my better than sliced bread niece, last week.  We needed a baby fix STAT before the kids started school.  I'm sorry, a toddler fix, I stand corrected.   When I arrived home, I walked in the front door to find my living room in my dining room, kitchen and hallway.

There was a very narrow path through the house, which of course, was blocked by a happy tailed mastiff.  Oh dear.  I DO NOT like surprises.  I also was greeted half heartedly by a very tired, very sore and very cranky Dairy Farmer who said, " I wish you weren't here."  I DO NOT like cranky dairy farmers. 

He had decided late Sunday night to refinish the floors.  After 2 VERY late nights, it wasn't done and I just dumped 2 punks and a tired momma into the middle of a hot mess. 

In the midst of the sanding, he had also done the baseboards, so they were in need of some painting.  I had plans for grand things the following day, but a paint brush was thrust into my hand instead.  While we're at it, let's give a fresh coat to the whole dang room!  Yes....splendid!   Off we went to Lowe's! 

I thought he was cranky about the floors, oh my......he was even crankier about having to paint the next day!  But, we got r done......and as the sun set on our shiny, new floor and our lovely white baseboards and our freshly coated walls.....the heavens opened and the angels sang!  What a sight to behold! 

Isn't it grand?  The DF did this on his hands and knees applying each coat of polyurethane with a 6 inch paint brush.  It was a lot of work, but cheaper than hiring someone.  And, The DF does enjoy saving some green.  I am pretty sure after 4 days of this, he isn't going to quit his day job.   Excellent work, DF.....you may cross that off your to do list.  Now, the dining room floor looks so dull.......




before



after



Want to hear something ironic?  That sofa that we ordered in mid April?  They told us it would be about 14 weeks for us to get it.....perfect......it may just take that long to get these floors done!  Well, the store called on Wed......just as The DF was apply the last coat of stain!  It is due to arrive at the store on Thursday!  The Dairy Farmer does his best work under pressure!



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Real time on the farm

Right now:
 1) there is a burping, farting mastiff asleep in my living room (mastiffs are like that)

2) there is a snoring 10 yr old punk sacked out on my couch (cub scout camp will do that to you)

3) that ridiculously obstinate calf is continuing to bawl....all stinkin' afternoon.  She is hoarse and her moo now sounds like a croak.  This is day 4 of her shenanigans (it's hard realizing you have to grow up)

4) 48 dump trucks (or, perhaps 2)  are running up and down my driveway make all kinds of racket.  They are hauling corn....in August.  We don't like to chop corn this early....it's not a good thing  (a drought will do that to you)

5)  calgon....take me away. 

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