Paul Harvey: God made the farmer.

 

I grew up on a farm.  My dad and brothers were these people, ones who did all that farming required.  

Farmers are precious beings.  They bring food to your table and to the world.  

God made the Farmer.

Mom, how we miss you.

                            

         Mom in a dress Grandma made for  her, High School Dance

 We had always viewed our mother as superwoman. She could do anything. It was only in the last 10 years of her life that we knew the it was time for her to hang up her cape. There is such an emptiness that holds onto you.

                                                     Mom, in high school                       

                                         Mom, at the stove where she spent hours of her life.

                             Mom, holding Tony and sharing her immense Christmas cactus. That thing was 10 years or more.

                                            Mom seldom took time off. Notice the chair and its fabric?

Mom with my sister Mary and Aunt Vada

                                       

                             

John Deere and Those Who Love Them

In my stomping ground

My father once told me that I was a farm girl, that is all I would ever be.  My intelligence told me that this would not be.

Now, with a farm girl's genes, I smile whenever I see a John Deere tractor. Given that, seeing the following videos makes my smiles bigger. Yes, I know. These little boys were too young to be doing this, that riding these is amazingly dangerous.

It is a farming thing. 

Grandpas teach the Dads, and then the Dads teach their offspring. The level of safety has increased tremendously. Their parents are next to them, filming them, watching them. But the biggest things are that the parents are teaching them, instilling in them a respect for life and work. And even more important, they are learning to understand safety and how to avoid injury.

Below are videos of children learning that and more. Each is about 3 minutes, except the last one which is 6 minutes.

These are 4 brothers moving hay to feed cows. The youngest

brother (little blond sweetie) is riding with an older brother.

My brothers were on tractors by the time they were 10-12 yrs. old.  In fact, every farm boy was licensed to drive farm vehicles on public roads by the time they were 14. I even had to drive an old Ford to help dump corn for the hogs. I was 9 and I was terrified.

Farm kids are outside working with their parents. Electronics are in the house. Which would you choose?

The Letter H is for eating

The letter H.....hail, horrific, haberdasher....

Yes, I am prone to go for the exotic, but today I have chosen:

Hay

The above video shows the mowing of the hay which is called "alfalfa, or clover".  It is a prime source of nutrition for cows and horses during winter. The scent of fresh cut alfalfa is delightful.

Here is the difference:

This is hay. Horses and cows love this.  Photo below:

Source: adenbrook.com

This is straw.  This is great for putting into a stall.  Then it has to be "mucked out".  Messy job. This is what remains after different grains, such as wheat, rye, etc. have been harvested.  Straw---it is unpleasant to walk upon, and is used for animal bedding.  Not for consumption.

Source: chidsey

The letter H is for hay.

Sad, So Sad

Source: Vorfay

It was inevitable.  I knew, the computer knew it.  When the dreaded “error” sign popped up repeatedly, when the blog site turned white and frozen, it was clear that something had happened.

Fry’s struggled for five days with each minute part of this computer.  Ryan, bless his heart, finally cleaned out the “serious virus contamination”, the computer came home.  I was sad—no, beyond sad.  Devastated. 

So many files lost in the process, many of them future posts.  The files were brilliant.

The computer is back on my desk, its cursor blinking in remorse.  I forgive it, of course.

Thus, I have to start all over in some drives, etc.  Fortunately my blog sites are still intact.  But the other stuff?  My use of colorful metaphors has increased.