Milk Prices

Our milk prices haven' t improved . I keep sending farm articles to G.T. , Rep . Glenn Thompson. Articles about the crisis many dairy farmers are facing right now. Many farmers are in danger of losing their farms , cows and their home. Most can't afford to pay all their bills. And are hanging on by a thread. Most farmers don't have weeks and months while politicians figure out what to do about the insulting milk prices we are getting. Something has to be done and now , not in a couple of months . Recently my husband and I were interviewed by our local paper . They wanted to do an article about how the low milk prices were affecting us and our farm . They put a picture of us on the front page of the paper. You can view the article by going to www.centredaily.com . I hope people who read the article thought about farmers and what they are going through ,when they bought that gallon of milk at the store. I read in North Carolina there used to be 1300 farms and now there are only 300 . What will we do when there are hardly any dairy farms left ? Buy our milk from China ??

Grange Fair Pics

Grange Fair

We had a great time at Grange Fair. There are about 950 tents and 1300 campers who stay for 10 days . We ate way too much. Pork sandwiches by a local farmer , peach dumpings with home made cinnamon ice cream( could have ate one a day ~ they are so good ! ) , chicken and waffles , buckwheat pancakes, fruit cups, hoagies, cinnamon rolls . I could go on and on ! My Mom and I stayed in the camper together . Dad came over a few days. My one daughter has her own camper and stayed with the 2 grandkids . The other daughter came over a couple of days with the 2 grandkids . She is due with our 5 th . grandbaby in a matter of weeks. It will be another boy. We got home from the Fair yesterday . I had a lot to unload from the car and put away . Next year I am not taking so much stuff ! I say that every year and I still take too much along . I take books to read and cross stitch to work on. Our camper is right by the Cow Barn . Our youngest grandaughter loves to go over and look at the dairy cows. You would think she would be sick of seeing cows after being here on the farm when I babysit her . Guess the cows at the Fair look different ! I know ~~ they are cleaned up ! Our cows are dirtier ! I can't believe the Fair is over . It went really fast . Soon it will be fall . Fall is my favorite time of the year . When it gets a little cool and you need a sweatshirt . There is nothing more beautiful than taking a walk with the leaves all turning colors and a gorgeous blue sky.

Sweet Corn Ready

Our sweet corn is ready . Our sweet corn is the best I have ever eaten. I went up and picked some to freeze. Worked up a sweat doing that , too ! I froze 10 quarts . Hope to get more done tomorrow. It will taste pretty good this winter . Mom is going to do some and our one daughter hopes to get some done . All the grandkids love to go in the field and help to pick it. When they were small , they were afraid they would get lost in the cornfield. The corn was high and they were so little . They aren't so little anymore. The oldest is 12 and almost as tall as me . I think I used to be taller ! As I get older I think I am shrinking ! LOL ! Of course my butt and hips aren't ! Oh well , joys of getting older !

Hay Making

We just finished the 2nd. cutting of hay . So no hay to unload for a bit. The last couple of days unloading has been really hot and humid. Yuck !! Sweat just drips off of you. Two of the grandkids helped on the wagon. But not too long, they got pretty dusty and hot.
My hubby and I were on the front page of our local paper . They came to talk to us about how the low milk prices were affecting our small farm. Then they came another day and took some pics . And wouldn't you know they put a big pic of me on the front page feeding hay . Told our girls , if I had known I was going to be on the front page , I would have gone on a crash diet ! It was a very nice article. It can be seen @ www.CentreDaily.com . Hope it makes people think about all the farms that are being lost . I hear about farms being lost every day . Just hope something is done and soon about the milk prices . Kraft and Dean Foods have had record profits . Well , not dairy farmers !!

Baling Hay ~~ NOT

We started the 2nd cutting of hay .But we aren't making much progress . We have only had 2 loads so far. It won't stop raining. We get one sunny day and than it rains again. The hay needs lots of sun to dry so we can bale it. But the sun isn't cooperating . By this time we are usually on the 3rd. cutting. I don't think we are going to even get a 3rd. cutting this year . Guess we just have to be glad we did get some hay.

the view from our upper fields

The grandkids and I walked up to some of our upper fields to see Papee baling hay . They got to pick a few raspberries . We walked to the fields closest to our mountain . They got a bit tired . But they enjoyed it . I told them the next time they came, we would pack a lunch and take it up to the field and have a picnic . They were all excited about that . The view from these fields is beautiful. You can see down the valley . It would be wonderful to have a small cabin up in the woods and have that wonderful view.