so bittersweet

As I have said in a previous blog posting , we are a Century Farm. Actually it would be in April we are an " official " Century Farm. That is such a special feeling and one we are very proud of. And I am glad the cows will still ( probably ) be here on our farm that day . But it is also a sad feeling that one month we have finally made it to Century Farm status and the next month our dairy cows will probably be going out the door. We are a small family dairy farm , all these years it has been my husband and I and also all girls have helped when they can . We have also had help from family and friends when we needed it . But in the middle of the night if there was a problem , it was my husband and I out there at the barn or in the c0w pen. Maybe that was our problem , " they " say you need to get big or get out! We never got big and never wanted to . We have had some of our cows for years . A cow that is due in the next day or two is 9 years old. Nina is her name. We name all our cows . We have lots of cows named by our grandkids. Names like Jones ( from our grandson for Indiana Jones ) , Bluey ( named by gr.daughter for Blues Clues ) , Miley and Hannah ( named by our other gr.daughter for Miley Cyrus ) , Alexis and Kirsten ( named for our 2 gr.daughters ) and more. Our cows are part of our family. When the new people buy our cows are they going to give them a new name ? or just give them a number ? It makes me sad to think Bluey won't have our grandaughter to brush her down anymore. Will the new people treat our cows the same way we do ? The day our cow family leaves will be very hard on us. It brings tears to my eyes now to think about it . It also makes me so mad that because of the poverty level of the milk prices in 2009 we have come to this . The milk prices are improving but still are not where they should be . And all the politicians do is ---- lets study this and hold hearings ( which will take years and years of course !! ) . I know when our neighbor out the lane sold his cows , he also had a hard time. He told my husband he never slept at all the night before. And I am sure that will be the same for us. You don't live this way of life for all the years we have and not have a hard time with the life style change that will be coming .I don't know how hard it will be for us ..... seeing the cows loaded in the trucks and hauled away , but I think it is going to be a sad day for us and I know my husband and I both will have tears in our eyes and running down our face . I plan on keeping a day to day blog on here as it gets closer to the day our cows leave our barn and our life .

Snow and More Snow

Boy , did we get some snow last night. It started about 1 or so in the afternoon. By this morning we had a foot of snow ! It was a really heavy , wet snow. We kept hearing on my husband's scanner about power lines down. The roads were really bad. My husband went out and plowed for the township for awhile in the late afternoon. Then got up at 3 a.m. and went out and plowed again. He got home at 730 a.m. We never got done at the barn til 10 . The snow does look really pretty all over the trees. But we are to warm up and later in the week get rain. So it won't last very long. But we will enjoy it while we have it !

Sale on my Etsy Shop

I am having a sale on my Etsy Shop. There is 20 % off every item in the shop. There is a code to put in at checkout. Check out all the goodies . I want to clear out a bunch of goodies and add new spring and summer things. So I decided to have this sale. Hope you find something you would like !!

We are a Century Farm !!!

We knew we were close to being a Century Farm. My husband talked to a guy last week and he said as far as he can tell we are a CENTURY FARM now !! We just have to fill out the paper work. For those who don't know what that is ----- you are a CENTURY FARM if your farm has been in your family for100 years. And that is us! First my husband's grandparents , his parents and now my husband and I . With so many farmers losing their farm, this is something to be very proud of and we are !!! To know 100 years ago our ancestors were farming this same ground and their families were growing up on this same land we now are on. My husband grew up on this farm and has gone to the barn since he was little. So for him he has worked on this farm for at least 57 years . We will be married for 37 years this March. We both love living on our farm and think it is so beautiful. We live back a lane and have an old farmhouse with a spring in front of it. It usually is full of ducks . Anytime someone comes back to our farm , if they have never been here before, they always say " This is so beautiful ! I never knew this was back here ! " I have always felt we were so lucky to live on this farm . Behind our farm is a long lane up to the mountains. If you walk up to the edge of the mountains and look out you can see the valley and it is amazing ! It would be a wonderful place to have a cabin , except in the winter ! To have your farm in the same family for 100 years is a wonderful feeling and we are very lucky !!

New Year , Same old Thing !

I say the same thing every year, I hope this year is a better year than the one before. Well................. this year started out the same as always ! First I got the stomach flu going around our family, the very same day I find out my Ford Explorer's transmission went !! Wonderful ! Another expense that I have to worry about ! Plus we only have my Explorer and my husband's old ( and I mean old ! ) dump truck . So I will be without a car for 2 to 3 weeks. That will drive me nuts !! Maybe they will get it done quicker than they think ?? ( not likely !! ) Today we needed groceries and we needed to get coal. So we went to the grocery store in the old dump truck. My husband called us The Clampetts going to town. LO L!!!!!!!!! Could just imagine what we looked like ! The truck is all rusted up and has holes in the sides of the bed . Husband did some patching here and there so it would pass inspection. We piled all the bags in the front seat with us. Then went and got our coal. The price of the coal has gone up since we got it about a month ago. Now it is up to $204 a ton. Guess it will keep us warm for another month !( a pic of the Clampett truck, in it's better days, plus my husband's pride and joy he shot the other year )

Our Life Will Be Changing

My husband and I have been married 36 years and we have been Dairy Farmers for those 36 years. My husband took over the farm from his parents in 1972 , 2 years before we got married. But with the low milk prices we have been hit hard with bills that have backed up. Milk prices got up to $19.00 but that still is not what the Dairy Farmer should be getting for their milk. The Farmer does all the work and gets screwed in getting a decent milk price .The months you get a half way decent price for your milk is not enough to get caught up on the backed up bills.We have been hit very hard because we are a very small family Dairy Farm . We only milk 28 cows. I guess it is amazing we have gone on as long as we have.We own our Dairy Farm, we have no mortgage payment.So in that way we are luckier than some other Farmers.When the milk price was down to $9.00 some of those Farmers could not pay their mortgage payment.We have talked this past year about selling the cows. We just don't think we can keep getting deeper and deeper in debt.We realize it has come to the point where money wise , we can't go on the way we have been . As I fed hay last night I thought to myself....in a couple of months I will no longer be doing this. For 36 years we have gone to the barn morning and night , milking the cows, feeding silage, chop and hay, feeding the calves, tending to sick animals, washing the milkers every morning. Sometimes we would be at the barn til 10 or 11 p.m. if there were problems. That was life as a Dairy Farmer. In a couple of months that will all change.There will be no reason to go to the barn every morning and night, no cows and calves to feed and tend to, no more milkers to wash. And as much as it was sometimes hard to be so tied down ..... I think it is going to be as hard ( or harder ) to cope with the loss of not being a Dairy Farmer any more ! A life of a Dairy Farmer is tough and it is very stressful. But there were also many joys. And as hard as it was sometimes ...I know my husband and I are going to miss very, very much going to the barn and the work that goes into being a Dairy Farmer.Being a Dairy Farmer wasn't a job, it was a way of life. Many people who follow me on Twitter know how all our grandchildren love coming here to the Farm and going to the barn. Like I said before , our 15 month old grandson is too little to understand why we are no longer going to the barn and seeing Pap and the cows. JPlovesCotton wrote a piece on her blog (http://jplovescotton.wordpress.com ) that was wonderful and touched my heart . She wrote.... " The image of a grandson and grandad no longer having that reason to put on their boots and head to the barn may permanently reside on my eyelids." That is what I may miss the most , the loss of such a simple thing .

Christmas

Well Christmas is over for another year. It went so fast . Right now we are having cold and windy weather . But no snow. Guess that is good, since a lot of places are having lots of snow . I am enjoying doing nothing ! I have been sitting in my recliner , working on my cross stitch and reading. I just finished a book by Iris Johansen. Such a great writer ! Now I am starting a book by Karin Slaughter. Also just finished a book by Beverly Barton. Another WONDERFUL WRITER and a very, very nice person ! Last night I finally watched THE EXPENDABLES with Sly Stallone and all the action stars. Loved it !!! Tonight is my night to watch THE CLOSER on TNT . One of my favorite shows ! After it is over then I watch HAWAII FIVE O . I can remember watching the old one with Jack Lord. I never missed that show! The new one is great too ! Usually in January I tend to hibernate . I like to take it easy after the hustle and bustle of the holidays and working on crafts . I hope to get back to my walking again. I always feel so much better when I walk a couple of days a week. I will try and do better ! LOL !