Farm Photos

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two.sparrows.farm

Hazy sunset over the farm. 🌄 ... We've been fol

Hazy sunset over the farm. 🌄
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We've been following the wildfires out West and the entire situation is devastating.😭
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But, our hearts are especially broken for farmers & ranchers who must make incredibly painful decisions. 🚒
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The hazy sky here is nothing compared to the effects those farmers will feel 🔥
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I'd love to hear more first-hand or personal accounts of what it's like to be a rancher or farmer affected by the wildfires.
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Any good post or account recommendations?
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#2020wildfires #smoke #haze #upperatmosphere #alwaysask #wherearethefarmers #whereisthefood

We are marching through this week! 💪 ... We hav

We are marching through this week! 💪
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We have pork back from the butcher and into customers' freezers. ✔️
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Milk deliveries were made 1-2 days early because of butcher schedules & our refrigerated cooler is still down (since Sunday) 😬
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Trips to TSC, cleaning barns & trailers, mountains of emails, tour prep 😱
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Tomorrow, our beef head into butcher, our tractor's hydraulic cylinders are still being rebuilt, and we're hoping our cooler will finally be fixed. 🤞
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It's a pretty vital piece to the daily operations of the farm - keeping our filled milk bottles cool and extra storage for calf milk. 🐄
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Dan keeps reminding me that equipment doesn't break if you don't use it. And we use the hell out of what we own. 🤣
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And the good news is that I only have another 3-4 weeks before my NEW dishwasher and dryer arrive 🙌
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Buying new appliances isn't normal for us - we tend to snag used items locally but we haven't been able to find what we need used and stores are super backordered, too! 🤷
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What's another few weeks of hand washing dishes and air drying laundry with 4 kids and a farm?! 😂
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In total, I'll have been without them for 4 months with a newborn and 3 months with only one burner on my stove before Dan fixed that. ✨
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I'm proud of myself for surviving that Amish experiment but pretty geeked about the modern amenities. 😜
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#fixingallthethings #everythingbreakseventually #itsallatonetime #fallonthefarm #pasturedpork #pigsonpasture #lovingit #butineedsleep #andcoffee #farmlife #winteriscoming #winterprep #alltheprojects

We're getting excited for our Coffee & Muck Boots

Another long weekend packed with projects & beauti

Another long weekend packed with projects & beautiful weather. ✨
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We have a jam-packed week coming up, which isn't something we relish but sometimes that's how things line up. 🤷
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We tried to set aside today for some slow-paced family time which went to h*ll when we woke up and found our 3 door commercial cooler had died overnight. 😭
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The good news is that it was only storing calf milk and the first service person we called arrived within an hour! 🙌
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He's *hoping* to find the compressor in stock tomorrow and be able to have it up and running by the afternoon.🤞
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The bad news is that the compressor (which broke) is 90% of the units function and will cost half of what we paid for the whole unit. 😱
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It turns out, the more equipment you own the more repair costs you incur. 😂
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No matter, #farmlife happens 😜
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#sunsetonthefarm #fallonthefarm #familytime

Many children were tugged from their warm beds thi

Many children were tugged from their warm beds this morning, headed to school. 📚
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Not this girl.
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She was pulled out into her barn clothes, in the pouring rain to save a calf 😬
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A different kind of school, I suppose 🤷
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We expected rain over the weekend - 3/5 days of was predicted and we received exactly zero drops of rain. 🙄
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So when the meteorologists said there was a chance of showers Monday night into Tuesday, we weren't holding our breath. 🤣
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But, a huge storm rolled through and around 5 am Dan's"Spidey sense" woke him up. (It's not unusual for him to wake from a dead sleep when he feels something is "off" 🤷)
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He had a feeling he should go check the herd. 🐄
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So, out into the storm he went and found one of our cows had just calved! 😱
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This was her 6th calf and she only yesterday had started to look a little bagged up like she might calve in the next week or so.
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Little did we know that she meant overnight in a storm! ⛈️
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While the rest of the cows sought shelter, she chose a terrible spot to birth - behind our main barn where all the gutters converge and run off into a low spot away from the buildings 😬
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As the storm continued, he could see the water rise around the newborn calf and she couldn't free herself from the muddy banks.😭
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Her mom stood over her to protect her from the rain but she was risk of hypothermia in the cold rain and drowning from the rising water. 🌊
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I had three boys sleeping in the house (including a 10 week old) so I wasn't able to abandon my post.🏚️
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But, Cecilia cheerfully sprang out of bed, held the flashlight, opened gates and dried off the calf with towels and our handy hair dryer! 😊
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Later in the day, Beau found a 4 leaf clover & we took it as a sign that her name was Lucky 🍀
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Once they dried off, warmed up & ate breakfast, we walked out to start chores and our power went out. 😭
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The storm was gone at this point but a tree had damaged some line and knocked the power out in 30 or so houses in our immediate vicinity 🌳
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It was out for 4 hours! The remainder of the day was a mad dash to make up time. ⏳
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It was a DAY. 😴
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#farmschool #homeschool #farmlife

Labor Day Special! 🤗 ... Well, this little lady

Labor Day Special! 🤗
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Well, this little lady was technically born Sunday evening. 🤷
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We were able to watch mama labor and birth in the pasture, then brought them up for the night together. 🌌
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The kids named her Pumpkin Pie for her orange color, exactly like her mama's (Patsy) 💘
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We are finishing the weekend with all of our corners drilled for our fencing project - not an easy feat with a 12" layer of clay below the soil. 😭
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We didn't get a chance to pickup a dishwasher but we did order one! 👏
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So. Progress. 😜
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#laborday #projectweekend #fencing #barnfixing #familytime #fallishere #winteriscoming

Labor Day is usually a big project weekend for us

Labor Day is usually a big project weekend for us so we've enlisted some big help! 😂
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This year we aren't able to tackle one project start to finish so we're making progress on a couple different projects. 🔨
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We're heading to the hardware store for lumber for an upcoming cement project 💪
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There are several areas within barns that weren't cemented (for whatever reason) when we purchased the farm in 2018.
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We're finally to the point that cement work is being done for winter! 👏
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We're also working on a fencing project in our front pasture - during which we had to dig up and remove some exposed rocks.
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What we discovered was the foundation of an old structure!
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The kids (and us!) have had fun playing archaeologist as we find nails, door hinges, charred wood and rock. 🏚️
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All the hardware has been commercially produced instead of hand forged so it was likely built after 1900.
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The last thing on our list this weekend is a new dishwasher (not a farm project but I'm pretty excited!) 😂
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Within 10 days of Blaine's birth back in June, I had our dishwasher start smoking and die, our dryer finally kick the can and 4/5 burners of our stove stopped working.
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In addition to our bulk tank being broken by the repairmen.
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You can guess which items were on Dan's "winter list" to fix 😝
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Last weekend, he fixed up my stove so I can cook more than one thing at a time now 🙌
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This weekend we're installing a new dishwasher 👏
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And eventually we'll get a working dryer 🤷
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I'm all about the simple life but having a newborn, adapting to life with 4 kids and surviving 2nd cutting hay without those appliances made for very long work days 😂
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Yay for modern household help! 🤗
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#farmlife #workingfamily #projectweekend #getallthethingsdone #winteriscoming

Are you missing sports (college football!) like we

Because it's only fair that I share Dan's 💩phot

Because it's only fair that I share Dan's 💩photo after mine was shared!
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Pigs were successfully loaded with lots of patience - and that's not mud that Dan is covered in 😝
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Thankfully, he showered before making the haul. 👏
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#farmlife #pasturedpork #pasturedpigs #summeronthefarm #showersaplenty #dirtylife #immunesystem #strongashell

Last night on the farm is bittersweet. 😢 ... We

Last night on the farm is bittersweet. 😢
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We enjoy raising these animals tremendously and honestly miss them when they're gone. 💔
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But, their purpose is to fill freezers and provide income for our family. 🙏
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And for that, we are eternally grateful. 🐖
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We also brought them all kinds of table scrap treats for their last hurrah 😜
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#pasturedpork #pasturedpigs #farmlife #realtalk #summeronthefarm

Sunshine has returned after much needed rain and a

Sunshine has returned after much needed rain and a cool down in temps. 😊
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September always lights a fire in us to knock through some farm projects and this year is no different 🔥
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We'll finally have time (and nice weather!) for things like winter prep and farm tours that have taken a backseat to more pressing issues earlier in the season. 🔨
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This week we're taking pigs into butcher and in two weeks our steers will go in. 👍
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Processing continues to present obstacles this year with harvests split over several dates with smaller groups and facilities that are a little further from the farm.🐖
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But, we're incredibly grateful to have nailed down dates back in April for the rest of 2020. 🙏
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Most places are scheduling February through April 2021 right now. 😱
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We will be seeing the ripple effects of COVID for a long time in the food system, folks. 😬
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#localfood #eatlocal #livelocal #grassfedbeef #pasturedpork #knowyourfarmer #summeronthefarm #2020 #whoknowswhatsnext

The only *reasonable* dinner option when it's 92 F

The only *reasonable* dinner option when it's 92 F and 92% humidity 😂
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Homemade vanilla ice cream made with fresh cream and low sugar. 🍨
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Homemade topping made with fresh peaches from @countrymill - caramelized in a little bit of brown sugar & maple syrup from Clark SugarBush. 🍑🍁
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YUM. 😋
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The good news is that we are FINALLY getting rain today after 26 days without any precipitation. 🙌
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I never thought I would say this but a rainy overcast day is seriously what we all need on the farm. 🌧️
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A break from the heat for the animals and soil and people is most welcome right now.
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We had several rounds of storms pass just north or just south of us so we are incredibly grateful for this round of rain & storms to (hopefully) refresh our hay fields and pastures for fall. 🍂
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Happy Friday! 🤗
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#homemade #icecream #freshcream #realcream #lowsugar #freshpeaches #maplesyrup #localfood #eatlocal #thankyourain #weneedalltherain #summeronthefarm #farmlife

Our #barnkids ♥️ ... Blaine will be 2 months o

Our #barnkids ♥️
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Blaine will be 2 months old on Tuesday this week and we are still soaking in every moment with him. 🤗
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We've joked that he's logged more work hours in his 2 months of life than some adults have since March 😂
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He's been in the barn every day with us since he was a week old - milking, filling bottles, feeding calves, feeding pigs, cleaning and just generally being part of the human kid herd. 😜
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He hasn't been on a horse (yet!) but he's spent hours watching everyone else ride. 🏇
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And he's still a pretty darn chill baby. 🙌
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Happy 2 months Blaine! 💙
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#farmkids #barnkids #familyof6 #familieswhoworktogether #farmlife #familylife #familyfarming #everyonehelps #everyoneworks #teamworkmakesthedreamwork #whatsadayoff #nocovidhere

It's officially been 3 weeks without a single drop

It's officially been 3 weeks without a single drop of rain on the farm 😬
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We've had a beautiful (almost cloudless) stretch of 85-90 F. ☀️
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It's been classic hot summer weather, but we're starting to get a *little* nervous 🙄
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It's quite dusty and our cool season grasses, like clover, are starting to curl and even turn brown and crispy. 🤔
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We're also are noticing many trees in our area showing signs of distress, turning brown and losing dead leaves (not in a pretty fall way) 😱
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Apparently, there's a chance of rain later this week so we're hoping for that so we can jump-start some growth for fall grazing and a 3rd cutting of hay.🌧️
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In the meantime, we are chipping away at our fall project list which includes a fairly in-depth barn repair and some "easier" fencing.😂
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And waiting on two cows to calve by early September.🐄
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And finishing our first batch of pork and beef that will be at the butcher in just a few short weeks! 🐖
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#farmlife #summeronthefarm
#sunshine #weneedrain #itshot #notwishingforfallyet #grassfedbeef #pasturedpork #2020 #strangestyearever #whatsnext #barnproject #alwaysfencing #grassfed #grassmilk #eatlocal #smallbusiness #knowyourfarmer

We didn't end up getting a drop of rain this weeke

We didn't end up getting a drop of rain this weekend 😱
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But, cooler temps have rolled in with lower humidity so we can't complain! 🤷
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Interestingly, Dan found this baby snapping turtle swimming in our gutter chain while cleaning the barn this weekend. 🤔
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I'm really stumped as to how it arrived in such a place.
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We have two seasonal ponds in the front 20 acres of our property but both have been dry for a looooong time now.😬
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There is a swampy-ish area behind the barn but it's mostly just moist soil where rainwater gathers and the liquid from the gutter chain drains into.🌧️
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We really don't have a good turtle habitat on the property and certainly nowhere I can imagine a turtle nesting without being disturbed.🐢
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The kids were (of course) pretty geeked and we spent an afternoon discussing and creating an environment for him to temporarily live in.👏
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We had just finished up our unit on ponds and lakes and are starting rivers this week (focusing on freshwater this month)!🌊
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We re-homed the little guy in my In-laws' pond which will be perfect for him.👍
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Of all the wildlife we see on our farm, this has been the most surprising!💚
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#farmlife #somethingneweveryday #easyhomeschoollesson #freshwaterstudy #puremichigan #snappingturtle #hatchling #summeronthefarm #2020 #noexplanationneeded #familyfarming #wildandfree

We're crossing our fingers for some much-needed ra

We're crossing our fingers for some much-needed rain tonight. 🤞
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There is the potential for storms to move through the area and we could really use the precipitation & break in the humidity. 😰
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Dan finally had time to brush hog some large areas of the farm that were overgrown & weedy today.👊
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Plus, he fixed some leaking water issues and the pigs' water tank. 💪
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I'm addition to normal work, that was about as much as we could accomplish given the 90F + temps with 90%+ humidity 😂
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We're callin' it a night! 😜
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#farmweekends #farmwork #rainraincomeagain #summeronthefarm

Newborn kisses are the best 💕 ... I feel ya Rub

Newborn kisses are the best 💕
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I feel ya Ruby 😜 👶
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#newborncalf #justborn #dairylife #farmlife #bornonpasture #lifeonpasture #4thcalf #4thbaby

Farm Confession: this weekend was rough. ... It's

Farm Confession: this weekend was rough.
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It's Monday so I'm laughing about it but the farm figuratively & literally sh*t on me.
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On Friday, I was cleaning the milk parlor on a step stool and somehow fell off only to seriously bruise my ankle and was hobbling from the swelling.
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Dumb mistake on my part
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Saturday morning during milking, I picked up a bucket of grain and the metal handle somehow cut through my fingernail and into my flesh underneath
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I had to pry the metal out, stemmed off the bleeding, washed it with hydrogen peroxide and super-glued the broken nail together.
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Unfortunately, I also but a band-aid on too quickly and now have a bandage semi-permanently glued to my fingernail.
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It was insanely painful.
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Later on that day, I ran to TSC with Blaine and was waiting in the checkout line when I brushed against a display of step-in posts.
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Step-in posts are plastic posts for electric wire fencing with a metal spear on the bottom that you stab into the ground.
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Somehow (again!) just one step-in post fell from the display and stabbed directly through my big toenail and into the flesh below.
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Amidst the initial shock of excruciating pain, I hobbled to through the check-out lane and ask the clerk for a towel or napkin to clean up the blood.
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He said no, I explained what happened and he said he couldn't help.
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But he did ask if I belonged to the Neighbors Rewards Club.
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Meanwhile, my shoe pooled with blood, I was trying to keep a fussy baby happy and pay for my items
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After arriving home, I also cleaned this wound with peroxide and a band-aid (no super glue this time) and elevated it.
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Sunday arrived & I milked exactly 1.5 cows before I saw Sweetpea getting ready to pee so I grabbed a bucket to catch it - it turns out she needed to poop.
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I caught that just fine until she decided to cough.
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Cue, the projectile stream of hot, liquid cow sh*t on me literally from head to toe.
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As you can see, I wept. Just lost it.
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Baylor (our 3 year old) came over during my breakdown and sweetly said, "Mommy, let's get you in the shower."
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Dan snapped this photo so "we could laugh about it later."
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It's always a good morning when you wake up to a f

It's always a good morning when you wake up to a fresh calf! 🤗
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We are so excited for another heifer out of Ruby - one of our favorite cows. 💕
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Our bull is 1/2 Angus, 1/4 Jersey and 1/4 Holstein (his mom was Ivy, our favorite milk cow who we lost this winter 😢)
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Ruby is almost all Swedish Red with a little Jersey thrown in so this babe is a mix of all those breeds - Angus, Jersey, Holstein and Swedish Red. 👌
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Since she's out of one of our best cows, we plan to breed her and see how she milks in 2 years.🐄
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In the meantime, she's getting lots of love and is one of the most beautiful calves we've had yet! ✨
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Oh! And all our hay in finally in the barn for the year 💪
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Happy Saturday!!
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PS - we're still deciding on an "R" name for this girl 💜
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#farmlife #freshcalf #freshcow #swedishred #angus #jersey #holstein #socute #healthymama #healthybaby #summeronthefarm

You can't ask for more gorgeously blue skies & hap

You can't ask for more gorgeously blue skies & happy cows dotting the landscape. ✨
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We have officially brought home all the hay off the airport - much of it is in the barn & some is still waiting to be put away on our lawn. 😂
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Can you guess what Dan's Saturday looks like?!😝
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It's been a relatively quiet week playing catch-up after 2nd cutting hay finished over the weekend. 💪
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Picking up grain, bringing trailers home, milk deliveries, keeping up on emails, and falling behind on sending out my monthly herd share newsletter 😂 because #newbornbaby makes those things hard sometimes 👶
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We're looking forward to a beautiful summer weekend though!! 🙌
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#summeronthefarm #workingfamily #wahm #wahd #tractorwork #neverending #2ndcuttinghay #roundbales #allthehauling #farmlife #farmwork

Everyone says it's rude to talk about money but si

Everyone says it's rude to talk about money but since when do we listen to "everyone," right?! 😜
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But being fiscally responsible to vital to self-employment, farming full-time and staying profitable.😊
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We want to give a shout-out to GreenStone Farm Credit Services - if you're a farmer, rural land owner, etc. check them out for financing.
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They GET farming. They are amazing people to work with and (from what we've heard) a pretty great company to work for.👌
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Since it's a cooperative, we receive distribution checks every year which usually equates to a more than a mortgage payment.👍
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They also do the awesome job of watching interest rates for us.
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Every 12 months we can compare current rates and (if it makes sense) convert our mortgage to a lower interest rate without an adjustable rate mortgage - we lock in that lower rate by purchasing the conversion.
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You can pay the conversion fee as part of your mortgage payment or in a one-time cash payment - which we do. This year it was less than the cost of one month's mortgage payment. 💰
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We've only had the mortgage at our current farm for 2 years and last year they were able to save us 0.55% off our 30 fixed rate mortgage. 🤗
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This year, based on the economy & our credit scores, we were able to save an additional 1.8% on our rate (a total of 2.35% from when we closed 2 year ago.🙌
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We moved to a 20 year mortgage, shaving an entire decade off our mortgage (8 years plus the 2 years we've already paid) and saving over $130K in payments from our previous schedule. 💪
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All for the same monthly payment we had been making already.😱
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Even without paying additionally (we tend to pay a little extra every month if we can swing it) we will have our farm paid off when we're 51 years old.👏
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Big #adulting win for us today, thanks to GreenStone!
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#savingmoney #makesmehappy #supergeeked #greenstoneforthewin #helloretirement #paydownthatmortgage #alwayssaving #payingahead #farming #fulltime

We're getting close to the finish line of our mara

We're getting close to the finish line of our marathon hay week! 🤞
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During our 1st cutting, we tried biting off small chunks at a time - over the course of 3 weeks we got everything cut, baled and wrapped a few days at a time.👏
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For 2nd cutting we tried a different approach.
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We cut, raked and baled all 25 acres of hay at once. 😬
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We added in a 20 acre field, too, across the street at the airport that we had fallen behind on due to the birth of Blaine at the end of June. 👶
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In total, we had 45 acres of hay on the ground - which is a a lot for us. So far our takeaway has been that 25 acres here OR 20 acres at the airport is fine but not both at the same time. 😂
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It required us to hire out most of the mowing and all of the baling (which we normally do anyway)
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We made a little over 20% of the hay into baleage which was wrapped by @murrayfarm 👍
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The rest is a beautiful dairy-quality dry hay. 🐄
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It required an obscene amount of tractor time for Dan. 🚜
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He spent 13 hours raking hay plus mowing and innumerable hours moving bales off the field and into the barn.
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We still have to move bales off the airport on Monday but everything will be put away tonight on our ground before rain moves in. ⛈️
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We also had our hay rake break for a third time so we are now up a new-to-us rake and our bank account is a little smaller. 😜
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The good is news that after a crazy long week we have surpassed our hay goals for winter! 🙌
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We *may* be in a position to sell some dry bales this winter, even.😱
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Depending on weather, rainfall, grass recovery & winter stockpile grazing we would like to do a very small 3rd cutting of squares for calf hay.💪
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That's usually the only hay we buy in now because they require very soft, green and easily digestible hay.
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Once the bales are in storage, we can turn our sights to a very-much-needed barn repair project and very-much-needed family time. ♥️
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Between 1st cutting, Blaine's birth, 2nd cutting and other family requirements we've had little to no time together as a family this summer.😭
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August will *hopefully* be the month of our family. 🤞
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#farmlife #hayseason #weneedsleep #andH2O

Carlita is back in action! 🐕 ... When we woke u

Carlita is back in action! 🐕
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When we woke up Monday morning (an already jam-packed day picking up pigs & chickens!) we discovered that Carlita couldn't stand on her back legs 😬
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She basically dragged herself out of the kennel to go outside, then flopped over on the lawn looking like death and yelping when she moved. 🙄
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No symptoms the night before our initial thought was an intestinal blockage?
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After calling around during breakfast, we finally found a veterinary urgent care that could see her and wasn't MSU vet. (Love MSU but 💰)
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Turns out she pinched a nerve in her spine while working cows the night before. 😱
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A few days laying low and some pain meds and she's back to her normal self. 🤗

New piggies! 🐖 ... This group arrived on Monday

New piggies! 🐖
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This group arrived on Monday this week and will finish this winter - which will be here sooner than we want. 😬
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We also stocked our freezer will some super yummy chickens from an Amish friend 👍
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We've been quiet on social media because it's just been non-stop lately 🙈
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Last week, we were awaiting our annual semi-load of bottles when we were told the freight company wouldn't transport our load until we paid an additional 25% on top of the freight they quoted us (and we paid!) 5 weeks ago. 🙄
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Using some choice words, Dan told them - NO.😂
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They claimed they needed more money because of COVID expenses yet they never mentioned that the rate may change even after it was paid. 🙄
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Dan reminded them that the last delivery driver took out a power line and got himself buried in our yard because of bald tires and an inability to drive a semi.
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He then lied to the tow driver and tried to negotiate the rate to remove his semi from blocking our road. Dan had to separate the two because they were moments away from fists flying. 😬
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Long story short, Thursday morning they let us know our semi would arrive Friday 8-10 am at no extra expense.
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To our surprise, the semi then arrived Thursday night at 10:30 pm. 😱
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He was a great driver and backed right in but we explained that there were 3 truck stops within 10 miles of our house to stop at or we could unload that night.
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Nope. He wanted to sleep in our driveway.🙄
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So, we channeled our inner Ho-Jo and told him we'd leave the light on for him.
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Semi was unloaded Friday morning and it took us the rest of the day to put them into storage in the barn.
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We ended up moving 21,000 bottles 3 times to get them into place 💪
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Saturday morning we were informed that we could finally close on Dan's dad's house after weeks of COVID delays.👊
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So, Saturday was spent moving the last items from his house. And a final walk-through of the house. 😭
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Tuesday, we had 45 acres of hay mowed. And delivery prep. And picking up maple syrup & organic blueberry orders for members. 😋
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And we managed to only get 15 minutes of sprinkles overnight. 👏
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Still a long week ahead😴

Pigs living their best life. 🐖 ... We are feeli

Pigs living their best life. 🐖
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We are feeling grateful for the beautiful summer weather and some much-needed rain on Sunday. 👏
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We are itching to get going on more hay making so we're waiting for another 3 day window without rain to cut the airport across the street & start on 2nd cutting our ground. 🌱
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In the next week we're expecting a semi-load of bottles to be delivered & a new group of weaned piglets to arrive. 🙌
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We are (mostly) busy with those preparations, normal chores/work and our daughter is at horse camp this week 💪
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One of the few things this summer that isn't cancelled! 🐎
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#sweetsummertime #pasturedpigs #berkshirepork #wallowawaytheday #pigs #mudhole #happypigs #farmwork #farmlife #haycutting #alwaysprepping #horsecamp #highlightofceciliassummer #cowgirl

Sounds of summer 🌱🐄 ... It's hot & muggy but

Sounds of summer 🌱🐄
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It's hot & muggy but these ladies are staying cool with lots of fresh grass, shade & cold water 💦
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We're staying cool with frequent dips in our "hot tub" which is set to 88 F - a refreshing but warm pool temp 👍
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And the silver lining is that it's iced coffee season, which happens to be one of my favorite treats 🤗
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#stayingcool #grassfed #beef #grassmilk #grazing #grassmanagement #managinggrassland #icedcoffee #howisurvive #summeronthefarm

We interrupt our #farm posts with some #babyspam t

We interrupt our #farm posts with some #babyspam today 😂
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Blaine is 3 weeks old tonight and chunking out! 👶
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He's gained almost 2 lbs and grown over an inch since birth 💪
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We are trying to soak in all the newborn snuggles ✨
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Thanks to the farm wife's kids for this perfect onesie! (She passed away in 2017 and we purchased her and her husband's farm in 2018) 🚜
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They came out to spread their moms ashes on the farm less than 24 hours after Blaine was born and sweetly sent this last week 👏
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Death and birth are the only consistent truths on a farm (and in life!) ♥️
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#blainechristopher #3weeksold #farmkid #newtotheherd #farmfamily #grateful

A little friendship brightens our day! ♥️ ...

A little friendship brightens our day! ♥️
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#farmfriends #carlita #cattledog #blueheeler #pasturedpigs #berkshire #pork #timeforplay #farmlife #summeronthefarm #pigwallow #mealtime #playtime

Two years ago today we closed on our "forever" far

Two years ago today we closed on our "forever" farm. 🙌
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In reality, I should call it our "for-as-long-as-we-farm" farm 😂
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We love this property & we won't be moving to farm ever again.🚜
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This farm has everything we need to thrive as a family & business. ♥️
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And it took tremendous sacrifice and work to be here💪
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But, I also recognize the reality that we may not live out the remainder of our lives here. 🤷
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Maybe we'll have a child take over and need to live on site.
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Maybe we'll want to retire at some point.
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Maybe our farm will fail.
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Life almost never looks the way we think it will (or plan for it to be!)😬
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So, we do our best, cherish the life we've created here and live gratefully one day at a time. 🙏
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#wakeupgrateful #farmlife #lifeonthefarm #farm #anniversary #2yearsandcounting #8thseasonfarming

"Game changing" rain from yesterday. 💦 ... I do

"Game changing" rain from yesterday. 💦
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I don't know what our exact rainfall total was but we got several rounds of drenching rains.⛈️
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It was perfect for soaking the ground and reinvigorating growth in the pastures. 🌱
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It doesn't hurt that the storms brought cooler temps and low humidity 😉
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Happy Saturday! ☀️
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#happydance #raindance #thankfulforrain #farmlife #summeronthefarm

It's starting to feel a little bit like groundhog'

It's starting to feel a little bit like groundhog's day around here. 😂
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Same routine, chores, heat & flies every single day. ☀️
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90+ degree heat is far more metabolically taxing on the animals than mild winter weather. 😬
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Our hay fields are (luckily) rebounding beautifully, as our warm season grasses, like alfalfa, take over more pasture space from the cool season plants, like clover. ☘️
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And we are offering easy access to hay, water & shade during the hottest part of the day to the animals. 😌
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Evening through early morning is the only time you'll find them grazing right now so we need to make sure they're getting enough calories to offset the loss of keeping cool during this crazy stretch. 😕
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I dare not say it has us wishing for fall weather but more seasonable temps do sound tempting. 🤔
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Hope you're staying cool & hydrated!! 💦
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#summeronthefarm #summer2020 #heatwave #crazyhotformichigan #maybewellgetanothermildwinter #weneedrain #keepcool #stayhydrated

Happy 4th of July!! 🇺🇲 ... Dan is coming off

Happy 4th of July!! 🇺🇲
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Dan is coming off 8 straight 12 hour days in this heat but it's only a few hours of chores and then off for the rest of the day (until evening calf chores 🐄)!
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After resolving the bulk tank issue on Tuesday, he was in West Michigan on deliveries all day Wednesday and spent Thursday & Friday baling hay for his mom after working full days on our farm. 😌
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After a breakfast of waffles & berries this morning, the kids headed to my mom's pool where we will join them for a cookout this afternoon 🙌
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I get some house cleaning time in with Blaine and Dan made rice krispies for our contribution today 👏
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A much needed reprieve with a pool & AC today. 🙏
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We hope you're enjoying friends, family & freedom on this HOT holiday! ♥️💙
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#4thofjuly #2020 #farmlife #findthatAC #holyheatwave #insane #dayoffisrelative #only4hoursofwork #afternoonoff #dairylife #lifewithanewborn #farmbaby

We've been quiet these past few days because Dan h

We've been quiet these past few days because Dan has been working through a terrible situation on the farm.
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Unfortunately, I'm recovering from having a baby 5 days ago and caring for 3 other children.
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So, I mentioned a few weeks ago that we noticed the compressor on our bulk tank was running 24/7 to build ice (to cool the milk) when it should only be running a few hours a day.
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Wanting to prevent a breakdown in the middle of hot weather (i.e. NOW), he called our local dairy repair company
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They came out and did a preliminary look, said they needed a part and would fix it on a lunch break since it would take less than an hour to remedy.
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Fast forward 2 weeks and they decided to arrive just 12 hours after I gave birth to Blaine on a Friday morning.
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No matter, we were running behind anyway due to being up for the birth so Dan delayed milking so they could fix the tank.
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2+ hours later and he could milk but we had to dump the entire milking because they had drained the water and ice and it hasn't had time to rebuild to cool the milk. 🤷
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#worthit if the tank would be working properly
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Saturday we awoke to 0 ice in the tank 😱
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Cue emergency weekend service call, several more hours and the repairman just left because the part supply store was closed. 🙄
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So, we went from a 90% functioning tank to pretty-dead-in-the-water after their "repairs."
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Dan spent every milking adding 50 F ground water to the tank, then 125# of ice we purchased to cool the milk to below 40, then immediately bottled it and stored it in the 35 F cooler.
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Morning chores lasted the entire work day into evening chores just to stay functional.
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Monday - repairman returns in the afternoon and doesn't leave until 8pm. Definitely fixed this time.
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Tuesday - we wake up to NO ice in the tank.
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Final service call - the repairman was really cool and admitted that they broke our perfectly functioning equipment (his boss told him to stop working on it and just sell us a $14K new bulk tank instead 😡)
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Our members only have milk this week due to Dan's extraordinary efforts & patience. 🙌
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#givethatmanabeer #farmlife

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