You will be missed Terry...

Yesterday, we attended the memorial service for Terry Gompert.  If you've been involved with sustainable ag, MIG or holistic management you knew about this guy.  He was one of those people who you feel so blessed to know.

We came to know him after starting our Farm Beginnings Class.  He spoke the first couple sessions and he knew about the piece of land that we were about to start farming.  As two newbie farmers, he never once made us feel like we were asking dumb questions.  He was so passionate about Management Intensive Grazing that you couldn't help but get caught up in his excitement.  He was also doing really interesting research about using raw milk as a fertilizer for your fields.  Dave Wetzel, an area farmer and him had teamed up to research raw milk fertilizer and it is exciting stuff.  Terry was the one who actually hooked us up with Dave, which is were we purchased our cattle. 

Jon and I actually got to spend a day with Terry about 6 weeks ago.  He patiently showed us around his farm, pointing out different aspects of his cattle and explaining why he does what he does.  He even helped Jon figure out a paddock design for the land.  That day was priceless to us because we both came away feeling so knowledgeable.  We had a great lunch made by his wife Connie and just really enjoyed the whole day getting to know both of them.

Most of all, he was just one of the greatest man that I've had the privilege to know.  He was a deeply committed Christian who wasn't afraid to share his beliefs.  We only got to know him for a short time, but both Jon and I feel so blessed to know him.  His memorial service was packed yesterday, which was a testament to how much he was loved.  You will be missed Terry...

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Poking around the farm...

There is so much cool stuff around this farm.  Farms definately accumulate stuff, especially when you are 100 years old.  So, I decided to take a few pics for everyone to see.

Now this is not 100 years old, but it's definately something that we needed!  A farm truck!  It needs a few repairs but the price was right.



Here's the machine shed.  As you can see there is an old totem pole, just hanging out...

Here is the owner's restored John Deere tractor.

Here is an old pull behind combine...pretty cool stuff.

An old planter.  We had troubles identifying some of the machinery.  But some of our (ahem) more experienced members of our family knew what most of it was.

Jon told me he installed indoor plumbing in the machine shed...

The next two are my favorites.  Here is an old woodstove.  I just love it, the coloring is still shining through.  I would have been very proud to cook on that if I received it new.

This one I'm not as sure what it is...maybe a boiler or just an ornate wood stove.  Either way, it's sooo cool.  Both of these things would look so neat if they were restored.  Things just aren't made like they used to.

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What is this business?

I don't think I ordered any of this...

Oh Nebraska, from this..

to this in four days....only in Nebraska...

Hopefully this stuff melts fast!

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Spring storms

Yesterday, I got caught in the first spring rainstorm of the season.  I knew it was going to rain, because when you live out in the country the sky goes on for miles.  And the sky was quickly turning darker and more ominous.  I grabbed my camera before I went, because I love pictures of storms.  As does my husband.  He has fantasies about being a tornado chaser.

This was the view that made me turn around and grab my camera.  And I'm so glad that I did.  It's an awesome feeling to look up and see those clouds.  At one point, I was jogging along trying to beat the storm and I was down right giddy.  I swear I almost start skipping.  That's pure joy, just like a little kid.

And here come the rain clouds.

The view to the east.

And along with spring showers, comes spring hail!

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Things to do when the wind is blowing...

1.  Take a long hot shower.

2.  Leave the blow dryer on for just a little bit longer, enjoying the hot air.

3.  Wash clothes

4.  Dry clothes

5.  Run the microwave simultaneously with the toaster....just because you can.

6.  Play with your new Samsung Galaxy

7.  Curse the blasted internet for not working on your desktop... some people need to download some pictures.

8.  Enjoy the the beauty of excess wind, because the weather is always changing and tomorrow you could be in conservation mode.

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Commuting, wind energy humor and old iPods

It actually hasn't been that bad commuting.  I forgot how much I enjoy driving in a car listening to good music.  I found my iPod which survived the move.  I honestly don't know how this thing is still ticking.  It's an original 4G iPod.  Which means it's all black and white baby....  But it keeps working and it has a TON of songs on there.  I've had it for almost 8 years, is that a record for iPods?

Every time I head to Lincoln, I curse myself silently for forgetting my camera.  The view on the drive there is so awesome.  Just open sky and fields.  I pinch myself every day because I'm so lucky to be able to live where we do.  I will try and remember my camera so I can capture the view.

As you can tell, Internet is still slow going.  We have our new broadband key on its way on Monday, which should help the situation.  I'm dying to post more pictures, but our upload speed is so slow it will take me forever.

I shared a little bit of wind energy humor today on Twitter.  The wind has stopped blowing for a couple days and we were sucking battery power.  We were down to about 75% before I left for work on Wednesday.  And then the wind came!  I know people here in Nebraska always complain about the wind, but I have never been more grateful for that wind.  Our batteries went back to full and I actually got to use a few appliances that we hadn't been using.  Namely, a toaster.  I did a little happy dance yesterday morning while I was making my toast, because I was so excited.  And I used my blow dryer without feeling guilty.  It's great to have excess power!  My contribution for wind energy humor was changing the old saying of  "Make hay while the sun still shines" into "Make toast while the wind still blows". 

We are slowing getting into a routine around here, which is great.  Our lives have been a little chaotic since the move and we've been struggling to get back on track.  Cows are all great, no calves yet.  Chickens and turkeys will be coming next month.  Jon is trying to talk me into adding some more animals, but I'm not so sure.  Bear with me people and I promise more pictures of the farm will be coming next week!

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Sunset

Sometimes it's good to stop and remember why you're doing what you're doing...for us that was sitting down to enjoy the sunset.  One of the major reasons I wanted to move to the country was because I couldn't see the sky in town and I missed it. 

And guess who the happiest dog in the world is right now?  Max!  He always has to find the biggest sticks to drag around and he's so happy when he's doing it, his tail is curled all the way around.

Still slow going with the internet.  Our mobile broadband is not working out as we had planned.  It's hard to make that transition from Turbo speed internet to slooooowwww internet.

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Things I've learned from this weekend...

1.  Moving sucks...

2.  There is a learning curve with dogs and electric fence.  Just when you think he's got it figured out...he goes and gets himself shocked again.  At one point, he was laying in the pond and then got shocked.  I'm sure you can figure out what happened next.  He actually ran all the way back to the farm as fast as he could.

3.  After simultaneously giggling and feeling sorry for the dog that keeps getting shocked, I proceed to hit my head FIVE times in the grainary building.  Let me repeat that...FIVE times..and this was in one day.  At one point I took to walking with my hands out in front of me like I was blind which helped and then I would forget and smack my head AGAIN.  Lesson learned, don't wear a baseball hat and work in places that have low doorways.

4.  Who needs TV when you can catch flies with a fly strip?  Waiting patiently for them to crawl far enough for you to stick them with the fly strip will pass the time.

5.  The above mentioned flies will sound like a motorboat when trying to escape the fly strip, perfect for sleeping and trying to concentrate at the computer.

(no pic today, can't find the other computer cord to hook up the desktop!)

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We're still alive...barely...

Moving sucks.  Enough said. 

Especially when the house you are moving into has no heat or running water.  Thankfully we got the heat running last week and my brilliant husband took out all the old PVC plumbing and replaced it with PEX.  We are still having issues with water pressure, but we think it's because of the faucets that are gunked up.  My husband is so awesome because he was able to replumb the house without ever having using PEX before and it works!

We are still moving out the old owners stuff and killing flies.  I almost screamed at the top of my lungs when I walked in to the bedroom yesterday.  You know those scary movies where there are so many flies they look like they could engulf you?  That's how our bedroom looked, no joke.  My husband says I have a tendancy for drama but there are so many flies!

I'll leave you with a little pic of my buddy.  It's not the most technically perfect picture ever, but it just reminds me of such a sweet moment...Max waiting for his dad to come home.

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It's okay...

It's okay...
...That I would rather not be packing right now.

It's okay...
...that I'm going to miss my nice fridge and dishwasher.

It's okay...
...that I am sooo excited to move to the farm, but not as excited for someone to rent out my house.

It's okay...
...that I'm going to miss my three bathrooms.

It's okay....
...that I'm not going to miss cleaning all three of those bathrooms.

It's okay...
...that I'm not going to miss cleaning that stainless steel, it sure is pretty, but what a pain to have to clean all the time.

It's okay...
...that I'm going to miss the convenience of flipping a light switch and never having to worry about where my power comes from.

It's okay...
...to miss the convenience of living in a city.

It's okay...
...to miss my nice backyard that I worked so hard on last year.

It's okay...
...to miss my hydrangeas that I planted two years ago that were just starting to get big.

It's okay...
...to miss my nice tile shower...especially since the farmhouse doesn't have running water right now.

It's okay...
...because this farm adventure is going to be OH SO much fun!  Can't wait!  ( I mean...as soon as that running water problem gets fixed...)

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It's moving week...and it's snowing..again..

Our new best friend

Thank God for 4-wheelers!   I know many farmers and ranchers have done perfectly fine without 4-wheelers for years, but man are they handy.  Especially for two people who are already short on time as it is.  I originally didn't want one because I thought we both could use it as a way to exercise.  I think I've gotten plenty of exercise this week, especially with stringing 10,000 feet of hi-tensile wire.  One word of advice: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have a spinning Jenny when unrolling hi-tensile wire unless you are a glutton for punishment.  Ask us how we know this one...

And some more cattle pictures:

Range cubes are handy for making friends with cattle.

A little nervous at first.

This cow has it figured out..range cubes = yummy!

Hey # 25

Our 2 year old bull.  Definitely need to put some pounds on.

Such a pretty coloration on this cow.

Jon was taking these pictures last week when I was sick, so I never got to experience how cows react to range cubes.  We had a cow that got out yesterday and all it took was me walking to the corner with rattling a bucket of range cubes for them to come running.  And I mean running...it's a little intimidating for a big pregnant cow with horns to come running at you.  I definitely had an escape plan figured out in case she didn't stop. 

As I said, it's moving week.  And it's snowing...again...will it ever stop...  Hopefully the snow will all be melted by the time we move on Thursday.  I will keep my fingers crossed and double crossed.

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A few cow pictures to tide you over...

Naughty rogue heifers...

Naughty rogue heifer #1

Naughty rogue heifer #2

One of my favorite cows, she looks like a Belted Galloway, but she's not.  Poor girl, she's getting pretty big.

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And it just gets better...

One of these pills is for the dog and one is for me!  I can hardly tell the difference...they are both antibiotics.

First the dog, he had a blood draw yesterday, which I heard went stunningly well.  Not.  Jon said as soon as Max walked in, he knew where he was and he was not happy about it.  Apparently it took several people to hold him down and one lady got hit in the head by him.  We won't hear the test results until Friday and he is now on a hypoallergenic food trial for the next three weeks. 

Now, as to why I'm on antibiotics.  I ended up in the ER of a local hospital Monday night with pyelonephritis.  I have NEVER had those kind of symptoms before.  I knew I wasn't feeling right, but I figured at worse it was Influenza or maybe Pneumonia.  I was walking to check cows and break water when I kept feeling like I was going to pass out.  I had a hard time catching my breath and my chest hurt.  I chalked it up to running around on Saturday night in the cold air and snow. 

I kept feeling really weird, like everything was very distant.  The sky seemed to be a funny color and I kept thinking I was going to start spouting out nonsense.  I finally told Jon about it and he told me to sit down.  That didn't help at all, I think it made me realize that something was wrong.  I told Jon that I should probably go to the clinic and we started to pack up.  Our neighbor was bringing over some bales of hay for the cattle and he stopped to say hey.  I realized that something was very wrong when I couldn't comprehend anything that he was saying.  His lips were moving, but I couldn't understand the worlds coming out of his mouth.  I had a hard time getting in the truck because my legs felt so heavy. 

At this point, Jon realized that I needed to go to the ER and NOW!  On the way there, I kept thinking how everything looked sooo funny and how my hands were so heavy.  I could tell Jon was worried about me, but I was kinda lost in my delusions.  When we got there, I couldn't even help them take off my hat and coat.  They quickly got some labs drawn and an IV started.  I was starting to get scared because I felt very confused and at one point I was actually saying words that didn't make sense.  That scared me even more because I KNEW that I was saying nonsense, but I couldn't help it.  My chest kept hurting and I felt nauseous, so they did a head CT.  Everything was coming back normal, except a UA which showed bacteria and ketones in my urine.  I also had chills and body aches and my teeth were chattering so hard I thought they might fall out of my head.

As the fluids ran in, I could feel myself coming back.  Things started to make sense and I could think a little clearer.  Apparently I was very dehydrated, because when they tried to get an IV it took them three tries, because my veins were blowing.  This taught me a very good lesson.

1.  Drink lots and lots of water when working outside.
2.  Drink more water.
3.  More water.
4. And a little bit more, just to be on the safe side.

And I need to take good care of myself.  We obviously did not get a lot of sleep over the weekend, which I think contributed to this problem.  I can't do it all and I need to make sure I'm in good health to help Jon with the farm.  I stupidly tried to go to work yesterday and I knew that was a bad idea as soon as I got there.  My body felt like it was on fire, I was so hot.  So, I went home and slept the rest of the day and started to feel better about 5:00pm.  I'm much better today, except I also have another stinking cold.  And I promise that pictures of the cattle are coming very soon!

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