Topic Troubles

I was thinking just yesterday I needed a new post topic. Unfortunately one came to me unexpectedly. My farmer came home with the news that one of our bulls is down with a broken leg. This is not totally uncommon, we had another break a leg a few years ago. At that time the bull was able to get up and walk and we were able to take him to the locker and have hamburger made. This most recent tragedy befalling our bull is not as lucky. My husband and father in law could not get him to stand, and in his own trials of trying to get up, he fell into the dry creek bed. 

This is hard on multiple levels. Number one is we don't want our animal to suffer unduly. Number two it is and unfortunate waste of meat/life. State law is if an animal can not enter a facility on their own feet it is illegal to butcher them. That means there fore we will have to put the animal down and bury the meat that will waste. Of course some wild animals will feed, however it's hard to swallow feeding $2000.00 of bull, of meat to the predators we try to protect our cows from. The third issue is that now we will have to purchase a new bull that is suitable to breed with our heifers. Heifers are first time mothers, only a few years old. When breeding a heifer we want to breed them with a bull who has low calf birth weights. This will hopefully help to ensure easy calving the first time around. 

It is a sad day to see an animal suffer for no sense or purpose. To make it worse it has turned cold again, and we are only one week from official calving season's start. This will be the

 beginning of a busy month!!

Snow day!

Just around 7 inches of snow fell almost 2  weeks ago, with another 2 falling a few days later. Along with the snow came bitter cold!

Pardon the hole in the snow on the table, it was a quick set solution for jello :)

 We all were starting to have some serious cabin fever! E has finally learned to say "snow" it sounds more like "NOOOO" but we know what she means. She had been asking to go in the snow for days when it finally warmed up just enough to go out for awhile. This is how much she enjoyed it or or not....

Upset that she cant move

 Mommy saves the day and carried her to the swing which led to a much happier little girl.

We couldn't stay out long as the wind chill was still in the teens. So, after borrowing this idea from one of my old high school classmates, we brought snow inside! My friend placed a lot of snow in their bath tub and let her little girl go to town. I chose a smaller route, not knowing how well E would play with it. 

Yikes! Only see the cute baby, pretend you don't see the dirty floor! (Does your husband "forget" to take his dirty shoes off too?)

Always got to have a tractor! (Wait didn't I have a little girly girl?)

She played pretty good for a little while. She just wasn't quite sure what she should do with it all. It was good for 20 mins of toddler entertainment, which is success in my book!

Calving Season Begins!

Calving season has started on the McNeal Family Farms. Our first calf was born most likely in the evening of Valentines day. I must admit this is about 2 weeks earlier than usual, however we breed our cows with our own bulls, so to know down to the very day is hard. The first little guy (or gal) was born with out fanfare. In fact, he (she) has such a good Momma, we haven't gotten close enough to see just yet. Soon however (hopefully before a dozen others are born) my farmer or father in law with catch the little one and tag him (her) to match his Momma. 

Here is a picture of twin calves with their Momma from last spring. You can see the ear tags as well.

We use etchable ear tags, as well as plain ones that we write on with a permanent marker type. Placing the ear tags is the same as getting one's ears pierced. It hurts the calves no worse than it does a baby whose mom has its ears pierced. We use the tags to match calf to cow to prevent mix ups. Once there are 80+ calves frolicking around its difficult to tell who belongs with whom. 

I enjoy calving season. It is a joy to see new life born daily and grow and play. However, we always keep in mind these cattle are not all pets. Each calf that is born is a member of our farm, and is there to contribute as such, just as we contribute to it as well. Some of the heifers we save back and add to the heard to help replace older cows, as well as saving back a bull at times. Most of our calves will be weaned this fall and sold at the sale barn, where feed lots buy, or other ranchers buy who wish to enlarge their own herds. We work hard to keep them healthy, happy and as stress free as we can while they are on our farm. We respect our animals.

I hear many horror stories that are being told through social media, television, and all over the internet that all farms are bad. That farmers are out for money alone and care nothing for our animals. This simply is just not true.  In fact, I'll share the story of Midnight. Midnight is a 1400lb cow. She was my husband's show heifer when he was a child. To this day, she allows the grand kids to sit on her back. She likes to sneak up behind you and lean on you until your give her a good scratch. She is stubborn and demanding, but we still care for her. I ask this if an animal is abused, or neglected do they hold affection for the one who has inflicted this on them? I think not. Our animals trust us because we respect them and their role on the farm. We do not take lightly the fact that many times our animals sacrifice their lives to feed not only us, but our neighbors, our families, and people all around the world. We take pride in the care we give our animals. We hurt too when they suffer, we farmers are the ones up every two hours during calving season to check on the cows to make sure they are safe and not having trouble dropping their calf. We bring their calves in from the blizzard and let them rest in the warmth of blankets in the mud room of our very homes. We spend 3 hours a day hauling hay to feed them in the winter. We pay for the 3000+ gallons of water that is hauled to provide for them now that wells are dry. We sacrifice daily to provide for the good of the animals, crops, and for the consumers. Many people do not understand that if we did not sacrifice buying a new car we would not have the ability to move hay for our cattle. If  we did not sacrifice the time spent with family a calf may lose it's life to hypothermia in a snow storm. If we did not sacrifice our sleep a first time mother may die in agony having her calf if we did not help her. If we did not sacrifice a yearly summer vacation there would be no wheat harvested that us used in the food you eat. That if we did not sacrifice birthday parties the soybeans may not be sown, the ones that make up some of the plastics of the containers that are in your cabinets.

Wheat harvest on our home place.

I plead only this. Share with your families and friends. Encourage them to see all sides of a story. Read the book, don't just look at the cover. You may be surprised at what you find is really true. 

Play Dough

If you mommies out there are having days with your toddler like this:

Yes, that is my child pulling stuffing out of the pillows!

With attitudes such as:

Being proud of her naughtiness

Then I have a solution for you! Ok, maybe not a one fits all, gonna work every time, for everyone kind of solution. But hey, worth a try?!

After this little bout of orneriness E and I whipped up a batch of home made play dough. I didn't make the edible kind per say, but if little one chooses to take a taste this recipe is not gonna poison them. The recipe I used is one my momma made for me when I was a little girl.

        2 cups flour ( I used APF, but I'm sure you could sub whole wheat, or whatever you have on hand)

        1/2 cup Salt ( I used Kosher)

        1 TBLSP Oil ( I used Canola)

         2 tsp Cream of Tartar 

         2 Cups Water ( I used the faucet kind ;) )

        Food coloring as desired

Alrighty, I combined all these right in the saucepan and whisked it together, trying to get the lumps out. Next time I will do it right and add the flour mix a little at a time, but hey when your in a hurry.....Cook all this mix over medium low heat until all the water has cooked out. Add your food coloring if you choose before the dough ball starts to form. The dough will be stiff and pulling away from the edge of the pan. (See my empty pan below).

Wouldn't you know I forgot to take pictures during the process!

 After it has thickened throw it on a lightly floured counter and knead until smooth and no longer sticky. As in it should not stick to the counter top or your hands. BE CAREFUL the dough will be HOT to start with. 

This is what mine looked like when it was ready

After it is ready and COOLED let the good times begin!

Please take note of the pink, striped overalls and tractor! She's my farm girl :)

E had so much fun with this play dough, she has asked for it multiple times since we made it! I'll admit it, she even had a little taste, and was NOT impressed :)

** Disclaimer: Occasionally my child does wear matching, coordinated clothing, unfortunately in the above photos this did not occur...MY EXCUSE: we are potty training ( Need I say more??)

Baby it's Cold Outside

We have been subjected to cold, cold, cold weather the past few days. Today, the windchill was -18. Now, I know that in the far northern states this is not cold. However, I am a cold-hater and it is COLD!

Along with the cold we have SNOW (yay) this is the only good thing that comes from the cold in my opinion. Snow makes the whole world feel look clean, fresh, and new. I love that about snow. There is a down side to every good thing it seems, and that is the fact that our energetic, rambunctious 18 month old LOVES to play outside. She would stay out there for EVER if I allowed it. But her fun has been put on hold to the the below zero temps and snow that is as deep as half her height. So, what is a Mommy to do on a freezing cold day when the wind is blowing, and the snow is flying? Turn to pinterest of course! I have a board of pins for a "rainy day" or "snowy day" or "extra, really whiny day" if ya know what I mean.

Yesterday was a combo, snowy and an extra, really whiny day. I love E, and she is so sharp, and knows so many words....just not enough. Mommy can only listen to so many "uhnnn, uhhh, uhhh" grunts referring to one or one hundred different things, that she knows very well she is not supposed to have. Thanks to Pinterest our afternoon was saved! I had found this link for a recipe on homemade finger paints! These paints are all made with ingredients in my kitchen, and I was not afraid to let E use just in case she decided to lick it off her fingers. Which would be no surprise if she did. (Now I know they have artificial food coloring, and it is recently more widely thought that these are bad for the health and a cause for behavior problems. I personally have not done a lot of research on this. E did not end up eating any, so no worries there. But if she had I figure that was better than eating actual PAINT chemicals!)

These paints were easy to whip up.  The mix thickens up quire a lot, and I chose to thin it down some more just for ease of use for E. The original post clarifies all of that. Over all we were VERY happy.E wanted to use the paint brush because she does NOT like to have gunky hands. Where she gets this from, I have NO idea! I plan to thin the paints out even more as it turned out goopy on the papers. The activity kept E entertained for a good QUIET 15-20 mins. That is a feat! Mommy got the dishes done in peace, another feat!

Here are the paints in containers. 

So for you mommies out there, try it, totally worth the 10 mins it takes to whip up. E gave one picture to MeMa (she was so excited to show it to her!) and we have one on the fridge, and several that are "all gone" to put in 1 1/2 year old terms! :)

So intent! Maybe she will be an artist! 

Maybe, it's too soon to tell....

It's that time of Month again...

Now, if you are a woman, or someone married to a woman, I know what your thinking! But don't be alarmed, there will not be any "too much information", or biology ed here!

I am talking grocery time! If you are not familiar with what it is like to live 1 to 1 1/2 hours from a Walmart, Sams Club, Target, Dillions, or what have you, then let me explain. EVERY trip is a BIG deal. We live in rural Kansas, we don't get to the "big city" all that often. Therefore, we have settled on a once a month shopping trip. It's what works best for us.

Now, I'm not saying its perfect, or enjoyable, or easy by any means. It is stressful, draining, exhausting, and frustrating at times. Especially when you've had several comments on how full your cart is, when the cashier asks you to repeat again" You have EIGHT gallons of Milk?" Yes, eight, I buy eight gallons of milk every month. I also buy 4 pounds of butter, at least that in cheese, and 48 eggs. How about that!

Now I know a lot of folks think Walmart and the "big chains" are bad and we should all avoid giving them our business, because they are running the small guy out. And I agree with that, I wish I could shop locally. I want to support the local grocer. However, the difference in buying milk for $1.99 vs. almost $6? Big chain is gonna win every time.  Now some would say, you should sacrifice something else you don't need to make it fit the budget. For us, we already have done that. I don't buy my husband his favorite potato chips because I buy our daughter fresh fruit. I only buy two cartons of the deliriously delicious caramel macchiato creamer so that I can buy toothpaste, or mouthwash. It's hard to be the person in the middle, and unfortunately the middle class is growing, quickly. Which means the big guys are gonna rake in the dough.

Wow, that was a tangent, a real rant if you will. My thoughts lead to this.

• What do you do to stay in budget? 
• What do you sacrifice to make the cut?
• How many DIYers do we have out there who do it to make the dough stretch a little farther?
• Anyone else shop by the month? Share some tips with us if you do!! (I'm always eager to find and easier way to complete this task!)

Personally, I have resorted back to the ol' colored sharpies on notebook paper for our grocery list. (This is master copy though) I keep a white board on the fridge for easy access when I use the last of something, it's right there for me to write it down. The on the eve of the "big day" I sit down and copy all the items from the white board on to paper. I color code into sections. (ie. Dry goods, Cold, Misc, Health and beauty, baby, etc.) This makes for easy reference at the store, things are separated enough that I can find them easily. I also go through all my coupons, and mark each item on the list with a star if I have an associated coupon. For additional savings, I hop on the computer to one of the great coupon websites and print any that coincide with my list.

That is the easy part. On to lessons when shopping with a toddler. It is absolutely necessary to rush immediately to the chip aisle and pick up one bag of cheddar puff corn. ( If your lucky you will make it out of the store with a) some puffs still in the bag and b) not covered in orange powder.) the purpose of the puff corn you ask? Why to bribe your whiny, a hem angelic baby into sweet behavior for the following 2 to 2 1/2 hours. ( And yes you read right, TWO or more hours) I can't remember the last time we made it out in under 2 hours and without multiple carts. I digress, now I shop in shifts. First, dry goods, non perishables, etc. This will most likely take the longest at around 1 1/2. When I've collected all on my list I hop up to the check out spend what seems like and ungodly amount of money and jaunt out to the car and unload. (all while trying to remember to hand the appropriate coupons, remind the cashier of the items on the bottom of the cart and cajoling your now screaming toddler that she can have her puffs back as soon as the nice, however annoyed looking, lady rings it up.)

Second shift is cold items. This takes a little less time to pick up all the items as for one you don't have to run from one end of the store to the other and back again, you already have the cheese puffs :). This time however you are explaining constantly that no, it is not time to go home, and no daddy is not here with us. When all the items are gathered, I run through check out again, praise God I made it under budget and head outta there.

Using coupons I probably save somewhere between $8-12 each trip. Of course sometimes more, and sometimes less. I just remind myself that even the small amounts help!

I'm tired now just thinking about the next grocery trip! Time to snuggle in with a good book and forget the worries!

Note: This picture has nothing to do with groceries....I just think this kid is adorable.
Worth every whine and minutes lost to grandma's in the store fawning over her!