I got 'em, Grandma!

Sometimes working with a 3 year old restores your outlook.  This morning when I came home from working in the barn for some 5 hours I wondered what in the world I had gotten myself into.  And the work wasn't done.  We still had to sort cattle.  Logan helped.  Only when it got to the nitty gritty,he had to hide behind the boarded fence so they wouldn't see him and get scared.  And there he patiently waited for us to complete the task.  Which only took about 20 minutes in comparison to the long hour it took us the first time.  We are getting better at this farming stuff.

Logan and I were excused from the job while Henry and Dave finished off some moving around of some cows and heifers that are due to calve in the next few weeks.  We headed to the house.  And we worked at putting some legs on a small plastic kids table.  Logan is eager to help with 'stuff boys can do' and he doesn't at all complain that grandma is helping him.  When he commented that it was getting so sunny, I told him to put his sunglasses on.  Blank stare.  "Hmmmm" says I, "did you leave them somewhere.  Behind that fence maybe?"  "Nope." came the firm reply.  "Where did you leave them then?"  "On the rope!" replies the sure 3 year old.  I suggested that we go and get them when I finished tightening all the screws but he said he could do it all by himself.  And he did!!

"I got 'em, Grandma!"

It was while I was working with this fellow that I was reminded that these grueling mornings (sometimes days) are all worth it because of him.  He was glad to work, happy to explore the growing garden plants and confident enough to run back to the pens and get his own sunglasses.  Someday, he will milk cows too!

A Rich Heritage

Many people who were born and raised in this area have a very rich heritage.  The area was settled by many Russian immigrants who left everything so they could begin again in a new country.  The town of Grunthal was settled in 1876 by Russian Mennonites who fled their country because of persecution and in search of religious freedom.  We will enjoy learning more and will build a new section of library to help educate us about the history of our new area.

Henry and I have a rich heritage as well.  Our parents immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in search of opportunity.  This was 'way back' in the 50s when both sets of parents were barely out of their teen years themselves.  And they settled into farming communities and they worked HARD.  It is my guess that our definition of 'hard work' is not the same as the one they hold and remember from experience.  The stories I hear about the labour they put in to make a profit, to buy a farm and to keep it going are amazing. 

Want to help with haying anyone?   This is Ev's Opa and Dad in the 50s.

Henry's mom worked harder than any woman I know.  She was not just the farmer's wife, she was also the farmer.  Dad had to work out for some time to ensure an extra income for the farm and mom did a lot of milking then.  Without machines.  How many cows can you milk by hand?  It is more than my mind can handle.  And dad, yah, he worked hard too.  Just because he had a job off the farm did not mean he didn't also farm.  The hours he put in everyday were more than just from sun-up to sun-down. 

This all is a very rich blessing to us.  They taught us the importance of hard work and counting every penny twice before spending it.  (Farm Credit continues on with that training today!)  They bred right into Henry a love for dairy cattle that will be part of him until he leaves this earth - and beyond, Lord willing!

If that were not enough, this richness that is ours because of sacrifices our parents made, we have more reasons to be thankful.  In each home we were taught about the love of God and both of us have taken hold of this and accepted Christ as our Lord.  That is a gift that makes life worth living and writing about!

I don't have a photo of Dad and Mom Stam working but I have this photo that proves that a real faith and hard work lead to smiles and lives that are worth much more than any earthly treasure. 

The WILD West

It's hard to believe that we are in the middle of rodeo country. We see horses everywhere and lots of cattle too. And rodeos are the norm at every fair around. This weekend was the Grunthal High School Rodeo and we went to check it out. I didn't get photos of the kids who participated in the gymkhana or the barrel racing but I got a few others that are sure proof that we are indeed in rodeo land.

Roping...


bull riding...




and the little ones sit and watch their brothers and sisters with admiration!

I can see more of this type of event in our future here.  The girls are very eager to begin.  I guess we should buy some horses?!

A long, wonderful weekend

When sisters get together, what do they do? 



What a great time these girls had together.  And what a bonus for us to have had Hannah and Warren join us for a couple of days.  As Henry said this morning, "Warren can fix anything!" and there is lots to fix at this place!  We kept him very busy.  Warren has one weakness - when you ask him for advice on how to do something, he kindly tells you what needs to be done and then HE DOES IT!  I guess that is a strength/weakness and we sure appreciated his talent.  Hannah and Warren also brought us garden plants - tomatoes, watermelon, squash, pumpkin and something else I can't remember the name of, as well as a few house plants.  Wow, that garden is getting pretty full.  Of course it doesn't look full but once everything grows - then it will be full.

Another exciting thing about this weekend was that we were able to take in some time at the rodeo...but that is for another post!

11 years ago today

11 years ago today a little girl was in an orphanage in VietNam and we didn't have a clue about her.  But God saw to fit that little one into our family and we have truly been delighted with her almost 11 years with us.  She came home to us on December 8 when she was about 6 1/2 months old.  What a blessing she is to us!
We celebrated with a pancake breakfast this morning with Dave, Kristin and kids and will have a special cake this afternoon when Hannah and Warren are here.  Joys of special days.

It was easy for the guys to sit and take time to enjoy this birthday breakfast because the last of the corn was finally planted yesterday and then....it rained last night.  Oh those are blessings from above!

Out Standing

There is a saying that 'a farmer is out standing in his field' and that holds some truth.  But most farmers don't stand for long and this farmer has more to do than check his fields, although he does that too.

Our phone rings a fair bit.  And 80% of the time it is Henry the caller wants to talk to.  Strange.  The other 20 percent is Kristin calling me to check which kids are where and what are we up to, or one of the other kids calling to check in on us!  This farmer sits here in his outdoor office and he doesn't particularly like it that I came out to snap his photo.  He's finding it difficult to have a serious conversation with this gentleman who is offering to come out and show the farmer man what could be done with some of his barns.

This is the farmer that I love!

Yuck

We have all decided that we really don't like ticks.  This very innocent looking creature called a wood tick isn't all that sweet.  Actually, quite nasty.  They like to find a warm spot on a person and burrow their head right under the skin where they like to sit and enjoy a dinner.  Apparently if you don't notice it right away you don't have to panic.  You will notice it in a day or two when it's body just puffs up nice and huge from all of it's dinner.  Makes me ill just thinking of it.  Thus far we have found them on the youngest three grandkids, Dayna has found one crawling on her and Dave has had one too.  They are not easy to remove.  Coal has has one too and I am surprised we haven't found more on him - not for lack of trying!  I really don't want to encounter a tick any bigger than this!

That's him (or her) sitting on a piece of 3 holed lined paper - just so you know how big (little really) he is.

Barn post request

Guys like to know about barns, equipment and stuff.  Not house stuff or even the yard.  That's all very essential but there just isn't a 'need to know' about that kind of thing.  So this post is for some of the guys who 'need to know' about the 'real' stuff.  Not that the other stuff isn't real...you get the idea!

Today is devoted to the barn.  Maybe equipment tomorrow or next week.  We have special company coming this weekend so I won't have time to think about blogging.  And just the fact that I am able to do this here and there - it means that I am enjoying life with my head above calmer waters.  A couple weeks ago...yikes was it rough and busy.  I never thought I would say this but I am thankful for cell phones.  I think Henry and I talk more on the phone than at home.  We really do have to start milking together sometime!

Across from our lovely little house - out the front door which is really the back door. Let me explain that before I go any farther.  This dear little bungalow is a very normal bungalow except that you enter the garage from the back of the house - which makes sense since there is no driveway coming to the front of the house.  Which also means that when you come over to visit, if you wanted to enter the front door you would have to walk around the house to find it.  We have used it seldom.  Any visitors have all used our back door.  And don't they say that 'back door guests are best'?  I will stick with that. 

Back to the barn.  Here is the view that you have when you come up the driveway.  Just beyond the 4-wheeler is the driveway to our house.  The office and milkhouse are in the section just to the left of the little white door and the milking parlour is in the hiproof section. 

In the parlour at milking time you will see many cows and also some people milking - this is Corni, one of our regular milkers hard at work. 

It's kind of hard to see the cows since all you get to see is the lower backside where we milk them between the back legs!  It's all new to me.

These girls are all waiting their turn to be milked.

Storage for feed -next 3 photos.  Please don't ask what's in them.

The next storage unit is one the cows fill up and we work to empty.  The ones above, we work to fill and they empty!!

Inside the barn - we don't have a manger that the guys drive into to unload the feed but we have a conveyor that the feed goes onto and gets dropped down into the manger.  The guys then use a skidsteer to push up the feed every couple hours.  Here you can see Henry and Dave discussing something feed-related while the conveyor finishes delivering the ration for the cows to eat.

Here is a view of the back of the barn where you can see Dave is unloading the feed.  Also notice the fans - this is how they ventilate the barns here in Manitoba as the winter makes it too cold to have side curtains.  So far it has been very nice in the barn.

Heifer facilites.  First photo is of the heifers and the dry cows.  Next is of the heifers of breeding age or a bit younger and then a pen of younger heifers. 



a little dark but a large field with small shelter and several feeders - and lots of cows. I will try another photo of this sometime in more daylight hours - this is early morning!



All the younger heifers and calves are in the main barn.  Right now we don't have too many of these which makes it simpler for me to get a handle on feed and care.

That's enough for a day don't you think?  What else do you want to see?

An amazing treasure

We have this wonderful little bakery right 'downtown' Grunthal! In a town with a population of just over 1000 this is a gem!  When I go into town to get the mail, get my Manitoba driver's licence or grab the groceries on sale at the grocery store I always stop in to buy a couple loaves of bread.

Can you read that sign?  Here it is again on the street side advertising...

That's right, everyday they sell wonderful large loaves of breadfor 88 cents.  Yummy bread.  We usually buy their whole wheat loaves but I have picked up a white one a couple times too.  With the guys busy trying to plant some 400 acres of corn and also spreading some lovely smelling hog manure for a neighbor it is easy for me to make up a bunch of sandwiches for them to eat.  That means loaves go very fast.  But apparently there are more people who buy the bread at the Grunthal bakery because the shelves are always full. 


When you drop in for a visit we will be sure to serve you a slice of this delicious bread!

I am missing my....

Clothesline!!

This kind of sucks.

Oh the advantage of a line that goes from the 'laundry stand' to a post out in the yard.  The kind where one stands in the same spot and pins clothes to the line and then the line is moved out!  I promise to never whine about hanging laundry out because this is just the very best way to dry clothes BUT I am going to have to do some figuring because this just isn't cutting it!

In a sea of yellow

There was time today for me to work in the garden on the property.  It's a small patch - especially if we are going to share this one.  This year we are planting lots of freezer stuff - corn, beans, carrots, peas, pickling cukes - and buy some of the other stuff like potatoes, onions, salads.  There is a garden over at Kristin's that we might try to get cleaned out and let the kids have at it - pumpkins, flowers, watermelon...kid lovin' stuff!  Next year....dreaming already of doubling the patch and planting more.  One blessing is the rhubarb patch here.  We couldn't take some of our treasures along that Janet Hegde had blessed me with in Gadshill.  My consolation - I have rhubarb here and I gave Laura one of Janet's plants to put in her garden in Stratford!

Driving around the blocks here I have noticed that a lot of gardens have wire around them. Hmmm. Do you think our dog, Coal will be enough of a deterent for garden pests? We will keep a close eye on things when they start sprouting.

I got a good start on things and I have to say it's a pretty garden! Don't you agree?

Never before have I had such sweet row markers but I found these in the pile of stuff we brought along.  Haven't told Henry about them yet - hopefully I am ok to use them for awhile and it doesn't matter that I wrote on them either!
 
And just above that sea of yellow around my garden patch are two large, lovely fruit trees!  Hoping they yield something very sweet! 
 
It's been a day full of wonderful blessings!
 
 

Going back to go forward

I am heading back in time to our last days in Ontario so you can 'move with us' to the prairie land of Manitoba.

April 26 saw the huge transport truck from Oneida Movers pull into our Gadshill driveway before Kierra and Dayna got on the bus in the morning.  We have moved several times 'on our own' with lots of volunteer muscle power but I would not say I am sorry to have experienced this move with an established moving company.  These guys were great!  They loaded our home in the morning and moved over to Dave and Kristin's house and they were gone before 5.  Wow.  Everything was carried and packed with great care.  So amazing for someone who hasn't had the privilege of moving this way before!

We spent a night on the floor in our empty house and rose bright and early - 4:45 and got moving.  At 5:15 our travelling companions, Mark and Laura arrived and we had the U-haul packed and our dog, Coal settled into the back of our truck.  Off we go to Manitoba!!

Our first day of driving was long with stops for food, bathroom breaks and dog-walking!  But we drove and drove and made it right to Nipigon - about 1 hour east of ThunderBay!  It was great to stop and rest for a number of hours. 

The second day was simple and we pulled into the Days Inn in Steinbach, MB at about 3:30pm and it wasn't long before we piled into our rooms and then the pool.  We enjoyed several wonderful days at this place before we headed to the farm on May 1st.  

You can tell that we enjoyed that time immensely!  We loved the chance to 'take a break' before the beginning of a new life filled with farm work.  Dave and Kristin came and joined us on Sunday afternoon - a full day earlier than they had expected.  And they enjoyed the pool and hot tub too!

The post started with the movers pulling into our lane in Gadshill - here they are again in Dave and Kristin's driveway in Grunthal.

And one last photo for today - the placement of the big, HEAVY but beautiful piano hauled across Ontario and right into the farm house in Grunthal, Manitoba.  Well, with lots of figuring how to get it through a narrow hall and around a corner.  But they did it!

We thank God for the safety of the trip, the move and for amazing people like Cory who owns and runs Oneida Movers.

Rehoboth Farms - a new beginning - again!

We are on day 9 here at Rehoboth Farms and you may see some tired farmers walking around here but they are happy ones!  We are slowly getting the hang of this new venture along with all the equipment, quirks and quarks.  As Dave said this afternoon to a salesman who dropped in 'we are kind of lurching along,' starting one thing and getting somewhere but being distracted and doing something else before we finish the first thing.  It is quite the process.  But we have over 1/4 of the corn in already and all the hay is seeded that needed to be planted.  Another 280 acres or so to go!  That's huge for these farmers who have never had to farm this much land and when they did farm they had custom operators come in and do the field work for them.  Here we go on a huge learning curve with BIG green equipment.





The entry to our driveway from Road 30 North near Grunthal, Manitoba.  The sign says Holme Holsteins but we do hope that one day it will read REHOBOTH FARMS!

The view of the roadside - the driveway is just ahead.  Dave and Kristin's driveway is beyond that a bit.  Our house is just to the right - behind these majestic spruce trees.

I turned around and snapped another shot - the front of the farm with more beautiful evergreens.  They are very effective in stopping some of the dust from the ever present wind.

Keep driving up the drive, swing right and keep right and you will see our house!  This is the new abode we call home.  You are looking at our back entrance but I call this our front yard...more on that another time!  Behind me is the dairy barn.

A view of our house from the northwest.  The window is in the dining room where we gather for meals on occasion.  These days we seem to be eating out in the field or on the run to some location or another!


That's it for today's post.  There will be updates and lots of photos for us to share with you.  Kierra and Dayna are doing well on the computer too so I may get them to do a post on occasion as well.  It's a grand journey we are on and so far we are loving it!