Dear Farmer's Morning Call

It is slightly unusual that Dear Farmer will call from the barn.
If we get a phone call, it's usually not good.
"I need help!" is most often the message.
So when the phone rang this morning, the Wife shouted-"It's Pop!"-before she even answered.  Children began scurrying and searching for shoes.  The house was in general chaos.

On the other end, this is what we heard:
"There is the cutest baby goat down here!  He's about four hours old."

A hip-hooray from the children went the cheer, and out the door they flew!
Babies are the chocolate of the job, with whipping creame and a cherry on top!  Baby Goats are nearly the most adorable thing we have ever seen.  They even rank higher than baby ducks(which are pretty darned cute as well).
And so, the children rushed down to say "good morning" to our newest member of the farm family...Peppercorn.  And a hearty congrats to his mom, Cumin.

We don't mind these phone calls from the barn ONE BIT!

"The Shoe" Report

This weekend the beginning of the building for "the Shoe"... our tiny house for the summer.
Unfortunately, this project is having to be done in a Weekend Warrior fashion.  So whatever we get weather-wise, is how we have to work.  And of course, this weekend was rain...and rain...and rain.
So much of the building was done inside the barn, and then pulled out for assembly.
Dear Farmer always impresses the Wife when he just cuts and builds a building.  No plans laid out.  They are all in his head.
So we left the project for this week...with a deck and walls.  Anxious and waiting for the finishing of the shell in the next weekend.

The Repair from the Deer

Dear Farmer hit a deer.  The first deer he's EVER hit in his entire life...either as a passenger, or as a driver.
Unfortunately, he hit the deer with the van that we tow everything with.  Our first van.  Our "Love Bus"(as the children have known her).

Good news:
A 2000 Chevy Express that hits a deer will only sustain minor dents on the outside.
The parts to repair cost less than you think they might.
The parts to repair are almost all available at your local auto-supply store.

Bad news:
There are three parts that are most likely to be damaged in a "head on" hit with a deer...they are all necessary.
You have to order all your lenses for the turn signals directly from GM if you want new ones(cough, cough, sputter)
Dear Farmer is plenty busy and doesn't have time to fix a van right now!!!
We need that van to haul all the material we've been gathering on sale for our tiny houses!!!

So, Dear Farmer and the Nordic Ninja are outside, on a cold (35 F) night working by flood lights to repair the van. They have assembled all the pieces (they think), and though neither of them are mechanics...they are going for it! Dear Farmer turned into a pumpkin a half hour ago, and the Nordic Ninja worked a ten hour day with only one fifteen minute break, they are bone tired...and determined.

Moral of the Story: never hit a deer

Doorknobs and Broomsticks

Currently we own five brooms and three dustpans, inside the house.  Then there's the two outdoor brooms. No outdoor dustpans.  Of our five brooms one broomstick is broken at the perfect height for a three-foot tall person to sweep with (which we have one of) and another broomstick is broken at a perfect height for a four-foot tall person to sweep with (which we have one of, also).
Broomsticks and doorknobs are two things which our family uses everyday.  A lot.  Practically every time we turn around.  That is why when we purchase broomsticks and doorknobs we are very particular about quality and replacement costs.
Our front door has a doorknob on it that the previous owners did not care about either quality or replacement costs.  The door gets opened and closed at least four times every ten minutes.  The doorknob is now revolting against either use.  Sometimes it simply locks itself, as if to say to us "you crazy people! In OR out, it's not that difficult! That's it!  I'm done!"
I currently have all five brooms in use by someone somewhere on the premise. And the door is opening and sometimes shutting, but never latching.
This means one thing to me...they are all healthy!  Sick people can't run in and out every waking moment.  Sick people don't destroy doorknobs.  Sick people aren't sweeping inside and outside, and sometimes for fun.  Sick people do not use a broom so much that it bends and breaks.
What could be an annoyance, is...in my case...peace of mind.
Thank you, God, for a healthy and energetic family!
Thank you, God, for doorknobs and broomsticks!

Easy to be Distracted

It is the season that Dear Farmer and Family can be all too distracted.
There's chickens to be housed and cared for, buildings to build, the garden to plan and plant, goats hooves need to be trimmed, calf needs brushed, house needs little tweeks here and there, people to visit with, unending chores, fences to build, tractors to fix and clean, barns to clean, yard to cut....the list goes on and on....
With such a list, it's hard to "Stay On Task!"  {Perhaps that will be our theme this year...hmmmm....}
Priority given to things that must be done IMMEDIATELY!, like housing the little chicks.  And our missing 200...they came in yesterday...all 300 of them.  Someone at the chickery is having a good laugh, we think. The littlest chicks cannot fend for themselves, depending on us for their every need...
What else on the farm ranks in that same class? The smallest children.  Okay, both go on the highest priority.
Next on the list probably comes the rest of the animals, and medium size children.
And so on, and so forth...
But the list becomes hazy when the sun is shining and the birds are singing...and all Dear Farmer really wants to do is walk among the cows.  Sit in the shade and admire the beauty of creation.  Watch the children play Frisbee on a warm summer night.  These are both the reasons to keep plugging on through the work of today...and reasons to stay on task tomorrow.
Distractions can be the making of the memory...or the downfall of organization...
And so...we attempt to "Stay On Task!"
However, if you come to visit us, we'll happily be distracted!!!

Multi-tasking...

There are a lot of things Dear Farmer can do.
Multi-tasking, however, should not be one of them.
Dear Farmer has a habit of working in his head on a project, "listening" to the Wife talk, all while actually working on another project.
Surely I exaggerate, you say? No.  I am totally serious.
The fact that he does this, and does it on a very (all too) frequent basis, can fool most people into thinking that he can do it well.
The Wife concedes...usually he does do it well.
EXCEPT!  Except if it is late at night.  Late at night and driving.  Not a good combination.

Example: Dear Farmer and the Wife were out on a date.  Another "hot date" to the local farm-implement store and lumber yard.  While in these locations the Wife had opportunity to think on the present "tiny house" project we have going.  Think and think...and then release on Dear Farmer.  The conversation on the ride home was lively and funny and insightful.  And un-knowingly to the Wife...Dear Farmer was building the ideas into the plans of the "tiny house" in his head.  He was measuring lengths and angles while the Wife continued on the conversation about wash-tubs and clothes lines...
Then it happened.
As we were driving down the highway, approaching our turn-off to home...Dear Farmer didn't slow.  At all.
Not even a little. And the turn was coming up really fast!
The Wife did a little yelp ("turn.").  He didn't respond.
The Wife did a little more forceful yelp ("Turn!").  He blinked and looked around bewildered.
The Wife got all out bossy ("TURN, NOW!").
 Dear Farmer finally responded, "WHY? WHERE ARE WE?!"
"At the ROAD we LIVE DOWN!", the Wife elaborated in a rather forceful voice.
Dear Farmer yanked the steering wheel, stomped on the brake and turned (not a delicate movement by any means).
"What were you DOING?!", the Wife laid into Dear Farmer.
Sheepishly, Dear Farmer responded..."I was working on the tiny house, and driving home from Illinois on a Sunday night."
So we could either say that Dear Farmer was multi-tasking...or displaying signs of early-onslaught dimensia.  We'll go with the multi-tasking.
Dear Farmer, being his wonderful multi-tasking self, was figuring out the gutter system for the tiny houses, thinking about his upcoming commute to see us at the family garden on the Illinois farm and then returning to the Northern Farm on a Sunday evening, all while talking with the Wife on our drive home from our "hot date".
But late night, the worlds in his head, and in reality clashed...and he almost missed the turn to home.

Lots of laughter, lots of elbowing, and some good chuckles from the Farmer's Daughters, the Nordic Ninja, and the Wife.
We love our Dear Farmer...even while he's multi-tasking.

Hey! They clean up pretty well!

Permit me a proud moment of bragging...because I have good cause, not bad character...

This past weekend the Wife had the pleasure of working at the Farmer's Daughters' Prom.  The Wife had the joy of shopping for dresses with the Farmer's Daughter and the Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter.  We looked at hairstyles, accessories, shoes...lots and lots of shoes...we talked logistics of time-frames and conversations with people-we-really-like versus other-people.  It was a pleasure to spend a month of planning and seeing the results of age, maturity, and life-experience.  We had a great time.  Then came the moment of truth...the Wife left the Farmer's Daughters with the beautician and went to the Prom location for set up and preparation.  Having already been briefed by the Haus Frau Farmer's Daughter on good photography-know-how(the Wife was the photographer #2 for the event)...the Wife was off and running!
It was between the pictures of the appetizer table and drink fountain table that the Wife was able to see the most beautiful girls in the event walk through the door.  The Farmer's Daughters, with their BFFs(who are also farm-girls) walked in like Greek Goddesses(a look I think they were pleased to have attained).  They floated on clouds, laughed liked music, and conversed with ease...making all in their presence feel like royalty. And all the Wife could think was, "They clean up pretty well!"
See, covered in the muck and damp from the rain.  In the middle of feeding a bottle to a calf, or hay to a horse, a farm-girl is pretty impressive.  It wasn't a charade for an evening.  They weren't playing a part.  They really are these beautiful Goddess looking ladies on a day-to-day basis, just cleaned up for the "Ball". They are beautiful on the inside as they muck stalls, wipe off grime and bend down to clean gooky-noses all out of love. Daily they are disheveled and dirty with no make up on...But when that farm-girl can get cleaned up and walk with the best-of-them(in high stiletto heels) in a situation so opposite from her day-to-day...THAT'S pretty impressive.