Every farm needs a good dog

My dad has a saying,

"One dog is a good dog, if you have 2 dogs you really only have half of a dog, and if you have 3 dogs, you don't really have a dog at all."

If you're trying to make sense of this, he was thinking of dogs in working terms. If you have a good cattle dog he will be of great value to the rancher helping him sort his livestock. If you decide to have two dogs, they can get distracted by each other and not give their full attention to their cattle work. If you get that third dog, you might as well plan on sorting those cattle yourself, because all of your dogs are going to be too busy playing together to do any work. Now maybe this isn't always the case, but my dad has some good quotes that make you sit and think about what exactly he's trying to say and he's usually right.

So why is it important to have a dog on the farm? It is my strong opinion, that we all need one all the time. My husband and I have always owned dogs and growing up, my parents never went without that I can remember. I should have recalled that when my husband and I decided after our last dog disappeared to relax and wait and find the perfect dog that we really wanted. We have gone almost a year without a dog around, and let me tell you how that's gone.....my yard looks great, there are no more holes dug in the grass or piles of poop to avoid. There aren't any paw marks on the vehicles where they jumped up to see if we were in there and my shoes don't get chewed up when I leave them on the porch. But let me tell you the problem. We've had problems with skunks, raccoons, rabbits, the neighbor dogs, cats, and now a badger. Does anyone know anything about the badger? Number one rule: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! We had to get a dog to keep these pests away, and fast!

So we decided we couldn't not delay any longer, it was time to train a puppy. We got lucky and found a beagle (which has always been my personal favorite dog breed) and there was a female in the litter ready to go that hadn't been claimed yet. This is fate folks! So now we have an absolutely adorable little girl (and her older brother and sister) dragging around an absolutely adorable beagle puppy. The number one reason I think it's imperative to have a dog on the farm is because they bark when people approach the house. When you live in the middle of nowhere and your driveway is long enough you can't see someone pull in, barking gets your attention and alerts you to guests. I don't like surprises out here in no man's land!

It's not chasing the rabbits out of my garden yet, but hopefully next year it will be ready. I'm excited for my kids to grow up with this little pup and learn the responsibilities of caring for a pet and I'm excited for the day that it figures out it's role as protector of the farm.

Comfort food for uncomfortable days

Ugh, the last few days have not been pleasant!  I had surgery on Thursday morning and it has knocked me down a few pegs.  I like to think I'm tough, but this one got the better of me....for now, but I'm going to get functional here very soon.  In the meantime, my pain meds are keeping me from making very rational thoughts, so instead of a post that may ramble on and make no sense by the end, I thought I would share one of the comfort foods I made myself and stuck in the freezer to enjoy while I'm laid up.  Yes, you read correctly, that I MADE MYSELF.  A stay-at-home-mom's job isn't for the weak of heart and no one else was going to make them so why not! 

These lemon cookies are delicious!  I put them all in the freezer in a Ziplock bag and just pull them out 5 or 6 at a time, let them thaw for a few minutes, and enjoy them with some hot tea.  Perfect! 

When it rains, it pours.....

....but it hasn't.  We are headed into the 3rd year of a drought here in NW Kansas (see map for U.S. Drought Monitor), and we're facing a dilemma with our wheat crop.  The wheat is only 18 inches tall, when it should be about 3 feet high by this point in time.

 

We have sprayed for army cut worms and stripe rust thus far.  Cutworms eat the roots, which means the wheat cannot take up the water and nutrients it needs.  The decision to spray for these is made if you see you have more than 1 cutworm per square foot, and we are finding 3 to 4. 

Stripe Rust

And now we are faced with another decision because stripe rust is coming in again.  Is this crop worth the money it will take to spray?  It has the yield potential right now of 35-45 bushels per acre, but it has to have perfect conditions from here until harvest to get to that point.  Perfect conditions would be another 4 inches of rain in the next 30 days with no extreme heat.  Our last 2 years have seen anything but perfect conditions, but another drought year means that the wheat will burn up.  The result of that is that we will be looking at 10 bushel wheat that was a waste of money to spray. 

I often joke that we don't need to go to the casinos, because we gamble every day right here on the farm.  So we are rolling the dice and spraying the wheat to protect our yield potential.  Then we will pray for rain, and we are hoping when it does rain, it pours!

Appreciate a teacher, this week and every week hereafter!

May 5-9, 2014 is Teacher Appreciation Week.  In my "previous life," I spent a few years in the education system.  I took on many roles in many places from a social sciences teacher and coach at a parochial high school to a K-5 counselor in the inner city of Topeka.  This is not an occupation for the faint of heart and you definitely don't do it for the money. 

A friend of mine once told me that she took her salary, divided it by the 9 months that she had students, and then divided it again by the hours she spent in the classroom, coaching athletes, grading papers, and making lesson plans and it didn't even hit minimum wage.  Not even close actually.

The thing is, despite not getting paid what they deserve, constantly being pressured to reach standards on assessments, and sometimes taking a tongue-lashing from parents, teachers keep teaching.  They take in your children everyday and treat them as one of their own and give them the skills they need to be successful in life.

As most school years are drawing to a close, take a moment to show teachers some appreciation this week.  Even if it is just a simple 'thank you for all that you do for my child.'  Trust me, those words are more rewarding to a teacher than most anything else.  Thank you teachers for all that you do to make our world a better place!

 

"A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank....but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child." ~Forest Witcraft

It's Derby Time!

 

 

We love horse racing around here, so the Kentucky Derby gets our attention.  Josh will be busy planting soybeans, but the kids and I will be watching and cheering on our favorite.  This year I am going with Dance With Fate, which isn't spoken of too highly in the following article, but I'm a fan of the jockey, Corey Nakatani.  And in my opinion, the guy is due to win this and wants it bad!  

 

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/columnists/sullivan/2014/04/12/sullivan-best-blue-grass-rarely-leads-roses/7662949/

Enjoy the race!