Cribs (aka Sheds)

You know those shows where the famous celebrity invites you, the television viewer, into their home so we can all "Oooh" and "Ahhh" and drool over their fancy digs?

Yeah, well, that's not what this is. But maybe you can just pretend that this is the cattle version of one of those shows. OK, it's not fancy. It's not that big. But that doesn't mean my farmer isn't happy to have you along on the tour.

We didn't even need the "magic of television" to construct the cattle shed shell in a day. The "Tinkertoy" assembly parts arrived December 31.

Then, one day last week, four workers showed up around 7:45 AM. Watching them was like watching a well-choreographed dance.

They each had their moves down, even if some of those moves involved balancing on top of wood beams!

By shortly after noon, they already had the tin on the building ...

... and they were hanging the doors.

By 2:30 PM the very same day, they had packed up their tools and were gone.

It took Randy and Jake another couple of days to get the "interior decorating" done. They moved the calving pen out of the barn and into the new shed. They also installed fencing to keep the cattle from rubbing on the insulated walls.

They also had to do some work on the corral so that we could run cattle from the corral into the new shed.

Randy learned that his predecessor wasn't afraid to use concrete to get things situated. Both he and Jake spent some time digging dirt with a fence post digger. They eventually had to attach a chain and pull the cement-encased corner post out with the loader tractor. 

Then I found it terribly ironic when they proceeded to use two bags of Quik-Crete to set the new post! Someday, someone will be thinking the same thing about Randy!

My favorite part of the new set-up is the walk-through gate. I am looking forward to walking through - and not climbing over - the fence on our cattle adventures.

All that's left now is adding the electricity, and the electrician is supposed to arrive this week. Then it will be all ready to welcome the 2016 calf class on the County Line!

Red Cabbage, Date & Feta Salad

I love salads. I always have romaine in the fridge. Some days, I add more veggies ... carrots, colored peppers, tomatoes and such. Other days, I go with a more fruit-centric salad atop the greens, using whatever fruit is handy and topping everything with raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

But even with me trying to mix things up with the toppings, it can feel like we're in a rut. So when I saw a salad with red cabbage on my Facebook feed, I decided it was just the thing to shake up my ho-hum salad choices.

Feta cheese often makes its way into the fruit-based salads I make. Dates are not an ingredient I usually have on my salad radar, though I have them on hand for quick breads and muffins. But I loved the combo of the salty feta and the sweet dates along with the lime-infused cabbage.

This week, I served the salad alongside grilled steak and baked potatoes. The cabbage would be a natural with pork, but since beef is what's for dinner for this cow-calf-raising Kansas farm, beef it is! It made a colorful and tasty side dish that will be making encore appearances on the County Line! 

I served the salad with steak and baked potatoes - a colorful, tasty addition!

Red Cabbage, Date & Feta Salad

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 to 1 1/4 lbs. red cabbage (1 small head or half of a large one)
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tbsp. honey
Salt to taste
Pepper (or red pepper flakes) to taste
1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Shred or thinly slice cabbage. (I used the grating blade on my food processor.) Combine oil, lime juice and honey, blending well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour dressing over red cabbage. Toss to coat. Taste and add more lime juice, salt and pepper, if needed. Toss dressed cabbage with half of dates and half of feta; stir. Sprinkle with remaining dates, feta and toasted sesame seeds. Serve.

The whole salad can be assembled and sit for at least an hour. (But leftovers are good, too. The cabbage just isn't as crisp.) You can prepare the parts separately to assemble right before serving, if doing this for a potluck, church dinner, holiday meal, etc.

The original recipe called for 1 tablespoon of chopped flat-leaf parsley. Since I didn't have that, I omitted it, and it was still tasty.

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I'm linked today to the Weekend Potluck. Click on the link to find more tasty recipes from bloggers. Thanks to the potluck hostesses:

• The Better Baker ~ Marsha
• The Country Cook~ Brandie
• Sweet Little Bluebird~ Mary

Going Out to Eat

People seem to like to go out to eat. These days, our cows and feeder calves are "going out to eat," too, spending some time dining on wheat at various locations.

For the first few days, the guys kept an eye on the cattle while they grazed on the green wheat, since they weren't used to the electric fence. (We've had them grazing since November. I'm just getting around to posting about it.)

The guys watched from their 4-wheelers to make sure the cattle didn't get spooked and run through the fence.

Like toddlers and teenagers, it seemed the cattle needed to test the boundaries, grazing right by the fence. But, thankfully, we didn't have escapees.

The fence is hooked up to an electric charger. If the cattle touch it, they get a little electric zing to back them away.

 

The guys spent several days putting up the temporary fencing so that the cattle could graze on the winter wheat. It has a higher protein value than the silage and alfalfa hay that are the bovine's principal diet during the winter.

After the cattle are out on the wheat for a couple of hours, it's time to round them back up and put them back in the corral.

After a few days, the cattle seem to know the routine and go back to the corral fairly quickly when they see the 4-wheelers coming.

Moving them back to the corral gives the cattle access to water. The more permanent fencing also helps to keep the cattle contained at night. Deer often run through the electric fence, so going around the fence is part of the guys' daily routine to make sure everything is still standing and operational.

We've also had cattle on sudan. Randy and Jake used electric fencing around some sudan that they kept standing this fall. (We baled the majority of it.)

When we didn't get the mammoth snowfall the weathermen predicted at Christmastime, the guys fenced off additional wheat ground just north of the sudan. Now those cattle have added "green" to their diets, too.

Randy usually limits the cattle to 30 days on a wheat field before moving to another one. That way, the wheat doesn't get eaten down too much. Grazing doesn't impact the yield of the wheat crop, as long as it is in good condition and hasn't yet jointed. Because of a warm fall this year, we had more wheat to graze this winter.

Everyone needs their greens, right?!

Penpals: From An Australian Farm to the Middle of Kansas

From Google Images,www.dreamstime.com

At Christmastime each year, there would be one envelope that was a little different from the rest. As a child, I remember seeing the red and blue air mail envelope tucked in among the plain white ones. It was the annual missive from my mom's Australian penpal, Jill.

They began corresponding through a church penpal exchange when they were 14 or 15 years old. At the time, my mother lived on a farm in Pratt County, Kansas. Jill lived in Melbourne, Australia. They wrote letters back and forth two or three times a year during their teenage years.

With families and busy lives, the frequency waned, but they always exchanged Christmas cards and letters. This year was the 65th time they've sent Christmas cards and letters across the ocean.

I didn't consciously name our daughter after the Australian Jill. But maybe there was still some childhood fascination with this exotic "visitor" who arrived via the mailbox from a land so far away. I won't rule out a subconscious attraction to the name.

My parents finally met the Australian Jill in 2001. By that time, Jill had moved to Paradise Point, a town near Brisbane. They spent some time with Jill playing hostess to the tourists. My mom said it was like visiting with an old friend, though she admits that both of them needed to slow down their speech cadence to cope with the unfamiliar accent of the other.

Perhaps that is why I felt an immediate connection to an Australian blogger, Lynda. But even more than the Australian penpal legacy, I am amazed at Lynda's photography featured on her blog, Farm-ily.

From Google Images

From http://www.murrayriver.com.au/tocumwal/tocumwal

Lynda and her husband, Phil, farm near Tocumwal in New South Wales.

 

They raise alfalfa, too. (They call it lucerne.) So the photos from the "lucerne" field often look like they could have been taken at our farm (though we would have had to suddenly switch to the "green team" of tractors). The sunrises and sunsets that she loves as much as I do are taken from a similarly vast expanse of sky.

In November, she posted the cover of her 2016 Farm-ily calendar. I commented to her that it could have been taken at my favorite "sunrise" tree. 

Photo from Lynda's November 18 Farm-ily

Here's a shot from my sunrise tree, just for comparison. In Australia, they are experiencing their summer right now, while my tree has dropped its leaves for winter. But the sunrises are really quite similar.

I also mentioned that seeing her calendar was a reminder for me to get my own 2016 calendar finished for family Christmas gifts. Lynda wondered if I'd be interested in a calendar exchange.

Her calendar came in the mail before Christmas, and what a gift it was! Even though the photos were taken halfway across the world, there's the familiarity of the beauty of life on the farm - whether it's in the middle of Kansas or in New South Wales.

The front of my 2016 calendar. I do it with special occasion dates for some in my family.

There is a major difference. My wintry photos are in January and February. Her photo of frost-capped plants is featured in July. (I may have similar photos of wheat, but they certainly weren't taken in July around here!) 

I was refreshing my memory with my mom about her Australian penpal, and I learned something I didn't know. Some 20 years ago, the two penpals began exchanging calendars as Christmas gifts. My Mom sent Jill a calendar with Kansas images. Jill's calendar reflects the scenery of Australia.

I may not have a penpal from Australia. But I have a blog friend. Developing friendships with people you only know from their blogs is one of the fringe benefits.

It really is a small world after all.

Some Assembly Required

Some assembly required: Those words are often emblazoned on children's toy boxes at Christmastime, creating fear and dread in the hearts and minds of parents and grandparents everywhere.

One of our Christmas "gifts" arrived that way, too: There is some assembly required on our new 20 foot- by 20-foot calving shed.

The delivery guy pulled into the yard at 7:20 AM. He'd made the trip from suburban Kansas City and had battled some fog, too. Considering we'd been told it wouldn't arrive until noon, we were surprised. (It came on New Year's Eve. We figure he had plans later in the day.)

 But Randy wasn't about to turn down an early delivery, after a postponement earlier. 

Once the trucker removed the tie-downs, the materials were supposed to slide down the tilted truck bed. However, with some snow and ice, he had to help it along by dislodging them with a pry bar.

There was a loud POP when an airbag on a brake exploded, but, other than that, the Tinkertoy-maze of parts arrived and are ready for assembly.

Thankfully, we're not the ones that have to insert Part A in Part C. The professionals will handle it.

They even spelled our name right (which never happens with these things)!

 

Here's a view of the old with the new. It may not look like much in this form, but it should be ready to go when our heifers are ready to calve later this month!

Christmas in the Country 2015

I love getting mail. As a country kid who grew up in the 1960s and '70s, there wasn't email, Facebook, Twitter or the constant flow of TV news. We didn't have that many visitors down our rural  road, so the arrival of the mailman with the daily newspaper, some magazines and letters was a welcome diversion. (I was a kid. I didn't realize some of those letters were bills!)

So it's really no surprise that the idea of the Christmas in the Country gift exchange appeals to me. These days, it seems I'm constantly "connected" - at least, virtually. But it still seemed a fun way to relive that old-fashioned excitement of greetings arriving via the mailbox.

This was my second year to participate in Christmas in the Country, and, this time, it was open only to bloggers. (Last year, other country women could also participate.) I was lucky enough to receive a box from Jenny Schweigert, who lives in Hopeland, Illinois. (Don't you love that town name? It reminds me of Hopewell, Kansas, which was a don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it-spot-in-the-road just west of my grandparents' house.)

Anyway, Jenny serves as the executive director of AgChat, which is designed for "Empowering a Connected Community of Agvocates." She also helps manage her family’s small hobby farm and in-laws' dairy farm in central Illinois.She blogs about life on the farm, Jersey dairy cattle, hunting and her boys, all at The Magic Farm House. Her tag line there is Love More. Laugh More. Live More.

How could I not like her right away? And I liked her even more when I unwrapped ALL the goodies!

Here's the overview, but I thought I'd break it down a little so you could get to know Jenny, too!

In the questionnaire form we fill out to participate in the gift exchange, we tell some of the things we like. I know I didn't put down popcorn, but Jenny must have read my mind. It's one of my favorite things. But I hate to admit I hadn't popped any on top of the stove for years. It didn't take me long to open the sack of Pilot Knob Comforts popcorn grown in Illinois. (Popping corn on the stove reminds me of my Grandma Neelly and eating popcorn out of her old metal bowls while watching the Wonderful World of Disney or Lassie. Bonus!)

The Illinois-grown popcorn pouches were given to attendees at the Illinois Harvest dinner, an event which brought together 80 consumers and 20 farmers for a meal and discussion around food. It's yummy!

I didn't know that Illinois is the No. 1 producer of pumpkin in the U.S. Jenny says she lives in an area that's considered the Pumpkin Capital of the World. It arrived just in time for holiday pumpkin bread baking.

The koozie advertises Illinois corn and ethanol. (My son-in-law has a koozie collection, so I may share it with him.)

Like most women, I like chocolate, and Jenny made sure all the bases were covered. She included the "buck bar" because she likes to hunt. And how about a little coffee with that chocolate? She says that the coffee was an intentional re-gift. She got it during the swap meet at AgChat Foundation's Cultivate & Connect conference in November. Farmers and ranchers bring a taste of their home state to trade for items from other attendees. The Maui coffee was a Hawaiian delegate's swap item. Yum to all of the above!

I grouped these two items and named them "from my Oklahoma neighbors." I got a Ree Drummond Pioneer Woman mason jar. And Blake Shelton serenaded me on my last-minute Christmas preparations.

I really like the journal with the Eleanor Roosevelt quote on the front: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." I would say the AgChat mug ties into that, too, since ag-vocates are some of the biggest dreamers I know.

Thank you, Jenny, for all the fun surprises!

My Christmas in the Country recipient was Wanda Patsche of Welcome, Minnesota. (I think I won the prize for the best place names for both my recipient and my gift giver!) She blogs at Minnesota Farm Living. On their farm in southern Minnesota, they raise pigs and grow corn and soybeans. Like me, she's a Mom and Grandma.

I sent Wanda a Pioneer Woman tin filled with spiced tea mix, PW salt & pepper shakers and some pig-themed kitchen gadgets. To represent Kansas, I sent some mixes from the Hudson Cream Flour Mill, some of my notecards and a desk calendar I made.

The Christmas in the Country was a way to meet some new blogging friends. Other bloggers participating can be found at this link-up. Now that the holidays are over, I need to spend a little more time clicking on those links, and I invite you to do the same.

The hosts for Christmas in the Country volunteered their time to make it a success. THANKS to each of them! Check out their blogs: Laurie Link – Country LINKed; Jamie Rhoades - This Uncharted Rhoade; Kirby Linebach - 15009 Farmhouse; and Lara Durben - My Other More Exciting Self.

Paw-ty! A Report from the Birthday Girl

Hello all! Kinley here.

It's been awhile since my Grandma has let me take over her blog. But on important occasions, you should hear from the actual birthday girl, don't you think? My Grandma says I should be a natural with the whole reporting thing since I love to ask questions. It's an occupational hazard, she says.

My 4th birthday was December 30, but we celebrated over the weekend so more people could come to my party. That was OK with me. I got to have a special day with my Mommy on my real birthday. My Mommy asked me if I wanted it to be just her and me. But I let Brooke come with us to the Discovery Center, too. Now that she's 16 months old, we like to play together ... well, most of the time. (** See below for the exclusions.)

My Mommy and I made homemade funfetti cupcakes for my party. My Mommy frosted them, but I got to put all the decorations on myself. I decided I wanted a Paw Patrol party. So I made doggy paw prints with M & Ms. We didn't even have to tell people what they were supposed to be. That's pretty good, don't you think? We decorated some of them with Paw Patrol rings. My favorite character is Skye. I like her because she's a girl and she likes pink - just like me!

When you are the birthday girl, Grandmas and Aunts and everyone act like Paw-paw-razzi. (Ha, ha! I just made a Paw Patrol joke.) Seriously, the cameras and phones were flashing like I was on the red carpet instead of my Paw Patrol play mat.

And getting the smile just right is kind of challenging when you're just a regular girl - not some actress.

"Smile!" they'd say.
"Don't smile!" they'd say.

Poor Brooke was so confused listening to all the conflicting advice that she just covered her face!

I did my best 4 year old smile.

As a 4 year old, I will continue perfecting my horse illustrations. I can spend hours drawing and coloring. I am going to start dance lessons. I still love books. My Grandma says I am a good singer. She got me a guitar, so I can practice even more.

I like playing with my friends at school and Sunday School and with my cousin, Hannah. I love make-believe, so I will make up lots of stories using my puppet theatre from my Aunt Kathy. (** Now if I can just keep Brooke from pulling it down!)

Have you ever heard of setting goals for the new year? Well, my family does this. My goal is to be "loud and proud" when people talk to me. I can be plenty loud at home with people I know. But I can be a little shy around other people. On Sunday, I tried out my new "loud and proud" plan when someone talked to me. Mommy says I did a little better. My Grandma says we all are works in progress.

Well, now that the holidays and my birthday are all over, I guess it's time to get back into the routine. So, I'll turn the blog back over to my Grandma.

Until next time,
Kinley

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Grandma flashback moment: Kinley Marie Ladd arrived in time for our belated family Christmas celebration of 2011. She wasn't due until January 12. She was all of 5 pounds, 15 ounces, and was about the size of her Christmas stocking. She was the best party crasher ever! How time flies!