Monday, 24 July 2017

Puppies and Kittens and a Donkey OH MY!

Howdy to one and all!! So, haying season is upon us and that means late nights, early mornings, church skippers, missing meals, and being on a mostly water diet because you want to beat the rain.

Haying one of the most crazy times of the year.  Everyone is out in fields. Even if you don't know how to drive a tractor, you'll learn. Even though it is a crazy time, I still love it! I have memories of sitting in the Belarus with my dad while he was baling or in the combine. And to this day I love stepping back and looking at a clean field with hay bales on it admiring my father's work. Well, this year all of us kids can step back and admire our work. This year was different with haying season. With daddy home, we were able to make it pretty fast but, also since we're older, we got to be out there helping. With Becca and Luke taking turn raking and daddy was baling. What about me? Well, I ran them back and forth from field to field. And then my turn came. I baled for the first time. There's something special about being on a big tractor watching the bales come out. Its great! As weird as it is, I loved being on the tractor with only God to talk to. Yeah, I'm a farmers daughter and proud of it! :)   Anyways, I hope haying is going well for ya'll and that your crop may be great!! :)

So, I have a lot of exciting news for the blog! We have a few new members of the family! First is.....

Kittens. (Yippy)
Yup, we have kittens again. If you want one text 218-591-5756. They are ready to go and need a home! There's two left so, ya might want to act fast! They are great mousers and are outdoor cats! So, that's a bonus! :)
 
Sorry, they wouldn't quit moving! It was almost impossible to get a picture of them!
 
 
Also we have....
 
PUPPIES!!!!
That's right! Missy had her puppies! They are soooooo stinking cute too!
 The puppy that's sitting on the left it Cody. He's the only one we named.
Why? He looks like a Cody. We really don't have a reason.:)
There's 2 girls and 3 boys. Missy is a really good mom. It's funny because if we are with her puppies, she counts them and makes sure they are ok. She also won't leave us with them. She'll run out the door then 2 seconds later she comes back to see if we're still there. Man and are they noisy! They sound like cats! It's really strange, but they are soo cute! Buddy, (The father.) will come and lay next to them and watch them till Missy comes back. They scare him sometimes. He'll be laying with them watching and then one of them will whine and he'll jump back. It really funny to watch! They'll be ready to go in 6 to 8 weeks. Luke is the one you'll want to talk to if you want to get yourself one of these absolutely adorable puppies! They are 3/4  Border Collie and 1/4  Blue Heeler. 
 
 
We also have a.......
 
Baby Donkey!!!
Yup! Lolly and Benny are the proud parents of this little girl! I've never seen a baby donkey before and they are soooooo cute!! It's so small too! Lolly is being a really good momma and the baby is the sweetest thing ever! So, really truly ya'll will just have to come to see all the new animals we have! It's great! :)
 
 
 
Oh so, we had a cow, (June) who's hoof was really bad, like she could barely walk.  We prayed about it that night, because we really like her and we need her to milk. Well the next morning I noticed that her hoof seemed a lot better. She was able to walk! My dad wanted to give her medicine, just in case. So after we milked her, daddy went to get the shot all ready. I was kinda watching out of the corner of my eye. But what really caught my eye was daddy walking back to me confused. He looks at me and says, "My needle broke, in half. I didn't even touch her and it broke."  I was confused then, I was trying to figure out why in the world it broke when he comes back from replacing that needle, "God broke my needle."  I looked at him confused. "What??"   He said that the stuff he had in there was the wrong medicine and that we wouldn't have been able to milk her for a month! I just thank and praise God that he broke that needle! He knew we needed the milk, and he knew it was the wrong stuff! So, that was really cool! This is one of the reasons I love living on a farm. You see Gods handy work every where! He's working miracles everyday and is providing everyday!
 
Many of you probably know that my dad quit his job, and really we shouldn't be making it with just 12 cows milking. But God is providing for us, giving us just what we need. Nothing more, nothing less. He's using this farm to teach my family trust and faith. To trust in him to have faith he will provide. And he does because he's such a loving, great God!
 
Sorry for such a short post, but there's an update!
 
Have a great day and may God bless you!!
 
Grace

Wednesday, 17 May 2017

A Cowboy Hijacked My Blog!!


Howdy! We've have had a lot happening on the farm and we've been really busy. But I think it's high time for a post! It's muddy, dreary, and I've got all the house work done so I thought, "I probably should get around to writing a blog post today." I also didn't have any more good excuses. :)



Farm Update With Reporter Lorraine.

Hello, this is Lorraine with you live at Johnstons Riverview Farm and today I'll be touring the farm and giving you the best report on it."   She steps into the dairy barn. "As you have heard the family farm is shipping milk to Bernett Dairy! They also have made their herd bigger, as you probably knew. And now since they have a bigger herd, the milkers doubled. They are using 4 milking machines!

This has helped get milking done faster and more efficiently. I've talked with the four milking people, (Jerry, Grace, Becca, and Luke.) and they said that having four machines makes it faster! You put on, take off, let those cows out and get another batch in! I also was told that they will soon be milking on both sides of the barn! So they'll be milking 8 cows at once instead of 4! The Johnston's farm is moving up with their operation!

She walks out of the barn to the calves pen.

Not only has the dairy barn been improved but the calves living situation. They are put into their own panel pens at night and then they are let outside in the day time to enjoy some sunshine!
                Also, a certain milkmaid sits with the babies soaking up the sun with them! :)


Oh! I just was told that they have 2, no, 3 new members of the family! Oh wait, ummm, Grace just informed me that they have 2 new members and 1 part time member. I'll explain in a moment.

The first new member of the family is.......
May!!!
A cute little jersey heifer with a adorable personality! You can't help but love her!

Gimpy
This poor little guy has a bad leg, as you can tell in the picture. He got a really bad cut and isn't putting any weight on it at all. He's super sweet and full of energy though! He's a fighter for sure!!

We pause this report with a word from our sponsors!
(Read this with a deep announcer's voice.)

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*******************************************************

Special report by Isaiah!


Howdy to all!! My name is Isaiah Johnson, and I'll tell you a little bit about myself so that we can get better acquainted. I'm a Christian, hunter, farmer, and Grace's amazing cowboy! My favorite animal is a cow, but to be more specific, I should say that a Texas Longhorn is my favorite type of cow. In March, I bought three bred cows, Minnie, Moo, and Buttercup. They have been at the Johnstons the last couple of months. The little guy above (whose name is Bobbo or Bob for short) is my first calf that I've had! He's simply adorable and also very loud! Moo had this little guy during the middle of the night on May 13th. Poor little Bobbo was found all by himself in the hay barn that morning. When Mr. Johnston brought him out to the cows Bobbo was like "Yay! I get to be with my mom!!" but when he got out there he was completely rejected by his mother! On the very day before Mother's Day even! On a scale of one to ten we're going to give this mom a negative 5! So Moo's new name is now ground beef. So the main lesson of all this is that if you're a mother cow reading this you better be a good mom otherwise you'll end up in a very unpleasant place.
The End 
If you ever need any organic, grass-fed, beef in the future, I will have some ready by next fall and can start taking orders now. :) My contact info is 612-964-8050 (It's a cities number but don't mind that) :) Hope you have an amazing day!!  





Now moving onto the piglets!! :)

Oh! They have piglets!! Folks these are so stinking cute! They just roam the farm and come and go as they please! It's really quite cute!


 I'm also told that Pigcat babysits them when they are sleeping!
Isaiah's thoughts on pigs.
Nothing much needs to be said about pigs except for that they sure do look good as bacon!
That's all folks! have a great week and God bless! :)


Grace and Isaiah.

Monday, 1 May 2017

Bob's Story

Hello, I'm Bob, a Red Slider, living with the Johnstons. I  was dropped off by my owner to this kind family. Everything was going just fine. The boy of the family loved me! He fed me all the time, always asking how I was doing. "How you doing Bob? You hungry Bob? Bob, you look so handsome. Hey Boooobbbb!!!"
 
 
Yeah, he was an annoying kid, but a kind one. When I was settled into my tank on the kitchen table, SHE came down. Right when I saw her, I knew it was trouble. It was the mother of the family. She took one look at me and then sent a look that could kill, to the tallest, kindest guy. Who I presumed is their dad. He right away explained that they weren't going to keep me. They would find a home for me. Yeah, he left real quick. There was 4 girls in the family, they didn't really pay any attention to me. Well, the littlest one did. She would wait till her brother went out to milk the cows to feed me.
 
Life was good. I was being fed on the hour, warm water, someone to talk to, and plus I got my shell brushed every so often! It was like turtle heaven. Then it happened.
 
I noticed that the family was in  a frenzy one morning. They were running around like chickens with their heads chopped off. It was crazy! Then they ran out the door and left. I thought it was strange so I climbed on top of my rock to look at the calendar next to the fridge. I stretched my neck to try to read the calendar.   "This family is nuts," I thought to myself.  "I thought it was April, but this says it's March, how hard is it to flip the page on a calendar! I bet even a turtle like me could do it!"
 
I was sitting on my rock grumbling when a cold burst of wind came. I dove back into the water and looked at the door. "Maybe they came back." I was hoping, I could have really gone for a mealworm right then. But what I saw was not the family, I didn't know what it was. There was two of these furry black and white beasts.  I hunkered down in the water listening to them.
 
"Aww, Missy you got the door open! I wish I could do it like that, you're so smart and talented and purty!" The biggest one said.    Missy looked at her companion , "You do know how to do it you big lug! And of course I'm smart, talented, and pretty! I'm Jerry's favorite. I get the cows out of the barn for him, I ride in the tractor with him, I am always there, while you are sitting in the way, drinking milk and thinking about butterflies!"    Buddy looks at her with a goofy grin with his tongue hanging out, " Yeah, that's all true! But, I can't help but think about butterflies, there so much fun to chase! "
 
Missy rolls her eyes and walks into the living room, "Hmmm, they're not in here. Buddy, you check upstairs. I want to make sure that they are gone."
Buddy looks up from chewing on a box, "Yes ma'am!" And he ran upstairs tripping all the way.
Missy looks around the sink, looking for the slop bucket.
I'm being quiet, because so far they haven't noticed me. I noticed one thing though. The little one called Missy is the brains, while the bigger one that she called Buddy was really lost in the head.
 
I heard Buddy falling down the steps and land with a thud! "Hehehee, opps." He sheepishly commented as he righted himself on all four feet.  Missy walks up to him. "Sooo, did you find anyone?"  "Not one person, Missy, though I did find the cutest looking stuffed animal of a dog! He was so cute, I wanted to bring him down so you could look at him, but you know how it goes, me and my.."    "ENOUGH Buddy! I really don't care about a stuffed animal!" Missy huffs and walks back towards the kitchen.
 
Buddy walked up to my tank and sat and stared at me. I tried not to move. I was so scared. "Missy, look at the new pet they have! Isn't he cute!? "  Missy glances over her shoulder, "Yeah, he's real cute Buddy, real cute."
 
Next thing I  know, Buddy hops on the chair next to the table and puts his big face into my tank.
"Why, hi there cute little turtle, you want to play? You look lonely. Let's play!"
In my tiny little brain I was thinking, "No, lets not play, Bob doesn't want to play, Bob doesn't know how to play!"  Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice in the matter. Buddy opened up the huge jaws of his and picked me up out of my beautiful tank.  
 
He then proceeded to bite at my lovely shell that was just polished and pushed me around the living room, growling. "You having fun turtle!? I am! I've never played with a turtled before! This is great fun!" After saying that with a goofy grin on his face, he licked my shell and went to lay down.
 
Missy became curious about what Buddy was playing with, so she walked in and about had a heart attack. "Buddy!! What did you do!?!?!" She looked at my beat up shell and then at Buddy. "Why in the world did you take the turtle out!? Jerry is going to be soooooo mad!!!!"  Buddy looked up sleepily, "He wanted to play."    Missy rolled her eyes, and calmed the anger that was rising. "I bet he did, you're lucky that I'm here!"
 
Missy walked up to the turtle and pushed him under the couch. " There, they'll never know." Missy's ears pricked up, " There home!!!!!! Run!!"   Missy bolted out of the house, Buddy slowly followed. And me, I'm under a couch with cobwebs and who knows what...hoping that they will find me. I heard voices, panic filled noises, then nothing. Hours went by and nothing. I got tired and it got dark. I decided I would make the best of the situation. I had a long, cold nap.  Morning finally came and I heard people, I crawled as fast as I could, after hours of crawling I made it out  from under the couch. I sat there resting and waiting, finally the littlest one noticed me.
 
Now, I am back in my beautiful tank with food every hour and a story to tell.
 
 
 
So this really did happen. Well, parts of it did. Yes, we got a turtle, yes, he went missing and yes, we found him. When we go home from church we found the house door open and a dog walking out. Then when we found poor Bob, his shell was pretty beat up. So, this is how I think it happened. :)
 
 
Coming soon will be another farm update!
 
 
Thanks for reading!
 
Grace

Tuesday, 25 April 2017

Exciting News!!!!!!!


Howdy! So, as you can see from the title, I have some really exciting news! Hold on to your hats, we'll get to it soon enough! :)




First, I want to introduce you guys to our.............
New Members of the Family!!
That's right! I have four new cows that I want you guys to meet!

First up is

Maple!!


Buckshot! 


Lil'Dude!


And PrettyBoy! Or PB. 
Don't ya just love calves? They are soooo stinking cute, and full of energy! 

 Now, we only have 5 more that will calve and then calving season is over. That is a sad day. I love waking up and going out to the barn and seeing a new calf out in the field. Though dealing with trying to milk their moms isn't as much fun....... :)


                                    We also have three new milk cows!!
Meet......

Fanny!!!

Chocolate!!!
 And last, but not least
Queeny!!
They are such sweet hearts. Chocolate is probably my favorite.
She is super friendly and I love just being able to sit next to a cow when they are laying down.
 .

You guys are probably thinking, "Man, they just got three cows not that long ago."
Yup! We're trying to build our herd up because......

We are shipping milk!!! The milk truck has came 3 times so far, it's been really cool watching it come and pump the milk into the tank!
We got inspected and we are shipping Grade A milk now! Our farm is a true dairy farm.
Now, we're waiting and praying that our cows will calve so my daddy can stay home this summer.
We'll be milking 17 (or more) cows this summer!

I know ya'll are wondering if we have tossed aside the cheese making. No, it's just on the back burner for now. We are still in the building process of the cheese room. Shipping milk is one step closer to  making cheese again. My mom misses making it and I miss eating it! ;)


Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!!!!

Grace


 Phil.4:19

Sunday, 2 April 2017

SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Howdy to all! And hold onto your hats, horses, or whatever you have, because here's another Johnstons Riverview Farm blog! By yours truly, Grace!! (The crowd goes wild!)


Well, first things first. You might have noticed a new cow in the picture above. (The black one in the middle.) Yup, she's new and nope, she's not ours. I'm cow sitting my super best friend's Isaiah's three cows. He is super smart to be buying cows at a young age, you all could take a couple of notes from him. (Quote Isaiah.) The one above is Moo.  And the other two look like this...

                                                     Minnie is the all black one and the
white faced one is Buttercup.
Even though  the two Angus look like twins, it's really easy to tell whose, who.
Minnie is bigger because she due sooner then Moo and she's also a lot more headstrong.
 Moo is smaller, and a lot more timid.
Now Buttercup is a Herford, Angus cross and is sweet and timid. They are a pretty good group of cows!




Since we're talking about cows, ours are going to pop soon! DillyBar and Stella look really close to calving, probably the beginning of April and the rest of the cows will probably calve towards the end of April.


Whose Going To Be A Mother First???

Which one do you think will calve first?? I'll make a poll at the top. Vote on
which one you think will calve first!


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What is up at the dead of the night....
Who saves the day and isn't noticed....
Who is small and fluffy.....
And adorable?????




That's right! Super Bunny to your rescue! You'll be saved by her adorableness and overcome by her cuteness!!! Just read the reviews!!!

"I thought for sure I was going to die!" A young girl said.  "I was home alone when the robber came, he had a gun and wanted all our money! But then Super Bunny jumped through the window and the robber dropped his gun  to cover his eyes, because her cuteness was too much! He was out of there fast! I owe my life to Super Bunny!" 

That's just one of the million people Super Bunny has saved. Always remember, Bunnies are your friends and you might be saved by her.


(Sorry, my imagination went wild there.) :)

This is Kaity's bunny, she's super sweet and is also blind in one eye. I'll let Kaity tell you more about her.

Grace: "So Kaity, how long have you had Chloe?"


Kaity: "I want to say 3 months."

Grace: "Is she really blind in one eye? How did that happen and does it effect her still?"

Kaity: "Yeah, she's blind in her left eye, she was born with it. So, it doesn't really effect her because she doesn't know anything else. Though she does run into things sometimes."

Grace: "Is she living with the other bunnies in the bunny bin?"

Kaity: "Nooo, she's living in my room, and she's litter box trained, so it's all good!"

Grace: "Can she do any tricks?"

Kaity: "Yup! She knows a lot of tricks, she knows how to spin, walk on her back legs, and she comes to her name."


Grace: "Thank you Kaity for telling us about your adorable bunny!!"




                  Tapping Trees Once Again!


Tis the season of getting outside to tap your maple trees! There's nothing like making your own syrup! It taste waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy better then the store stuff and its not full of that artificial junk!
 
 


We tapped 24 trees with Isaiah's help, I should say he tapped 24 trees. I just handed him the stuff, while Becca was trying to knock over dead trees. Don't ask me why she was doing that, she does it every time we go out there! We have probably over 10 gallons of sap. Once we have a little more the boiling process happens. Which takes forever and you have to really babysit it. It's all worth it in the end though! :)
Yes, Ali is trying to get those mushrooms. Someone told her that they sell for a lot of money. So, now I have 4 mushrooms sitting on the kitchen counter collecting dust. Yup, life with siblings. :)


I'll post more pictures once I can get some more!








Thanks for reading!!!!


Grace

Tuesday, 28 February 2017

More New Animals!?

Howdy and yes, it's true! I have 6 new members of the family to share with you all!!!! Yes, my daddy got cow fever. I did too! (It's really kind of contagious.) I've been wanting some new cows and we finally got some!!!

Meet the cows!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 

Meet, Honey!!! She's soooooooo sweet. I fell for her right away.
She has a timid, sweet personality. :)
 

This is Beanie, she's super sweet too. She's not as friendly,
 but is a good milker and has a great, no nonsense, personality.
 

 
And last but not least, No name................Yeah, we haven't thought of a name for her.
We've been calling her Blackie, so original isn't it? :) She is the most curious cow I've ever seen! She's  a little on the bossy side with other cows, but not with us. She likes to be next to you, as long as you don't touch her, she likes you.  She's been a lot of fun so far!
 
 
1 Donkey, 2 Donkey....
 
That's right, we didn't get just one donkey, but two!!!! They are so sweet too!
Aren't they cute!?!They are great! They will walk up to you and rub their heads on you. We take them for walks too!
The closest one is Benny and the farther one is Lolly! I must say Benny is my favorite......
Shhhhhhh, don't tell Lolly that!! :)
 Also, I found out that Benny is the boss! It's really funny to watch him boss Stardust around. :)
 
 
 Fleece was white as snow.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
So, five down one last little animal to introduce to you.
 
This is Penelope. She is a rescue, runt lamb. She is  a week old and still is too weak to stand.
Even though she's small and weak, she eats a TON and is loud when she's hungry! :)


Yes, she's wearing a diaper, it's the easiest way to have a lamb in the house. Plus, it makes her waaayyy cuter!! :)
 
 
 You know, when you have a little lamb, this happens...


 
 

 
There's nothing cuter then a dressed up lamb!! :)
 
We found out thought that she has a bum back leg, a wheeze, can't really stand, maybe some brain damage and she's blind. So, she is a special lamb, a very needy, loveable, little girl. She is really sweet though. When I play the piano she falls asleep, but when I stop, she cries. We all love her a lot. :)
 
 
 
 
 
 
You know your a farm kid if.....
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
1. You make hay bouquets. (Above.)
2. Love the smell of hay
3.Waded in mud up to your shoulders at some point in your life
4. Wear your mud boots and barn jacket to town, proudly!
5. Played king of the hay bales
6. Rode in the tractor with your dad for hours when you were younger
7. Had like 5 different types of pets
8. Your pets are not normal pets
9. You rode a pig. Yup.
10. Drive a old lawn mower with a wagon full of kids around the farm
11. Love that farm smell
12. Mud in hair? Don't care.
13. Had talent shows with your cow, pig, horse, ect.
14. Dirt is always under your figure nails
15. You know how to drive at a early age
16. Always ready to chase cows
17. Love going for walks in the cow pasture, just to visit each cow
(I'm not the only one that does this, right??)
18. Love the smell of a freshly plowed field
19. Your main shoes are your mud boot and cowboy boots.
20. Always ready for adventure!!
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 
So, I've been thinking a lot, and that could just be dangerous. :) But, I was thinking we need something to spice up this blog, maybe more story time with Grace?? Maybe? Hmmmmmmm, I wonder what I could tell about........
 
 
Our unusual house guest.
****************************
 
My alarm goes off at 4 a.m. , I roll over and slowly get out of bed. "This is the pits." I thought to myself as I blindly walked down the steps. Turning into the kitchen, I glance at the counter. I looked a little harder. "Ugh, where is that bottle! The lamb needs to be fed, so I can sleep for a couple of hours!" I complained to myself. I stumble into the living room, to where Kaity was on the couch. Spying the bottle on the floor next to the lambs basket, I walk over. Kaity stirred , I froze, I didn't want to wake her. I bent down to grab the bottle when Kaity stopped me. "I fed the lamb already, go to bed."   After thanking her 5 times, I walk gratefully up to my bed. I just got settled and started to fall asleep, when I heard a noise by my bed. "It's probably just a mouse." I thought to myself. Then I heard it again. "Man! It sounds like a huge mouse." By this time I put the covers over my head, just in case. Then it happened. I felt this huge thing run across me, I flung my blankets and heard it hit the floor. I was wide awake, I sat in my bed dazed, then I heard it running around my room. I flip on my lamp and there in the middle of my room was a weasel. It looked at me and then ran out of my room then back in. I was stunned. "You got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed. "A weasel!!??" Then it ran back into my room. Becca heard me call for daddy, so she got out of her room and asked if I was ok. I told her to shut her door because there was a weasel running around.  We were talking about it when mom came out.
 
Let's take a moment to see what just happened here. I called for dad to save me and mom comes out. Thanks daddy.
 
Anyways, she told us to go back to bed, she thought I was crazy and told me so in the morning.  She was kidding, but only partly. Daddy was giving me a hard time too, until he went down to the basement. "I believe her."  He called up the stairs. "Why is that?" Mom asked.  "Because I'm watching it."  I knew I wasn't crazy! So, yes we have an unwelcomed house guest, that wanted to share my bed.  How do I feel about weasels you ask?? I don't like them at all!!!
 
 
 
I don't know why we have crazy things happen at our house, but hey! It's something to write about!! :)
 
 
Thanks for reading
God Bless!
 
Grace
 
This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
 


Wednesday, 8 February 2017

Trusting Till The Cows Come Home

I was laying in my bed, thinking about last summer. I couldn't write about it then, but now I can.  I still don't understand why things happened the way they did, but I do know God is in control.


It all started with Ruby Red, we got a call that we had a cow dead in the pasture. It was strange. Dad even cut her open to see if something internally was wrong. We couldn't find a thing wrong. She was pregnant too, so we lost not one, but two cows.

Anyways, our faithful, wonderful, dog Sarah was seeing her last days. I remember having her since like...forever. I don't remember any other dog. She was a sweet, kind thing. Never wanting to harm us, just the cats. :) We lost her too, last summer. Things just went down hill from there. We found Billy, the family's favorite milk cow, dead. We were trying to figure out how in the world she died. It was probably a month after Ruby Red died. Then Rosebud died shortly after, something was wrong. Our cows were dropping like flies. It was a disease called Black Leg. (Black Leg a noncontagious disease found in the soil.) We then vaccinated trying to save the rest of the herd, one more died, but not from Black Leg. Cream puff died from having a huge calf, the calf was born dead, and she died a few days later. Our loved and forever remembered donkey, Seymour, died too, from old age. Then Mickey, Luke's dog, died. 

It's was really hard when Rosebud died, for those of you who know me, she was my big baby. I raised her from a calf, bottle fed her when she was like 200 lbs, rode her a little, and had big plans for her. I was going to take her when I got older to be my milk cow. She was the one I would go to when I was sad. She would always cheer me up with her licking me and rubbing her head on me. Once you have a cow as a pet, they become your favorite animal.

A lot of our farm animals and pets died, and it reminded me that life on this earth is short. We need to trust God and look to him for our future, our day.

You see, we had a hard summer, but I'm not writing this so you'll feel bad for us, I'm writing this to give you guys hope! You see, even though those bad things happened God was watching out for us and blessing us still. We got Missy and Buddy, our two, new, wonderful dogs that are expecting, new friends, new cows in the future and so much more! God can take the bad things and turn them around! When we were having that hard time, we went to God a LOT!  He wanted to remind us that he is still there and to give HIM the glory and honor HE deserves! It's because of HIM we got this farm, because of HIM we have the cows, it's because of HIM we aren't falling apart! I have an amazing story that should cheer you up.

                   Trusting till the cows come home.....
We were all just sitting in the kitchen, chilling and eating lunch when dad gets a call. It's from our neighbor, (the guy who lives at the end of the dirt road.) The milk cows were in his yard. They were really far from home. We all jump into a vehicle and head out with Missy. (Our cow dog) Thinking that it'll probably be pretty easy. Run them down the dirt road   and into their pen. Well, the cows had other plans. They went down the road then  turned into the woods. Also, did I mention it was during deer season??? So, we are searching for hours for the cows, we can't find them anywhere. My dad decided to call it quits. All of our cows gone. We didn't know if we would see them again. Dad was hoping that maybe be milking time, they would show up. Every one went back into the house, with an atmosphere of defeat.  We were sitting in the kitchen,  when I felt like we should pray about this problem together. I asked daddy if we could pray, and we did. Not 5 minutes later, neighbor called. "Your cows are in my yard again I'll push them down the dirt road for you." We ran out side and sure enough the cows were coming home! All walking towards the barn! We praised God for the miracle of the cows coming home.


Even when bad things happen God is still there with us! He can work wonders! This is my favorite story, one I'll NEVER forget. God brought the cows home.

So, as I look back on last summer I thank God for all the hardships and loses, he taught me very important lessons. 

To not lay up treasures on this earth.
Things only last so long.
                                                              Put our trust in Him.
                                                        He is there, even in the bad times.
                                                     He gives us as much trials as we can handle.
                              




Also because of the hardship we went through, we know a little more. Every hard ship you learn a little more. With out them, how are we ever to learn?



                                        Here are some pictures of the animals we lost.

Cream Puff
 
Sarah
 
 Billy
 
 Seymour


Rosebud
 
 
 Mickey


We lost all of these, but gained more. We have great and wonderful memories that will last forever. I thank God for these animals and how they brought us joy and frustration. I thank God that I am able to have a pet cow, to live on a farm and know how to raise cows.


Thanks for reading what had been on my mind lately, the next post will be way more light hearted I promise!! :)  


Grace