Saturday, 17 February 2018

New Members Of the Family!!

Howdy  to everyone!!!

Yes, I'm back with a farm update! It's a miracle and a half!! ;) I've been really bad this year about my blog and I beg for your forgiveness!! I'm going to try to put one out at least once a month. That's my goal. We'll see though....

 Anyways! Missy had puppies!! If you guys remember she had puppies last year and ummm, it didn't go to well..... She literally had them on the run and wouldn't nurse them unless my dad sat next to her. She was crazy loyal to my dad and a terrible mom. Luckily for us she calmed down a lot and grew up some! She started slowing down a lot, staying in the porch when we're milking and she even stopped following my dad around! Man alive, she was huge!!

It was Thursday morning when we noticed something was up with her. She was whimpering, whining and just acting very, very strange. Like growling at my grandpa one minute and begging for attention the next.  It was hard to keep our focus on school, everyone had puppies on their mind. The day passed, she was moved from the porch to the kitchen and still no puppies. 6 o'clock rolled around and we had youth group. So we left her home knowing that we'll probably have puppies when we got home. Around 9, we came home to fresh little puppies on the couch. Yes, the couch. No one thought in their mad rush to leave, that she'd have them on the couch! And not just one but all the seats in the living room! So while the kids were "Oooing and Ahhing" over the little babies, mom and I were scrubbing! It was a long night.


There is seven of these cute things! 

I just think this picture is so cute!! A puppy snuggling with momma!

This batch have waaayyyy more white on them and they are waaaayyy noisier!!!

This puppy doesn't have a name but it's the one that is always whining, whimpering, or barking. It also sleeps with it's mouth open and sometimes on his back! 

They are all black and white, except for  this one. It's my favorite one! It has black, brown and white!! It's also the most friendly one! 

The puppies will be ready to go at the end of March. So pick yours out! I'll post more picture of them! 

Thanks for reading!!

Grace

Thursday, 1 February 2018

Alterations By Grace


Isaiah and I!

Howdy to one and all!! (Yes, I'm back! No, it's not a farm update.)

I'm really excited to tell you guys about my newest project! (Read in a deep announcers voice.) Let me present to you "Alterations By Grace!" (Crowd grows wild!) Yup,that's right! I'm starting a new business! I'm selling matching flannel shirts for couples, daddy/daughter and for anyone else who wants to match!

Lumber Jack Red
(This is Neil and Lora Johnson...Aren't they cute?!)
Back Story.
 It all started on accident. I wanted to match my boyfriend for Christmas, but I couldn't find anything I liked! I was looking for matching flannels, after hours,days,months of fruitless searching, I decided to do my own thing.  I bought two men's shirts. One in Isaiah's size and the smallest one I could find for me. I chopped that baby up and altered it to fit me! I liked it so much, I made one to match my dad!  I had family and friends tell me I should sell them. Hence, "Alterations By Grace" was born!


Americana
 I'm selling  these shirts for only $50 a set. With Valentines day coming up, these shirts would make the perfect gift for that special someone! 
I have three different colors to choose from. Lumber Jack Red, Lumber Jack Blue, and Americana. Just send me the color, men's size, and women's measurements (below) you need for the shirts! I'm also willing to ship them! Just pay for shipping and it'll be at your door before you know it! 

Caution, these shirts are %100 cotton and may shrink. 
*Colors and sizes are subject to availability.

Women's flannel measurements.
(In inches please!)
Shoulder:
Arm length (shoulder to wrist.):
Bust:
Waist:
Hips:
Length you'd like in the front:
( From shoulder down.)
Length you'd like in the back:

You can contact me at: 
Email-  askgracej@gmail.com
Phone-  218-481-2212



Oh, you have no idea how stinking cold I was in the picture!! It was freezing, but a ton of fun! All the pictures were taken by Neil Johnson! Thanks Mr. Johnson for everything! 


Thanks for reading!

Grace

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.)

Do you get tired of trying to get cute pictures of your farm animals. Waiting for hours and hours just for them to do something cute!? Well, we bring you selfie gate! The gate that takes your pet's selfies! It watches your pet and when it does something cute, it snaps a picture! Here are some example pictures!




It's only $99.99! Call now! Limited time only!!
Call: 1-800-GATE-CAM
*******************************************************

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