One Year Later (a little late...)

“If you have faith in yourself, you will accept changes easily. You won’t be afraid of who you might become.”

So, this past month I celebrated my one year anniversary of being a full time farmer and farmer's wife.  Honestly, it didn't occur to me that it was even the anniversary until the evening milking that night, to which I made my husband (my new boss) aware and asked where my present was and to which he replied, "Oh I'll give you a present. *wink* *wink*.  No shocker there!  Nice to know that us working side by side for a year now hasn't changed the way he talks to me and his continued smart assness (is that a word?).

When I reflect on the last year I can say without a doubt that this has been a life changing experience for sure.  As with any other job this one has it's ups and downs and pros and cons but at the same time I'm glad I made the change.

I don't think anybody can truly understand "farm life" and being a farmer without firsthand experiencing it day in and day out.  And I don't even mean people that work part time on a farm, to me that isn't even close reality of it.  To be a true farmer and a successful one you must make a commitment to it that is almost unparalled in any other occupation out there.  Honestly, you have to be married to it really.  Heck, most farmers are more committed to their farms and their animals than most spouses are to each other nowadays.  It really is a "way of life".  But an honest, simple and awesome way of life for us.

Recalling the past year there are a few things that stick out in my head, good and bad and some well just very memorable.  I'll start with the good.

I LOVE the scenery.  Even in the brisk cold of winter and the scorching days of summer, there is nothing like seeing the sunrise in the morning in the East with the neighbor's silos in the distance, hearing the birds chirp, the calves mooing, dogs barking in the distance and nature waking up.  I believe it brings me that much closer to God and makes me really appreciate the world around me and puts life into perspective.

I LOVE that our kids can come to work with us and learn what work is.  Oh sure, when school is in session I do miss out on time with the two older ones as they are in school most of the while I am home and get done when I go back to the farm, but when they have days off of school (Christmas break and summer for example), I am home with them a lot more than I had been in the past.  And like I said, a lot of nights they come to the farm with me when they are done with school and hang out in the barn or run around outside and what not.  In fact,  there have been quite a few nights when all three of the kids and Jeff and I are doing the milking together without any additional hired help.  I think it's important that they are taught a good work ethic and can also appreciate what we do each day.

 

I LOVE the animals.  Oh don't get me wrong, a lot of days they can piss me off and be uncooperative and all, but they really are like little kids (or big kids in the case of the cowies as they are rather large).  Seriously, they look at me and Jeff like their Mommy and Daddy and they know we are in charge.  I have come to know most of them by their names now and not just their ear tag numbers and find myself having one way conversations with them quite frequently.  No I am NOT crazy, just compassionate and lacking adult interaction I think :)

 

 

And last but not least, I LOVE that I miss out on all the drama and bullshit involved with an office/factory job and that I no longer have to get up in the morning worried about who I have to impress today.  I work with my husband every day, he's been married to me for 16 years and has seen me at my best and worst and could care less what I look like when I'm in the barn.  The cows sure don't care what I look like so long as I am nice to them and take care of them.  So because of this I also save time and money, another bonus.  I go through a lot less hairspray, a lot less makeup, I spend a ton less shopping at Kohls for nice clothes, and a lot less deodorant because let's be honest, if I smell... I fit right in there, so I rarely wear it.  LOL!

Now onto the bad.  Hmmm???

Ding ding ding!  First on my list are the crazy hours.  I don't think I will ever be able to say that I enjoy getting my butt out of bed at 3:45 am every single day of the week.  And quite honestly every morning the first thing that pops into my head is usually "This sucks!" or "I can't wait to come home and take a nap".  Although the nap thing doesn't always happen obviously as I have a 4 year old barking orders at me all day.  Oh and did I mention this is 7 days a week (twice a day milking).  So, on an average week I work about 9 hours a day x 7 = 63 hours a week.  It tires you out, really.  A lot of physical labor!!!

One of the other bad things that pops into my head is the fact that I will never get used to or like having to ship any of our animals.  Obviously this is a business we're running here and our goal is to produce milk and sometimes if a cow can't get breed back to keep her milk supply going or well she just gets sick for some reason or other it doesn't do us any good to keep her so we eventually have to ship them.  Not fun.  Because like I said, they do start to become a member of our family in a way and I usually leave the farm before I see them get loaded onto a truck for that reason.

 

Another bad thing that pops into my head is....

Farming in the winter isn't real fun.  I've never been fond of winter to begin with and that was when I didn't have to work outside in it, but now it really bugs me.  Trudging around in the snow outside to get to and from the calf huts to feed my babies is a bitch to say the least and freezing water pipes and having to keep the cows in the barn more often so they don't get too cold just adds to the work we have to do.  Thankfully I've become pretty good at dressing for the elements (a lot of layers-not my best look for sure) and if you are in the barn at the same time as the cowies it is actually pretty warm, so I try to look on the bright side.

Over the past year I've had some memorable experiences at the farm.  The one that really stands out is the day I was hauling a steer back from one of the other barns (we rent two barns from other people where we keep our younger stock).  In the truck with me was the high school kid that helps by us and Jeff was still up the road with the tractor at the barn we had just come from.  My goal was to take the steer back to the main farm so we could ship him that day.  All is going real well until I turned the corner onto Jay Road where our farm is and I looked out the rearview mirror and the steer was standing on the road behind me?!  Honest to goodness I thought I was hallucinating and seeing things and my first thought was "How the hell did he get there?"  and the second thought was "Whose animal is that it certainly can't be ours?"

Well long story short, the high school kid obviously didn't close the door properly on the cattle trailer, the steer came out, for whatever reason when I went running back to the main farm (not even sure why I went running to be honest) the steer followed me and we got him mixed in with the cows before Jeff got back.  I think the steer had the "hots" for me maybe?  Either way I was happy he got back where he belonged and I was real happy.

 

Around the farm there are a lot of things that the kids can get into and it makes me nervous.  There are just too many big animals, moving parts and big machines and those elements and kids don't always mix.  In the course of the last year we have had a toddler put his hand into a moving pulley (emergency room visit needed), a 10 year old drop a wagon pole onto his big toe (toe still recovering), a 14 year old drop a wagon pole on the top of her foot (foot recovered now I believe), a 10 year old get chased by the same red cow that tried to run him over in the barn at an earlier date, a toddler get bucked up against a wall twice by a red cow (damn red cows!) and well, too many instances that I care to mention.  Overall though each of these has taught all of us lessons and what not to do in the future so we stay safe.

It's been a good change.  I think sometimes people in general don't have any idea what we do and look down us.  Those people to me are clueless.

 

Oh sure, we may not be the next Donald Trump or Oprah Winfrey BUT......we live honest lives.  We surround ourself with our kids, each other, nature, beauty and HARD WORK.  I LOVE IT!!!