Snow Days

Levi had a very short week last week. He was sick with a stomach bug on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then had snow days on Thursday and Friday. We got 18 inches of heavy, wet snow. Audie was away working storm, and Levi and I did A LOT of shoveling. I actually love shoveling, and this was the first year that Levi was strong and dedicated enough to stick by me and work hard until the end. As much as I love shoveling though, it got to be exhausting, so on Friday morning my Father-in-law came to plow. Levi loved the tall snow banks to play on.

There will be no swinging today....

Extreme Sledding

Snow Diving

Pooped Out

Puppy Jake - Part 2

He's not a puppy anymore, but I still call him puppy Jake.

He sure loves Levi!

Jake is the perfect dog for a young boy. He fully embraces life, is full of energy, loves to rough house and is always ready for any adventure.

And on top of all that, he's beautiful!

Puppy Jake - Part 1

One year ago today, we got Jake.  He was almost 4 months old.

This was the first day we had him. He was a perfect fit from the beginning. He was and is such a happy, loving and obedient dog. He loves life and he loves pleasing us.

It's hard to believe he was once the same size as Truman!

I guess having a puppy around really tired Truman out!

Such a proud puppy!

Ten Years Ago Today.....

......we sold our cows and stopped farming.

Audie grew up on a farm. Then he went to college for electrical engineering and worked out in the real world. Then he went back to the farm in partnership with his dad. Soon after that he bought out his father's cows and rented the farm down the road from his family farm. That is what he was doing when we started dating. I farmed with him for 4 years. It was one of the happiest times of my life. I loved the animals, working outside, living in tune with the seasons, and working with Audie every day. It gave us a great foundation and we still work extremely well together.

Ten years ago, when Levi was just a few month old, Audie got really sick. It started out as bronchitis, and being an "old farm boy", especially one without health insurance, he kept ignoring it. It turned into a terrible case of pneumonia. He was unable to do the barn work for weeks. His dad and I did the morning milking, a neighbor and I did the evening milking, and Levi was passed between my parents, Audie's parents, and my sister. The pneumonia kept getting worse, and Audie had an increasingly hard time breathing. One night he crawled into our bedroom (he was sleeping in the recliner, face down, as that was the only way he could breathe) and told me he could barely breathe and thought he was going to die. That's when I put my foot down and called the doctor.

Eventually Audie recovered enough to go back to the barn, but it didn't go very well for him. He couldn't handle the dust. He couldn't even go into the haymow without coughing terribly and having breathing problems. The cold air did the same thing. He couldn't do all the work required to run a farm alone. I was so busy with a small baby that I wasn't as much help as I had once been. We made the hard decision to sell the cows and Audie went out and got a real job.

We both have very fond memories of farming together. Here are some pictures of that time....

 

Audie milking Twinkle

  

Me hanging out with Rosa

  

The barn

  

Our border collie Chase

  

 Audie and his harem

  

Me and the mother of all the barn cats on top of a truckload of round bales

  

Baby Calves (I can't remember all their names....)

  

Braveheart lounging in the barn window (He was such a Cool Cat)

 

Audie throwing sawdust under the cows

 

Me feeding 4 Cow (She never liked any humans until she met me) 

  

Baby BearCub

  

Big Spot (the oldest cow we had and one of Audie's favorites)

  

Audie getting calf kisses

  

Chase loved to be held like a little kid

 

Audie and Chase picking me flowers at the edge of The Flats

Happy Birthday Truman - Pt. 2

Truman doing two of his favorite things....going for a walk and getting dirty.

This is back when he still had a fluffy tail. The "Pre-Jake" days.

Playing with ribbons a couple years ago on Christmas morning.

This is present day Truman and his "not so fluffy" tail.

Happy Birthday Truman - Pt. 1

Today is Truman's 3rd Birthday. We got him when he was 8 weeks old.

This was taken a couple weeks after we got him. All bright-eyed and settled in. (But still waking me up at 2 am to go out and pee).

This was the very first day we brought him home. After a 4 hour trip from PA. He threw up most of the way home.

His first sweater given to us by my Aunt's Yorkie, Louie. Truman used to think it was the most humiliating thing in the world to wear a sweater. Now he has a sweatshirt and thinks that is a bit more manly.

I don't know how old he was here, but he still had his puppy fur.

The Icky Days of Winter

I love the changing seasons. I think there is beauty in each one. I even love winter. But lately it's been rainy and windy. The snow has all melted and everything is wet, muddy and sad-looking. And, we've all had terrible colds. I'm trying not to get spring fever yet, as we still have a possible two months of winter, but this is what I've been dreaming of.....

Campfires in the backyard.

Swimming in the pond. (Levi and his cousin Genna)

Home-grown tomatoes.

And sleeping in tents in the backyard. (Levi and his cousin Aryn).