Restoring the "Pony"

Around here, tractor repairs are frequent. It's not uncommon to have one of the farms' antique Oliver tractors torn half apart and sitting upon blocks in our garage. Knowing how to repair your own tractor is not only handy, but also necessary for the small-time farmer where every dollar counts. Currently our smallest one an Oliver 66 Row Crop is in to be torn down and refurbished.

The 66, or "Pony" as we call it has been in Alan's family for years. His dad bought it new around the 60's and it was the first one he learned to drive on and spent many hours in the field on. When I moved to MN, it was also the first tractor I learned to drive. It wasn't as large or intimidating as the 1650 or 1850.

When we brought the rusty relic into the garage, Al noticed the crank case was frozen in a block of ice. Currently he's going through the engine, putting in new gauges and is sanding and re-painting it. Rather time-consuming but a worth-while cause.

The Pony is the smallest and also the "cutest" tractor we have. It could be put back to work raking hay in the summer instead of using a larger tractor which burns more fuel.  Not to mention Russell has taken a shine to it. He says it's his tractor and is already being selective on who could drive it. He spends time out in the garage with his dad helping here and there.

Our ultimate goal would be to take it to the annual White Pine Threshing and Logging Show where they have an antique tractor parade. I could only imagine how fun it would be for Russell to ride around waving at people sitting next to Alan or myself.

Here is where we are at right now. You can see our little supervisor in the seat. Still much work to do.

Here's our goal. I will post a picture of the final product once it's finished.

Alan says he enjoys working on the 66 because there's no hurry to quick get it done so he can go haul hay. It's something he can do in his spare time and I think it means a lot to Russell as well. I help out here and there when I get a chance. It's nice to have a family project and heirloom.

Ooogly Tack

If you've ever visited eBay and looked through the saddles, you're likely to see a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Some are of the highest quality, others are not fit for a Cabbage Patch Kid to ride around on. I was inspired by Tacky Tack of the Day's blog and thought I'd take a crack at an ugly tack entry myself. Turns out there is no shortage of material.

How about this little number? Green with yellow diamonds? niiice

This one is a dandy! I love how sturdy and comfortable it looks, not to mention it looks like it was made from scrap.

Now for you hunters, here's the thing! No one will see you coming in this rig (nor would they want to for that matter)

And there's nothing like a good ol fake floral motif

Well, maybe you prefer leather? Here's a gem for your western pleasure classes

I've named this "Racing towards Disaster"- the ugliest barrel saddle I've ever seen...

Unless you've seen this one. I love the bumpy ostrich pink seat!

Can't decide to ride English or western? Why not ride both at the same time with this super deluxe model.

and last but not least, "Animal Print Horror" This one made me almost spit out my drink from laughing when I saw it.

Sure there is a preference issue in tack but some of these are not only eye-sores, but poorly functional as well. I'm a fan of a good old leather saddle any day. If I had to watch my dollars, I'd purchase a used brand-name saddle before I'd ever consider something like well ^^^ that stuff.

A Cow of a Different color

It all started out in a pasture on some distant Minnesota farm where Alan and I were looking for a new bull. We'd recently had to sell ours (a big, red Simmental) because he was getting mean and aggressive. It was starting to get late for breeding season and we needed a replacement ASAP.

The seller had a range of bulls, some Hereford, some solid in color. One immediately caught my eye. He was a nicely built Hereford looking bull, mostly white with big red splotches on him. Out of all the bulls there color aside, I firmly felt he also had the best conformation- deep barrel and straight topline.

Alan argued against him because at the salesbarn white cattle bring less per pound. The trend now is solid colored (black or reds). He didn't want to bring that bull home for fear of a herd of goofy mixed up red and white cattle.

Well, we ended up bringing him home. I named him Target due to the big red splotch on his side. He was a nice, quiet bull and threw calves that were decently built and easy to handle (which counts for a lot). We've gotten: red's with white heads, whites with red dots and splotches and even reds with white bands (they looked like a Dutch Belted).

Eventually the time came to get rid of Target. He'd been here for several years and we needed fresh blood into our breeding program. I was unhappy to say the least. There was something to soften the blow however, Spots and Dots, two of his white and red-splotched daughters. Alan decided to give Spots to our son Russell and Dots to Carleigh. Each year when they have calves, the money from selling them will go towards the kids for savings/allowance ect.

Last spring one of Target's daughters (Spots) had a heifer calf. I was so excited! Since it was Russell's cow who was the mother he got to name her. Being the avid tractor fanatic he chose "Allis", as in Allis-Chalmers' tractors. She's got the goofy dutch belted marking, looks like someone took a paintbrush to her.

Alan decided to give Allis to me in exchange for me trading my cow Hallie (who was getting old and will need to be sold pretty soon). At least this way he can blame the goofy colored cattle on his wife and kids. Farmers have a funny sort of pride when it comes to things like that.

Spots the cow and her baby "Allis"

Pig Tales

Having an assortment of animals on the place means we've had just about every common farm critter at one time or another. Pigs being no exception. Thing about pigs is- they're escape artists, better than Houdini himself.

Al had pigs before I ever moved here and went a couple years without any, when he decided to get a few and raise butcher pigs. The idea of homegrown meat appealed to me in terms of cutting grocery costs and  also knowing what the animals were fed and that they had nothing artificial in them.

We had a nice old shed with a "dog door" on a concrete slab. The fence was hog panels with an electric wire near the ground on the inside, "Pig proof!" Al said.

He was wrong. Around January (back a few years) they made a break for it. The pigs were half-grown and pretty agile. If you've never chased a pig before, let me tell you they're quick! They can change direction in an instant and outrun you like nothing. Chasing pigs out in the cold was no fun either.

We managed to get that lot in, but unfortunately they were not our only bunch of escapees. The following spring a new bunch broke out and tore up our garden. Al was not home and I went running across the barn yard trying to shoo them back into a shed or barn- any place contained. Finally out of desperation, I grabbed a loaf of bread and baited the sow toward the barn with bread crumbs. It worked until she grew bored and wandered off again.

We have not had any pigs for a few years now, but Alan talks about wanting to raise a few more. He will build a new fence, this time they can't get out- yeah, right.

Our last litter of piglets. They were Hampshire/Duroc cross. They sure were cute, but made an awful noise when you tried to pick them up and hold 'em.

Abby the equine Diva

Some of you many already know or know of my first horse, Abby aka Dust of Honey in the show ring. She's a 15.2 hand sorrel Quarter Horse who also thought that she was human and that certain activities were "beneath her."

Abby had a strong set of likes and dislikes, that I found out not long after purchasing her at the age of 15. She was then an eight year old. She hated mud and water. She did not like cows. She was afraid of: bicycles, small children dressed in yellow outfits, umbrellas, turkey, deer, blue tarps, and mini horses (those evil horse-shrinking monsters!)

I could write countless Abby stories, but the one I will tell you about right now is her epic failure as a cow horse.

You see, when I made the decision to move to MN, I also made the choice that Abby would come with me. It was an inconvenient trip to PA and back hauling her home but, it was worth it to have my first (and then ONLY) horse here. Something familiar.

Abby had settled in and I wanted to show Al how athletic she was, you know to justify the trip and all. We were out on our front 40 field chasing cows and calves to be loaded and hauled to Alan's father's farm nearby. Alan was riding Trigger his trusty blue-eyed grey and white Appaloosa, while I was seated upon the Diva herself.

I remember, Al took off after a cow that had made a run for it. The others behind her took off the opposite direction. He yelled at me to go after them! I heeled Abby forward and she hesitantly went within about 20 feet of the cattle, but refused to get closer. I growled at her, I kicked with my heels, I clicked to her, nothing!

Finally I remembered a reverse psychology trick and turned the mare backwards and made her go towards the cows that way. Sure it wasn't very handy, but at least I wasn't letting her dictate where we were going (to the barn at a run if she had her way).

In the midst of my backing Abby towards the cows, Al continued to yell that the cattle were getting away. From the pickup in the field with us, I could hear Al's dad laughing. - I still get teased about my  backwards horse to this day.

photo of Abby taken at her personal stable at my home in PA.

Meet Piddlestix

Sometimes you have to expect the unexpected. It was a windy and chilly November day when my mom, the kids and I returned from a shopping trip. Upon getting out of the car, my mom notices something near the corner of the garage.

"What's that?" she says. "What do you mean? What's what?" I asked.

She points to the garage and sure enough this little fuzzy headed dog was poking his head around the corner. I got out of the car to investigate. It was some small sort of poodle looking thing. I tried calling to it, but it ran laps around the house.

Upon the third lap it must've decided it was cold and hungry because I opened the front door and it shot inside the house. Ok, not an ideal situation. Strange dog in house. The kids stayed with Grandma out in the car for a few minutes.

I was able to catch the dog and noticed it was very emaciated. It was also a he with no collar and remnants of fuchsia nail polish on his toenails. No wonder he ran away I thought.

We called around to the neighbors and asked if they knew of anyone missing a dog. I also posted an add at the local feed store. Found out the neighbors had seen a vehicle with a lady and that dog drive down the dirt road near our house on hunting opener. They also said they've seen the dog running around for days now and had put food out in their garage hoping to catch it.

For some reason the dog seemed like he chose us. Maybe he liked our other dogs, maybe he was sick of running. Whatever the reason, he and my two year old daughter seemed to get along right from the start. By the second day he was here she called him, "My puppy." Funny thing is, she was afraid of dogs until then.

My husband Alan was pretty certain the dog had been dumped at our place. Kind of a hazard of living on a farm. We debated what to call him, I wanted Milo but he came up with Fiddlesticks because the dog was so thin and it looked like his legs were literally pencil sticks.

Our four year old son suggested Piddles, because the mutt had a few accidents in the house. Al suggested Piddlestix and what do ya know, the name stuck. How could you say no to that? It was silly and true at the same time.

As for my daughter and Piddlestix, over a month later they are still buddies. We all remember how he came running through our front door just days before her second birthday.

What's up with winter?

So being Midwestern (MN) typically means cold. I'm not talking about chilly, I'm talking about Arctic blast cold -20s -40s with snow, lots of it. We've made it into January without much of a hassle from old man winter and it's got my suspicions up. Today was so nice the kids and I went outside in our fall jackets- it was near 40 degrees!

Don't get me wrong I loved it. The dusting of snow we had was melting, the sun was out. I decided to take down our Christmas decorations of the two light up trees and grazing deer we had purchased before the holidays. It was one of those days you just HAD to get outside.

It does make me wonder what's around the corner though. For certain we will plunge into the freezer. I'm wondering if it means we will also have a rough spring or a very late one? My husband, the typical farmer, already expresses feelings of concern in the lack of snowfall that the following spring and summer may be dry and as result the hay crop may be short.

I'm not able to think that far ahead. I'm ready to get past winter one day at a time. In case you're wondering, I'm more of a summer bug.

For Christmas we were able to have a dusting of snow. The kids went sledding on a hill Christmas eve, with my husband alternately pushing each of them. I even gave it a try, the sled went surprisingly well for how much grass was showing. Just more of a bumpy ride.

Would've loved to see this Christmas morning. Took it last winter, view from my backdoor

Hello there!

Well, I must admit this is my first blogging experience. I figured I'd try my hand at it and see how it goes. It centers around my familiy's life on a small Midwestern farm. My husband and I have raised and trained Appaloosa horses as a hobby and red Angus beef cattle as part of our livelihood.

Farming has been in my husband's family for generations. He's from the area while I migrated here from the east. He teases me sometimes about being an "Easterner". We initially met online and were married in 2006. We now have three wonderful children a son, age 4, daughter age 2, and baby boy 6 months old.

Life here isn't always easy, sometimes we have mishaps, some of which are pretty entertaining. I figured it would be fun to share the ride...

Here's my husband driving a team of Belgians, Duke & Doll that he trained himself

One of our homebred colts, Steelntheshow aka Steel as a baby

Me back in the day riding my Quarter Horse mare Abby. Now I do mostly trail riding/western and some local fun shows at saddle clubs in between being a full-time mom