ND Life

Mrs. Opdahl

2011-03-09T18:44:00.000-08:00

It's official. October 29th I married Kent D. Opdahl. Here are some pics from the wedding.

Updates

2010-09-26T09:29:00.001-07:00

Wow! It's been a long time since I updated here....

Howling Horse Productions just celebrated our 1 year anniversary and business is booming!

In July Kent proposed and in just over a month I will be Mrs. Kent Opdahl.

I am officially back in school and working on a credential for Early Childhood Education.

That's a quick wrap up.

Hopefully I'll get new updates back on again soon!

Brandy

2010-01-22T19:19:00.001-08:00

This is our second baby of the year. She is from 19 and her name is Brandy. She was born in the cold and froze her ears so she will be a short ear, long horn :)

She's a fiesty little bugger!

First Baby

2010-01-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

2010 welcomes the first baby for Howling Horse Ranch. Early in the morning of 1-2-2010 we welcomed baby Arctic, a heifer calf to the herd. She is the daughter of Storm and was born at -30 degrees air temp. She and mama are doing very well after a little colostryx boost from Kent.

Great cookies

2009-12-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

1 Cake mix
1 egg beaten
2 C cool-whip (measure this out it is less than one 8 oz container)
Sugar (powdered or white)

Mix together - the dough will be thick and firm.

Roll into tsp size balls and roll in sugar. (I like powdered, my mom likes white).

Bake for 10 min at 350. - they will get hard fast if you bake them longer.

Now for the fun part - mix it up.

Devils Food Cake with 2/3 cup Andes peppermint crunches
White Cake with chopped dried cranberries
White Cake with macadamia nuts
Yellow cake with 1/2 cup peanut butter
Lemon cake mix (this is nice and citrusy - good in the summer)

Have fun getting creative!

Howling Horse Productions

2009-11-28T08:28:00.001-08:00

Kent and I began a new adventure this fall...DJing. Howling Horse Productions went up and running in September with a slow and steady run of jobs. We play our first wedding reception tonight and this starts a packed month of Saturday's in December. We have a great light show including a 3D laser light and over 50,000 songs for your listening preference. In all the jobs we've done so far we've only had a handful of songs we don't have and we easily pick them up. It's pretty exciting. As Kent says we may have to work weekends but we're always at the party!

Westin

2009-11-27T06:31:00.000-08:00

In my blogging yesterday I forgot another addition to our extended family.

Westin Vandale Opdahl was born in September - he joins sister Natalie, and brothers Levi and Garin. We waited a long time for him. He had several due dates starting in Late August and eventually came toward the end of September. He is a big and happy boy with a tiny little squeak and we love him. His mom sent this adorable pic that I thought I'd share. As you can see he has a ton of hair. I tell Carrie that I don't believe I've seen any of her boys with hair as long as Westin's is. She likes to keep the boys in a buzz cut :}

Life

2009-11-26T18:21:00.000-08:00

Today I watched a movie that said the true treasure in life is living. Well that's what I've been doing. I finished out the summer with work at the golf course and the start of school. The start of school brought the start of one-act drama season and the end of that just happened so I'm finally able to catch up.

I've baked a couple cakes...one of Kent's niece which she adored, one for a friend's one-year old, and my first sheet cakes for a wedding anniversary.
Pictured here are two from Kent's niece. She wanted a barn cake - I found the cute cupcake patterns and just went from there.

The one act crew performed The Seussification of Romeo and Juliette. We took 2nd at regionals and qualified for state. At state one of my actors - Brian Anderson was awarded a Superior Actor Award. We learned a lot from what we saw and all of the judges and will be that much more prepared next year. Good Job Guys!

My brother had his second daughter at the beginning of the month. Maleah Rae - she's beautiful as is her big sister Makenna.

I'm headed into the holiday season with love, happiness, thankfulness and the treasure of life. Hope you are able to find the same.

Stuff

2009-07-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

I got to see two new calves today on the farm. Sweet-Tart had a black and white bull calf...adorable. Jane had an all black calf a couple weeks ago on open pasture but Longhorns are very good at keeping their babies safe and hidden - because of this today was the first day I've been able to see her or him...Momma wouldn't let the baby close enough for us to find out.

So every year when we hay I have some sort of mishap. I've broken mower blades (pluaral), I've snapped a rake in half, I dumped a load of hay down the middle of the dirt road, I drove half a mile with a flat I didn't know I had and bent a very large rim...I annointed myself with at least five gallons of hydraulic oil....so this year I get the opportunity to try again...well I GOT the opportunity...kind of.

On the way out to talk to Kent's dad about hay equipment and hay schedules I drove my car down a prairie trail and proceeded to wrap the drive shaft in the equivilent of a square bale of hay. It wrapped TIGHT! Kent spent the better part of two hours getting it undone. This included a knife, a fire extinguisher, a pliers, a leatherman, wire cutters, to ramps and my expert assistance. Thank you Kent...so still interested in having me hay?????

Really does life get much better than this???

Manx babies

2009-07-09T05:05:00.000-07:00

This spring we were blessed with two separate litters of manx babies. The two pictured below are eight weeks old and looking for good homes. We have kept back a sister to these two for ourselves.

The little girl in the pink shots has mitten feet (polydactyl) on all four feet and is either a riser or a stumpy. Her small tail is kinked which makes me lean to the stumpy tail. However, it is very short. "Pinky" is a little shy yet. She plays well with her sisters - she just hasn't warmed up to her human family.

The other two pictures are of her sister. She is a rumpy. She is very cuddly and playful.

Both of these girls are for sale. As I said we kept their sister for ourselves. Tweetie is a light orange and white rumpy with a sweet personality. She is a little smaller (runt of the litter) so we wanted to keep her back for ourselves.

The second litter is a little younger - there are four babies for sale in that litter. Three tabby and one black. I'll get pictures of them when they are closer to ready to go. This litter was large and the babies are small yet so we want to give them more time to grow.

I added some info from Wikipedia on Manx Cats in case they are new to you. We love ours. They are excellent hunters and have unique personalities.

The Manx (Kayt Manninagh or Stubbin in Manx) is a breed of cat with a naturally occurring mutation of the spine. This mutation shortens the tail, resulting in a range of tail lengths from normal to tailless. Many Manx have a small "stub" of a tail, but Manx cats are best known as being entirely tailless; the distinguishing characteristic of the breed and a cat body type genetic mutation. The Manx are said to be skilled hunters, known to take down larger prey even when they are young. They are often sought by farmers with rodent problems.

The hind legs of a Manx are longer than the front legs, creating a continuous arch from shoulders to rump giving the cat a rounded appearance.

Tail length

Dimple rumpy or rumpy - no tail whatsoever
Riser or rumpy riser - stub of cartilage or several vertebrae under the fur, most noticeable when kitten is happy and raising its 'tail'
Stumpy - partial tail, more than a 'riser' but less than 'tailed' (in rare cases kittens are born with kinked tails because of incomplete growth of the tail during development)
Tailed or longy - complete or near complete tail
Tail length is random throughout a litter.

The ideal show Manx is the rumpy; the stumpy and tailed Manx do not qualify to be shown. In the past, kittens with stumpy or full tails have been docked at birth as a preventative measure due to some partial tails being very prone to a form of arthritis that causes the cat severe pain.

Fourth of July

2009-07-04T22:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day everyone! I spent the morning relaxing with Kent and then headed to work at the golf course for the afternoon.

It was a beautiful day - two slight showers and a lot of sun.

The family had a Bar-B-Que at the farm and then went to Kelly's for fireworks. The kids seemed to have a blast with everything from pops to artillery shells. Even the big kids had a blast...right Uncle Kent!

Now it's off to bed to get up for another day at the golf course tomorrow. Tiger is in the final day of the AT&T so maybe I'll get to watch a little of that too!

Miss me???

2009-07-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a chance just to get on and type for a while...

June was a month of powerful connections to friends and just the power of friendship at work. I was in my first wedding in 16 years and I loved every minute of it. Kent and I were honored to be asked by the bride and groom to be attendants to their very special day. Kent looked handsome I can't wait to get some pics on here of him in his frock coat and black hat. What a rugged outlaw he makes.

I also had the joy of being contacted by some very old and dear friends. I am learning a life lesson...people are my friends and I have had a valuable impact on their lives. Boy this has been an adjustment in my psyche. Having moved so much I compartmentalized each past town as an experience and put it on a shelf. I did not realize that those connections made ripples back to me and that they don't have to be lost...they are very real and very alive. My self-value has shot up immensly.

This month I heard a baby's heartbeat, watched a mother cat give birth, saw the power of love commited to another and found the treasure of friendship.

This reminds me of an old song that I will share now.

Make new friends
But keep the old
One is silver
and the others GOLD!!!!!

Maybe I'm rich indeed!

Bringing home a Rodeo

2009-05-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

Today we brought home Rodeo a 2 year old long horn bull. He is sort of cream and buckskin spotted. Hopefully I can get some pics of him on here. We were looking forward to a big fight between him and Rambo our herd sire but no luck. Rodeo just let Rambo run him.

I have 7 days left of school. I am probably the most caught up I've ever been and I say that with a hesitation that I don't jinx myself.

Tonight is the first of two that I have had at home. I'm just trying to adjust to this relaxed life. The play ended successfully on Sunday and boy am I whupped. Guess what....I have a two week break and then we start looking for actors for the summer show....I'm a glutton for punishment or I love what I do...or I'm a drama queen...yep that's it.

Well I should start doing some dishes. My house is the area that takes a beating when I juggle everything else. I guess it's my dirt tho so if I'm okay with it????

What do they say? "A clean house is a sign of a dirty mind."
or
"My house is dirty because my life is full."

Either way - I love my life and all I have to be thankful for.

Long time to catch up.

2009-04-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

Since I was last on I co-directed the High School Musical - Seven Brides for Seven Brothers with a phenomenal success. My kids were fabulous and the whole show was a runaway hit!

I have come within 5 days of wrapping up the community theater I have directed. Alone Together Again - a heartfelt comedy about aging and our parents. A hit for sure!

I have come within 15 days of school being out! Hip-Hip Hurray.

I've survived a flood - our local rivers and tributaries couldn't hold the melt.

AND - The babies have come in large numbers. My Mare had her foal yesterday...a little filly that should have been a buckskin but looks like she might be a sorrel. Gleaming Precious Metal - "My Precious" is beautiful and baby and mama are doing great.

We have six other foals on the ground and several calves. I will try eventually to catch up the photos!

I am anxiously awaiting two weddings this spring and hope to golf...if we ever dry out our course.

2009-03-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today we had two new babies...She-devil had a strapping black and white bull - yet to be named he was the size of a month old calf!!!

Brooke had our first heifer calf of the season. Hers too is black and white and yet unnamed.

These two are out of Rambo our #1 herd sire. He puts either a heart on their back sides or a crest on their heads...both of these have crests. I will try to get to pics this week.

I am winding up the last week of High School Musical practice for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. My kids are awesome. They were worried about having it ready by Sunday but they have really pulled it together.

I am three weeks away from Top Hat Playhouse performances of Alone Together Again. I am directing this too. I have been running morning practices - work - evening practices and then bed.

So how do I get it all done? Well my house takes a licking but keeps on ticking...

Kent has been working nights so between being quiet so he can sleep and the crazy schedule I just haven't had much of a chance to pick up. Hopefully over Easter I can do some deep Spring cleaning.

Saturday Carrie, Natalie, and I sent Shirley off on her whirlwind trip to D.C. She was so excited and it was nice to be a part of her experience. She has yet to call and check in - I am assuming she is just so busy having fun!

We moved horses around today and have 6 in the barn on baby watch. By April we should be off and running with foaling season...I love Spring.

2009-03-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

This Cooper son of Snot born 3/12/09. He is our third bull. If the wives' tale holds true it will be a dry year. Of course the farmer that Kent is having has had a majority of heifers so it should a wet year....we'll have to wait and see.

2009-03-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a three day Non-violent Crisis Intervention training in Bismarck. I drove down ahead of a storm and luckily didn't have to leave until the storm and its remnants passed.

People in the hotel with me were stuck since the interstate was closed...not a problem for me!

I spent one evening with a good friend at her daughter's orchestra concert. Mark Wood a famous violinist came and did a workshop and then they got to perform with him...it was pretty cool.

The remainder of the time was spent with one heck of a cold so I didn't do much else...on the plus side there were no chores or anything else that I had to leave for at night!

Spring is in the air

2009-03-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

We have had temperatures this last week in the 30's, the sun was out until almost 7 one night last week, babies are hatching on the farm...Spring is in the air.

Although we are in for a storm AGAIN this week, I can't help but feel that the tide has turned and winter is behind us.

I'll just call this next storm a minor incident in the spring journey...its definitely not a full fledged drag you down for another 3-4 months winter storm....

And yes...the drugs I take are VERY good!

2009-03-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

THANK GOD FOR FAMILY AND CARING FRIENDS!!!!!!!

You lift me up when I am weary.

You lighten my load when the burden's too much.

When others seek to tear me down you build back my resolve.

When I think I can take no more you help me hold on for one more day.

2009-02-28T20:57:00.000-08:00

This morning when Kent and I went to do chores I found out that Boon is a snuggler. He came up to be petted and rubbed his head on my leg. It's pretty cute now and I hope he stays calm. Having a cuddly longhorn bull with a 35 inch horn spread rubbing your leg could be terrifying if he doesn't!

Today I was supposed to deal in the Relay for Life Poker Tournament but ended up playing since they were short players. There were 40 players all whom play all the time both in person and online. I made it to 26th or 27th - I think that's pretty good. Especially since I haven't played with a large group for over two years or so. I even had some people compliment me on my play...and the club manager had a side bet that I would outlast the other women at my table...I didn't but it was still cool that he bet on me! I stayed in active play for SEVEN hours! I know that poker isn't considered an athletic endeavor but let me tell you it is physically and mentally demanding. I feel like I just ran a 5K.

It was -2 when I got up this morning but we are supposed to hit mid 20's by the middle of the week....lets hope!

UPs and DOWNs

2009-02-25T15:33:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been filled with ups and downs. As you know my car went kaputz...added to this my computer fried on Thursday and on Monday I was in a car accident with Kent's loaner (not my fault). Needless to say I have been a little harried.

Silver linings exist however. I got my computer back, tax money went into my account on Monday, my grandma comes home tonight and the musical is going well. We also had our second baby today. It is a pretty little bull calf (see below) whom we will call Boon.

And finally here is a little wisdom for the day. "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22 - May your heart be cheerful and your spirit never crushed!

2009-02-18T16:06:00.000-08:00

I took my concealed weapons test on Monday night and PASSED!

Today I took my pictures and tomorrow I will send my application in...then just a mere 30-60 days and I will be like Cagney and Lacy before me...a pretty lady packing heat!

I had a 7 am practice this morning and Lover-Dover, Snookem-Pie made me breakfast before I left. Usually I warm up leftovers but this morning I had home cooked breakfast sausage and coffee- Yummmmeeeee!

Since it was such and early morning I think I might head to bed....even if it is only 6:13.....the sun is almost set so I should be okay!

2009-02-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight for the Auxiliary Meeting we had a Go Red Party. This is part of the American Heart Association Go Red campaign.

We watched a video on women's risk of heart disease and had a guest speaker who talked about ways to adapt our recipes to make them heart friendly.

Some of her ideas were:
Replacing oil with half applesauce.
Using liquid oils is better for you then solid oils (crisco)
Reducing the meat in dishes and adding beans or other legumes
Using half and half instead of cream
Flax seed can be blended with water (2 Tb. and 1/2 a cup I think...you may want to check this on some web source like Google) and can replace eggs in baking
Pretty much anytime oil is required it can be replace with flax seed.
Bread recipes that call for 3 T oil can be replaced with 1 T walnuts and 2 T flax
Switch to lowfat milk
Get lots of vegies and fruits in your diet
2-3 eggs per week are okay

I can't think of many more just off the bat except for this little tidbit....

1 SERVING of cream of mushroom soup contains more cholestoral, saturated fats, and transfats than a double cheeseburger! Are you reading this Kent??????? That's one serving NOT a can!!!!!

So it was a lot of good information...hopefully I can take part of it to heart.

You should go to the American Heart Association website or gored.org and get more information on women's health. I'm glad I did.

2009-02-15T11:51:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's Day Kent and I decided to have a special dinner at home. I made:
Lemon "E" Chicken
Heart-shaped citrus roasted potatoes
Candied carrots
Garlic sauteed mushrooms.
We even had Cold Duck...nothing but the best for my sweetheart.

Here's a picture of the fabulous dinner.

2009-02-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

Helen Keller

Good News/Bad News

2009-02-13T20:59:00.001-08:00

I had my taxes done today and Hooray!!!! I get a refund.

I also got to spend time with David Lee - he pastors a church in Minot and is a very dear...ahem...old friend. Kent and I had lunch with him before getting our taxes done.

Bad news....I like this last - it seems less difficult to handle.

The car is still "broken" and will need a part from Milwaukee.

Pictures of the baby should be up tomorrow and I promise by then we will have a name!

2009-02-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

I drove Kent's Taurus today and thank God it ran like a champ. I even took it all the way to Rugby!!!!

When I got home Kent had spent the day cleaning the basement. For those of you who know...that is a HUGE deal. He says it looks worse now then before but there is progress!

We hot-tubbed and "farmed" on Facebook and got our taxes ready for tomorrow.

We are going to get them done in Minot tomorrow.

Well the car saga....it is not a good thing...we can replace the belt but most likely there is too much damage to the engine. Art is willing to fix it but it may mean replacing the whole upper motor...whatever that means.

So I may start looking for something else...or I may trust Art and let him work on it. I think Art would rather I get something else.

Still no pictures of the little one...still nameless....hopefully this weekend.

BTW - Welcome Carrie to the world of blogging!

2009-02-11T17:03:00.000-08:00

No news on the car yet. Looks like I will be driving Kent's Taurus for a couple days. This just in...as of 7:24 (24 minutes after I started this blog)...it appears to be a broken timing belt which may or may not have caused internal motor damage and may or may not be a simple matter of replacing a belt.

Today Kent took me to work and picked me up. I was glad he was driving since the roads were icy. It was kind of nice to be chauffeured by someone so handsome too. Thank you dear.

When we got home my payment was to help clean out the hottub. So I donned my "Kiss Me I'm Irish" hooded sweatshirt, my brown stocking cap and my heart designed barn boots and climbed in sans pants. I'm sure it was quite a look and that Kent is even more unable to resist me than before...yep I knew it even now he is trying to canoodle on the couch.

I better go...I'm trying to teach Kent Texas Hold'em....

2009-02-10T16:02:00.000-08:00

So the "STORM" didn't really hit today. It rained all night and this morning but around 4 (I think) it started to drop in temp and get snowy.

It has been snowing now for about two hours. Big, fluffy flakes....oh and there is wind.

We had another baby today. This time from one of our cows - 19. She had an absolutely gorgeous bull calf - yet unnamed. (pictures are forthcoming)

I had a major car malfunction today. While driving it just died. No warning - no gauges firing up - just died. Now the nice thing is it was in a fairly safe place and hopefully (OJALA) Kent's brother-in-law, Art, the mechanic, will be able to find out what is wrong with it and get it fixed soon. Art has been a God-send this winter. Thanks to Rodney too for letting Kent borrow his car trailer.

2009-02-09T20:31:00.000-08:00

Well so far no horrible storm.....it rained last night and all afternoon but we have held at 33 degrees since I left for work this morning.

Our lights have flickered a few times but so far they've managed to come back on.

Some of the schools in our unit were closed today and many events were cancelled but so far the white stuff hasn't hit. Everything is just so packed with snow that the slightest melt makes for a sloppy mess.

Snow day projects include: Cleaning house, organizing the basement, washing clothes, reading and maybe a little blogging!

2009-02-08T17:14:00.000-08:00

What a busy day we had. They are predicting a huge ice storm tonight which could potentially knock out power for a while so we started the day by prepping everything on the farm.

We fed hay to everything and hauled grain up for the young horses and pigs.

We dug out the generator. The main farm can be run by a generator so the houses and barns would have power and with rural water up and running we should be okay with water for the houses. We may run into trouble with water for the animals if it freezes but we can always carry water if worse comes to worse. In 97 Kent and his wife had to stay with his parents for a few days when they lost power and had no heat. According to weather predictions this could be a repeat performance.

We headed to town and stocked up on some staples just in case.

We then spent the remainder of a BEAUTIFUL afternoon working on the calf barn. Aaron and Rodney (Kent's brothers) and Art (brother-in-law) and Dale (dad)spent the morning working. We got over just about lunch time and Kent helped finish shoveling off the remaining snow. I climbed up and tried to help with the shoveling and actually did do a little but I was saved by the bell...dinner bell. Shirley had us all come down for dinner and although the getting down was difficult(emotionally)...it isn't the hard landing at the bottom that bothers me or the fall...it's the idea of breaking or tearing something corporeally that worries me most.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The rest of the time I spent safely on the ground. I was the chief tin stacker. While this doesn't sound strenuous - my body is telling me otherwise. I am whooped. An 8:00 bedtime is not out of the question.

2009-02-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

Today was the Eagle's anniversary. The ladies host whatever out of town ladies we have in a social which includes goodies and White Elephant Bingo.

We didn't have any outside people but enjoyed a nice afternoon with our locals. I won a four pack of coffee samplers - love them - can't wait to try each of them.

Tonight Kent and I hot-tubbed and then settled in for a movie. I just love Netflix. Without it and no satellite or cable or local channels we just might go crazy - although I do love to read - and get a lot of time for that too so I can't complain.

Today I was blessed with conversations from friends and family. I am so glad to have people in my life with whom I can share small moments.

Angel

2009-02-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

It was 32 degrees today and its still 25!

The sun is coming up earlier and earlier...

We might just survive!

The ground hog saw his shadow 6 weeks we must wait...

At the first sign of grass

We'll all CELEBRATE!

Old McOpdahl Had a Farm

2009-02-04T16:06:00.001-08:00

Here are some farm pictures - Kent and I each took some this week. Hope you enjoy!

Make a Smilebox photobook

2009-02-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

We had Auxiliary tonight and had a Private Quarters representative in to talk about the luxurious world of bedding n things. The throws really were quite soft and comfy.

Carrie came over and - lucky duck - won both $25 at Auxiliary and the door prize from the consultant. Last week it was Shirley. That's okay because I'm going to win the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes at the end of February (7000 per week for life) so I'd rather they have the luck now and I get my week then!

Tomorrow is audition day for 7 Brides - I can't wait to talk about the ideas I have for sets - I hope Heidi likes them.

Still haven't had time to upload the calf pictures from Sunday...maybe tomorrow.

Up to 8 degrees from -19 this morning. Our warming trend is beginning.

Go Steelers!

2009-02-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

Okay so if the Cardinals would have won I would have said the same. I rooted for the Cardinals throughout the game but was torn since I love the Steelers too.

I guess I just like the background stories of the Cardinals this year.

Kent and I did farm chores today. I took some pictures of the newly tagged calves but didn't get a chance to upload them...maybe tomorrow.

I also reaad through 7 Brides again to make sure I have it down for auditions this week. It is such a good show! I hope we do it justice.

9 degrees tonight - that's a pretty drastic change from the 30 some yesterday!

Calves and a Doe

2009-01-31T19:00:00.000-08:00

Today we worked calves on the farm. Rodney, Art, Lona, Shirley and Dale helped. Thank you for working so hard with us.

All of the babies went smoothly to the barn except for three and of those three one decided to take Dale and I on a tour of the farm yard. She is Aaron's from last year and since we didn't remember what they had named her I called her FLOJO since she reminded me of the Olympic athlete with all her running and jumping.

We also tagged Buckshot, Booger, Hack - all yearling steers (as of today anyway). Cali, Luci, Burns, Dodie, Fudge, Sambo, Frostbite, Sly, Petunia, Spot, Mo, DD, Eagle, and Sage. The heifers got tags in the ears and the bulls were nutted and tagged. We saved the nuts for a Rocky Mountain Oyster fry.

I didn't get any pictures of the calves as we were working them - I didn't have my camera with me and we really didn't have time.

As promised I did get a couple pictures of the little doe from the other day. They aren't really great shots because I took them with camera on my phone and it was dark and she was moving but at least you get a good idea of how cute she is.

It was gorgeous today - 41 degrees when I woke up this morning and still 27. We haven't seen 40 since November!

High School Musical

2009-01-30T18:41:00.000-08:00

It's official. Next week we start auditions for the High School Musical. We are doing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers....only I'm changing the title to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and One Groom for Me!

I think the new edition will be great and maybe it will be a success!? - ;)

Tonight Kent and I watched the DVD of the original movie and this weekend I will peruse the book for audition pieces. Wednesday is auditions and then we will be off and running. Our performance will be the first weekend in April.

Top Hat will be the third weekend in April so I will pull double duty with the two shows and practices. Someone said I must be superwoman...I said no closer to Wonder Woman...I always wanted the lasso!

34 degrees right now with a forcasted storm for the weekend.

2009-01-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

New Life

2009-01-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

We were called over to the farm this evening to look at the newest addition...a baby goat.

Kent and Art and I had to build her an indoor pen since it is so cold out right now. The little sweetheart had frozen ears and frozen feet - but we warmed her up as best we could and put a sweater on her so maybe she'll make it. As I held her under the heater she laid her head back on my shoulder and snuggled it. It really was pretty precious.

I guess I don't even know if she is a she, but I will know tomorrow and hopefully have pictures. Tonight I just wanted to get her warm and safe.

Rearranging

2009-01-26T19:05:00.000-08:00

Kent and I rearranged the spare bedroom tonight. It is much bigger feeling now and I can get into my closet...I guess that means I have to clean it.:)

I wanted to paint in there but I think I may have to wait until this summer...plus I can't decide on a color. Yes I know Carrie and I spent a ton of time looking at samples and picking out a color but the longer I lived with the choices the less they grew on me. I still want to go some shade of blue...but what? there are so many...something not too icy, not too dark, sort of western, but not grey, no green blue, no purple blue and it has to look good with brown or white or both. It can't be to pale and it should look like denim...kind of. If I could take a gallon of the sky in summer I would use it but I can't find a color that matches it. I don't ask for much do I?

A quiet weekend

2009-01-25T19:36:00.000-08:00

Kent and I had a quiet Saturday involving napping and babysitting and more napping. It was quite nice to have nothing better to do than be snuggled in at home.

We went to the Firemen's Fundraiser Saturday night. Kent was a volunteer fireman for seven years and then this pat year due to his job schedule was unable to continue. As of last night it appears that his position is still there waiting for him and that several of his "brothers" would love to have him back. I hope he seriously considers it. When we first me Kent's being a fireman and the way he talked about what he did was one of the things that attracted me to him. I don't want him to go back for that reason but the way he talked about the fire department showed me a man who was passionate about what he did and I hope he can find his way back to it. Plus...who doesn't love a fireman?

Sunday we did chores and ran to town where we found a super deal on dog food and bought enough to last Trip, our farm dog, at least until summer if not longer.

Tonight I took Shirley to hear Gary and Glenda Baltrusch - they are a Christian couple who travel around the country singing. They have a very old-time Christian sound and are very good. I really enjoyed them.

It is -7 and Harvey is in a windchill advisory until tomorrow morning!

Finally Friday

2009-01-23T23:41:00.000-08:00

We had an almost quiet night at home tonight.

Our friend Kristina stopped by for a few minutes and Jay and his girlfriend met us in town to exchange money for the beef they bought.

We had a nice night socializing.

We are also babysitting Daisy - Aaron's dog while they go out of town.

It has been a nice quiet Friday for a change.

Poetry

2009-01-21T18:50:00.000-08:00

I couldn't think of what to write and turned to those with greater gifts than mine to try to put into words winter in North Dakota.

The Farm Woman's Winter

Thomas Hardy

I
If seasons all were summers,
And leaves would never fall,
And hopping casement-comers
Were foodless not at all,

And fragile folk might be here
That white winds bid depart;
Then one I used to see here
Would warm my wasted heart!
II

One frail, who, bravely tilling
Long hours in gripping gusts,
Was mastered by their chilling,
And now his ploughshare rusts.
So savage winter catches
The breath of limber things,
And what I love he snatches,
And what I love not, brings.

Barn Collapse

2009-01-20T20:29:00.001-08:00

Yesterday our worst fears with this snow were realized.

Dale had gone over to the cattle farm to feed and forgot to check on the animals. He decided to go back and check to see that they were okay. When he returned he found that the barn roof had collapsed.

Miraculously the animals were fine and nothing got hurt, but half of the barn is gone. This was one of the sturdier barns on the farm, but the calves were penned up and the weather turned nice and the combo of sunshine and animal body heated melted the snow enough to make it really heavy....REALLY heavy. Kent hadn't made it over to that farm to clean snow as he had still been working on the main farm.

These are pictures that Kent took today of what is left. The calves except for about 10 were sent to the sale barn yesterday. The others will stay back for butcher critters next year.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Trophy Nite

2009-01-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't been on for a couple days. This weekend was the 12th Annual ND State Trophy Night at the Eagles club. As a former employee I get called each year to do a cameo appearance as a barmaid. I don't mind. Usually it is pretty good money and since Kent is a committee member I would be there in one capacity or another. I have attached several pictures of the festivities.

Make a Smilebox photobook

Among the fun is a 250 gun raffle, general raffle, .22 raffles, and door prizes. My parents came up from Wyoming hoping this would improve their chances of winning...it did not.

Kent's uncle Don won a .223/.20 gauge single shot interchangeable barrel Rossi, Kent's mom won a .22 off of ONE raffle ticket, my dad got a tree stand, I got a vest and binoculars, and others of the family got some small raffle prizes. Not a complete skunking but we had hoped for a little more...like a gun for each of us!

Kent and I spent Sunday with my parents. Dad and Mom and I watched the Cardinals game and then Kent brought steaks in (we ate at Grandma's house because she has cable tv) and we watched the Steelers game. It was nice just to have a relaxing evening with my parents. Usually when they are here we run or have a project or something.

We had friends up this weekend too so Kent and I spent our time running the whole weekend.

Sunday we sent a kitten to Bismarck to a new home. This makes me sad and happy at the same time. He needed to move off the farm...we didn't need a tomcat related to almost everything, but Chunk and I had been through a lot...including supergluing his rear end shut! Chunk is going to a great home by the sounds of it and will be pampered and spoiled so I can't complain too much. Love you Chunkers!

I do have to turn serious here for a minute and comment on two events that have made me pause and reflect on the beauty of life. This weekend I lost two of my circle. Friday my coworker Bob Brower lost his battle with Cancer and won a better life in Heaven. His funeral was today and the service was geared to being confident in Christ and appreciating the love of family and friends around you. He has battled Cancer for two years or better and never was down, never was rude, never was mean spirited. His recessional song was Spirit in the Sky...a fitting end to a man who didn't seem to take life too seriously and always brightened everyone's life he touched. Bob - if you are looking down...it's always morning for you and you can kiss this Angel anytime!

Friday night after Trophy Night a long time customer, Kenny Johnson, was in a fatal car crash. He was one of two men we called the Fessenden Boys. I'd had a chance to talk with him that evening and had the opportunity to tell him how special he was to me and how much I missed seeing him every Saturday (I don't work there anymore). I gave him a big hug and told him he was appreciated. If only we could do that for every person in our lives.

Both of these have made me pause and think about what is important in life. It wasn't so important that I serve a hundred customers, but that I had that chance to let that one person know he mattered. It doesn't matter what we go through our attitude can touch someone else's life deeply even if they aren't someone we see everyday.

To both of you I send my love and know that you are in a better place.

32 Below

2009-01-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

There is a country/rock group from North Dakota that I love that gives a tongue in cheek nod to their roots with the name 32 Below. I have always loved their music, it has an edgy, brusque, North Dakota hardiness to it that reaches down to the heart of this North Dakota import.

Today they were brought to mind over and over as the weatherman recited the current temperature. Three times today it was recorded as 32 below before wind chill and I thought that this record is where the heart of this music, this girl resides.

It groans like a car trying to cold start, it bites like the wind in the lungs, and it brings tears when I stand and let it all in. The wind may blow, the cold may freeze but it is an exhilarating feeling of being alive.

And there is hope. Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 20's this is hope, it is a hope that I can survive almost anything if I can survive this winter. It is a reminder of where I've been and where I want to go.

While the end of the winter is in sight the small joy of a 20 degree day is enticing. It is something to look forward to and it fills me with simple pleasure.

Blizzard!!!!

2009-01-13T18:18:00.000-08:00

Today we had school but I headed home early. The winds and windchill were so drastic and the drifting had started to accumulate on the road making driving so treacherous that my boss called half-way through the day and told me to head home and work from there. Half way home I had to stop so a tractor could pull a truck out of the ditch. Luckily I didn't have any trouble after that and made it home before it was too bad.

Thank God for on-demand 4-wheel drive and a high profile vehicle. Environmentalists talk about how bad they are for nature but I'd like to see one of them live in the middle of North Dakota with a Prius on these roads....I don't think so!

SNOW DAY AGAIN!

2009-01-12T17:06:00.000-08:00

Today is the second snow day of a five day weekend now. Snow days used to mean cocoa, a good book, maybe some laundry or a fun snow day project. Now they mean doing chores in the freezing cold and snow and shoveling snow so you can do those chores.

I did have some fun with it today. I took the camera and took some cool snow pictures and moved snow with the Bobcat all by myself and tried to climb up on the roof of the dairy barn - which was funny to those watching but not for me at the time. I even shoveled out the pig barn to get them their feed all by myself.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I am including pictures of the farm under snow in one scrapbook and then just snow in the other one. I love snow even though I am about sick of it. Snow is a beautiful wonder of nature. In the pictures you see the art of it, even the glittery diamond effect it can have. I was glad I took the pictures today to see both sides of the snow - the barns covered and in danger of collapsing and the snakelike...no wait that isn't right...the ribbon like meanderings of it.

Make a Smilebox photobook

More snow for tomorrow...we were told today we are over 70 inches and that wasn't counting last night or tomorrow!

Let me know what you think of my SNOW!

Farm living

2009-01-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

What a treat - we woke up this morning and went to do chores and were greeted by a brand new life. Maggie had a pretty little heifer calf. Maggie is Aaron's cow so his boys got to do the honors of naming her and so Maxine is now a part of our farm.

We had to move her and her mom into the barn so that she could warm up because it was fairly cold this morning, although her mother picked a good day to give birth - it made it into the 20's today!

Check out the pictures of Kent checking on the little one. In the one if you really look you can see Momma snorting and looking like she may charge. The pitchfork is so that she has something to have to maneuver around before she stomps Kent - which she didn't. Typically Longhorn cattle are very docile (I even saw pictures last night of someone who trained them for saddles!) and I think I would trust them over a beef cow any day, but common sense and respect teaches that sometimes it is important to be courteous to a new mom who is very protective. Beyond that she had her baby taken and moved to a new location...enough to make any mother a little crazy. She never even really made a move at Kent, just kind of put on a show. That's a good thing - it shows that she is taking care of her little one which is better than the alternative which is having a bottle calf to take care of everyday because the mother ignores it.

Make a Smilebox greeting

We then spent the remainder of the morning and until 7:00 tonight butchering beef and making sausage. Kent and I used all of our pork for breakfast sausage so when Aaron got the idea to make breakfast links we had to get creative and decided to try all beef links and guess what? They are better than the pork links...at least we think so.

We butchered our half of the cow Dale gave us - thank you Dale and made a ton of stew meat chunks to do Cream Can Stew this summer for the family reunion. I saved all of our corn on the cob and we can get carrots and potatoes from Ilona and Shirley so we will be set come reunion time this summer. We also kept about 20 pounds of Prime Rib and the same in regular bone on ribs that we plan to smoke this summer for a family picnic. We got some yummy looking steaks out of the mix and can't wait to try them, but first tomorrow we must have eggs and sausage for breakfast.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Thank you everyone who chipped in to help with the work today. While I am glad to be done with the butchering it has been nice to get everyone together in an activity.

Over 24 degrees today! This is the warmest it's been since November I think!

SNOW much fun!

2009-01-10T16:05:00.000-08:00

Kent and I climbed the hieghts of the pole barn today and shoveled snow off. This invovled climbing a 7 foot or so snow bank and, for me, crawling on hands and knees to the peak, which is some 18 feet above the ground(but felt like 50), then sitting and shoveling or kneeling and shoveling until the snow broke loose and then riding it to the edge or the barn roof and falling to the ground which was a meer inches from the side of the roof (but felt like a 10 foot drop the first time.

Kent was able to stand and do his part of the shoveling but I can't say I was that brave. While I did try standing - twice - my deep rooted fear of doing the splits - I can't - kept me on my butt or knees.

In the end after falling three times it was quite fun and the final fall - on purpose - took a good four feet of roof snow with me and had me laughing until I cried at the bottom.

Then Kent and Aaron and I slaughtered the last two beef for the season or many season's to come. Kent and Aaron shared that there may not be beef like this for us for a good three years. This year there were just that many because we had so many sets of twins and a lot of bottle babies. We took 3 1/2 sides to the butcher shop to be processed and kept one behind for ourselves. We figured we could handle butchering 1/2 a critter if we knew it was the end of the line!

For the rest of the night I plan to get warm. The day out in the cold has me chilled to the bone and a good cup of cocoa and some steak might do the trick.

Hey - It was better than 15 above today, since now at 6:16 pm it is 15. What a warming streak!

SNOW DAY!!!!!

2009-01-09T19:40:00.001-08:00

We had a snow day from school today. We got 6 inches overnight and another 3 during the day and with all the rest we had it was enough to have schools cancelling all over the area.

Kent went to Aaron's shop to work on deer mounts and ended up on Aaron's roof shoveling snow off. He had a crack the roof and a bow in the ceiling from the heavy amounts of snow we had. Kent then came home and started shoveling snow from the barns. At one point the barn roof had snow waist deep on Kent and if you don't know him - he is 6'4" and his waist is a good 5' off the ground.

I read a book, did dishes, and decorated a birthday cake for Kelly's (Kent's brother) birthday.

Shirley tells a story of how when Kelly was little he always had a pacifier in his mouth. One day his uncle decided to break him of it by taking the pacifier away...Kelly just took his spare out of his pocket and continued sucking away. So for the theme to the party we went with pacifiers.

When considering a cake it was mentioned that Kelly hates snakes...now I hate snakes. I have a physically violent, unrealistic fear of them. I dry heave, my entire body tenses, I cry and I have been known to dance a pretty entertaining jig. But because we thought it would be funny to make a cake like this for his birthday I decided to conquer my fears and build a snake. The results are pretty cute but the research almost killed me.

Just looking at pictures of snakes on the Internet was enough to send chills - literally - up my arms and spine, I gagged, I shook, I had to look away after two pictures. I made Kent look up some pictures to see if I was on the right track and couldn't even go in the living room while he did. (I pause to shake off the images of this and verbally let out an uh-huh-huh which leads Kent to ask if I am again looking at snake pictures...as if!!!)

We had the party at T-bones and with a lot of effort from everyone involved, tablecloth from Shirley, banner from Lona, cake from me, and fun and entertaining gift giving ideas plus balloons from Carrie it was a smashing success. Oh I forgot to mention the trick candles that wouldn't blow out and almost ignited the smoke alarms. Guess it takes new view of Non-smoking in restaurants. It was mentioned that from we ruined T-Bones for anyone over 25 since they would no longer be able to have cake with candles thanks to us. I'd like to thank Kelly for turning 40 and providing enough btu's from his cake to light the farmyard for the weekend.

All in all it was an eventful day. It was nice to have the family all gathered for another evening and share in each others company.

I am grateful for the work that was put in to helping make the evening a success and thank all those who helped me in preparing a celebration of age, family, and the opportunity to share in each others lives.

2009-01-08T16:28:00.000-08:00

We watched Hope Floats tonight and Birdie said something pretty cool.

It was something like...Life's beginning is scary, it's ending is almost always sad but it's what's in the middle that counts. Give HOPE the chance to float....etc.

It was pretty good and I thought worth repeating.

2009-01-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

I LOVE TEXAS HOLD'EM

2009-01-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

Today I called several men about the play and now may have at least three leads of possible actors. I also have extra women that I didn't have before. It is so odd having too many when usually I have to beg.

Shirley treated me to dinner at the Ranch today - YUMMMEEE

Then tonight at Auxiliary she won playing BINGO - GO TO WASHINGTON!!!!!

The Eagles Auxiliary activity for the evening was to teach Texas Hold'em Poker (a request at the last meeting).

Now, I already know how to play...I credit Poker with helping Kent and I get together...but I only had two interested parties so I thought as President I should join in....at 8:00 we started...I got home at 10:45 taking second place behind one of our teachers who had been threatened with humiliation if he let a girl beat him.

I was reckless and didn't think and won big despite going all in on ridiculous hands throughout the evening. I am jacked up now and can't get to sleep even though I'm exhausted and have to be up at 5 tomorrow morning.

Maybe I should convince Kent to play more often....

Anyhoo...It was a blast and even better it was in the teens today for weather...Spring may actually make it this year.

2009-01-05T19:22:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the final night of Top Hat auditions. We have all of the female roles filled plus one but no men. Typical.

We have some go-to guys that we may call and a list of other possibilities so there is still hope.....

First day back at work and I have to say it was a full on work mode day. I got a lot accomplished and felt like it was a good day of work.

My car's battery gave up the ghost today and lucky for me Kent was standing by ready to put a new one in. Okay so maybe I had to call him and he had to come in and it was well below zero and he didn't have the right parts and got a side mount battery instead of a front mount and had to come back and reinstall it, but he was there and it was fabulous to have a knight in shining armor waiting to rescue me.

We are supposed to be above zero for the next two days....maybe even in the teens... I think it may be bathing suit weather and if not that definitely capris.

Again with the butchering!

2009-01-04T18:50:00.000-08:00

Do you notice a trend? Yes, once again we butchered a beef today. The last of the 6 we have done over break.

I have to say I kind of skunked out on this one because we had Top Hat Auditions and while I helped with the bringing it in, trimming it up and cutting the first part of the meat - I missed out on the major cutting, grinding and packaging. I did make it back just in time to stuff burger although I let Kent handle the majority of the work on that one too. I did make a mean meatball as part of my share of the workload though.

Lona cooked Rommegrot and sausage for supper and some yummy fruit soup for dinner. We have really enjoyed some wonderful family meals through this whole process.

Art finally got my car working with Aaron's help in the frigid cold temperatures for which I am grateful beyond measure. I owe you to both a huge treat. I'm just not sure what that will be...

2009-01-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

Kent and I got up and at'em and to Aaron's shop by 10 today. We fleshed out Damian and watched the boys. We finished in a record time of 4 hours - just in time to get Kent back to help Aaron slaughter another steer.

My mom called and we had a great time long-distance shopping - Thank God for Wal-Mart Clearance! I haven't had so much fun shopping in a long time!

Aaron's boys and I spent the afternoon at home playing and watching movies.

When Aaron and Carrie returned we made Potato Pancakes and Sausage for everyone and enjoyed a quiet family evening together.

Carrie helped me pick out paint colors for the two bedrooms. She has such an artistic eye. Garin and Levi participated in this as well - they are such go-getters! Aaron and Kent "watched" Batman (see attached photos).

Make a Smilebox greeting

Taxidermy

2009-01-02T18:24:00.000-08:00

How did you spend your last day of Christmas break?

As was the theme for this vacation I spent mine fleshing out the hide to one of the longhorns we butchered. We have two which will become bedspreads or rugs.

Make a Smilebox postcard

The best part of this break...even the hard physical labor...has been spending each day doing something with Kent. I love that we can work together and enjoy each other each day. He makes me laugh, look for the best moments in life, and look forward to the days to come.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T19:34:00.001-08:00

We had a small gathering of friends over last night for the holiday festivities. Aaron and Carrie, the boys and dogs, Ron and Jana and Shayla and us. Some other friends had planned on it but with the weatherman predicting a storm or being snowed in their homes they did not.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

We had a nice dinner of shredded beef barbecues, wieners in barbecue sauce, cheese ball and chips and dip.

Aaron and Carrie and Kent and I went to the hot tub thinking we may ring in 2009 in there as we have the past two years...but the chemical smell was stinging our eyes and causing redness (see my face in the pictures) so we came back in the house and played Catchphrase.

We sang Auld Lang Syne at midnight and shared the start of 2009 with our some of the most special people in our lives, a bottle of champagne and turtle pie...not a bad start at all.

New Year's Day was low key - we did chores (a little later than usual) and then just rested or recuperated for the remainder of the day.

So as we start out 2009 here is a little Irish blessing for each and everyone of you in the new year...

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.

and MORE BUTCHERING...

2008-12-30T18:19:00.000-08:00

Today Shirley and I finished up the last of the butchering on our heifer. We just had to grind the burger and package all the meat. We secured about 150 pounds of boneless beef off of her.

We lost a special friend overnight - one of the farm dogs passed in his sleep. He was a fourteen year old dalmation and had a very good life - he will be missed... Rest In Peace Joker.

and MORE butchering.....

2008-12-29T19:53:00.000-08:00

Today Kent and I just had to butcher our little heifer. With just the two of us it took about 6 hours. Tomorrow we'll have to finish with grinding burger and packaging but it was nice to have a day just to ourselves. We even cut some cool flat pieces for rolled beef.

I am a member of FreeCycle - an organization online to help people find homes for stuff. Our local chapter is Wells County Freecycle but there are freecycles all over the nation - Freecycle.org. Today Kent and I went and picked up a ton of cool stuff: a space heater, humidifier, casio keyboard, tripod, various laundry supplies and the coup de grace - a crib. It was supposed to be a toddler daybed but turns out it is a three in one crib that transforms into a daybed and I think into a full size headboard. I am so excited although I don't really have a use for it right now. Thanks Heather for the goodies. For those of you that don't freecycle it is a great way to get and get rid of stuff you would usually throw out. Try it soon!

We settled on a play tonight - Alone Together Again - we start auditions in a week. This should be a good one. We also agreed tentatively to bring in a group for next year. We are looking at bringing in a group to do a show next year - our way of taking a little break and still providing quality entertainment to the local community.

We are expecting another storm tonight - up to 8 inches but the temperatures are above zero - 7 degrees to be exact.

and more butchering...

2008-12-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

Today was the last day of church for the winter at Vang Lutheran we start up again just in time for Easter. The songs chosen for the services were beautiful.

When we got home from church we had one critter to butcher - Bob. Bob is one of our non-breeder longhorn trophy cows. Some longhorns grow with beautiful horns but no ability to produce babies which also means she is unable to produce income and in this season of short hay some tough choices had to be made. She is one of those. She had a tip-to-tip horn measurement of 52 1/2 inches and no ovaries. We called her Bob because she had no tail.

The meat is all grass-fed and tastes delicious - it is just a little tough so we chose to turn her in to burger. We got 225 pounds of burger off of her and 25 pounds of steak. This is some premium burger - it is probably 95% lean and has a lot of prime cuts of beef ground into it.

Tomorrow we get one more - our little heifer cow. She had a 25 inch spread to her horns and won't weigh a lot but it should be very good beef.

It is 10 above right now and no snow in sight...yet! Another storm is expected tomorrow sometime though.

2008-12-27T19:52:00.001-08:00

We spent TWELVE hours butchering beef today. On top of doing our regular morning chores, digging out of the foot of new snow we had last night and slaughtering another critter for butchering tomorrow.

I'm whooped! I'm seriously debating becoming a vegetarian - well one that eats steak and prime rib and the occasional pork chop.

Post-Christmas Shopping

2008-12-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

Jana and I went shopping today for a bridesmaid dress for her wedding.

Her soon to be daughter and sister-in-law went along and we had a wonderful time. After three dresses and assistance from Carrie - we found a perfect dress. When we took it to the register we found out it had a perfect price - over $100 dollars off the ticket value! Well - that was like a magical present to me!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon in Bismarck doing a little post-Christmas shopping with some good deals and then headed home in a snow storm. We made it back to the farm in time to get in on what so far appears to be about four inches and still falling.

The family butchered the two cows from yesterday and prepared another two for tomorrow. It looks like we have a busy weekend of BEEF ahead of us. It will be well worth it when our freezer is filled with food and our families can eat for the Winter and Spring. The best part is we know what went into our animals and what we are putting into ourselves.

It is 13 degrees above zero out there and very little if any wind so the snow falls straight down. The snow is think and heavy and full of moisture. While that means more work for Kent with having to move and pile all the snow. It is nice to have a good, old-fashioned North Dakota Winter on our hands!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T18:56:00.000-08:00

In all the hustle and bustle of life it is so nice to remember how blessed I am.

Christmas Eve was spent at the Manfred Lutheran Church service. As predicted Carrie, Natalie and I did a fabulous job on our trio. There were several numbers by the Anderson family - they are so musically talented. We returned to our house for a late supper of Lutefisk and Prime Rib. While my cooking skills weren't Top Chef quality - everyone enjoyed each other and the meal provided.

Kent and I opened presents after everyone left. We got a beautiful mare and foal figurine which has already found a home above the bed on the headboard. The best present is having the love of someone special to share in the holiday season!

I spent Christmas day at Lona's with the Opdahl's.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Kelly and Dawn and their children were not able to be with us and so since I didn't get to do so in person - I wish them a blessed holiday season and hope that health and happiness will be with them in the new year.

We did chores and slaughtered a couple cows as a family activity this afternoon. It was 18 above and we all ran around with coats opened like we were in the Bahamas...okay maybe not quite but it sure felt good to have such high temperatures today!

When we got home I had messages from all of my family and very dear friends. This Christmas I truly view the best presents not wrapped under a tree but wrapped in love in my heart.

Merry Christmas to all of you and may the spirit of the season be in your hearts throughout the new year!

2008-12-23T15:19:00.001-08:00

Today was the last day of school before Christmas break. Thirteen glorious days without work - and after that the school year will just fly by.

We have a jam-packed weekend beginning with Manfred Lutheran Christmas program tomorrow evening then Prime rib and Lutefisk after. Thursday will be Christmas dinner at Ilona's with present opening. Then we will butcher a steer. Friday I go with Jana to pick out a bridesmaid dress and then the rest of the weekend will be busy with butchering. We will have a New Year's Eve Hot Tub Party and then it will be no time until we're back to work.

Today we had quiet a warm up it was 5 above at one point. It warmed up enough for us to get a couple inches of fresh white snow. It is back down to -3 but we should be in store for temps in the teens for Christmas Day!

2008-12-21T17:04:00.001-08:00

Cooking is a part of my life that is uncharted territory. I love to do it. In fact I have been known to bake and decorate a pretty mean cake - however - cooking day to day meals for myself and Kent is not as common as it could be, it is more of an event. If Shirley doesn't cook we tend to resort to Ramen Noodles or whatever I can come up with quickly. I don't have a real signature dish, although my stuffed cranberries are getting quite a following, but I don't have those tried and true recipes I know by heart and go to every time I need something fancy for some occasion.

I say this as a segue into a recipe I tried last night that was pretty darn good and I may become one of those signature recipes. I thought I would share it with you in case you too are looking for something special for that holiday party or special event.

HOT CHEDDAR MUSHROOM SPREAD

2 CUPS MAYONNAISE
2 CUPS (8 OUNCES) SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE
2/3 CUP GRATED PARMESAN CHEESE
4 CANS (4 1/2 OUNCES EACH) SLICED MUSHROOMS, DRAINED
1 ENVELOPE RANCH SALAD DRESSING MIX

MINCED PARSLEY
CRACKERS

IN A LARGE BOWL, COMBINE THE MAYONNAISE, CHEESES, MUSHROOMS AND DRESSING MIX. SPREAD INTO A GREASED 9-INCH PIE PLATE.
BAKE, UNCOVERED, AT 350 DEGREES FOR 20-25 MINUTES OR UNTIL CHEESE IS MELTED. SPRINKLE WITH PARSLEY. SERVE WITH CRACKERS.

Now - that is the directions as per package and if this was going to be served with crackers maybe the best way. For supper last night I roasted potato wedges and thought the sliced mushrooms might be too difficult to dip so I used my immersible blender and with a quick buzz had a mighty tasty dip for the potatoes. I'm certain this would be good with crackers as well.

Hope you try it and enjoy - let me know how it turns out.

It is negative 13 right now with yet another winter storm alert.

2008-12-20T17:03:00.000-08:00

The "Storm" didn't end up being as bad as they thought. We did get snow overnight and it was bitterly cold today but it wasn't really any different than the last weekend.

We are having Christmas Eve dinner at our house after the Christmas program. Looks like it will be Lutefisk, Lefsa, Prime Rib and some sort of potato.

Don't you wish you were here.....

Negative 11 right now and clear skies.

2008-12-19T17:17:00.000-08:00

For those of you who follow my blog - I have rearranged the site a little. Those of you who help me by clicking on my ads will notice that they have moved to the side bar on the page. I wanted to make it more accessible to everyone.

You could add Adsense to your blog and make money too. So far I have made almost $100 just by keeping you informed with my life. So please come back and read all about me - just make sure to click on the advertisements on the side when you do.

Lots of snow is falling outside. It is 1 degree right now and we are just in the beginning of it. It snowed up to three inches in some of the schools where I was today. Closer to home its only been a skiff but as of 1:30 tonight/tomorrow morning we are in a winter storm warning until 6 am Sunday.

I guess maybe I should stop singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!"

2008-12-18T18:49:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Shirley for the wonderful Knoephla tonight. It was way too filling and fabulous! Kent's mom lives approximately 400 meters from our house and we have a standing rule that if Shirley cooks and we are invited - whatever we are having can be eaten for left-overs. Not once have I been disappointed.

We tenderly refer to our little commune of family as Opdahlville. Kent's sister lives about 100 meters from his mom and his brother lives about that from us. His other brother is less than 5 miles away and his little brother is about 10 miles away. We are one little snug family unit and could be self-sufficient if I could talk Dawn into sharing those remedies and future eggs. I think Kent could easily be convinced to purchase a milk cow and other than a way to generate electricity - trust me they could figure it out - we could probably survive for quite awhile in our little village.

Sometimes when I hear how bad things are in the "REAL" world I am tempted to cash it all in and become a survivalist...but then I snap out of it and realize that I need okay maybe want to keep Wal-Mart and fashion a part of my life...Vanity always seems to rear it's ugly head at the most inopportune times. Plus I don't think I could make it to all my schools for work on time in my horse and buggy and as of yet I am not ready to quit my job to make soap and candles.

Carrie came out tonight to practice our duet for the Christmas program. We are going to rock and that is my most humble interpretation of our song! We really have a mini program all figured out - touching lyrics, a scriptural nod, children singing of the Virgin birth...are you feeling the spirit? We are...and if the Arbor Mist Winter Berry Merlot does it's trick I won't be so overcome with nerves that my voice cracks like a 12 year old prepubescent boy.

We had quite the warm up today - I think we may have gone above zero this morning. It is now -7 and we are in for it again this weekend. They are predicting 4-7 inches of snow with 40 to 50 mile an hour winds wait on looking back at the warning that is EXTREMELY COLD WINDCHILLS OF 40 TO 50 BELOW!!!!! Near blizzard conditions for Saturday afternoon. Guess Kent and I will be snugly in the house again. Maybe I can convince him to do some Christmas baking!

Our "tree" this year consists of hanging our Dixie Stampede ornaments on the barn window frames in the living room above our antique sewing machine where we will keep presents. So at least if we tried baking we might get the Christmas spirit...or maybe we are in the spirit just not buying in to the commercially promoted ideas that Christmas has to be about the tree.

Either way, Christmas at our house is nontraditional at best and full of LOVE...

2008-12-17T19:45:00.001-08:00

Some days are just good days. Today I did good work and it felt good. Nothing spectacular happened just a good day. It is satisfying to have a good day.

I just finished reading Randy Pausch's book The Last Lecture. I don't know if it took some time to sink in or if it just touched parts of me that were resting, but I feel a peace with some realizations that now I just need to put into motion.

I guess it is a matter of timing. 2009 is just around the corner so it is a time of reflection. A time to think about the things in life I am grateful for, to recognize the elements I wish to change, and to have the courage to take those first steps. Sound familiar? Yes the Serenity Prayer. It has been a big part of my life since 2005 - thank you to Amy who unknowingly gave me the right direction at the right time.

It's warming up here. Today was 0 degrees and sunny. It is now -1. North Dakota is a beautiful, challenging state. Thank God I get the priviledge to live here.

Lights...Camera...Action

2008-12-16T17:47:00.000-08:00

Okay so I'm at it again. Top Hat Playhouse - the theater troupe I belong to is having the spring play. Now let me start by saying in November I finished up directing the high school one-act play and in March or April I start the high school musical. That being said I was not, repeat, NOT, going to direct or act in this year's production.

Well, no director could be found, it looked as if Top Hat for the first time in nearly 30 years was not going to have a production. Angel Moore - pinch hitter, relief batter stepped up to the plate and with one mumbled under the breath, head down, no-eye contact remark - became the 2009 Top Hat director. Oh I love to do it - I just had hopes of actually staying home one winter.

I believed last year's play was my Swan Song. I played Dodie the bumbling nurse in training in a play both Grandma and Mom had starred in over a 50 year span. I knocked it out of the park (to continue the baseball metaphor) and truly felt it was my one great character, the one I should be remembered for, the end of an era.

And now, because I believe community theater is a service to the community and not a selfish personal gain adventure, I am again in the driver's seat. I am trying to do this with humility.

God gives us talents and as the Bible says, "to whom much is given, much is expected." I used to pray that I could be good at something - I thought Track, Volleyball, Athletics in general...I am starting to believe that my God given talent is drama and the more I try to turn my back to it the more God presents opportunities for me not to say no. I guess I should have listened when Mom and Dad and EVERYONE else said, "Be careful what you wish for."

In other news. We got a new hot water heater today. Kent and his brother Kelly installed it - THANK YOU boys! Ours has had a slow leak but as of last night in a firey, chest hair singeing display of flame it gave it's last breath. Hopefully this one lasts as long as the last one did! (17 years!)

It is -6 (quite the warm up!) with a predicted high of 0 tomorrow. Sunday and Monday we saw temperatures of - 26 without the windchill. Ah - life on the Dakota plains. Winter may last a LONG time this year.

The Storm

2008-12-14T19:24:00.000-08:00

So last night the storm started. It appears we didn't get the large amount of snow that was expected but we do have the cold. It is negative 14 right now with the windchill at well below 20 below.

After 20 below it really doesn't matter - it doesn't feel any colder.

Kent and I did chores this morning and then spent the day indoors. I did laundry, read a book and napped while Kent researched snow shoes and deer mounting supplies, etc.

Quiet days at home are wonderful.

2008-12-13T19:52:00.000-08:00

Here is our latest addition to the family! Click on each of the pictures when the postcard opens up.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Today we road tripped to pick up Peyton and do a little Christmas shopping. We got up really early to be home before the storm. We just made it.

When we got back we quickly finished chores and snuggled in for the evening. When we were doing chores a tear streamed to the crook of my nose and froze. I'm pretty sure I have a perfectly circular spot of frost bite there. As soon as I could I ran for cover at Ilona's house and watched Shirley and Ilona make spritz cookies. I also took it upon myself to be the official taster. They were all terrific and received my seal of approval.

Kent shelled all the pecans from Uncle Van and Aunt San that we got at Thanksgiving. We have a ton and I think I might even try my hand at candied pecans for Christmas dinner this year.

So far the storm hasn't been too bad. Cold weather and blowing winds. The snow is really supposed to kick up starting around midnight. According to my computer temperature gauge it is negative 8 degrees right now without the windchill! YIKES!

Kittens at play

2008-12-12T17:53:00.001-08:00

Tonight was a relaxing evening at home. I got home from work to find Kent washing dishes and cooking dinner. All of a sudden he went all domestic on me.

I got some adorable pictures of the kittens tonight.

Chunk is posing as superman in this one.
Ratta discovered the deer mounts last night but decided to jump up and play tonight. Doesn't she look right at home?

Lia - well she hasn't been very sociable lately so I don't have any new shots of her. She thinks she is quite a princess and much too regal for regular photography. If we get Christmas decorations up this weekend I will have to maybe have her own separate fashion shoot.

The big storm is looming. They are calling from 3-5-6-10 inches of snow and wind gust of 50 miles per hour. 25 to 45 below wind chills. We are in the heavy snow forcast so we'll see. The grocery store was packed this afternoon!

Right now it is 17 degrees and absolutely gorgeous. Kent and I just got back from an unsuccessful round of coyote hunting.

December 11

2008-12-11T15:55:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox recipe

Then end of the Head Cheese

2008-12-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight we finished the headcheese. Aaron boiled and pressed it - Thank you!
We cut it and sealed it and put it in the freezer.

Of course I took this picture and send it to Dad just to rub it in. He says he can't come up to get it until Easter at least. We may have to make a trip to Gillette just to deliver some to him before that.

I do believe we are completely finished with the 7 sows now. It is a bit of a sad night I have to admit.

*************************************************************************************
One of the ads at the bottom of the page tonight was for sausage making kits. Kent has been searching it and found weiner seasoning....I guess it isn't over for long...

Today we lost a calf. It is always sad when one of the little ones goes. These little ones are out of the first year heifers and they have had a rough go. Their mother's didn't produce a lot of milk so they have been behind. We weaned them not long ago and these little ones just haven't been able to get the knack of eating on their own. We moved the other two littlest ones into the barn so we can keep a closer eye on them and maybe five them a little extra tlc.

Today was a beautiful sunny North Dakota winter day. It is 17 degrees right now with 20 mile an hour winds. It makes it feel like 5 degrees...They are calling for snow tomorrow. Just flurries but we are on the cusp of a big winter storm this weekend.

December 9, 2008

2008-12-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

It was a cold day today with a bright sun shining.

We had the Eagles Auxiliary Christmas party tonight. Everyone seemed to have a good time. We played a Christmas song game where people had to answer questions for songs from Christmas...

Where do reindeers paw?...UP on the roof top.

ABCDEFGHIJKMNOPQURSTUVWXYZ?....NO-EL

What size were the Wise Men?....WE-E

Etc. It was fun.

Then to exchange gifts I read a story about the Wright family where everytime I read right or left the gifts had to pass. Suprisingly I ended up with a beautiful set of horse notecards.

Now I am settling in for a quiet night and early bedtime. Its 13 degrees and partly cloudy. The air is cold with crunchy snow underfoot.

December 8

2008-12-08T20:23:00.000-08:00

HEAD CHEESE NIGHT

Tonight the family got together for head cheese making.

The first 45 minutes of the process were spent discussing the glories of biscuits and gravy. If you have been following along you know that we made pounds and pounds of breakfast sausage. This weekend was Biscuit and Gravy weekend at several of the brother's homes.

We found this dollar store package of country gravy at Runnings and it is really a cheaters way to some pretty decent gravy. I ran out of milk so had to make Bisquick biscuits with 1/2 sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 water. Kent claims that other than my homemade biscuits this may be one of the best meals I've ever made. I agree that they were good but 45 minutes good? Hmmmmm......

So tonight, I stood in stunned silence as Kent's brothers, in detail, expounded on the fabulous food unlike any other - country gravy with sausage over biscuits. I couldn't believe that something that I grew up with could bring so much satisfaction. For me biscuits and gravy are a family tradition. Knowing how to make homemade sausage gravy and cathead biscuits was a right of passage so it made the conversation of this new found wonder food even more unbelievable.

I can only compare it to the first time I had Kneophla Soup. We grew up with kneophla but to put it in SOUP! Unbelievable. (Thanks to the University of Mary for introducing me to this tasty morsel of wonderfulness.)

I sit even now, shaking my head thinking about how magical biscuits and gravy were to these boys. Seriously, at least 45 minutes. Every time a new person walked in the garage..."have you ever had breakfast sausage with country gravy mix?"

This is the boys having the BISCUIT DISCUSSION

Then it led to a 15 minute conversation of the best biscuits. While homemade can never be beat, Pillsbury Grands and my Sweetened Condensed Milk/Bisquick biscuits were the top choices.

We did actually get to the making of the head cheese. Head cheese is a combination of ground pork rind, pork meat, garlic, pepper, and salt. It is mixed and ground and stuffed in casings. We will boil it and press it tomorrow. When it is boiled it gets a gelatinous outer edge which I can honestly say makes my stomach roll - however, fried in a pan and served on crackers in the garage...now that is something special.

We made extra this year so we could give a bunch to my dad. Last year at Christmas Dad drove away with all of the head cheese we had left so we made sure to double our batch just so he could have some of his own. We plan to lure him to ND with the head cheese and then charge him for each loaf he gets. His payment will be helping Kent with our honey-do list. We negotiated one loaf per chore. It may be Easter tho before he is able to get up here to get it. Maybe I will take some to him if the weather is ever good enough.....

It is negative 6 degrees right now. Today we had a mini-snow storm. I woke up to what they were saying was 3 inches and blowing winds. Driving was.....challenging to say the least. Snow, blowing snow, pillow and finger drifts, white outs with passing cars. Then at about 10 am there was a second falling. All totaled it looks like we got between 5 and 6 inches. The weather casters called these flurries....the big storm is coming this weekend. Stay tuned for what may come.

Saturday, December 6

2008-12-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

Kent and I started the smoker to work on summer sausage this morning bright and early. We fed hay to all of the animals - horses and cows.

We headed in to town for an auction sale and ended up staying there the majority of the day. We came home with a pick ax, a mission style accent light, and a Christmas present for me.

We came home and cleaned house. Maybe tomorrow we'll get up some Christmas decorations.

We put plastic on the windows and settled in for a night watching Kevin Costner's The Postman. It is amazing how almost immediately the room was warmer with the plastic.

Tomorrow is chock full of farm activities. We may work calves, slice and marinate jerky, butcher a heifer, and clean house some more.

I have church in the morning in Manfred. We only have church twice a month because we share a minister with other parishes. I have to say I have been slack in attending this year. One of my new years resolutions is to try to get there more often.

It is -6 right now but the sun shone brightly today!

Friday, December 5

2008-12-05T19:13:00.000-08:00

The snow fell and the wind blew and we had a snugly night at home.

This is one of those nights made for a steaming mug of Swiss Miss, a soft fleece blanket and either a light romantic comedy starring Orlando or Matthew or an easy reading novel by the likes of Nora Roberts.

It's 20 degrees and dropping by the minute. The snow today was a blanket of Christmas magic. It was enough to put the holiday spirit in even the Grinch's heart.

Thursday, December 4th

2008-12-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

Hooray!!! Our luggage came today. I was able to give Kent's family their treats. Art loved his knives - the South will rise again! Shirley and Ilona though their spider balls were amazing...see the pictures from Illinois.

I did write a letter to Northwest. I am certainly disappointed in the way this all went down. The customer service people were really awesome but 5 days....Seriously? In fact the package we UPSed from Pigeon Forge got to us before the luggage we took with us. Everything is in one piece though so that is something.

Tonight was decorating night at the Eagles. We put up all the holiday decorations except the tree...somehow it didn't make it to the club. All in all it is a subtly festive venue just in time for the holiday parties.

Kent smoked summer sausage from 8 this morning until now...10:37. We started wrapping it and discovered that not all the sausage was cooked all the way through so tomorrow he gets to recook them all. What a bummer. I worked so hard all day just to have to start all over again.

It was a COLD day today. Right now it is 4 degrees but with the windchill it is well below zero. I hope this stretch doesn't last too long. The piglets are fine...spoiled, they don't think they should have to eat the whole squash just the sweet middle, cows and horses are hanging in there. We'll all see Spring soon enough.

Wednesday, December 3

2008-12-03T22:12:00.000-08:00

Tonight we made summer sausage. We ended up with 124 - 3 pound logs. Kent will smoke them tomorrow.

We still do not have any luggage. I got a call from the airport in Devils Lake today and it was shipped to them without any directions or reasons for it being there. They say we should get it tomorrow......I may have to write an unpleasant letter to the airlines.

I read a note today that said Christmas is just three weeks away....YIKES. So not ready for the holiday season. No tree up...although I do have good intentions. No presents purchased...although I know Christmas isn't just about the presents. No seasonal cheer...although I am thankful for the reason we celebrate. I am just having a hard time getting cheery about the whole thing. It seems to have snuck up on me this year. Wasn't it just yesterday that I started school?

Thank you to those of you who take time to check out the ads at the bottom of my page. I am slowly earning that extra spending cash because of you. I hope beyond clicking on ads you are enjoying the blog.

It is 7 degrees and dropping right now. We have blustery winds and earlier we had light movie snow. They say it will be negative 20 by morning. Welcome to winter in ND....I LOVE IT!!!!!

December 1, 2008

2008-12-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

We arrived home this morning after a 36 hour plane, train and automobile return trip from Pigeon Forge.

What a trip we had. Besides highlights such as seeing MAKENNA!!!!

We visited Dollywood, the Dixie Stampede, the Jack Daniels Distillery, Freddie's Oyster Bar, Wild Horse Saloon, the Beer Sellar, Nashville Nights and the Mall of America.

I won two rounds in a row of Scrabble and had a wonderful time visiting all of the family. Thank you to Hal and John and families for all the planning and acitivities you arranged.

I am so thankful for North Dakota, the people, the lack of traffic, even the cold...although that is still a bit of an adjustment.

Here is a photojournal of our trip.

While in Sheridan at Veronica's Kent discovers an untapped selection of music to download to his computer. He spent hours doing this and it probably was the highlight of the vacation for him.

Due to our lack of time Kent had to get a haircut at a salon - this is the first haircut he's had that he hasn't done himself since 2000!

Kent and I visited the Norway store in Norway, IL. Norway is the oldest permanent Norwegian settlement in America. Here we see Kent sporting the latest trend in eyeware from the motherland.

At the Jack Daniels Distillery with Breanna and Tony. We had an eventful afternoon delving into the distillery, finding Freddie's Oyster Bar, Chatting our way to Chattanooga, backtracking backroads to Pigeon Forge and look, "There's a Blockbuster!"

This is Makenna. I stole her every chance I got and took pictures with her. Such a good little girl. She smiles and growls and claps her hands. She may just have been the highlight of the reunion.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! This was taken to send to family by text message during our hike of the great smoky moutains outside our back door just before Thanksgiving day dinner. I wasn't able to send it but I love the picture.

Thanksgiving night after winning two rounds of Scrabble, the single cousins and I sat up late talking. While watching Tyra and discussing all the crazy show topics Courtney shared with us the definition of an orgy...7 or more people in bed without shoes....so....since we were in the south and at a family reunion we thought it was only appropriate to have our own Lutz Family Orgy and here's the proof!

This is the official Moore family Thanksgiving weekend photo. There is another Lutz family one but Andy still has it on his camera.

My tall drink of water is so good looking that everywhere we went he was singled out for fun and mayhem. Here the Dollywood Chicken Lady is serenading him. I laughed so hard I cried and almost peed my pants. As you can tell Kent is having a great time too!

And speaking of chickens. This one is just too cute!

We don't have pictures of the Dixie Stampede, but it was a magical show. Andy, Megan, Kent and I even got to be a part of the the South vs North challenge in the stick horse race. While we didn't win we gave it our all and the South (our side) prevailed in the end.

We met with my dad's sister and brother and families at the Apple Barn for lunch before we headed back to Nashville. It was nice for Kent to get a chance to meet so many of my family and we have an open invitation to Mississippi as soon as we get a chance.

We arrived in Nashville in time to hit some of the downtown honkytonks. We started at the Wildhorse Saloon. Floord was having a CD release party and we sat through part of their show. We went past Coyote Ugly but ended up on a side street at the Beer Sellar a small pub with 99 beers for sale. We tried the local Yazoo ale and Dos Perros both Nashville-made beers. We found Nashville Nights a small club right up our alley. They played great music and were very entertaining...so much so we stayed for the rest of the night - it is probably one place we would definitely like to go and see again.

We made it back to the airport about 30 mintues before they opened for check-in, got settled and made the first flight of the day at 6:10.

Notice I don't anywhere say we slept. After getting up Saturday morning we were up for the remainder of the trip until today...Monday, December 1st. Oh we napped here and there but nothing beats a good bed and kittens to snuggle with.

We didn't have luggage in Minneapolis which may have been a blessing in disguise. We went to Mall of America - Kent now says, "I've seen it." We got our luggage and enjoyed a transit ride with Bears and Vikings fans who were heading to the game. We got off at the Metrodome and thought about finding scalped tickets for the game. Instead we took the bus to the train depot and called it a day. We boarded the train at 10:30 uneventfully and made it back to Rugby by 7:30 this morning.

Our luggage should be here in the next couple of days, which is good we may be recouperated by then and ready to go through all of our goodies from the trip.

At the end of the trip we may have felt like this but all in all we still love each other and can't wait for our next adventure.

November 25th, 2008

2008-11-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

We've had a relaxing day in Sheridan today. Kent and I went for a walk around Veronica's property. She has ginormous spiderballs on the yard and they are awesome. We are thinking about sending a bunch home. We found a deer blood trail and tried to track it but lost the trail at the creek. Guess what? I was a better tracker than Kent today - AMAZING! Maybe he has taught me a thing or two.

I toured the Norway grocery and it is as good as its name. It has Lutefisk year round!!! There were fishballs and Norwegian candy on the shelves. They had homemade rosettes and krumkakke in the deli. I even found Kent a pair of Norwegian flag sunglasses! Maybe I'll get him to try them on! I'll upload that later if it works.

We are leaving early tomorrow from ORD so it will either be a very short night or a very long night depending on how we play it. Sounds like we leave Sheridan at around 4 to get there in time.

We have plans for Lynchburg TN and the Jack Daniels Distillery in the morning and then family reunion all day.

It was a beautiful day day 40 degrees and sunny all day.

Monday, November 24

2008-11-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

We survived round one of the trip.

Our train trip started at 2:20 am instead of 10:30 with a couple extra stops along the way. We pulled in to Minneapolis at 11:00 am and met Linda and Tina (Uncle Ed's) at the depot. They took us back to Linda's where we visited Bob, Ed, Alice, Tina and Linda. They showed us Linda's new house and then took us to a late breakfast.

Linda and the gang kept us in stitches with tales of Ed from the younger days. Kent is still picturing the "Tripod" - why Ed doesn't need a walking stick. Unfortunately we did not get to meet the Lithuanian Sausage (Todd). Grandma and I danced in the parking lot while Ed played harmonica.

We got Grandma loaded on the plane with minutes to spare and off she went. Our trip was smooth sailing and the exit from the airport went off without a hitch. (Hopefully the rest goes as well.)

We're just getting geared up for the day with Veronica, Kent is having the best vacation of his life - Veronica has hundreds of CD's for him to download so he's in hog heaven.

No snow here in Sheridan, IL (It all melted this morning) - We had Stuffed Crust (Authentic Chicago Style) pizza last night - YUMMMMMEEEEEE and good company with our friends....Happy Monday!

Friday, November 21

2008-11-21T10:55:00.000-08:00

After today I won't be blogging for about a week. I am going to visit a friend in Chicago and then on to a family reunion in Tennessee. I get to see my niece for the first time....I am sooooo excited. Along with that I will get to meet the other new greats Eli, Hannah, and Hadley and spend time my aunts and uncles and everyone for a few days.

Kent is coming along - thanks mom and dad - so he will get to meet all the family for the first time. Even my dad's family is making the trip up...obviously not just to meet Kent - none of them have seen Makenna either - but he'll get the whole shebang at one time - which is only fair since I met his whole family at a family dinner all at once and I didn't even have advance notice.

Thursday, November 20th

2008-11-20T20:23:00.000-08:00

It is so cold outside that when we were doing chores my nostrils crystalized and my eyelashes stuck together! It is that breathe in and fill your lungs with minty freshness while your teeth shatter and you don't even have Scope!

The ground by the yardlight sparkled as if God had dumped a bottle of glitter on the ground. The pretty irridescent kind of glitter that you only get to use on special occasions for making your mom or dad a greeting card in school. It is times like that, just that moment, that make you stand in awe of the wonder of God's majesty.

We butchered again tonight. Kent and I brought home about 50 pounds of breakfast sausage. We are up to 75 total. Guess we'll have a lot of biscuits and gravy this winter. Hopefully we'll get done tomorrow. Only two halves left! They were frozen solid tonight so we had to stop and let them thaw.

If any of you have birthday's coming up guess what you're getting?????? That's right PORK - The other white meat!

Here are pictures of the piglets. They are starting to come when we call and are getting closer to letting us pet them. They love peppers unless they get a hot one, squash is still the greatest thing ever, and carrots....still not a favorite!

This is Molly Sue - she's the only girl in the bunch and a sweetheart! She seems to be everyone's favorite.

This is Obama - he and Molly are our little ones. He is sneaky when it comes to food. He gets the good stuff and goes to a corner so Barack can't get to it.

This is Gimlet. Aptly named after the dwarf on Lord of the Rings. We were having a LOR weekend when we got the piglets and it seemed that Gimlet in the movie and our Gimlet were similar in characteristics. He isn't as aggressive as Barack but he's a nice big boy.

Here's Hilary - while he is not a girl - I had already named him when I found out and he's so pretty with his spots that I decided not to change it.

And finally the big boy...Barack. He was picked so we could have one ready early for butchering. He should be ready around Easter if we feed him up right. By then we might be ready for some more pork....I told my dad he had to come up to butcher this guy. He is aggressive and "hogs" all the food. He is pretty amazing at opening up pumkins and squash and he's the first to come and greet us.

Well it is -1 right now and the skies are clear. You should see those stars! When you first look up there are so many in your range of vision that you get a ton of wishes since you don't see just one....

Wednesday, November 19

2008-11-19T20:29:00.000-08:00

Today we had movie snow. The snow that gently falls and you wish a sound track was playing and you were holding hands with the one you love. It was beautiful, it was magical.

Kent brought home breakfast sausage from our pork. 25 pounds so far and that was just our share. Tonight we cut two more sides (1 pig) and it was a skinny one. All in all so far we have 650 pounds of actual meat to divide with 5 halves left to finish.

Mom says we can have Sh..on a Shingle or if we're abbreviating Sh-on-a-Sh. I guess it was funnier when you repeat it over and over and you have a crazy mom and crazy daughter talking in Alice speak.

It is 23 degrees and the movie snow has left a light dusting covering all the surfaces. I love it when it snows a little like this because it powders over the crusty brown snow that has melted and makes everything fresh again.

Tuesday, November 18

2008-11-18T21:01:00.001-08:00

Today was Eagles Auxiliary of which I am President. It was initiation night and I had the privilege of watching my grandma walk through the ritual and become a fellow Eagle sister.

Let me talk a little bit about the great things the Eagles has done. We adopted a soldier and his troop and sent FIFTEEN boxes of goodies to him overseas. It is so exciting that we are able to do something like that. The Eagles is truly "People Helping People."

We have our annual bake sale tomorrow so I am still up baking my goodies to take for the sale. I am making:

Chocolate Chip/Cream Cheese Bars

1 roll refrigerated cookie dough
1 package cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg.

Roll 1/2 of cookie dough into the bottom of an 8x8 pan/ mix together the cheese, egg, and sugar then pour over top/crumble remaining cookie dough on top and bake at 350 for 35 - 40 minutes. AWESOME.

AND

Cinnamon Apple Pizza

1 roll cinnamon rolls
1 can (21 oz) Apple pie filling
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

Flatten rolls and place in bottom of pie pan or on a pizza pan.
Bake 8 minutes at 400 degrees.
Cover with apple pie filling.
Melt butter and mix with brown sugar.
Sprinkle over apples.
Bake 6-8 minutes longer.
Cool and drizzle with icing from cinnamon rolls.

EASY!!!!

Kent is over butchering the sows. They have 3 1/2 done and the same to go. Tomorrow and Thursday they should be able to get all done. Looks like we will have 50 pounds just of breakfast sausage. Yummm-eee!

Well, time to check the treats....

It was a gorgeous day today. At 11:13 pm it is still 36 degrees with just a slight wind.

Until next time....

Monday, November 17th

2008-11-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the community performance of the high school one-act play that I direct. We performed "Monster Soup" by Tim Kelly. My kids did awesome. They knew their parts and weren't even nervous in front of their peers. At the end of the show they asked me if they could do another yet this year...it makes it all worth it.

To see their faces light up when they are on stage and afterward when their parents were so proud. Pretty cool.

When I got home it was butchering time. The family worked on it all night and were on the last half of the second hog. Of course it had to be Bertha. She had 3 to 4 inches of fat on her back before I could even find meat. So far they think we have probably 650 pounds of just meat. They fried some of the tenderloin and chops up tonight to test. Man was it good!

The piglets are doing well. I gave them pumpkins this morning and they were in HOG heaven!

It is currently 23 degrees with a slight wind and overcast skies. ND in November!

Sunday, November 16

2008-11-16T17:20:00.000-08:00

Slaughter Day.

Today was the day to take care of our sows.

It started with early morning chores with the piglets. They survived the first night and were excited about their new water trough and vegetable buffet. While carrots seem to be low on the list of edible foods, Italian squash is a must have.

Aaron, Kent's brother came out to get started with the days festivities and decided to hold Obama. You could hear the squealing all the way across the farmyard. Apparently he is not as of yet tame enough to be babied. Of course I had to go and make sure Aaron wasn't hurting my little ones.

Our friends Kristina and Sam came out to help from Bismarck, Skeet, Art, Dale, Aaron, Kent and I put down seven big sows in about 6 hours. Bertha topped the scales at roughly 800 pounds with the others coming in anywhere from 400 and up.

The process gives a new appreciation for our meat sources. I can honestly say I will enjoy every bite of that pork even more so knowing what work it involved.

Last night Kent and I watched several online videos on hog slaughtering. Some of them were very informational - butchering a pig in under 3 minutes, making a hog head roll - supposedly a tasty delicacy, and the proper way to slaughter a hog - Thanks meatman! While others were disturbing in that they tried to portray the process as so inhumane and ugly. I know there are those folks out there who don't eat meat and believe that animals should be treated "humanely," they will look at some of the pictures of what we did today with utter disgust. They should know that this is part of our way of life. The days work we put in and subsequent evenings of butchering will feed our families for months and months to come. We worked hard and put in an honest days work and will reap the benefits of our labors. This is life on the plains.

My first hog slaughter. My arms are sore, my body aches, I smell of pig, and I know I am alive! I'm grateful for today's accomplishments. I spent the day with loved ones and my work has value and purpose. In looking at them all hanging in the barn and thinking back to one week ago when the same barn held our two bucks I guess I could say I'm pretty rich. Not many people can say they had their hands on seven "$$$Sowsandbucks$$$$" all in one place in a weeks time! Okay that is a little nod to my mom....very funny stuff Della!

Hope you enjoy the pictures. That's me in the red hat.

Until next time...

It was around 33 degrees and overcast with a wind that kept our cheeks rosy and our breath in the air. Occasional flurries dropped picture perfect flakes. What a wonderful place!!!!

November 15th

2008-11-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

Saturday in North Dakota.

Woke up at sunrise to go deer hunting. We had one doe tag left to fill. Last weekend was the opener and we filled almost all of our tags right away. I have to admit that I am pretty proud of my accomplishments...1 shell, 1 shot, 1 kill. I had my buck tagged and in the truck within the first 46 minutes of the season. I was born on Annie Oakley's birthday...maybe she helped me out this once! Or maybe I was just really lucky. My big guy was a 135 pound 7 x 7 non-typical wall hanger. I thank the good Lord that it didn't take more than that as I learned this year that deer hunting is not for the semi-in shape former athlete. I have a long way to go to be ready for next season...good thing I have 360 days until then.

This morning we walked the corn and got a doe...well the Kent the bf got a doe...I just walked along. Pretty little thing - and we are thankful for the provisions nature has provided. All total we have two bucks and a doe in the freezer....good eatin'.

Once we returned to the farm it was time to help the family move cattle. We raise longhorns but the other family members have beef cattle. They are a little less well-mannered than our herd. While I am thankful it went as smoothly as it did...I'll take a big ol' longhorn cow any day!

I may be a little bruised and now reflecting back on the day I little worked over.

While we were getting the cattle moved Kent's brother informed us that the family were the proud owners of several butcher hogs that needed to be picked up and butchered this weekend.

After we got back from moving cattle we headed to Anamoose to pick up our animals. We ended up with two 900+ pound sows, 3 400+ pound sows, and 2 250+ pound sows. These ladies are massive. All total we should put 1500 plus pounds of pork in the freezer! The bonus of the day was the 90 head of piglets in the adjoining pen.

Now those of you who have known me since the early days may recall that at one time I collected pig figurines. As of this evening I have added to that collection. Five little piglets all in the barn. So cute...and so many extra chores. Not sure what I got into but can't wait to ride the pig farm wave! I'll try to put pix of the little rascals online. Looks like I will be fencing, feeding, watering and calling...listen closely can you hear my,

"Suuuueeeee!"

Gotta rest up - tomorrow is slaughtering day. Seven sows need to be hung and ready to butcher by mid-week. This may not be for the squeemish.

It was a sunny, beautiful November day in North Dakota today. 33 degrees with a covering of snow that remains from last weeks' blizzard. The sunrise this morning as we got ready for the hunt was magical - oranges and reds with just a hint of yellow. It looked like a horizontal fire warming the Winter....wait I mean Fall sky.