With a very heavy heart we unexpectedly say goodbye to our beloved Daisy.

Hello everyone.  I have some very sad news from here on the farm.  I came home Friday night from work to find our girl Daisy very very weak and ill.   At first I thought she had eaten something she shouldn't again as this has been a problem for the last 6 - 7 months or so.  I called my wife who was almost home and we hurriedly fed the animals and put daisy in the car to take her to the hospital.  She tried to stand up to watch the car ride but was only able to do so for a few minutes and then collapsed on the back seat.

The Vet took a few X-rays of her to see what was going on and had some very bad news.  Turns out the last 6 months when Daisy was getting sick it wasn't because she was eating things she wasn't supposed to.  The problem was actually due to a cancerous tumor that had been growing in her spleen for an unknown time.  Each time she got sick it was because it ruptured and bled, but, because it was not that big, the bleeding would stop and she could recover in a couple days.  

This time however this was not the case.  By the time we got her to the hospital and got the diagnoses she was barely able to hold her eyes open to tell us goodbye.  Due to the advanced stage of the cancer, even if they did surgery, they only gave her a 5% chance of surviving more than a week or two.  We could not put her through that since we knew she had already been fighting it on her own for so long.  She was finally ready to take a break from all her hard work and was waiting for us to say it was ok.  

Her Thursday was spent with the kids and I in the truck.  I came home from work early and took her with me to town to get parts and feed, then we picked up the kids to go to swimming practice.  I had to help her in the truck not knowing that she wasn't getting old but was fighting a battle I knew nothing about. When we got home she wanted to ride in the tractor and after helping her into the tractor she helped my wife and I feed all the animals and checked the piglets before coming back into the house.

I would like to share some pics of how we will always remember her.   She was a great help on the farm and my closest friend.  She never judged, was always here when I got home from work, and always showed unconditional love to everyone she knew.  This was evident at our customer party every year where she kept everyone company and went on the hayrides in the tractor to keep everyone safe.

Daisy helping check the cows.

Every time I went to check on the cows or pigs she was there to help.  She became very skilled at riding the 4-wheeler with me and constantly helped fix fence, herd cattle, and hunt mushrooms.  

This was a pic from a few years ago showing all the flowers in bloom.  We were on our way out to check the cows and as you can see she was with me and ready to go.  She is now resting beside the trees in the background where she can see the sunset and watch over our house each night.  

My wife and I rescued her from the pound the winter after we got married.  I have never been without a dog my entire life and after moving into our house I knew I couldn't go long without a companion.  When we found her she had been found roaming the streets in Wooster and was adopted once before but the family brought her back because their child wasn't taking care of her.  They have no idea what they lost by doing that.  When we brought her home she was very quite and shy.  But that wore off in about a week and the true Daisy came out and shined ever since.
 Little did I know how much she would become a part of our lives.  She constantly tried to ride our first open station tractor with me but the deck was small and it wasn't safe.  So we got a bigger tractor with a cab so she and the kids could go with me.  I could not start the truck or the tractor without her being there to go along.   Yesterday was the first time in 10 years that she was not with me for a ride in the tractor 

The pic below was Daisy and I taking a break after a long day on the farm.   I didn't realize until she was gone just how close she always was.  She literally met me at the door every single time I came through it and was with me until I left through it to go to work.  One winter she even went with me to work while my wife and daughter were in Japan.  It was that winter that someone approached me in my plow truck in the middle of the night.  She jumped up and started barking and they immediately left the area.  I never had a problem again after that.

Here is a picture of her helping birth piglets.  She was such a great mother and would wait for each one to be born and then would vigorously clean it off and nuzzle it until it was up and running.  Once she started helping with the pigs farrowing we had much less piglets die during and just after being born because of this.  She was also very protective of the barn and would quickly run off anything or anyone she didn't think should be there without my permission.



My wife has shown our entire family the joys of camping when on vacation.  Because of this we were always able to take Daisy with us on our vacations.  Below are a few pics from our last vacation to the outer banks.  She literally went everywhere with us, and yes, she would even sit at the table when she was allowed to when we were camping.

Mom, is that mine?

She was waiting for her part of breakfast, when I snapped the picture she thought my wife was going to eat her treat and was very concerned!

Hey, that is mine, don't eat that!

Below is our last family picture together.  I believe she started getting sick not too long after this picture because that is when she started having trouble getting in and out of the truck and tractor.  She was very good at hiding it and we didn't realize her decline until the last 4 or 5 weeks.  However, we still thought, after a visit to the vet over the holidays, that she was just having upset stomachs and would get better soon.

It will be very hard to go back to the outer banks without our baby.  She would sit under the truck and watch the kids play.  It will be even harder to come home from work every day to a house without her, or go on a trip without her standing on the center console of the truck watching where we are headed.  We will never replace her nor will we ever forget her.  I only hope that we can find another as caring as her that can take over all her duties here on the farm.

My wife and I both feel as though we have lost our closest companion we have ever had.  I long for the day when we can be back together as a family again.  This is gonna hurt for a while and I hope that over time I can remember our times together without the pain of missing her taking over so badly.  I can deal with almost anything life has thrown at me but saying goodbye to loved ones is something I am very bad at dealing with.  It seems like it gets harder each time.  The difference now is the one I confided in and had comfort from when no one else was around is no longer here to help.

Until we meet again,

Kenny, Natsuko, Lisa, and Alex.

American Farmland Trust and EPRI Farmer video and an article we were featured in for the program.

I just found out today that the video that I was interviewed for has been posted on the American Farmland Trust (AFT) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) websites and on youtube. 

Ohio River Basin Water Quality Trading Project Farmer Interview: Conser Run Farm

Check it out, my video is #3.   There are more videos in the series but #3 is mine and it turned out very well.  It is well worth watching and is just a snippet of  everything we discussed but still got a lot of information in it.  

The star of the show is my first cow 50!!!!  She got almost as much air time as me!!

We were also featured in an article for the program as well.  This year they are looking to grow the program and reach more people.  This program has the ability to affect the world as we know it. Similar programs are used elsewhere in the world already.  

Multi-State Water Program Hopes To Stand On Its Own Two Feet In 2016

Here is a simple example of how it works.  Power companies supply the electric that powers the world.  Everyone relies on them daily for even the simplest task.  However, the side product of being able to read this post, make coffee for your breakfast, turn on the lights in your house, or even pump the water that you use to feed your family and clean, is pollution.  The power companies, and many other businesses have already spent an unthinkable amount of money trying to eliminate this pollution.  However, the law of diminishing returns cannot be avoided and eventually the cost per unit of pollution control is unrealistic and un-achievable.  

Lets say you take $10,000 and invest it on pollution control measures at an electric power plant.  Lets say the return on investment equals one nutrient credit or one unit of pollution control.  Now, take that $10,000 and invest it in a grass roots location where the impact per dollar is greater.  That same $10,000 invested into a project like mine can create 450 or more units of pollution control.   The return on investment and the impact that comes with it is enormous.  It also affects every single person that comes in contact with the water that this affects.  

Every drop of water that flows down a ditch along your street, gets flushed down your drain, runs off of a field, or any other runoff ends up in the ocean eventually and takes with it anything that is dissolved in it or carried by it with it.  If this gets out of balance with what is naturally normal you get pollution problems.   A program like this would take the money being spent on small gains at a power plant out into the rest of the world and can help farms, small towns, and small businesses that are not able to financially do it on their own but genuinely want to make a difference.  

So please watch all the videos, read the article, educate yourselves and share this information with someone you know.  I am very happy to be involved with this program and I am encouraged by the possibilities I see ahead.  

Have a wonderful day everyone.  

Kenny

Happy new years everyone!!!

Another year comes to a close!  I have been been doing my annual New Year's blog post for 5 years now.  This will be the first one that doesn't start with me standing in the very cold weather giving thought to the year past.  This year it is actually quite mild!  I had a friend and coworker over today for some fun and spent some much needed time with the family as well.   There is more work on some projects that I want to finish soon but are not huge priorities so they can wait another day or two!  

Nothing like the last few new years eve's!!!  40 degrees and no snow!!!

I like to reflect on the year past and see where we have come from and where we are headed.  At the end of last year I was still catching up from two months of being down due to illness and a broken finger.  Through that experience I learned that I cannot rely solely on myself to get everything done.  I learned that prioritization is very important and perseverance is extremely important!  

I knew last year that as a family and a business we were at a huge milestone/turning point.  As a family my wife and I have seen our kids go from malleable little children into individuals who have an opinion, personality, and world of their own.  Both of our children our now in school and beginning to build a world of their own making.  I am continually amazed at how different they both can be even though they both come from my wife and I.  My wife and I are challenged every day with how to help them the best way possible to help them succeed in life.  However, it is a challenge we both accepted when we decided to bring life into this world and we will work till we cannot work any more to help them succeed.  

My wife is going through a tough transition in her life right now with the end very near to a position she has held for five years.  She is currently back on the job market and looking for a long term position that she can grow with moving forward.  She does not know where this road will take her and it will probably be bumpy along the way, but, she knows now that she has the support of all of us to get through it!  I look at her current situation as a huge opportunity.  She gets a chance to start an entirely new path of her making.  We are currently in a position that she can take some time and find what is best for her.  In the mean time she can spend some time with the kids and work here around the farm.  This was not an option before and I envy her being able to do this.  I am blessed every day to have her as a companion.  Even when I am upset I remind myself that I would not be where I am today without her continual guidance through life!

As for me I have had many changes personally since last year.  I went from a field management position at work to more of a full management position.  It has been a struggle at times this year stepping out of the world I have grown to know and love into a world where I cannot do everything myself and I have to motivate those around me to accomplish the tasks at hand efficiently and timely.   I am used to being in total control of a job site and being able to make the physical world bend to my will.  However, the physical world of dirt and wood and stone is completely different than the world of employee relations, management of budgets, and growing everyone around you along the way.  In the past year I have realized where some of my greatest weaknesses lie and where my best strengths can take me.  I have and will continue to learn every day how to control my emotion and see the worth in everyone around me before I see their faults.  Every person has value and every one has something they do really well.  The key is finding what everyone does well and grow on that.  I am excited beyond belief for the new year at work.  I finally have an opportunity to show another level of my potential.  I also am excited to know that I will not be able to get there alone and can only achieve this by taking everyone around me with me!  

As a family farm we have turned a huge corner with the passing of this year.  We have finally seen some financial return from the farm.  The first 6-7 years were spent just busting our butts and doing whatever needed done to get to a point where we could be productive.  The money and time we have spent to this point will take another 6-10 years to be fully paid back if we stay the course.  The future is ours to make.  If we continue to grow and learn and fix the tiny little things along the way the big things will work themselves out.  While it didn't seem like it, we did sell a lot of cattle this year without reducing the total head count.  We are expecting a new record of calves born on the farm this year of 17.  While this may be a day's worth of calves on a big ranch that is a years worth of income for us!  It was only a short time ago that we were unbelievably excited over having three calves in one year!  With the new building being done, the equipment updated, and the herd tweaked to our best cattle, we are looking to grind out a couple years of fine tuning and paying off debt.  After that the sky is the limit!  Our only competition will be ourselves moving forward 

This year as I look into my pasture I see huge challenges and even bigger opportunities.  I see two young children that are in the most influential point of their lives.  I want to give them the opportunity to do whatever they put their minds to.  I see a herd of cattle that just a few years ago was a dream of mine that I could envision but wasn't sure when or if we would get to that point. I see my wife who has supported me, and most importantly helped me make better decisions along the way.  Without her I would still be where I started years ago.  I see a new group of pigs that I was ready to give up on last summer when I lost our beloved boar Redballs.  Double stuffed has picked up the torch with his new girls and is slowly getting things back to normal.  Our first litter of the year is due any day now!  

I want to close with a quote from Steven Covey.  He wrote a book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  I am not one to read.  For me to read it either has to be required or it has to be something that grabs my attention and holds it with a force that is unbreakable.  This book was given to my by my fellow manager at work.  At first I started reading it and wasn't really drawn in but I knew if I wanted to grow as a person I needed to push through.  By chapter two I was completely drawn in and hooked.  This book is a long read and there are audio versions available that are much shorter.  In the second chapter of the book this quote is what grabbed my attention.  This hit me pretty good because this is so true for me as an individual.  

“ You can buy a person’s Hand but not their Heart.  Their heart is where their Enthusiasm and Loyalty is!  You can buy a person’s back but not their Mind, that’s where their Creativity, Ingenuity, and resourcefulness is contained.”

As a leader you cannot force the best out of people.  The best you can get out of a person by forcing them is the bare minimum.  If you want their heart and their mind you have to earn it, you cannot buy it, you cannot force it, and you cannot take it from them!  There are some people that I will never be able to earn their heart or their mind and I accept that but I still try.  

You can only grow if those around you grow as well.  If you only enter into something with yourself in mind you will not be successful.  So as you go throughout your year please take a moment and start thinking about the outcome.  Begin with the end in mind.  How will you benefit from what you are doing?  How will those around you benefit?  Are you the only one that will learn and prosper from this or will someone else share in your victory?  What good is a victory if you celebrate it alone and lose those around you along the way?  

As I reflect back over the years of my past and look out into my pasture I can now clearly see that when I started with the end in mind and worked on something that benefited those around me as well as me I was successful.  When I was simply doing something to benefit myself it rarely turned into something good and prosperous!  

I want to wish everyone a prosperous New Year!  Keep in mind that every day is a new chance to start again.  If you slip two weeks from now don't wait until next year to change.  Get back up and get right back on course.  I hope someday you can come tell me about your experiences and show me what you have in your pasture and what you have grown and those around you grew as well!

Thank you everyone and here's to 2016!!!!!!

Kenny

Christmas Vacation projects are under way and some other happenings.

I had an early afternoon off work a week ago so I drove up to get a keg of Sam Adams for the holidays.  It is a 1.5 hr trip one way to get there so I do not do very often.  I was over half way home when I realized they gave me the wrong keg of beer.  I turned around and drove back to get the correct one.  When I got back they offered me a gift for the mistake.  

My very own Sam Adams Lager Tap Handle!!!! 

Sam Adams Tap Handle

 I started my annual winter vacation from work on Christmas Day.  There is a very long list of projects that need completed and I know I will not get them all done but here are some I have completed so far.  

First up was building a bench table to hold the mini fridge for the new building.  This is where I am going to store medicine for the animals and Beer for the shop.  The table is also a nice spot for the radio and to set things while working on something to keep them off of the floor.  

Rough sawed lumber bench.

Next is a project I was supposed to be completing for the last two years.  My wife got tired of waiting and decided to go ahead and get it started herself.  The screen door and old house doors I used when I built the pig shed finally fell apart.  I have had them tied shut and been putting this off for a while.  

My wife did the first door and then I helped with the second one.  It was dark and raining when I remembered to take the pic so please excuse the bad picture!

Rough sawed lumber barn door.

 Both doors were made using leftover lumber from the cow and pig shed construction projects.  They were both very simple to build and work perfectly.  I should have done this a long time ago!

Rough Sawed lumber barn door inside.  

I didn't take a picture of the outside of the second door.  One thing we realized already was that we cannot tightly attach the Plexiglas.  It expands and contracts a lot with temperature changes.  When we put them on it was near freezing.  With the 60 degree temps the last couple of days they are all warped.  I will be adjusting this tomorrow so they do not do that any more.  

I wanted to attach a picture showing the effectiveness of the buffer strip we installed last year.  The fields in the background of the picture below are next door at my Dad's farm.  You will notice it is light in color and dormant for the winter.  It is also very short.  

In the foreground of the picture is the buffer strip.  It is very green and still growing.  I let the cows eat it off at thanksgiving.  It was very short when I pulled them off and has grown back another 6-8" already.  If the weather stays mild all winter I fully expect to be able to let them eat it off at least once and possibly twice this winter.  

Riparian buffer strip collecting nutrient runoff from the feed lot.   

I also noticed another very cool thing this week.  I have covered my pastures with the composted manure from the feedlot this fall.  I also coated them with the extra buttermilk that I am getting from the dairy.  Currently my pastures make my buffer strip look like it is not growing.  They are very dark green, very healthy and growing very well.  I am quite excited to see how well they produce in the coming year. 

I am still looking for some help researching land application of buttermilk.  There is literally no information on the topic and I would like to know more about the details of all the little interactions in the soil after I apply the milk to the fields.  If you or anyone you know can help with this please send me an email and we can go from there.  I have done some small scale testing and the results are promising but I still want to know more!

 I haven't had a calf born on Christmas day since I was a child on the dairy farm.  I thought I was going to have my first one born on my own farm this year and we did.  However, it was not what I expected.  Beef cake was in labor when I went out to check everyone on Christmas morning.  I noticed immediately that something was not right and got some help.  The calf ended up being still born.  The umbilical cord got broken at some point and the because the calf was not alive the cow didn't go into labor correctly.  We ended up having to put the calf by hand and Momma is pretty sore but she looks like she will be ok.  After everything was done and I let her back out with the other cows last night, her daughter came over to console her.   Today she seems to be doing better.  Hopefully she pulls through it without any internal damage and goes on to have more calves.  

Other than the disappointment from the still born calf, we all had a great Christmas together as a family.  The winter had been extremely mild and this is the first winter since I have had children that I have been able to spend the holidays with them without worry of having to go to work for snow removal.  

On my "TO DO" list is finishing the plumbing in the new building, finishing the weaning pen for the pigs, getting the neighbors tractor completed and out of the building, getting my next project in the building and started!  

I wish everyone the best for the holiday season and hopefully you all get to spend some time with your families!   

 I will be doing my annual New Years eve post this week so keep tuned in!!!

Goodnight everyone!

Kenny

Buttermilk tanks are in full use and first tractor repair in the new shop!

Ever since I was a little kid I dreamed of having a shop where we could put a piece of equipment inside to work on it when it was cold and wet.  I finally saw that dream become a reality this week when we rolled the neighbors old Oliver tractor in the shop to tear it down to repair the steering system. 

Scott got all the parts today so we can get them all put in tomorrow and get it running again.  It still needs the injector pump rebuilt but for now we are working on this item so we can get it completed and get it back out of the shop before the electrician comes back to finish the wiring.  

I have been using my new setup for the buttermilk tanks for a week now and it is pretty darn awesome!  For anyone who hasn't been following or is out of the loop, we started feeding buttermilk to the pigs and cattle this year as a supplement to their hay.  The buttermilk comes from a local dairy and the milk is from local farms.  I tested it out over the summer to confirm that the idea would work and that the cows and pigs would both like it.

The results have been amazing.  When making butter, almost all of the butterfat is removed from the milk leaving the protein, amino acids, and all the little micro nutrients that come with milk.  As we all know, when a baby calf is born they drink their mothers milk to grow.  Cattle may be weaned off of breast milk as they get older but they, just like us humans, still like milk!  So, when offered buttermilk they will drink it.  The micro nutrients and amino acids in the milk balance out what little things may be missing or are low in the hay they eat and also help in digesting what they eat.  The results are even better than I thought.  The cows didn't lose weight and thin way down while feeding their calves this year like they have in the past.  They maintained their weight and the calves grew much better this year as well.  The pigs showed very similar results as well.  I have been able to reduce the amount of supplemental grain that I feed the pigs to a very low amount as well.   

We have already had both beef and pork from animals who consumed the buttermilk.  I was concerned on how this change in diet would affect the flavor and fat in the meat.  I have noticed no changes in the fat content of either the beef or pork in the first batch of meat.  I also did not notice any change in the flavor as well.  

All that being said, lets get back to the new building!   I needed a place to keep the milk inside for a few reasons; 

• to keep it from getting too hot  
• to keep it from freezing
• to have it in a place were I can keep a clean setup

In setting this all up I tried to keep it simple and easy to use.  In almost every milk house on every farm in the world there is a hole in the wall with a flap to keep the cold out for the milk truck hose to go through to hook to the tank.  I did not want a hole like that.  Instead, I installed a piece of pipe through the wall with quick couplers attached.  This way I do not have to have any open doors for a hose to go through.  The delivery truck just hooks up outside.  

On the inside a hose hooks the two tanks up to the pipe in the wall.  A simple flip of a valve allows the delivery guy to select which tank to fill.  When done, he simply shuts the tank valve and disconnects outside.   A bucket under the pipe catches any spillage to be fed to the pigs. 

The milk is pasteurized so as long as I keep it cool and circulate it it doesn't spoil.  It will still separate if I don't mix it though so once a day I circulate any milk in the tanks.  The picture below shows everything hooked up to circulate the milk.  The pump is an electric one and is set up on its own switch.  I have a long hose to hook up to another pipe going through the south wall to pump milk directly to the tubs that the cows drink from.  Once the wiring is all done the pump will be on a remote control switch so I can turn the pump on and off while down at the corral.  This will make it very easy for one person to put milk out to the cows and pigs.  

I also am putting in a picture of the heater and the new electric service the electrician and I installed last weekend.  This pic was taken during installation so you can see there is a mess as well!

 

I also moved Scott's and my toolboxes to the new shop.  The only thing left to move is the air compressor.   I also need to get a small rolling work cart to keep in the shop for when we are working on stuff so we don't have tools all over the floor!

Today I cleaned the lot and spread the pile of manure I had built up while the weather was nice.  As I was getting started the pigs decided they wanted to go out to the pasture to enjoy the day.  If you look closely you will notice that the baby piglets (3 weeks old) are running right along side of momma!  Man are they growing fast!

When I was getting ready to purchase my tractor last winter the salesman saw my tractor parked in the shed and told me that I may not want a new tractor because the new one is taller and may not fit.   After I told him that this might not be a great sales technique as he is not a salesman for storage buildings, I told him to find me a tractor and I would figure out how to get it in the shed!  Well, the time had come a week ago to "Get it in the shed"!  The best part of having a large tractor with a large bucket is it is very easy to move soil.  After about 20 minutes of digging I lowered the dirt floor of the shed enough to fit the new tractor in.  Now she is neatly tucked inside when I am not using her so she can stay dry and out of the sun!

I am expecting two litters of pigs at the end of the month as well as our last calf of 2015 / first calf of the 2016 season.  Beefcake had her calf 1/5/15 and is due to have her next calf just before Christmas.  Going to be an exciting winter and spring!  We are going to have to enjoy the next three months cause as of the second week of March things are going to get pretty hectic pretty fast!

Have a great week everyone.  Let's hope this nice weather continues all winter.  I am looking forward to a mild one!

Kenny

New piglets and long overdue building updates.

Hello everyone, 

Once again I have realized that it has been a month since I made a post.  I am finding that as things grow here on the farm and my duties at work evolve as well I am being pulled by more and more people and tasks every day.  Some tasks are of my own doing, some are of necessity for work or for the farm, and others are from other people who look to me for assistance and help.  While trying to cover and complete all the possible tasks I can I end up forgetting other tasks that I set aside that may be important to me but are not a high priority.  For instance, my blog post gets set aside so I can feed cows before heading to bed early to get up early for a long day at work.  Then, one thing leads to another and I end up not coming back to complete the task I set aside.  I am going to do what I should have done a while ago and schedule it into my calendar so I have some time set aside for this important task which I enjoy so much!

So, now on to what I am sure you would rather read about!

The bigger of my two Berkshire x Tamworth sows had a litter of piglets on Saturday morning of last weekend.  She is the one that had 16 in the summer.  This time she had 14.  She lost 6 in the summer due to still born's and a few got laid on.   This time I wasn't expecting her to have them when she did.  I thought she was still a day or two off, so she ended up having them in the cow shed.  Ten were alive when we found them and moved everyone into the pig shed.  Three of the ten got laid on the first night because they left the hot box to lay with Momma, and one more had other issues and passed away.  So this time she is only feeding out six.  

The pic below is right after we moved them.  

This is a pic of them this morning.  The biggest on is about 7 lbs already and the smallest is around 5lbs.   They are growing at an unbelievable rate! I put my shoe in the picture for a frame of reference.  The one in the top right corner of the picture is the biggest by at least 15-20% and is the one in the center of the picture above standing on top of everyone to eat!

Here are some quick pics of the building.

I still have to install the electric and water and plumb in the tanks.

Here is the door from the inside.  The building looked huge when we first started, I even thought it was going to be too big and be out of scale with everything else.

However, once we moved two of the tanks inside it quickly became small!

This is a picture of the new heater.  However, shortly after I took this picture this morning the heater quit working!!!  With temps due to dip down to around 20 degrees tonight it looks like I will be making a trip back to Rural King today to get a replacement. 

I am certain that the regulator for the gas is not correct.  The pilot light has too much pressure and will not stay lit because it blows itself out.  It worked for a few days but the longer it has been on the stronger the gas flow has gotten.  It is nonadjustable and the only way to fix it is to replace it. 

It is what it is I guess.  So I will be headed out to get another in a few minutes!  Have a great day everyone and have a safe week!

Kenny

Been a very stressful couple of weeks!

I know I haven't been posting consistently lately and I apologize for those of you who keep up with the farm.  Between harvest season and trying to keep this building project moving along I haven't had time to do much else other than work! On top of everything else going on, I managed to come down with bronchial pneumonia and strep throat last week as well.   Makes for a miserable week!

I haven't had a chance to take a picture of the inside painted yet but the wife and I spent several days and nights last week getting the inside of the new building painted.  We used a mold inhibiting water sealing paint so we can wash the walls and keep them clean.  

There is a reason why mostly women do the painting,

This was literally within 10 minutes of me starting painting the second day.  I know have three pairs of pants that have paint all over them.  I also destroyed one sweatshirt that will now be permanently a barn sweatshirt!

This picture isn't the most recent but it does show close to what it looks like right now.  The roof, gables, ceiling, and insulation are all done.  Andrew Hostetler will be installing the windows and doors tomorrow and the garage door comes in a week or two.  Once the doors and windows are in I will start working on lights, heat, and water!  Going to be basics until I get caught up.  Need to get the building shut in and clean the floor so it can be sealed.  Once that is done then I can run some of the main water and gas lines and then I will get the tanks moved in before it gets too cold!

Some sad news to report.   I received a call late Friday morning asking me to come home quickly.  The neighbors house had caught fire and they needed me to help make sure all the gas was shut off. 

The fire started near a boat and some other items stacked at the corner of the house.  Everyone got out ok and the only loss of life was two cats that wouldn't leave the house.  Most other items in the house were lost.  They did manage to save some stuff but 75% of the house was burnt before they could get it out.  This house was over 100 years old and once a fire starts on one of these they go quick.  They are very dry and did not contain many of the fire retardant materials of today's construction materials. 

On Saturday I did have the opportunity to once again do something I always wanted to do as a child.  The local Ruritan had an antique tractor pull.  I took the new tractor down and ran pull back tractor for them.  I was extra happy to have my daughter and one of her friends stop by to ride for a little bit after their round of trick or treating in town.  

For those that do not know much about tractor pulls you can google it and get all kinds of pictures and videos.  With the old school tractors and sleds, someone needs to pull the sled back to the beginning of the track for the next tractor.  Below is a picture of me following the sled down the track while someone was pulling it.

I wanted to show off a couple of pictures of this years heifers.  First off is 50's daughter.  This is her first calf to Legacy.  She looks just like her mother other than being completely black.  She is growing quite well and will make a great mother in a couple of years!

The other girl I wanted to post is Fuzzy Wuzzy.  She was our first calf of 2015 and was born on January 5th.  Her mother is our biggest cow and is named Beefcake.  The best part is that Beefcake is also due to have our last calf of 2015 near Christmas!!!  That doesn't happen very often!!

I will try to get some pictures this weekend once the doors and windows are in showing the progress.  I am greatly looking forward to getting this building done so I can get a break from the rushing pace before the snow flies!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Kenny