Coyote Ridge FarmsWelcome To Our Rural Blog

Life is back to normal and we’re into the routine of things again.  Carol, daughter Madison and I drove to NW Arkansas to celebrate Christmas with my sister Amber, her husband Craig and new son Piper.  Craig and I had been planning for our visit for several weeks.  It was truly a surprise for my sister when we walked through the front door of their large family cabin.  The look on her face when we walked in was one of disbelief.  A couple of tears were shed to make the moment extra special.  Being part of Piper’s 1st Christmas was wonderful.  He took to Madison right away.

We spent a total of 4 days in AR and we arrived back home early Tuesday morning, after driving through the night.  We did have a short 3 hr visit with one of Carol’s online friends in Kansas.  Last year, when we visited my sister and her family during Thanksgiving, we stopped in on Carol’s friend’s homestead on our way back… so we thought we should do it again this year.  We were invited for a lunch, but were treated to a full-blown hot meal – chicken & noodles, mashed potatoes and corn.  It was just what the doctor ordered.

The morning of our return home, our neighbors left a message on my phone, mentioning that they needed help with dairy chores that evening.  It was nice to see familiar faces and take in the smells of their dairy barn’s hay, silage and feed stuffs.  It helped me to adjust back to farm life.

While we were gone to Arkansas, the farm up here received a couple inches of snow, so yesterday I fired-up the 560 International and blew much of the snow.  During my first pass down the drive, I ran out of fuel.  I was lucky it didn’t happen on the highway, where I turned the tractor around.  After dumping a few gallons of gas in the tank, I was able to continue the drive-way maintenance, stopping only at the fuel barrel, to fill the tank.

Before we left for Christmas at my sister’s place, I fed both the cattle and the sheep & goats a few round bales of hay.  The animals needed fresh hay today… so while Carol & Madison were in town, doing some much needed food shopping, I ran a few more bales out to them.  I was going to let the cattle go back to the pastures, but I thought better of it.  The forecast for this area mentioned rain for the next couple of days and once that freezes, the cattle will have a tough time digging through the snow.  I believe from this point forward, I will be feeding the grass-hay I baled earlier this year.

Now that we’re home and have settled in, again, things have gotten normalize.  Our weather is a little odd, but then I must admit there is no such thing as “normal” Minnesota weather.  Today, it is raining and the temp is above freezing.  The thermometer shows 36°F… of course that means we now have “rain” coming into the house.  Our house leaks so bad that whenever it rains outside, we have drips inside.  We must have some ice on the roof as the water entering the house in different locations than when it rains during the warmer months.  The constant “drip-drip-drip” is getting annoying.

When Carol and Madison were in town yesterday, they looked at a house that was advertised for sale, to be moved – it was for sale for only $300.  The house is in really good shape, but is only a 2 bedroom and is a 2-story.  Because we have a handicapped child at home, the 2nd floor bedrooms will not work for us and with only 2 bedrooms, where are we going to put 2 adults and 3 kids?  We will continue to look for a house.

Related posts:

1. What A Beautiful Day
2. Hauling, Raking, and Haying… Oh My!