Full house, grazing cows, mamaw’s memories
Amy here this morning.
We had a full house last weekend. Three of my college girlfriends and their families come to the valley each spring for a “friends weekend”. We always have the very best time. With 8 adults and 14 kids under one roof you can imagine there was never a dull moment. Lots of running, singing, playing, eating… We don’t see these friends as often as I’d like, so getting to know their families more is such a blessing. Overall, my take away was how enjoyable everyone’s children were. Kids are such a blessing.
After everyone left we came down with a cold this week. We’re still fighting it. I think you are supposed to rest in order to recover from a cold. I tried to call in sick a few days, but no one would take my call. Ha.
On Tuesday, we finished clearing fallen trees from the fence line around the hayfield. We had to get the fences cleared and repaired for the cows to move into that field. We like to let the cows graze the hayfield in the spring before we move the chicks out to the pasture. They thrive in shorter grass where they can easily eat the grass and bugs. We’d rather let the cows do the mowing than us.
It was so windy on Tuesday that our barn roof tin was flapping in some areas. Will got up on the roof and his ladder blew over. The kids and I came to the rescue, but then they next thing I know some of them are up on the roof too.
Wednesday we mounted 4-wheelers and drove 100 cows into the barn. We sorted and tagged them. Then we had a cattle drive down the road, where half of them went to the hayfield to graze. Will and Hasten hauled the other half with the truck and trailer to another field. The kids love “working cows”. That’s a chore that’s only done a couple of times a year, so it’s always fun and exciting for them.
We got our second batch of chicks Thursday morning. So the brooder is full of cute yellow fluff-balls. In a few weeks, the first group of chickens will be moving to the outside chicken shelters, and then we’ll get more chicks to take their spot in the brooder. Will is the numbers guy and plans out exactly how to keep the brooder and shelters full all year without over crowding. I’m thankful for a farmer who is able think through and create this cycle for our farm.
Thursday afternoon Will and I made meat deliveries to Bristol and Kingsport. Huge shout out to those loyal customers! And yes it was a date, we got ice cream.
Last night I was reading a book that my grandmother wrote. My sister-in-law gifted her with a Storyworth book last year. I’m not sure Mamaw followed the typical format with question prompts, but she used it as an opportunity to write down here memories. It is such a treasure to have. Mamaw is 96 and lives in Knoxville. She grew up on a dairy farm, the youngest of seven. Her mother died following childbirth, and her father later remarried and had 3 more children.
“Ours was a large family, but we never went hungry. We had farm animals and a vegetable garden. When I was born in 1928, we did not have electricity, thus no refrigeration. I was given cow’s milk, always from the same cow. My sisters Della and Anna Belle, took care of me as a newborn. If they ran out of milk for me, someone had to find the cow and milk the cow, whether it be daytime or in the middle of the night.”
She was taken out of school in 6th grade to work the farm while three of her brothers were off fighting in WWII. She was able to go back and finish through most of the 8th grade but then had to return to farm work. (She later took night school classes while working full time and received her high school diploma).
“I remember going out in the mornings, rounding up four cows, driving them to the barn, and milking them before returning to the house and getting ready for school. I was 12 years old when we got electricity to our house and farm.”
“I can remember riding with my father in a horse-drawn wagon from the farm on Texas Valley Road to Fountain City to sell dairy products” (butter, buttermilk, and milk). “At some point Dad was able to purchase a truck which made the trip much faster!”
I can’t imagine how quickly life was changing during her generation (probably more so than any generation before). I will forever treasure this book full of her stories. It’s a great reminder for me to begin writing my stories down so that my children and grand children will know what life was like in our time period. And here’s your reminder to write yours down too!
Have a blessed week!
Amy