"Snow" Day?

Last night I received the welcome phone call letting us know that we would not be having school today. Due to all of the overwhelming forecasts that we would be getting at least 8-10 inches of snow, all the schools in our area decided to play it safe. Fast forward to today at 3:19 p.m. We still have no snow on the ground.

As a farmer though, we don't complain about having extra time to work on the farm and we have gotten some moisture with it. So this is how I have spent my day so far.

 When I woke up, I knew that I had no electricity. It had been blinking on and off last night and finally went off and stayed off at 5 this morning. So first priority was to get a fire started to keep things warm. Then my dad got a call that our cows were out. So, by 7:45 I was out of the house and helping get the cows in. (Ok, in all fairness, my dad and uncle had most of them in by the time I got out there.)

It gets a little muddy in some of the pens, so we have to put chains on the tires of the feed truck so we don't get stuck. Not a fun task, but my dad does it time after time without complaint. I think they were still on the truck from the last snow, so at least we didn't have to put them on again today.

We feed our cattle in the pens a combination of things. We feed them ground up corn, feed and pellets. The pellets contain extra protein from things such as soybeans to help the cattle gain the weight they need. The pellets, feed and corn are all put into the feed truck and all mixed together with big augers inside the truck. After the truck is filled for the next morning, the tractor has to be plugged in because diesels don't like to start on cold mornings.

Dad and I had some work to do as we tried to fix fence. It is fun working with dad because we have worked together for so many years. Sometimes we get on each other's nerves (I know, I know. Most of you can't believe I would be annoying ;-), but we know which jobs we do and we work together to get it done efficiently.

Last, but certainly not least, my mom cooked a wonderful and hot lunch for us. We had a good time talking as a family and I found out my mom has some impressive style. Check out her new boots!

All in all, it was a good day and I love my farm and my family. Although the snow never showed up, it was a great "snow" day for this farmgirl!