Having a Little Fun
February 12th, 2007 by Northern FarmerMonday evening on the farm and nothing earthshaking happening. In fact it’s kinda on cruise lately. Just get them chores done, make a little wood, do whatever. We’ve been kinda hunkered down with the cold weather lately but the last couple days were a treat with the temps getting into the tropical range. In fact yesterday it was in the twenties, sunny and no wind. Beach weather eh! Well that where we ended up yesterday afternoon, down at the creek. The kids had a time skating let me tell you! It wasn’t planned or anything like that, it just happened in the afternoon after church. Some good friends came over and the kids were skating and playing a little hockey. Of course there was only one “official†hockey stick. But in the tradition of country kids that didn’t slow down this Stanley Cup event. Get them some heavy duty willow branches and away the event goes. In fact I was impressed at the skill level using them willow branches. Now I wonder, is it only me or what, but you ever notice the best of times can be had using whatever is available to make a game work? Thinking back to when I was a kid it sure seems that way. We didn’t need a “Toys are Us†shopping spree to equip us for our grand adventures. Nope, we just had at it with anything there was available.
Of course if you’re a country boy or gal you were already equipped to build what ever was needed for having some fun. And you know, we’d sometimes have fun all day long! Head for the creek or the backwoods and it would never end, all the stuff a person could come up with having fun. Of course there were no computers back then to make us super smart and we couldn’t sit on our butts and play all these sophisticated games and after that “chat†with who knows who. Nope, us backward country bumpkins just had to make do with what we had! Now I’m not a Depression Era person, was born 15 years after that officially ended according the people in the know, but the lingering effects were still out in the rural areas, plus the freshness in the people’s minds made it so they weren’t the wasters that folks are today by and large. We had us some oldtimers yet, well into my high school years and beyond that still lived in old country homes and shacks with no electricity or running water. But sometime in the seventies I’d say that pretty well disappeared. Not that they got electricity, no, it’s because these folks died of old age.
But back to country kid improvising! Now most country kids had access to a hatchet and an old Swede Saw, and usually in the barn there was lots of old baler twine hanging on nails here and there. Ours for the taking. Head on out to the woods and build us some forts and shacks, oh almost forgot, matches came in a bit handy for building a campfire. I must confess I never built a fire any other way than with matches so I won’t be giving advice on survival and all of that. In fact we weren’t exactly pioneer type kids even though we were out in the woods or by the creek all day. Just farm kids using whatever was available to us. Now thinking back one of my favorite things was building rafts and sailing the creek This creek is borderline creek/river if you can imagine it. Big enough to sail on when you’re a kid being a river pirate. Although usually business was pretty slow on that body of water. But there were fringe benefits like finding a huge snapping turtle once in a while. That will justify time spent to parents when the mudded up kids come dragging a big old snapper up the hill into the farm yard. As I said, even if it was a while after the depression folks still knew the value of saving money and eating whatever was there. And turtle was a prize, that’s for sure. Then an adult who could lift the big turtles without getting their leg bit would put it in the cattle stock tank for a few days to get the mud out of it before butchering. And come butchering time it ain’t over even when it’s over as far as a snapper is concerned! One had to make sure no dogs or chickens came close to the snapper’s chopped off head or they’d get an attachment to their lips or in the chickens case, head. In fact they’d have to make sure there wasn’t any spoiled brats around who didn’t listen to older folks cause sure as heck that brat would have a snapper’s head attached to their fingers and it ain’t easy to get that thing to release. I mean, what are you supposed to do, kill it again!
Back to the creek adventures, my favorite raft was made with car tire inner tubes, back then there were a lot of inner tubes, with some scrap plywood tied to the top with baler twine. Sounds crude but they were marvels! Let me tell you, they didn’t sink and they could support a kid with ease. Plus they didn’t require deeper water. Nowadays I don’t know if they’d pass government inspection for child safety, in fact I know they wouldn’t, nothing we did would and by jinkens we’re still alive! Oh we had our moments when we could have been sent to the great beyond, but somehow we made it.
I don’t know how I got started on this subject this evening, I really don’t. Wasn’t planning that at all. Must be still in my head spending that time down by the creek yesterday. There’s much more to family farming than just farming and sometimes it’s good to remember that. It ain’t a bunch of sour faced, overly religious, grumpy people plodding around with endless chores, nope! It’s the abundance of good times, those times that don’t cost anything, those times that are just so much fun and where corporate America isn’t making a plug nickel from it. That’s the difference. Fun doesn’t have to cost. Now that’s a radical thought if there ever was one on this blog, eh! You can’t buy happiness but you can be filled with it for free, as much as you want! And does a guy like me ever outgrow it? I pray to God that I never outgrow such wonderful moments in life.
February 12th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
them were the days! thanks for the trip!
sounds like y’all had some fun !
well it’s time for bed, got another storm heading this way!
stay warm!
give our best to the family!
Blessings
February 12th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
This morning I pulled a dead cow out of the barn, found a dead bull calf in one of the calf huts, fixed a broken water pipe in the barn and then made it to a 10am funeral for a mennonite fellow I know who died from a heart attack at 55. More then 400 people there and the Mennonite Bishop gave a wonderful message on being restful in your relationship with God and your fellowship. Not being just a bench sitter, but finding true spiritual rest and helping to spread the Kingdom of God.
February 13th, 2007 at 6:36 am
Hi Jan!
Yup, us folks had us some fun! Take care in any storms your way!
God Bless!
Brent,
Yup, I know those days, all too often to boot. I think what made Sunday so special here was the fact that we just pulled out of a couple miserable weeks of terrible weather and the day was so beautiful. It’s just like God’s children became alive again. Yes, I think that had a lot to do with it all!
Sounds like a wonderful message delivered yesterday! Not being a bench sitter, but allowing God to take hold of us and shape and mold us can sometimes be a bit uncomfortable to our flesh. But He sure can take a person places that a bench sitter would never experience.
I hope your day today goes smooth and you receive God’s abundant Blessings!
Tom
February 13th, 2007 at 6:58 am
Tom,
Got a smile out of todays post. I did some of the same things, except my raft sunk like a rock, and the old Ben Franklins had hockey sticks for $1. I had a tree house that should of killed me before I was 12…. ahh the memories.
Walking through the woods the other day and I came up on a pile of sticks with a hole in one side. My 17 y/o said “Hey, the hobo house is still standing”. Guess it was the boys when they were younger. He wouldn’t go in there now though, he said “No tellin whats living inside!!” (plus the door is a little too small for him).
Last couple of days have been finishing up and getting ready for these moo cow thingys. Supposed to get five or six calves this saturday. Hear tell of the noises they’re taken from their momma, I’m kinda glad this pastures a couple of miles away!! All in all, I hope the I have to wrestle ‘em less than the goats
Thunderstorm a brewing off to the west right now. Temps about to drop back into the 30’s and 40’s. I don’t want to make it sound like I’m rubbing in these temps or anything, so I won’t tell you about the hawaiian shirts and the cutoff Carharrts I’ve been wearing the last couple of days while stringing wire
Have a GREAT day,
Brad
February 13th, 2007 at 9:49 am
Tom,
Ever put fish, like bass or sunfish into the stock tank? Works okay as long as the cows don’t drink the tank dry. My cousins would throw a bass in the stock tank and periodically throw it a frog. Your description of the fun to be had in the country is why I wanted my kids to grow up in the country.
Jim
February 13th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Brad,
Memories eh!
Saturday’s the day, hmmm, well good luck on them beefers! I’m sure there’ll be an adventure or two with them things, there always is!
That’s ok telling us about your fashion statements! No problem cause that’s kinda the fashion around here when it hits the tropical temperatures of zero or above. Of course even with the Hawaiin shirt and cutoff carharrts we still do like to hold our dignity and wear a mad bomber hat, rabbit fur lined. You know the old saying, if the head is warm the rest will be too!
Jim,
Oh yes! Plus I stocked a cattle watering pond with largemouth bass and sunnies. The bass survived much better than the sunfish and are thriving and populating!! Of course this is all illegal, found that out after I did that a few years ago, but who cares! Everything I do is illegal seems like, but I’m happy
One thing Jim, I found out the last few days that it’s illegal to have Bourbon Red Turkeys in Minnesota. Now who the h… do they think they are telling us we can’t raise real turkeys??!!?? Must be more DNR gestapo rules. I feel like this is in Robin Hoods time with the evil sherrif in charge. Now I don’t know for sure but I suspect the reason for this is that they could cross between the “planted” wild turkey population, just a wild guess. So now if I’m right that means the sportsmen, (if you want to call them that), have greater rights than the farmers owning and farming the land. Pleasure before landowner rights! Now them wild turkeys are not native to our area so I don’t beleive the hunters and gestapo have the right to limit what livestock we want to raise just to satisfy their carnal lusts of spending big money hunting a wild turkey. But money is god to most so that’s the way the ball bounces, (or so they think).
I feel the moonshiners genes speaking in me, they’re my dominant ones. Time for a little turkey bootlegging over the border, eh!!
February 13th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Tom,
Our society sure has lost a connection with reality. Illegal to raise Bourbon Red Turkeys? Ahh …. What about all the pheasants that people raise and let loose into the wild? I bet my muscovy ducks could cross with a mallard. They sure are turning landowners and farmers into serfs who are regulated at every turn.
Jim V
February 13th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Hey Tom, How about a little of that beach weather up here. -35 this mornin. I was havin my lunch and readin your blog. Enjoyed both by the way. Got me to thinkin about somethin that happened to me about a month ago. I was headin to town and my son asked if he could hitch a ride to his buddies, about a mile down the road. I said sure hop in. He says just a minute. He runs off and gets a shovel and then heads back and gets this huge block of hard snow and puts both in the back of the truck. He then gets in and says ok, lets go. Now, there is no shortage of snow anywhere around here so I can’t for the life of me figure why he is takin his own to his buddies place. Turns out it is a piece he had cut out and was savin for a snow fort. Got to tell ya I chuckled over that for a good time. Don’t forget to send the warm weather . Talk to ya all soon.
February 13th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Jim,
Boy, I could really get going on this! Now I’ve been looking forward to ordering some Bourbon Reds for quite a few months and then to read a regulation like that with only Minnesota mentioned, grrr! I have nothing against “planted” wildlife, even if they are not native to our area such as wild turkeys and pheasants, in fact I love hunting pheasants in the fall. But with the wild turkeys I almost have to roll on the ground laughing, what a joke!! Around our place they’re almost over running the area. It’s nothing to see fifty at a time from my kitchen window. The the state hypes it up like they’re some exotic hunt, so durn smart and a person is a great white hunter if he can get one. And getting one usually means spending big bucks, and I mean big bucks on equipment and all the accessories. Meanwhile a dumb farmer can walk right up to the same birds and blast away to their heart’s content if they so felt inclined. It’s all a money game for folks that don’t have a life. I might as well throw out some of my two year old red laying hens out in the meadow and advertise a prairie chicken hunt. I know I wouldn’t get many takers unless I’d jack the price up so it durn near breaks the folks credit card accounts, but get the price up and the fools will come! That’s an economic law nowdays, just charge unreal prices for unimportant things and the fools will spend till they’re blue in the face. Meanwhile blame farmers for people beingf hungry. Nothing but fools I tell you! What this country needs is a time of real hunger. There’s allot of folks that complain about farmers that could affoard to loose a few hundred pounds!
I see that post that I wrote a week ago is very relevant,
Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God!
This society is getting more upside down every day and the sad part is that there’s even folks that frequent these blogs that’ll defend it! Well, I say, bring it on. I got the mid winter blaws and a good scrap with a follower of the culture of death would do me some good! Yes sir, it sure would!
Guy,
They say it’s supposed to cool down here a bit, but I’m afraid to look at the forcast, I’m enjoying the day here today splitting wood. I don’t know what the temp is, must be around ten above, but no wind and that’s the kicker! Plus sunny out!
Snow fort, now that’s fun! That and snow tunnels! I used to love when we’d make tunnels that could go on forever! Funny how a kid could spend hours doing that, snow down the shirt and down the butt, no problem at all. Maybe one of these years we’ll get some snow, we really haven’t had a good amount for about ten years now, kinda jipped the kids out of snow forts around here as they grew up. They must figure I just tell tall tails when I say the snow was from roof to roof between the farm buildings back in the sixties. Yup, just a tall story teller, that’s what I am! But you should have seen the size of the tunnel me and the neighbor kids made back in sixty six. Huge!!
I’ll try to send you all some warmer weather up in a couple days or so!
February 13th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Tom, I have some Bourbon Reds you can have! They love sitting right in front of my kitchen window and stare at me all day long (our windows are at ground level). I would love to have a bit nicer scenery to look at while doing dishes! They are such ugly things!
Supposed to be -30 again tonight, and I’m ready for some balmy weather.
We are spending our days lately monitoring the ND legislature; what an education! We had one bill all ready to go; the committee amended it to make it the worst bill ever. So, homeschooling families are asking legislators to kill what was supposed to be a good bill. How disheartening.
February 13th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Lynn,
Does make a person wonder though about drugs getting into this country though, eh?
Of course you understand this is all criminal, ………so when should I get them
Reminds me of the time when I wanted to plant a variety of white open pollinated corn from Central America. It’s illegal to bring it into the country unless you were a corporate person. So now what’s a po’ farmer that wants to try it out do? Problem solved, we had the seeds mailed
Monitoring the legislative process is one heck of an education. Personally I can’t figure out how anything even survives in this country with the corruption in government today. But it must still hang on because of that fairly large group of citizens that will raise cain if they try to go to far. Thus the gradual dumbing down of the populace, just keep dumbing them down, wrong is right. Evil has patience, talk about multigenerational, and will steadily keep hammering away at every aspect of our lives.
I applaud you folks up there for the stands you take and also for walking the walk, not just being armchair experts like so many are. There’s enough of them, beleive me.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:50 am
Morning all,
Just opened up the new issue of SFJ and saw something on OP corn. Anyway, it mentioned a newsletter or something on it. Does anyone get the newsletter? Is it worth gettin?
Y’all can take this weather back up where it came from. 22 yesterday with a 35 mph wind while I was out mending some fence. I know you hard cases are laughing having to deal with it everyday, but I was downright cold. Those insulated carharrts are hard to come by down here. Even the manure pond (on my chore list) in the cowshed where I store my tractor was frozen over.
Alright, I’ll bite…. Whats the story on these turkeys and why are they outlawed?
Have a GREAT day,
Brad
February 15th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Morning Brad!
22 yesterday huh. Around here that would be called Spring! Well not really, with that wind it can be miserable that’s for sure.
I read that article on OP Corn and all I can say is us folks should get together and write one for SFJ. I think combined some of us folks have quite a bit of experience in raising it. I’m trying to post a link for you now too on OP corn but it won’t come up at the moment, stay tuned….. if I can get it to come up later today I’ll link it for you. I don’t get the newsletter, first I heard of it was in that article, maybe I’ll send for it.
I don’t know for sure about them turkeys, but I’m confident we’ll be finding out what’s up with that Minnesota law. I have a sneeking suspicion that I’m on the right track as far as the reason for this regulation. Plus I’d better keep my blood pressure low today
10 below here, just came in for “second breakfast” and now I’d better get back out and unroll a few bales for the girls. Gonna be butchering a steer at 9 this morning, other than that a normal day around here. Warm up is forcasted though in the next few days, although the downside to that is a trillion tons of frozen cow manure will be thawing out here
February 15th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Tom,
I can relate to the “trillion tons” of cow manure thawing. We have been bedding our cows frequently, but when you try to walk in their shed, it is like there are a bunch of rocks (frozen cow patties) in there. I hope when a thaw finally comes it won’t be too messy.
Jim V
February 15th, 2007 at 10:54 am
Tom,
Would this be the mad bomber hat your talking about??
http://www.alaskrafts.com/images/hat-af-wolf-all3-01.jpg
This might be a great April fools prank for my goat herd…..
February 15th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Tom,
Did the turkey guy say it was illegal to raise them in Minnesota, or just to ship them here? I see Sandhill mentions they can’t ship poults to MN because the state legislature would require six blood tests that Sandhill can’t get done. If that’s the case, then it’s legal enough to raise them, just not to get them. Maybe you could get eggs and incubate, if that’s the case.
(Hi everyone, by the way. I’ve been reading and enjoying and learning from this blog for a long time. Thanks for all the inspiration and information, everyone!)
February 15th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Jim,
But complaining is farmer tradition so I’ll do my part as best I can!
You want good bareback riding training for the rodeo just try to drive a skid steer through the cow feeding areas, sheeesh!! It’ll jar the insides right out of you! But once it warms up I’ll be complaining about mud
Brad,
I wouldn’t recommend wearing it amongs a herd of angus cows cause they don’t run away from critters like that, they kill em! Nope, I’ll save that fashion statement for the high faluting events of my life!
Hmmm, looks like some pretty schnazzy formal wear
Matt,
Exact words from Hoovers Hatchery, (which by the way, I think they are a darn good hatchery so don’t anyone think I’m coming down on them, OK?)……..”Minnesota will not allow Bourbon Red Turkeys shipped into the state”
That’s all there is in the catalog about it but that’s enough for me not to be getting any from them. Hmm, stupid me, when I have time I’ll check Mn hatcheries and see if they have them. But what the heck, I gotta have a good rant every once in a while, better for the system than cabbage soup! Knocks the carbon out
Now I’d better be gettin to ordering my high class mad bomber hat, I always was a sucker for fashion statements
February 15th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Here’s the OP link, it finally came up after I took my noon farmer’s nap! Well, back outside for now, my feet are still cold from the morning butchering, brrrrr!
http://www.greenfieldfarms.org/
February 16th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Looks like Stromberg’s has them. (I’ve never ordered from Stromberg’s, so I don’t know if they’re any good or not)
Soup sounds good.
Matt
February 16th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Matt,
But durn it, I have fun ranting like I do sometimes! Besides, even if I was wrong I’m still right, kinda!
Last evening I found them on Stromberg’s site too. So now I’ll be eating cabbage soup and a big pile of crow
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I do appreciate it very much when folks do!
Tom
February 16th, 2007 at 10:44 am
“So now I’ll be eating cabbage soup and a big pile of crow ”
–That oughta really knock the carbon out!! :0