Farm Mom Blog

Hope stood looking through the old farmhouse window wondering to herself when her farmer would be home.  She had gotten all the kids to bed and now she waited. Memories came flooding back to the earlier years of their marriage when late nights, early rising, and one day weekends seemed so foreign to the young farm wife... The long days and long weeks didn't seem as bad when it was just Hope and Clay. Hope could spend her days riding in the combine, tractor, or semi with Clay. But soon they welcomed their first baby boy and their lives changed forever. What a blessing that little baby boy was to them.  Hopes responsibilities changed. No longer was she able to spend all day with Clay while he worked in the fields. She was so happy to have that cute chubby boy always by her side. Now the days seemed even longer to her and at times lonely. It was a happy time but also learning and growing time for Hope. Hope started to see the lack of character in herself. Her lack of patience cam...

 Christmas was Hopes' favorite time of year at the old farmhouse. The cabin room was most definitely made for that holiday. A cabin feel, wide plank wooden floors, large stone fireplace with a beautiful old wooden mantel. A place that could easily be turned into a primitive Christmas wonderland. They don't make cabin rooms like that anymore! She always waited until the day after Thanksgiving to get all the Christmas decor out of storage. It helped if there were any after Thanksgiving blues.  And a lot of the Christmas decor was handmade. Dried orange slices and sprigs cut from the old juniper tree not only added to the primitive Christmas look but added to the wonderful aroma in the old farm home. Making handmade clay ornaments shaped like candy canes and stars. Using real candy canes still in the wrapper was also a pretty addition to the old cedar pine tree cut off the family land. Stringing up cranberries made a pretty garland for the mantel.  The farmers, like most new...

 Winter was coming. The crops were in and the weather continued to grow colder every day. The crop side of farming consisted now only of hauling the corn and soy to the grain elevator. But the cattle side of farming never stopped.  The cows had been brought in from their Summer pastures and taken to a more enclosed area that was closer to the farmers own home. Being able to take care of and quickly access the cows during the cold dreary months of Winter was essential to keeping the herd healthy and happy.  Calving season was finally over but there was always something to do and and always someone getting into trouble.  This particular time happened to involve one of the 4 month old calves.  "Hope, come look at this." The farmer was out of breath as he had rushed from the barn lot into the cozy old farmhome. "What could it be this time?" Thought Hope as she quickly pulled on her boots knowing that Winter in Indiana equaled rain and rain created loads of mud somet...

 "It doesn't look good." The local veterinarian said with a grim look on his face.  They had called in the vet earlier that morning because one of the cows had been acting like she had been in labor for the past day but nothing was presenting itself when her calf should have been born hours ago.   "It looks like she may be dealing with a twisted uterus." The farmer and his wife were shocked to hear the vets diagnosis. "I had no idea that that was even possible!" said the farmers' wife. It all sounded so awful. "It is actually more common than you would think but unfortunately it is extremely difficult to fix when a cow is this far along and already in labor. C-section is the only way to save both cow and calf in this case scenario but it is expensive and can result in both deaths. For this cow I can already tell that the calf is already deceased so the route I would prescribe is putting the cow down as she is in a lot of pain and has been goin...