looking forward to spring
Can you believe this month is almost over? I am so ready for spring and daylight savings time. I love the extra daylight in the afternoon.
It is cold and windy here in NC today. I need to get out of here and dig in the flowers, or just sit on my front porch and drink my coffee!! Of course today would not have been a good day even if it were 80 degrees. Our neighbor who is a turkey/beef farmer has been putting out manure!! When I say to you city folks a stink like you have never smelled believe me! I told my husband it smelled like human manure!! LOL you have never lived until that smell attacks you. My hubbys dad was a dairy farmer and he tells of riding the school bus and when they neared his home everyone would start putting up the windows on the bus! He was so ashamed he would get off as fast as he could. Funny when you are young how things affect you so. Farming is HARD work and dairy farming never waits for you to feel better or get back into town. Those big cows have to milked twice a day, come hell or high water ( my daddy used to say that) We fuss about the price of milk but if you are the one providing that service heck it should be 10 bucks a gallon. hehe
Steve can remember wonderful stories from his childhood, about taking a dipper from the wall and drinking milk straight from the cooler. He said he could remember his mom milking a cow (before they bought the dairy) and she would squirt milk into the cats mouths. I sound like I am a hundred years old but I'am really not. I am a youthful 63. LOL
Getting back to remembering things, I don't remember much about growing up! funny or otherwise. kinda sad. I do remember some things, just not as many. I can remember working hard in the fields as a child/youth. Their was 7 of us children, I used to say they just had us to work in the field. Growing up poor is no fun. We had plenty to eat, beef and pork, chickens which my brother had to catch on Saturday if we were going to have fried chicken on Sunday. My poor Mama, don't know how she did it. She never complained because I guess she thought what good would that do? She was a saint compared to my Dad. He was a good man, just liked to drink. He always tried to hide it from the children. But after several trips to the corn crib we always knew. hehe Never brought the bottle in the house. Bless his heart he was weak that way. I guess Mama put her foot down on bringing it where the children could see it. Farming is hard work, guess thats why you don't see as many young people going into that line of work.
Don't know why I am telling all this. I enjoy your stories, hope you will share some of them with me.
Much love to all,
Wanda
It is cold and windy here in NC today. I need to get out of here and dig in the flowers, or just sit on my front porch and drink my coffee!! Of course today would not have been a good day even if it were 80 degrees. Our neighbor who is a turkey/beef farmer has been putting out manure!! When I say to you city folks a stink like you have never smelled believe me! I told my husband it smelled like human manure!! LOL you have never lived until that smell attacks you. My hubbys dad was a dairy farmer and he tells of riding the school bus and when they neared his home everyone would start putting up the windows on the bus! He was so ashamed he would get off as fast as he could. Funny when you are young how things affect you so. Farming is HARD work and dairy farming never waits for you to feel better or get back into town. Those big cows have to milked twice a day, come hell or high water ( my daddy used to say that) We fuss about the price of milk but if you are the one providing that service heck it should be 10 bucks a gallon. hehe
Steve can remember wonderful stories from his childhood, about taking a dipper from the wall and drinking milk straight from the cooler. He said he could remember his mom milking a cow (before they bought the dairy) and she would squirt milk into the cats mouths. I sound like I am a hundred years old but I'am really not. I am a youthful 63. LOL
Getting back to remembering things, I don't remember much about growing up! funny or otherwise. kinda sad. I do remember some things, just not as many. I can remember working hard in the fields as a child/youth. Their was 7 of us children, I used to say they just had us to work in the field. Growing up poor is no fun. We had plenty to eat, beef and pork, chickens which my brother had to catch on Saturday if we were going to have fried chicken on Sunday. My poor Mama, don't know how she did it. She never complained because I guess she thought what good would that do? She was a saint compared to my Dad. He was a good man, just liked to drink. He always tried to hide it from the children. But after several trips to the corn crib we always knew. hehe Never brought the bottle in the house. Bless his heart he was weak that way. I guess Mama put her foot down on bringing it where the children could see it. Farming is hard work, guess thats why you don't see as many young people going into that line of work.
Don't know why I am telling all this. I enjoy your stories, hope you will share some of them with me.
Much love to all,
Wanda
Replies
Hi Wanda,
You are a real farmer\'s daughter........watch out! lol.
The only live chickens I remember were the ones at the butcher shop nearby and they weren\'t alive for long. Not a fond memory, probably why I was a picky eater as a kid. My best memories are of macaroni!
Looking forward to more daylight in NJ too.
Gloria
Wanda! My mom grew up on a farm in Pa., and I know the SMELL and MILKING!!! lol BUT BEST MILK IN THE WORLD!!! i loved going there as a child, cathching firelies at night, having my uncle scared the daylights out of us running around the house at night because it was so DARK! Only stars I remember! also had a \"crick\" in back and fed the farm dogs after dinner! Homemade preserves biscuits and butter. WOW the memories you just brought back! THOSE WERE THE DAYS!! Drinking from a hose, Getting bottles of \'pop\" out of a michine and can opener attached remember? Just being a kid! who am i kidding? I never really grew up anyway! ;-)
Loved this Wanda, and THANKS for the memories! HUGS Diane
A fascinating look into another world Wanda! We had cows in the field beside our house (loved the sound of them lowing) when I was a kid, but we never saw the milk, I just remember when they used to break through the fence and come and trample the garden...mum used to get so CROSS!! but she enjoyed the manure they left behind for the veg patch...
I remember when I was 21 and went to teach in a little village in Lithuania - lived with a family - and the very first evening I was taken round to have a frothing cup of milk fresh from the cow - the horror!!!!
Thanks for your tales Wanda - sending happy thoughts your way
lots of love, Meriel x x x x
My grandmother came from Canada. A town called chesterfield I think. Her people were farmers and had large farms. When we went to visit when I was around 6 I say the cows getting milked, and got squirted with it, rode a young calf, thanks to my cousins, and fell into a cow pie patch. YUCK ! I loved those memories. I felt home there. I was raised a city girl, but a piece of me still remains there. Great memories Wanda. Hugs Jane
Loved reading about life on a farm. Being a city girl...I\'ve had no exposure to any of this. It must have been fun, though alot of work too. Thanks for sharing with us.
Have a beautiful day!
Love, Ingrid
Okay, just to let you country ladies know, city folks can also grow up appreciating the sweet smells of animals....I grew up in Chicago, in a neighborhood area called \"back of the yards\".... the yards was for stock yards!....It was a special place in Chicago reserved for a wonderful cultural mix of people...many of whom were rather new immigrant families from all parts of the world trying to build a life for their families.. I loved living there. It was colorful, friendly and a good honest life. Now you know a bit more about this city gal.....love, Linda
Your manure story reminds me of last summer when a truck loaded with chicken manure overturned on the highway right in front of my store! The smell was horrible for days! The fire department came out and hosed down the highway but that just left wet chicken manure in the ditch next to our driveway. Customers were gagging when they came in to get their pizzas! Gotta say business was a little slow that week...it all but eliminated walk-in orders.
From one country gal to another ~~ I know the smell!! Around here, though, the smell comes from chicken house manure. The farmers spread it on the pastures for fertilizer. On one of those days ~~ in the summer ~~ I am so thankful for A/C!! Walking outside with my Pug, usually sends me back inside quickly. Of course, that only happens maybe a couple of times a year.
Joe used to have it spread on our pastures, so the hay would be richer. Lord, I hated that!! Those days ~ WHEW!! Since Joe died, haven\'t had any put on the pastures, here at the house. I sold the cows. Now, over at our other land, our nephew has spread it on those pastures. He has cows over there. That is land that we bought and/ or inherited from his dad and mom.
I can\'t get away from it though, my neighbors do the same to their pastures! Thank goodness, it only lasts a couple of days. The rest of the time, the air is great!
I have many great memories from my childhood. I grew up just down the road from where my home is now. I live on land Daddy gave to me when Joe and I decided to build our house. I only have a little over 28 acres left of my grandpop\'s land. (Joe and I gave our oldest daughter 2 or 3 acres when she built her house.) My sister has 26+ and my brother had about 35, now, his wife has it, since, he passed away. She wants WAY too much for the land, therefore, none of the family has bought it from her. She lives in GA, but, still won\'t sell it at a reasonable price. Sorry, getting off on a sore spot for me!
My mother milked our cow every day and night, until, finally, we sold the cow. Daddy could no longer help with the work outside on the farm and they decided to sell the cow. (Daddy went blind from glaucoma when I was in the 7th grade). I tried milking ~ one time (never wanted to do it), and Mother said that I \"stripped\" the teat. She wouldn\'t let me milk anymore ~~YAY! ;-) We had had horses or mules, whichever Daddy traded for in order to plow, when he still farmed. THAT was a lot of work for him. I\'m glad that there are tractors now. Really, by the time I hit the teens, daddy was no longer farming, but, we still lived on the farm. All the neighbors were still farming.
After Joe and I married, we moved right outside of Atlanta, GA. He worked closer to our apartment. I worked in Atlanta. Neither of us liked the traffic, etc. but, it was an adventure! When he was in the Army, we lived in OK and KS. We were both so glad to move back to AL!! Can\'t take the country out of us. LOL
Hope you are doing well.
Hugs, Joely
Great stories Wanda, i like you can\'t wait for the spring, sunshine, birds chirping, and yes that daylight savings time ! Thanks for sharing, as i was reading it put a beautiful imagination into my mind what a beautiful life it must be like growing up on a farm.. I must admit, i, like you can\'t remember alot of my childhood so you aren\'t alone there..
Love,
Becca