Mud, Tennis, and a short vacation

As you have figured out I love working on the farm, but that isn't all that I do.  During the month of June I help teach a tennis class three mornings a week.  For the first two weeks of June we have our beginners class and then we have the advanced class for the last two weeks.  My typical day still starts at 4am.  I do the morning milking and then I leave right after I'm done to be at my tennis class by 9am.  This leaves the cleaning to my sister Aadrian on these three days.  Since I'm not able to help clean three days a week during June I try to do most of the cleaning the other mornings that I am at the farm. 

Tennis is something that I began playing when I was 15.  I was introduced to the sport by watching it on television and then I found the tennis classes during the summer.  While I was in high school I did compete for my school and I was a decent player.  Bottom line, I loved playing tennis and I still do today.  When I was 17 I began helping my coach teach the summer classes.  Thankfully there's only been one summer that I wasn't able to help out with it and I happen to have a job that allows me to continue teaching. 

On the farm side of things it has been an interesting summer so far.  Technically it is still spring, but we've had interesting weather.  The last two weeks of May were extremely wet and so far June is looking to stay wet.  The mud is constant.  I'm not complaining about the rain, but when you milk cows that are out in the pasture you would kill for some dry hooves to come into the barn.  On the plus side our corn has shot up with all the rain.  As far as everything else getting planted, well we may be harvesting in December at the rate were going. 

Going from a college student to a farmer in training has been very interesting to say the least.  While you are a student your entire life depends on assignments and tests.  When you are a dairy farmer your entire life depends on the weather and how the cows and calves poop is looking.  If their poop looks weird, something is wrong.  If the weather is bad, you have to keep a closer eye on the calves to make sure they don't get sick.  Our weather has been going from hot to cold and that is never good news for the babies.  So far everyone has been doing good and hopefully things will continue to go smoothly, especially since the hubby and I are going on a short vacation.  This leaves things to my sisters.  Let's just say that they don't have the best track record of showing up on time everyday.  Dad will just have his hands full while we're gone, but everyone needs a vacation from time to time.  I love the cows, but I'll be good not seeing them for a few days. 

 

These are my twins and they turned one month old last week!  Look how big they've gotten!