Dairy Farming.... the end of an era...Part 1

I have always thought I would like to write a book. There are two reasons why it will never happen. #1- I can't keep my thoughts going in the same direction for that many pages and #2- I love blogging too much to try to put everything into one neat little package. I'm not sure where this blog will go but I hope you won't lose interest!!

I joined the Lichtenberger family in 1979. They owned a dairy farm at the foot of the Blue Mountains in Cumberland County, PA. Around the time of our wedding, Rob's dad decided to expand. They went from a 50 cow herd to about 100 cows. I was not a farm girl so I didn't offer to help with any farm chores. Since I didn't know the difference between a hay rake and a cultipacker, I was never asked to help either.

Rob and I lived in a new 14X70 mobile home a short distance from the farm. When Rob's brother got married in 1980, it became the typical family farm. Marty and Sandy had a little house on the hill above the barn. Their house was situated between the farm and our mobile home. We lived, laughed, loved, got mad at each other, laughed, loved, lost patience with each other, lived, laughed...

We all farmed together until 1985. Between rising interest rates and several years of drought it became difficult to keep the farm going. In March they sold the cows and equipment.

Rob and I found a small farm to rent outside of Newville, PA. We moved onto the farm in April and had our third baby in May. I turned into a farm girl pretty fast. The day I had Debbie, Rob was about 20 miles away planting corn. We had no way of getting in touch with each other. It was a day we will both remember. I was in mild labor when he left that morning. It was my job to bring the cows in from the pasture and feed them at noon. When he would come home to milk, the cows would be in their stalls waiting patiently to be milked. That day was no different except that the midwife was also there when he got home. I wasn't quite ready to have the baby yet so Rob went out and milked, he had milkers on the last several cows, when the midwife went out and called him in. We had our baby girl, then he went back out and finished the chores. Thus began my life as a farm wife!!

Our little farm also had a mobile home on it. It was 12X65, with three bedrooms, barely!!  It was the only one of its kind! In the summer we couldn't get the windows open and during the winter we couldn't keep them closed! The first time the temperatures dropped below freezing; our water froze. Rob crawled under the trailer to check it out and found that the previous renters had stretched a garden hose from the kitchen sink to the bathroom.

One day the children were playing in the living room and a kitten pushed his way through the register on the floor. He became a permanent intruder while we struggled to heat the outside!

When Rob fell through the kitchen floor, and Debbie dumped a gallon of Clorox on the living room carpet, we ended up with two holes in the floor that were hard to work around. After a little persuasive talk from one of our mothers, the landlord decided it was in his best interest to build a house on the property.  We got a very nice three bedroom ranch house out of the deal. We lived in the trailer for 2 years till the house was finished, that was plenty long enough! .

My Dad supplied us with our first herd of cows. He would buy cows that were confirmed pregnant, take them to his place, feed them stale donuts till they were ready to freshen then bring them to Rob. One time he brought us a heifer that was twin to a bull. We were supposed to feed her for butchering later. She kept getting fatter and fatter and one day we got the surprise of our life, she had a calf! Needless to say she joined the herd. We eventually had a herd of 40-45 cows.

Rob farmed a lot of ground, most of it was between 10-20 miles away. He was gone a lot between milkings. It was my job to tend to the cows during the day. I did not know how to milk nor did I want to learn, so he always came home for milking. We didn't know anything about automatic take-offs so you had to know when the cow was finished otherwise she could get sucked in. Life was hard and we were dumb!

 I look back and wonder how our children survived during those years. Debbie spent most of her first year in the barn. When she wasn't in the barn, 5 yr old Leah took care of her. Jesse was a curious 3 yr old, we made several trips to the medical clinic to get his head sewed up. When Debbie was about 15 months old, we were all out in the barn. Rob and I were cleaning the milkhouse.  Rob always had a hose on the pipeline cleaner barrel, when he was finished filling the soap dispenser he would tap the hose to empty it then circle it back through the pump. We weren't paying attention to Debbie until I heard her scream. She had the hose in her mouth. We had no idea how much she swallowed but I rushed her into the house and called the poison control center. While they were telling me I shouldn't let her throw up, she threw up. I finally got off the phone with them and took her into the medical clinic. The doctor said there really wasn't anything they could do except watch her. They said they don't like to see them throw up because of it burning their throats raw going down and coming back up, but since she did, she probably cleaned it all out of her stomach and once her throat healed she should be fine. We took her home. She had a very sore throat for several days. We still marvel that she had no lasting effects from that experience, God had his hand on her!

It was later that summer Rob had hooked two bin wagons together and was pulling them with his pickup. I don't remember what he was hauling or where he was hauling it to. I do remember him pulling up to the walk and he and I were talking. The children had been playing in the yard but had wandered over to the truck when Rob stopped to talk to me. He started to pull out and I stood there watching him go. As the bin wagons went past me, I saw Leah standing on the tongue between the two wagons. She was hanging on for dear life and had the most horrified look on her face. I yelled for Rob to stop, he slammed on the brakes! When he saw Leah crawl out from between the wagons, he went white. I still shudder when I think of what could have happened if I hadn't stood there watching the bin wagons.

                                                                                                         ~ to be continued

Idaho...a new venture, Part 2

Since Rob got his deer the second day he was out, the rest of the week was spent in sight seeing. Monday it rained most of the day so Rob took Cody and I, to the Oregon Trail museum in Oregon. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive but so worth it.

                                           
                        

                        
  
                         

Cody and I would zip ahead and watch all the video clips while Rob took his good old time reading every journal entry. We didn't get bored and Rob didn't feel rushed! 

 

As we were on our way home from the museum we saw some of the devastation left from the wildfires earlier this year.

 

Tuesday and Wednesday the sun came out and the adults spent several hours roaming the countryside. One morning the fog settled over the valley, it looked like a big lake had appeared during the night.

 

                                            Several hours later the fog was gone!

 

The most fascinating thing about that country was how the sun reflecting on the hills and mountains would cause such vibrant colors to appear.

 

                                            We were even blessed with a rainbow!

                                        

      Our meals were prepared by different chefs. This picture is very misleading. Bobby is the only cook I would recommend here. He even said, "you should never trust a skinny cook", so definitely those other three guys are out!!

 

Lisa and the girls kept it from turning into a hunting camp!

We were served some pretty delectable dishes.

 

 The guys spent a day quail hunting, then Bobby grilled them that evening for their supper.

Rob & I, and Myron & Lisa were out roaming the hills and missed it.

*whispering* Thankfully!!

 

 

The guys got a fishing pass so they took Cody fishing.

 

 

Oops, this is what happens when the rod is bigger than the boy!

It just pulled him right in!! It became a little difficult to hold onto a towel and

try to fish at the same time.

 

Somehow a game of Four Hand Texas appeared while

the fishermen were fishing.

 

 

    Our last evening was spent with a lot of laughter, reminiscing's, and a few tears. None of us wanted to come home!  As we flew into Oakland CA for the last plane ride home,

I looked out the plane window and realized what was so unique about Idaho. There was no traffic congestion, even in the Boise airport, there were no lines to contend with.

 

Everyone knows that airports are the best place to people watch...

or play on Grandma's kindle!!

 

 

Idaho...a new venture, Oct 15-22, 2015, Part 1

If you really want to feel the thrill of a new experience you need to see it through the eyes of a child. I have been on an airplane many times, its really not one of my favorite things to endure, but the enjoyment that our 6 year old grandson felt on his first ride could be heard throughout the plane. Seeing his excitement and listening to his exclamations made the trip so much more enjoyable.

 

We were on a hunting trip. Four out of six were hunting mule deer, Cody and I were along for the ride, a vacation at best! Since we were flying with firearms we got to the airport early, which also gave us time to live through those heart stopping moments of a lost drivers license, missing boarding passes and being pulled out of security lines because of a forgotten laptop, or liquids in someone's carry on. I won't mention any names here but I was not always the culprit! I did have to go back through the x-ray again but it only happened once and that was because I wouldn't throw out my 20 dollar stainless steel camo thermos!

 

                                                      

 

After we had finally boarded and were all hyped up for take off, somebody decides to check the engines for birds...or did somebody just happen to see feathers as they were walking past the aircraft? At any rate we were an hour late leaving which didn't give us much time to catch our next flight. We made our next flight and would you believe the same exact thing happened...there were birds in the engine again. That was when Cody decided he was tired of riding on blue planes. He wanted the next one to be a white one.

We finally landed in Boise ID on Thursday afternoon and met up with Rob's sister and her husband. Their family had just moved to Idaho in April and invited the guys out for a mule deer hunt, I was also invited.. to sit back and relax and enjoy a whole week away from the stress of the dairy farm. 

Friday morning bright and early after a hearty breakfast,
  
                                                 

 the hunting party, (Rob, Jesse, Amanda, and Nate) set out. They were in high spirits. When they returned that night, it was interesting to see the exhaustion expressed on each face. There were different degrees of pain and tiredness. They had walked miles up mountains and down into valleys. They saw six deer and two hundred and sixty hunters, according to Rob!!
This was part of the terrain they hiked over.

Saturday morning, Josiah, our nephew, took pity on them and took them to another area. That was where, over the next several days the three guys got their deer. Amanda had opted not to go along hunting on Saturday so Myron and Lisa took all of us to the Boise Zoo. A perfect outing for a Saturday afternoon. It was just the right size, there were very few complaints from young or old of being tired of walking.

                                                            This is not a mirror!!
                                   These two (whatever they are) were actually arguing.
                                         The one wanted in and the other said, No Way!!

 

Penguins are always a hit!

 

 

 Bobby enjoyed teaching Nate and Cody to rope the steer head. This was some of the evening entertainment. Nate and Cody enjoyed it so much we brought two new lasso's home with us.
    
                    Bobby and Nate, it went so much better if you could borrow a cowboy hat!!

 

Cody really getting into the swing!!

                                     
A couple evenings were spent playing some lively table games.  I never thought spoon was all that lively but this bunch had the whole house shaking! I doubt the spoons will ever be the same!

                                                                                                        To be continued

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup! We are Family!!

I enjoy watching our grandchildren grow, I like to see how their characteristics are the same, and how they are different, some even take me back to my own childhood with my siblings; and that makes it all the more fun to watch.

Several weeks ago we had our Lancaster grandchildren for the weekend. They come here mixing Spanish and English...and then throw in a little Dutch to thoroughly confuse me, and I wonder if I will ever understand them! Then I see them in action and know they are right where they belong!

They might have some Spanish blood in them and eat the cultural foods from their fathers country but when they come to Grandma's house they ask for roast beef and mashed potatoes, they want French Fries, and Oreos.  Now that is a language I understand!!

It was at Grandma's house that they first got introduced to Lucky Charms, better known as "grandpa's cereal"!! Now this is the correct way to eat Lucky Charms!! There is no other way. Grandma is the only one who lets anyone get away with this, and she even understands that everything else in the bowl is "yuk"!! Sure, you can buy the little marshmallows in bulk, and eat them by the hand full, not only do they taste disgusting but that takes all the fun out of fishing for charms!! (The lighting is very poor on this clip but you can still see what he is doing)

 

 

Sunday morning I was getting this same little boy ready for church. He had told me when I gave him his bath the night before that I was not supposed to get his hair wet! So here I am on Sunday morning , we have five minutes till we are supposed to be in the car, and I am frantically trying to comb out his mess of curls! I got it all combed out beautifully but he looked like this...

 

 

Which immediately took me back through the years to this....

 

 

I sent a quick frantic picture to his mother, who immediately sent back a frantic reply, "You're not taking him to church like that, are you?" , she then walked me through the whole "mousse" process, turning a head of wild curls into a lovely batch of tight ringlets!!! If we only knew in 1980, what we know now, my own brother might have had a lovely crop of tight ringlets!  :) 

 

One hot summer day I was taking a lunch out to Rob in the field and two of our grandsons wanted to come along with me. Since I hadn't planned on taking the boys along I only had enough lunch for Rob. It made a very interesting half hour. As one little boy was sitting on the back seat, the other was hanging over the front seat, keeping tabs on what "gampap" was eating and how he was eating it. "He's eatin' his sammich now, Wancie" , "Wait! whats he pokin' wif a fowk?" "Why you eating cheese culls with a fowk gampap?" "Gampap" has always eaten cheese curls with a fork!! What is really fun is when they notice this at the table and then everybody needs a fork to eat their cheese curls.

 

 

This clip was about 8 years ago but it could have been about 40! I have a little sister that would boss her nieces and nephews around just like this. If you would ask them now...she still tries!!  

This little girl has grown up a lot but she still knows where everybody belongs!  

  

 

 

Life isn't complete without broken oreos in a cup of milk!! This is one tradition that started with these little girls' father, and has spread through the whole tribe!! They tell me it is the only way to  eat oreos!  I think it is purely disgusting. It just reminds me of mud!

 

When they finally scoop out all the soggy cookies, they actually drink the... milk??

Good to the last drop!!

 

 

When I look over these pictures and clips I see a little bit of Rob and I in their faces and in their actions and that is what makes us family!

 

 

Memories....the old and the new (Part 3)

The next day we had made reservations at the Elkins Depot to take a four hour train ride.

 

 

 It was a vintage train called the New Tygart Flyer. It had climate controlled cars with tables and cushioned chairs.  Very comfortable! We rode for 23 miles up into the Cheat Mountain.

We were served a delicious cold lunch buffet. It was a challenge trying to walk with a plate of food on a moving train. I saw several people's eyes widen as I was walking toward them and the train lurched.  This was my sleepy lunch partner. We had our table all to ourselves.

 

We passed through a tunnel that only had a five inch clearance at some places.  We knew it was close since we could see the wall right at our window.

 

 

This was an old bridge that is no longer in use.

 

 

 

 When we got close to the top of the mountain, we had to stop for 10 minutes or so till they moved the engines to the back of the train so they could push us the rest of the way up.

At the High Falls of Cheat, we had a 45 minute break. We got out and walked down to the falls, it was well worth the walk.
                                                        

This was the parlor car, a romantic table for two with high back plush chairs. To be in this car also added 12-15 dollars onto the ticket price. The folks in this car also had to walk through three cars to get to the dining car.

 

 

After we got back to the station it was still too early to go back to the hotel so we drove out to Beverly, W Va. Rob loves Civil War history, there was supposed to be a battlefield out that direction. This is where I got powerfully sick! I got out and took a couple pictures so that helped. We drove, and drove, and drove, up a gravel mountain road and finally came to a field that was overgrown with weeds and this sign!

 

 

I had to get a picture of this power line. My camera does not do it justice at all.  I am sure this is where the song, "The Bear Went Over The Mountain" originated. It was just one mountain after another. I have now seen enough mountains to last me for a long time!

 

  

Sunday Morning we went to visit a small mountain church, called Brushy Run Mennonite Church. We looked it up on the internet and Rob said he was pretty sure it was close to the same area he had been 31 years ago. As we drove up to the church, it was 2 1/2 miles off the main road, he said it was the same road he had hunted on.  We had never met anyone at the church before but they were very welcoming. As we visited with them we found out we knew a lot of the same people. We were invited to have lunch with Larry and Rhoda Showalter, while we were there we found out their son and daughter in law had been about 6 miles from our farm the day before. They say its a small world but that weekend made it feel smaller when we took my old memories, and his old memories, and made our own brand new memories.

Memories....the old and the new (Part 2)

As we continued on our way, we eventually came to the stop sign in Springfield. There was the country store. Still a store but not as I remembered. It was at this corner the school bus would drop off my older siblings so they could catch the high school bus that took them into Romney. Springfield Greenspring Elementary was where I started first grade and hated every minute of it. It still looks the same as I remembered. I could just visualize my second grade teacher rapping on the window, motioning us to hurry up and get to the classroom. She was the grumpiest teacher I ever had, and I was scared to death of her.

 

We drove through the little blink and you're through it town, out to where the road followed the Potomac River. Looking across the river we saw the farm where our family lived for two and a half years. I have accumulated a store house of memories in those few years. (This picture was taken a few years ago, in the fall. We couldn't drive back to the farm so we stopped at the road and looked across the river.) To catch the school bus we would either have to walk out a three mile lane, or row the boat across the river to the road. Rowing across the river was more fun and a whole lot faster.

 

 

It is amazing that the house has not changed at all since the time we lived there. The barn has not been so fortunate, it is starting to lose its boards and looks ready to fall down.

 Behind the barn was the big hill where we would go sledding. We used those old round metal Coco-Cola signs for sleds. It was an exhilarating ride!

 

 

We didn't spend much time here, it was getting late in the afternoon, and we still had two hours to our hotel. As we continued south we came to Seneca Rocks, W VA. I was having a terrible time staying awake until Rob said, "Hey I was here before."

 

 

     Thirty one years ago Rob had went hunting with a buddy of his to this area. We started passing landmarks he recognized and he kept me entertained with the stories of his hunting trip.  We even passed the road where they drove up into the mountains to hunt.
We finally reached our hotel, high on the hill in Elkins W VA! What a welcome sight!

 

We didn't get a room with a view so I didn't get a picture of the town.

                                                             ~ to be continued