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!!