My husband had seen the dilemma from the field.  He with his tractor and machinery came as quickly as they could.  Pulling his machinery to a stop, he created a blockade across the road.

He secured gates in the barnyard to keep the cattle which were still confined where he wanted them.  He opened several gates to precipitate the cattle finding their right places.   With gates ready, Faithful went to work herding Mrs. Cow and her kind into the barnyard.  Some of the girls missed their marks and required additional coaching,  but all were safely gathered in.

My husband assessed the problem before he got to the farm, while he drove down the road.  Unbeknownst to me, several other milk cows had found their way to the calf pasture and munched peacefully till my husband, Faithful and I caught up with them.  These cattle had chosen a safer route.  Fences and gates separated them from their cow yard, with no dangerous roads.  Tension began to subside.

The Holy Bible says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9) 

How true that is.  I could not have done the job without my husband.  While he was away, he needed his my help.  Once he arrived, we needed each other’s help to get the job done.   Hurray for teamwork!!  My husband and I recovered all of the cattle together.  We had a good reward for our labor.  

(And how grateful we are for our farm dog, Faithful.)

See the Farm Dog card in our store.

Mrs. Cow’s kin clearly enjoyed the first, green grass of the season.  Hay is dried fodder which cattle find delicious, but after the long winter, they find the fresh smells of new grass in the air tantalizing.

I took my stand.  I considered my options as I stood between the road and the black and white lawn “mowers” as they worked.

• “Should I park the car on the driveway to form a blockade to the road?  Well,” I reasoned, “that would be good if cows stayed on the road, but ditches are passable.  Cows would only walk around the car.  That won’t work.”
• “So, should I try to move the cattle with Faithful, my cow dog?” I thought as I spied the opened gate from which they had all escaped.  “They are really happy here eating at this new walk-in restaurant.   They likely would get upset and start running every which way.  The group would scatter and I would have less control over the situation than I have now.”
• “Maybe I ought to take the car and try to find my husband in the field.  But that would take time and then no one would be on hand to keep the cattle in the yard,” I figured.

Just then, I saw on the road in the distance, the Cavalry was on the way!!! 

See our Faithful, the Cow Dog card in our store.

Mrs. Cow became startled when I appeared out of nowhere as she had.  So she looked for the nearest exit.  She began her amble off to the east side of the farm to avoid me.

I knew the danger off in the east.  Having no gate across the driveway to the county road left the real possiblity of Mrs. Cow going off to visit the neighbors, or worse yet, getting hit by a car.  I summoned Faithful to my side and they scurried to the roadway to head off Mrs. Cow as she followed the road towards no-cow’s-land. 

I used my farmwife savvy to catch that cow.  I and Faithful positioned ourselves on the road and slowly approached her.  But to our surprise, on this aspect of the grassy, green-carpeted hillside, stood 5 more of Mrs. Cow’s relatives.  They, too, had gotten loose.

 “Yikes!  Now what?” I thought, shaking my head.

My husband and I take a different path each day.  Today my husband headed out to the fields.  I took an outdoor route for my day, too.  I donned my bib overalls and a red flannel shirt as I headed out to make ready the waiting lawn mower.

I stepped out of the basement door only to be greeted by the unlikely sight of a Holstein milk cow!  I stood the hillside right below the farmhouse.  Cows are common on the farm, but generally they come with a fence around them.

I noticed Faithful, the farm dog, on the downhill side of Mrs. Cow.  I reasoned, “One cow out is a handful, but between Faithful and me, maybe we can get Mrs. Cow herded back into the barnyard where she belongs.”  Faithful would be a big help in getting the job done.

Nice thought, but wishful thinking.

Find Faithful, the Cow Dog cards in our store.

Attempting to beat the coming rain, I worked diligently to mow the farm lawn.  Twice when mowing the lot adjacent to the vegetable garden fence, a rabbit darted out and away.  One time is not unusual, nor is it extraordinary, but a second time at the same spot is rather curious.  The rabbit-action ceased as I finished mowing that part of the yard.

Not expecting any more out-of-the-ordinary, I moved on to the next lot – the front yard next to the farmhouse.  As the afternoon went on, rain-filled, gray clouds still loomed over the landscape.  So I worked with urgency to finish this part of the lawn before the sprinkles of rain started to fall.

Typically, this part of the yard is a verdant scene.  Tall, aged arbor vitae and a delightfully pink, blooming crabapple tree bordered the area.   I noticed a brown spot of ground showing through the green blades of lush grass.  Pressing on to finish my task, I began to mow the edges of her plot of ground.

I continued on my normal circuit, going around and around the lot.  As she neared the brown spot, the rumbling lawn mower moved right over the top of it.  And like lightning, out popped four brown, furry bunnies all traveling in different directions!!  I chuckled as I saw the sight and resumed traveling on my path.

Bunnies can be so cute.  They are cutest when they are in their own space, not the in a farmer’s garden.  Sure enough, I investigated and found a round little rabbit hole in the brown spot of ground.  “Hmmph,” I said.  “What will my husband think?  I hope they enjoy lots of dandelions and can find a new home.”

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Jelly Roll
The trick to the making jelly roll is the treatment of the jelly roll pan (a 10” x 14” pan with sides) and the cooling of the cake.

Treatment of the jelly roll pan:
• The pan must be generously greased and lined with waxed paper.
•  Remove the waxed paper from the pan, flip it over and place it again on the greased pan.  Now you have the waxed paper greased on both sides and it is ready to hold the cake batter.

While the cake is baking:
• Place a clean dish towel on a flat surface.  The towel is the tool that will be shaping the cake roll.
•  Sprinkle the towel with powdered sugar.  The sugar acts as a barrier to prevent the cake from sticking to the towel.

Shaping the jelly roll:
• After baking the cake, loosen the edges of the cake while the cake is still hot from the oven.  If it is cool, the cake will not roll, but crack.
• Turn the cake over onto the powdered sugar-sprinkled towel.  It should flop out of the pan nicely.
• Immediately, while the cake is still hot, gently remove the waxed paper from the cake.
• Roll up the cake and the dish towel together, beginning on a short end of the cake.

Cooling of the cake:
• Let it thoroughly cool on a rack with the edge-side down.
• When it is cool, carefully unroll the cake, removing the dish towel.
• Spread the cake with your favorite jam.  It takes about a half cup of jam.
• Reroll the cake.
•Cut off the ends of the roll to make a nice clean cut and to expose the spirals of cake and colorful jam. 

Hint: Strawberry and red raspberry are colorful and delicious.  Blackberry or black raspberry jam are delicious, but seem to discolor the cake.  Peach is tasty, but is not as showy since it is yellow and the same color as the cake.

I like to cut the completed jelly roll in half.  I freeze one half and serve the other.

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Angel Food Cake
After a few years, my husband and I decided to buy some chicks. We bought egg-layers.  The breed we chose provides about 1 egg/day per hen.  We generally have 50 hens.  So you can imagine that we have an abundance of eggs.  We sell some, but there are times when we have more than we can eat.  At those times I am prompted to make Angel Food Cake. 

I remember my Grandmother had made Angel Food Cake in years gone by.  She was quite successful at it.  So, I wondered, “How hard can it be?  If I have the egg whites handy I might as well try it.”  In my favorite old cookbook, I found a recipe for Angel Food Cake.

After trying to make it several times, I have found it to be tricky.  I cannot say that each of my cakes was a success.  But with determination and self-discipline, I set out to master the technique.  As I recall, I have made cakes that were two inches high.  Some fell out of the pan as they cooled.  Some were ragged-looking as they came out of the pan.  But they all tasted pretty good.  Not to be deterred, I kept on trying.

Here are some of the things I learned:

• Lumpy ingredients will affect the height of the cake.  So measuring and sifting are necessary.  Dry ingredients like sugar and flour must be sifted three times before being added to the whipped egg whites.
• Since Angel Food is such a delicate texture, it cannot be beaten too much or too little. Too much beating can make a dry cake.  Beating too little can make a flatter cake.  After the sifted sugar has been added, to decide whether it has been mixed just enough, test it.

THE TEST:  If when you tilt the bowl of egg whites to the left or right and the whites do not slip or slide, they have been beaten well enough.   At this point, the rest of the ingredients must be folded in gently.  If not, the whites will get too stiff or the cake may get flatter.

Some homemakers may not care to go into all of that fuss to get Angel Food Cake.  I would rather not, too.  When I do make the cake, I mass produce the dry ingredients.  I measure and sift 2-3 recipe’s-worth and store them in plastic storage bags.  If the box cake manufacturers can set the dry ingredients on a shelf, so can I.  So the next time I need to bake an Angel Food Cake the tedious work is already done.

My Angel Food recipe calls for about a dozen egg whites.  So what happens to the egg yolks?
I make jelly roll with them.

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Not every housewife chooses to make desserts a priority.  But in our home it comes with the territory.  Farmers work very hard and need enough calories to equip them with enough energy to accomplish their heavy daily workload.

As the young wife of a school teacher, I went to cookbooks for fancy desserts for the first couple years of marriage.  However, when we moved to the family farm, fancy ceased to be the priority.  I worked with the foods on hand.  We had apples, raspberries, crabapples, elderberries, wild grapes, choke cherries, pears and rhubarb.  Many fruits made jam, jelly and sauce.  But pie became a favorite.

Pie
As a child, I recall watching my mom put a pie crust together and roll out the dough.  I especially enjoyed watching her peel and slice fresh apples for pie. What a delight it was to sample the apple slices after they were mixed up with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a dab of flour.  I was always glad when there were enough slices left over for me to eat raw.  The leftover scraps of dough, Mom rolled into a thin pastry and sprinkled it with sugar and cinnamon.  Then she baked it in the oven.  That was as good as a cookie!

With the abundance of fruits, I worked at learning to make a good crust.  The secret to an excellent pie crust is good old-fashioned lard.  I like the pure stuff rendered from hog fat.  It is so rich that it requires one-fourth less of it than shortening in many of today’s recipes.  We often top off our pie slices with fresh cream or a scoop of ice cream.  It is yummy!

For my fillings, some I make fresh.  Others, I mass-produce.  I make 4 fruit pie fillings at a time and freeze them in a freezer container or bag.  Then in the winter when I need a pie, it is already mixed and ready for pop into a pie crust.
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Baby, who learned to obey.

Have you ever met a cat that obeyed?

Cats seem to have developed the stereotype of independent self-centeredness.  If the cat is happy…life is good.

On my walk to the mailbox today I stepped out onto my front porch.  The sun-washed landscape displayed clear, blue sky, lush green grass and spring blooms bursting out all over.  At my ankles, up came a loudly purring, long-haired feline named Baby to greet me.

Baby came to us accidentally.  Road workers bull-dozing the nearby county road, saw a lost little kitten by a stump as they worked.  Since we were the closest farm, they told us about her.  Word got to my daughter, who passionately saves kittens in distress.

She adopted this little bag of fur and bones.  She fed, bathed and cradled her in her hooded sweatshirt.  Her love and nurturing gave Baby a new lease on life.  So Baby grew up in the farmhouse.

When Baby lived there, I learned to communicate with her.  I used a technique that cats use to show displeasure.  To let her know she should stop an unacceptable behavior, I hissed at her.  It worked!

The day came when our daughter left the farm and I moved Baby to the calf shed with the barn cats.  She held her own and is doing well.  She is a natural mother cat and raises her kittens skillfully.

On my way to the mailbox, I must cross the road.  It is well-traveled and a hazard to cats if they happen to cross it during a hunt.

So when I walk to the road and Baby is following, I say, “SSSSST!!!”  Baby sits and waits for me to cross the road and come back to her.  Then we go on our way together to our next task.

Isn’t it interesting how this little creature can understand a warning from a non-feline?  I see the danger at the road better than Baby does.  Her perspective is so limited, but if she obeys, she will be much safer than if she does not.

In this instance, one can see that obedience can be our friend and not just a slave master.

Ephesians 6:1 states, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.”  Even children can obey.   The Holy Bible says that this is right.  How much more right is it for God’s children to obey their Heavenly Father?

If you hear His warning as Baby hears mine, do what she does.  Listen, stop, obey and wait.  If Baby can do it, so can you.  It can keep you safe from danger and spare you the needless suffering of consequences due to a poor choice.

The lack of a blanket of snow on a field of alfalfa hay, can leave it defenseless when the hard-freezing temperatures come.  We have had such a winter.  The balmy winter has given way to the cold March which is going out “like a lion”.

Alfalfa can freeze when the thermometer dips down into the high 20°F range.  We have seen some wilting on our plants already.  We are hoping that only a few leaves froze and not entire plants.  If a hard freeze comes, it can winter-kill the crop.

The farmer plants a new field of alfalfa hay each year.  Last year’s alfalfa seed was planted and harvested once.  The second year after planting generally yields 2-3 cuttings.   As dairy farmers, the main crop is MILK.  The better fed the cattle are, the more able they are to produce it.  The dairy cattle need lots of hay to sustain them over the coming winter, so it is crucial to have abundant hay production.

So you might see how dependent farming is on the weather.  The weather is completely out of our control.   The crop of feed needs good weather;  the cattle need the feed for good health and milk production; and dairy farmers need the milk production to produce their annual income.  Although there are many things farmers try to manage, the details are still out of their control.

Pressing the point a little further, one can see that if the dairy industry has less milk to sell, the population will have a lack of beverages, ice cream, yogurt, butter and cheeses to consume.

So, in this sense, yes, life is not in our control.  We are all dependent.

Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store  away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?”Matt. 6:26(NIV)

One super response to that truth, is to admit our dependence on the One who made us.  Prayer is one way to express our dependence on Him.

He counts you as very valuable.  He will gladly listen to you.  Take Jesus’ advice, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matt. 6:33 (NIV)

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