From Fleece to Fir

I have been raising sheep since before I was born. My parents raised and showed sheep and then I inherited the love of LAMB honestly. When I married Matt almost nine years ago I married into the Christmas Tree business. I am a pretty hard worker so there was nothing new about all the manual labor. I had to brush up on all the different tree varieties, learn how to plant, shake, drill and tie a tree to a car.

I started out cutting trees and had to learn the business from start to finish. After I had our first child Dave and Jan (Matt's parents) promoted me to the inside shop where it was warm.

I must say the warmth is nice but there is something about helping families find their Christmas Tree and hauling it back to their car.

Our family just spent a few days at the tree farm, cleaning out the barn and working on the new addition and of course mowing and shearing the trees.

I have yet to be handed the shearing knife by my father in law but Matt the oldest of the four boys has been shearing for a few years now. Shearing is the most important job and the job that can make or break the perfect tree.

I spent most of my last few days on the mower and organizing the shop. Mowing is a an important job of course but not held to as high regard as "Shearing" . Maybe in a few more years I will add shearing Christmas Trees to my resume. How may people can say they can shear a sheep and a tree?

Rain Rain Go Away, so my Barn will not look this way

When you drive through the country side you often see red or white barns. We have a pink barn! We are in mid paint and after scraping the barn we needed to get a coat of primer on it. After consulting with Sherwin Williams (got a discount on the paint by being a farm bureau member) they suggested a tinted color in the same family as our new barn red color. It may be in the same family but it sure is not red. Campbell likes the color and I have adjusted to all the looks as cars drive by slow to look at the old pink barn. Read Matt's Column to learn more about his take on our barn. I do promise if the weather ever holds up it will be red....I think Rain Rain Go Away, so my barn will not look this way.

New Old Table: From Farm to Table

Those who know me know that I am full of ideas...usually rediculous ones. I had a bunch of old old wood covered in hay chaf up in the hay. I thought it was perfect to make a long table that we could put out in the pasture and use for gatherings. Everyone was skeptical but it was a fun process and the finished product is  just what I had imagined. We now have outdoor dining for 10-12 people.

I had several helpers with this project. Project manager was Grandpa Cathers. I think you will recognize the assistants.

My idea behind this table is through Local Flavor Foods prepare wonderful meals and dine out in the field. From Farm to Table......sounds like fun to me. My first dinning experience will be in July with the Gourmet Girlies I will keep you posted.