Back to the land of the living....

OMG!! My computer took a BIG POOP on Friday night and I have been lost ever since. This morning I FINALLY got the bugger up and running again - Thank You Miguel and Lorena from Dell computer tech assistance!! They are located in the Philippine Islands and really knew their stuff people. SO - I have SO much to talk about!!! How I missed you all, even Coffeeman... *throws arms around his neck and squeezes till his face turns red* What do you all want to hear about first? The fact that the snow is G - O - N - E and I am now able to go outside without GLOVES, COAT, HAT or SNOW BOOTS... watch I have just jinxed myself. Or do you want to hear about the fun I have been having while trying to keep my head above water? THANK GOD my work is now slowing down -as far as my part time, wanting to kill me, job... I am in gardening mode and have cleaned out the trash from the garden. Tonight it will be tilled and in the morning the first hill of potatoes will be planted. I plant over 120 hills usually, feeding 3-5 grown men is a big deal at times, not to mention the passel of kids that are around. I am babysitting the neighbor baby today, the guy that his having the auction - his son, so that they can get everything ready for Thursday. I am going to go over there tomorrow afternoon to help set up and on Thursday morning to help with the food and serving. This is such a hard thing to face, not only him but the auction itself -its heart wrenching. All of the things that have been worked for by so many people will be gone in a matter of hours. The land has seen his grandfathers sweat walking behind a plow, pulled by a team of horses. Working so hard that his hands would blister and his blood would drip into the ground itself. The land has seen his father build upon what his grandfathers started and he has tried to carry on from there. But, with the price of milk being as low as $9.85 PER HUNDRED POUNDS - he is forced to sell because he cant make enough to pay his bills. There is 8lbs of milk per gallon in the store, so for every hundred pounds of milk there is 12.5 gallons of milk... if you take $9.85 and divide that by the amount of gallons per hundred - 12.5 you get $0.06 is what farmers get per gallon of milk that is sold..... go ahead and pick your jaw up off of the floor.... the rest goes to the creamery, bottler, distributor and the store. They have the least expense and they make the most money. Not only that, but most of their employees are full time, union or at least well paid, good benefits, ya know dental, medical, vision, paid sick time, paid vacation time, paid holidays and weekends off for the most part. Yes, I know that they have a weekend shift at the creamery - but guess what - the milk marketing board has weekends off, paid vacation and the whole works without touching one cow tit or shoveling one fork full of cow shit. Farmers don't have paid benefits, we have to carry our own health insurance, we don't have paid time off and we have to find our own replacements to do our work so we can have time off...plus pay them - man, this turned into a real downer in a hurry didn't it?!?! SORRY!!!! enough complaining...

SO - how are you all doing?? Anything new going on with anyone?

By the way, did you know that Satan has feathers....



This 'wooster' is gonna die - according to Lispy. He wants me to make thoup (soup) out of him.. This is not the same one he was swearing at last year - he was soup already.


Big Son wanted me to show you what supper looked like...this was taken over a month ago... Ham, peas, mashed taters, gravy, unhomemade bread (ish) and fridge pickles that granny farmer sent over in her glass jar with the label peeling off.....

Please don't mind the mess behind the table - if I remember right I was trying to get my cleaning done and had been harassed all day long by children about wanting more food.... they eat constantly - never a moment without food.. Anyway - I am off to get started in the garden. No raised box's for me people, I dont have anyone to build them for me, nor the money to buy the lumber for them for that matter... Milk Man could build them, but he has better things to do like farm... *snort* So - I shall show you my garden later... so - later.