Cooking on the Open Fire

A few weeks ago my brother and sister-in-law cooked lunch over an open fire pit. They were practicing for a cowboy cookout competition. I was glad to be a taste tester because their cooking was great.

I learned something about cowboy cooking

1. I am glad that today I have a stove. It took a long time to get coals started and add the ingredients. Yes they tasted great but daily I would get nothing done but 2 miles on a fire

2. In Oklahoma summer cooking would have killed me. The hot sun and then to stand next to a blazing fire is not an idea of romantic western life

3. Biscuits can burn easily and need lots of TLC. Brother worked hard at getting his biscuits to keep warm coals under them and then warm coals on top. He was turning them  a few times and rotating the lid to cook them evenly. In my electric stove I dump them in and go load the washing machine.

Do you have any other thoughts to cooking out doors. It was great food and an even better cobbler. I am glad I can throw something in the oven and get other things done while it cooks without worrying my fire is going out.

Cutting Hay

Being a farmer's wife I had planned after a long day in the City to go and make supper, play with my girl and rest. I even promised a swim in hr grandma's pool before we went home. Then my phone rings, Tractorman asked if I could help him cut hay while he raked hay so that we could get it baled before the rain next week.

I took my girl for a swim and her grandma offered to keep her all night so she did not have to ride in the tractor that long. Out to the Bermuda pasture I went. Tractorman took me one round and gave me the instructions on how to turn this corner and watch out for branches.

Well with the tractor to my self and the radio on I love the time alone. As all mom's know that is rare. I had made about four rounds with the 16 foot swather out to one side. Read about driving the tractor to understand my challenge with this. I look back to see the bar in front of the swather broken and bouncing like a kid on a trampoline behind me. I shut the whole thing down and make my favorite kind of phone call. "Honey I broke it" is how that call starts. He had went to get the rakes about a mile away. "Meet me at the front gate" he told me after I detailed my mess. 

For the most part he is good about fixing my breaks I just get to hear (teasingly) about them forever. When he saw my mess he told  me that it was the same spot I used to hit the back of his 1 ton truck with flat bed with. I dented the bar into the reel and cracked his rear brake light. I still don't live that one down.

Well with a few welds I was back on the go again and finished the patch at midnight. The thing I like about field work is once done than I have a few months unlike dishes which have to be done nightly. Ever feel like everything you try to help with breaks? Please comment and tell me I am not the only one.

Oh I started a Etsy Page. Check it out and Tell me what you think.

My Driving

If you have went to my website you can see I have been raised on a farm. We did all kinds

of normal farm stuff. Drove trucks, learned to shoot, played in the pond and drove tractors.

This week while my husband harvested wheat, I spent my time in the big 8 wheel drive tractor with a 28 foot disc. Tractor_man plows around the edge and I work in the middle. No biggie right. A farm girl is supposed to do this. Right?

Let me give you some history. At 16 I hated driving. Dad rebuilt an amazing 1992 Thunderbird for me and him and my younger brother said it could fly. I was one that did not drive it THAT fast. I totaled it by hitting a Toyota. Moving the engine 3 inches to the passenger side.

Six months later I toke the front in off a Pre SE. Both were from a stop and both were my fault. I am not a good driver.

Three years later I had an amazing English teacher in college that had me tested for dyslexia. She would not let me pass my last class if I was not tested. I found out I had Irlene Syndrome.

Walking out of the testing center with the new dark lenses on I exclaimed "Mom the porch really juts out in front of the building over there" Mom almost fainted. I did not know about depth and she did not know I could not see depth. Still don't well.

As years went on I found out the glasses made my astigmatism worse and tried doing eye exercises. My normal eye doctor who had seen me since junior high made the comment that I never complained about poor grades. My response was he never asked how long I worked on homework either.

Today I have a little better depth perception but not much. I look at shadows and measure things compared to other objects for depth. I still flip letters and jumble words when I right. I have learned to compensate by writing in my hours that I can concentrate and when all else fails tell it to a computer.



So Stick me in a tractor with a disc, it is on your head if we have to fix fence. This time... No fences were lost in this pasture.

Trying to Spray the Yard

On a calm weekend my hubby, Tractorman, was spraying pastures at the farm. Since I was not needed out there I stayed home and decided I would spray the yard. We spray for weeds that take the water from the grass. I pulled the sprayer in the lawn wagon that hooks to the back of the riding lawnmower out of the barn by hand. After rinsing it out, I wondered the yard picking up toys, water hoses and trash. I remembered that I did not tie the gas can to the truck well during the winter and had to go buy a gas can and put gas in for the lawn mower. So my daughter and I ran into the local hardware store bought the gas can and went by the gas station and filled it up. Getting home it is lunch time, so we eat lunch.             Cool I think, She will go down for a nap and I can spray. Well when she was asleep I went outside to start the lawn mower. It would not start. I put the battery charger on it; still no luck. What does a farmer's wife do when it doesn't work? Call a farmer. I called my dad realizing he was done spraying. So he came over, about the time my girl woke up and helped me look at the lawn mower. We could not get it started; he jumped it to diagnose the problem. Well a mouse must have been in it because we guess my dog was after something and pulled the wires of the clutch.  Okay now we know the problem lets kill it and Monday we will get the parts. Dad turned the key off... it kept running. He pulled the wire connector apart....it kept running. He finally pulled the spark plug  (that is not fun). It died.        After Dad left I called Tractorman and told him of my discovery. "Did you try the other lawnmower that my Dad put in the barn?" I had forgot about it. So I tried to jump it and had no luck. I had came to the conclusion this was not the week to spray.       Tractorman gets home an hour later. Starts his dad's lawnmower, helps me get set up and sends me to spray the yard. He even helps me keep our girl in the house. It felt good to get the weeds wilting over the week. Sure was glad to have his help after the rough day.  Ever had a day like this?

Finishing the Fence

My husband complained that I was not lining the post up well but I feel I did an okay job. We are following the terrece just like his grandpa use to do. During the fall Tractorman's grandpa would roll out hot wire on each terrece of wheat. Then he would Let the cattle into different terreces to graze letting the other wheat grow during that time. Each summer he would roll it up with his own invention so he could harvest. The invention we still use today. Click here to see the painting I did of it on the Model A. My little girl is learning the ropes. She has on her new fence fixing gloves. With a little help from me, she can put the wire in. This is a temporary fence that has a electrical current going through. Once it is all put it all together we add the charger last. Right now it is just a wire fence. It gives the cattle a slight shock if they touch it. The cattle can smell the electrical current and do not even touch it most of the time. If they do they realize it is unpleasant. Every farmer has touched a hot fence and though it is no fun it will not hurt you.  I have been asking for pictures of tractors you can send them to me at nicholelorenzen@gmail.com or on my facebook page.  Here is one I did of Vincent Franzen of his tractor. He liked it and bought it. You do not have to buy the picture I paint but I am always looking for more tractors. Tell me what tractors would you like to see painted. Or any farm equipment for that matter.

FIXING FENCE

Before we could work on fence Tractor man had to modify our old tool. We will set a roll of wire on the pole  that is leaning on the ground. The part that he is welding on will sit in the hay spears holder on the back of the truck. After the post are put in we just tie the wire to the end post and drive down.  Thanks to the front end loader loading and putting T post in has gotten much easier and quicker. With the T post on a pallet we just pick them up and put the pallet on the truck. In the field I load a few bundles of 5 onto the forks. Tractorman drives to where we start putting them in and I take one off the stack. Stand it up and he uses the front end loader to push it into the ground. I let him get the loader resting on the post and I step back a few feet so it will not spring out from under the tractor and hit me. Sure beats using a t post driver on each post.  Our daughter went out to help build fence. She got new gloves and was excited.  She decided she would go exploring instead. You can see where she decided to sit in the wheat and pick it. Thank goodness for lots of land to explore.  Stop By my Ebay to see what you can win.  Also Sign up for my mailing list. I would hate for you to miss a give away I am doing soon.

Bring on the Rain

The soft patter of rain on our roof woke us up yesterday morning. The unfamiliar sound was a great relief.  Each drop was new and refreshing my father carried water to cattle for 26 months straight. It ended with the rain in August. Now going into spring if rain had not come we would again be carrying water. With each cow drinking up to 20 gallons a day it was not cheap to give these animals the liquid.  The rain that fall washed in the fertilizer that we spread this weekend. It is a gamble. To put fertilizer out without rain can burn the plant but with out the food the plants do not grow. The rain brought grass to grow, water to drink, it brought a refreshing spring. You can say it even washed some of the worry off my farmer.  Here is what I have been painting on this week. Click Here to go to the Auctions.  Add Comment Painting a puppy 04/16/2014 0 Comments I would  like to introduce you to Sam.  Sam was my husband's dog, a stray he showed up one day. When Tractorman, my husband, he crawled out from under a work truck. Tractorman went into the house and got a shot gun.  He shot at the ground to scare the stray off. Sam crawled back under a work truck.  Tractorman threaten to get rid of Sam if he was still there when classes was over. That evening Sam was still there. He stood over knee high. Tall skinny and lanky with a calm disposition. He quickly learned to put cows up. With marking like a coyote, you had to do a double take  when he trotted across the pastures. One night we were feeding cattle and he was running around, down to the pond and looking for rabbits. A truck stopped on the road to watch him. It was a group of coyote hunters checking Sam out. Tractorman yells "Sam get on the truck" and here he came. He gracefully jumped on the truck in one flying leap and sat there like this is my kingdom. I painted him laying under the tractor tire. His favorite spot to sit while we worked on equipment.  You can win an original painting of Sam by bidding on it on eBay. Click Here.

Farming Myths

 

I thought today that I would clear up some of the myths that I hear about farming.   These myths come from childhood books or creative imaginations.

1. What types of animals do you have. As in the books we all read as a child when people here you are a farmer they expect you to have goats, sheep, pigs, cows, and chickens. For the farms that I have been raised on we raise cattle. When I was a little girl, Poppy had chickens but the coyotes had lunch and we lost our chickens.
2. All cows are milk cows. Well all cows produce milk for their babies. Dairy cows just produce so much we get the extra to drink. The type of cattle we raise is mainly for meat. Your steaks, roast, and hamburgers come from what we grow.
3. We only farm. In the area that I live in we have a day job and farm is the retirement plan or the after work job. Understand in some areas farms can support the family. This clay soil is not the case. 
4. We live on the farm. Grandma lives on the farm. We all live close to help with the work but we live about 15 miles away from my families farm and my husband's family farm. 
5. Name our animals. When people think of a herd of cattle they think you name them all. Well yes the pets of the group you do but in general no. My show cows I showed in high school are named. The first few cows my husband got from his grandpa are named. The rest go by the number on their eartag or if they are in the way sometimes a not so nice type of name.
6. All the horned cattle our bulls.  I was with a grown woman the other day.  As we passed by a pasture she tell her child look honey all the horned animal are boy cows.   NO. Horns are just like hair. All cows, bulls and calves can have a variety of kinds. Calves have small bumps that will grow. Now just like our hair can be all colors depending on our genes. Cattle can have genes that do not grow horns, grow short fat ones, or, like longhorns, grow 10 foot horns.
7. Baby calves should be petted. Even my farmer daughter tells me "It's so cute lets pet it" Baby calves are cute but only from afar. You see calves can head butt you, and kick you very hard. This is to protect them from predators in the country. The other reason not to pet, she is usually with in a hundred feet, weighing a thousand pounds and can out run you any day. Mama. Just like any good mom she does not want anyone hurting her baby. You look like a threat. Now the petting zoos have babies that I pet. Yes, these are bottle calves. These babies think you are their kind because for some reason Mama cow could not take care of them. They understand that you touching them is part of them getting food and it is like a dog more than a calf when they become bottle calve. Believe me one of mine bottle calves followed me in the house one time. My mom was not amused. So in the end petting zoo or bottle calves are friends. A calf laying in the pasture is trouble.

I am sure I missed a few but this is a good start for clearing the farm air. (It doesn't always smell like a rose) Well with the sun up time is ticking.

Visit my eBay page to Bid on a Christmas Ornament.

Playing in the snow

We worked Saturday to get all the animals fed knowing this was coming. So when Sunday came my girl had to get out in it. She had so much fun playing in the snow. She played with the tractors, slide down the slide, and threw snow balls.

Even the barn did not keep all the snow out. The old Model A showed its winter style. In true Oklahoma fashion it will all disappear by Wednesday.

While the snow blew outside I am working on a new painting. The hair is a challenge but the calf iss just so cute. No it is not near done but I do keep busy. God bless.

Click Here to Check out My Christmas Ornaments I painted

FIRE

You have seen the post of us cutting and bailing hay this year and my daughter playing while her daddy stacked it.

This morning we awoke to a panicked call from Dustin's cousin. The neighbor on his way to work saw one stack of hay on fire. To say the least she had a reason to panic.

When my hubby got to the farm half of the hay was in flames. He did pull out about 60 bales and saved them. The sheriff's deputies were nice enough to block off the road and let him just run back and forth across the road to get them out of the way. The local volunteer fire department tried to wet the rest of the bales and contain the fire to help my hubby have time to get the bales out of harms way.

Insurance will pay for the hay and we have enough in other stacks to feed all winter. The only gripe is that we literally watched our hard work go up in smoke.

Thankfully to the Sheriff and volunteer fire department we did not loose all 122 in that stack. 

Oh it all started because one hay bale was a little too wet. The fire marshal told my hubby that it takes 6 weeks for hay to combust. We always thought a week or two would be out of danger. Well it has been 6 weeks and 4 days.


Just another week on the farm right? God Bless

Getting Cattle Up

Farming is in hay season again. The millet that we planted is short but starting to put out seed heads. We have to cut it before that. So we cut some down.... And it Rained, and rained. Four and a half inches later we have a feild of cut hay laying in water.  So painting time has been far and few between this week.

On top of hay, we check cows at least twice a week to daily. Two cows came up with soar hooves so we need to get the heard up and see what is rong with thier hooves. So we gathered up and rounded the heard up. Since we had so many willing helpers (kids) to go I stayed with the trailor and watched.

While I sat on the trailor watching the guys and kids rounding the heard up. THis was the sun setting across the road. I always want to paint these landscapes but have not taken the time to.

They walked in and sorted the cows. We took the hurt ones yo the house to doctor.

Fireworks and Parades

We had a blast at the local parade where my girl got to throw candy out to the crowd of people. The good part is since she threw it out we did not bring very much home from her collecting it. 

This is the most stressful holiday for farmers. In fact it is the only one that I know many farmers stay up all night to watch. With thousands of acres across Southwest Oklahoma in wheat stubble and add into the mix fireworks, it makes a dangerous combination. Between the city folks that have bought a house in the country or the towns people that just head to the country to pop fireworks we have many fires. Most seem to want to launch their fireworks from the middle of the road instead of their yard. Luckily this year the volunteer fire departments could put them out without it being large fires. 

This stays hooked up in the front yard in case we need a fire break on some one else's fields. Ours have one just in case.

We sat on the back of out truck on the Fourth to watch fireworks being shot all around us at the farm. It was pretty. Except for one fire on a farm a few miles from us, we did not see any disasters.  Friday we did shoot firecrackers too. We try to plan a little bit, though. We brought the mother tank full of water and shot them over the pond. So what did fall to earth would hit the pond and not the dead grass. 

I may sound like I am on my soap box but I have seen hundreds of acres burned and hay that was suppose to last all winter gone just from someone not planning or paying attention. 

Just a reminder that Green and Gleaner are on Auction on eBay. Good Luck and God Bless.

A Busy week of Farming

Our plans were to harvest wheat when my husband took off. His job ask in January what full week do you want off. He looked at June and said this should be harvest. Well the old saying goes "If you wanna hear God Laugh tell him your plans."

That week spent time raining. Just enough not to get in the field. So we took our little girl to the zoo and the museums. It was a blast and for us a great little time away from our daily grind.  Above it the Railroad Museum in Oklahoma City. It is free and you get to climb all over old cars and engines. It was fun. Below is my girls favorite animal. She loves turtles.

When we got back, Harvest started. We cut Saturday and it rained Saturday night. We waited till Tuesday after work and started. It stayed dry just long enough to get the wheat out of the field. No joke we finished Friday at midnight and it rained the next morning.

I will not complain about rain because we were about 16 inches short in May. Ponds are not near where they should be and lakes are a puddle around here.

My husband and girl checking the grain bin on the combine to see if  it is empty.

Well time is running short. Don't Forget that on Friday this week is the end of the Horse and Colt.

 Click here for the eBay.

I will just keep praising God for what we do receive.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalms 42:5

Wheat Harvest and Rain

 The old weather joke goes: If you are flooding expect more rain, if it is hotter than Hateis, it will get hotter. If it is dry, no rain is in store, and if it is windy put a rock in your pocket because it will blow harder tomorrow.

The joke is almost true around these parts. We have a pretty crop of wheat standing in the field and it has been so wet we can not harvest.

On Sunday we got into the field about four in the evening only to have it rain that night. Here is my husband on the antique combine that still runs. His grandpa custom cut and cut about 600 acres of his own wheat a year with it when it was new.

Harvest is a family affair. We all have our part to do. My daughter helped my mom take the guys a sandwich that night in the field. Supper many times is about six, a sandwich and about ten that night, they are hungry for a meal. This photograph was taken by my mom. She has her camera at all times. Well I will have something maybe on Thursday on eBay. Watch my Facebook page to see when the next auction will start. Wheat Harvest trumps all things in our life. God Bless 

Storms and Tragedies

Luckily I was far enough south to miss the bad weather but many have lost everything or someone. My thought and prayers go out to them. For their recovery and rebuilding. I know Oklahoma and we are considered stubborn, and praying kind of folks. 

We did not stay out of all the action because my father-in-law caught this photo out his front door.  

Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
    The Lord preserves those who are true to him,
    but the proud he pays back in full.
²⁴ Be strong and take heart,
    all you who hope in the Lord. Psalms 31:23-24

Working in the Hay Feild

This weekend we worked on moving hay from the field to stacks. It was a perfect day. The clouds sat puffy like whipped cream in a sky that was bluer than any water I ever saw. The hay bales appeared to be the anchors that held the clouds in place. It was a perfect day which seemed to help my help sleep peacefully while we worked.

My husband loaded the 6 foot round bales into the 5 bale trailer and I would take them to an area to be stacked and stored for the winter months. As we picked up the bales, we released the anchor to a cloud. The clouds drifted and collided into small spring rain storms to the east of us. It was funny though because with some bales in the field some clouds hung around.

Here I am resetting the bale trailer.

I did finish up Shriver’s Store this weekend as well. It was a great weekend. Shriver’s store painting will go on sale tonight about 8.

Also don’t forget that The Waiting goes off eBay tonight. Good Luck and God Bless.

For riches are not forever,

Nor does a crown endure to all generations.

When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself,

And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,

The lambs will provide your clothing,

And the goats the price of a field;

                        Proverbs 27:24-26

Calving Season

I love to see these little guys start their lives. They are so playful and spirited. They kick and butt. Just like my toddler they think they can control the world.

Please realize though, those cute calves are that from far away. I have worked cattle to many times. And just like a cute kid getting into what and where they don't belong. The calves crawled through holes we did not know we had. This calf was supposed to be with the other calves while we sorted the mamas. Well it had a mind of its own. 

I did steal away from farming for another art work. It is on eBay til Thursday Feb. 21

Click Here to go and try your luck.

Well the sun is shining and the weather is getting warmer, farming calls. God Bless

Life as a river

This year I am trying to plan for this next year. I do not like to call these my resolutions because goal is a nicer word. I try to project what I would like to do. Doing so I set down to think. Let me share

Goals and dreams will present themselves the way they should but I must dream, hope, believe, and have faith that what I want to happen is in God's plans. Life is a challenge of events not plans. Rarely are pregnancy planned and a baby changes everything even when planned. Then Life gets in the way and ten or fifteen years goes by before anyone is the wiser. You then are left with a dusty trail and a dream that never sprouted. Dreams are made when you set that small time aside and work at it. That ten minutes or one TV show can make your dream a oak tree or leave it an acorn.
Life is the river, it does not stop or slow down. It widens, we all do, and sometimes shrinks but keeps going. At times it feels like the speed will drown you; at others it will never change. Unlike that river we choose its path, not the world. We can climb to the top or fall to the bottom. We can crush those around us as we climb or help them with kindness. We are the only person to make the choice.

It easily is drown out by life, kids, spouse, TV, computers, and phones.  Put everyone to bed tonight or have them join you and just write yourself a note, don't worry about what to say write what comes to mind. Put it away until next January and see where the river of life has taken you.