An Adventure of a Lifetime- Ireland

Hello All,

I know it has been a while since I have updated my blog, life has been busy with work around the farm but we did take some time for family. As most farmers know, it is very important to spend time with family and sometimes we are fortunate enough to take a vacation.

I have always wanted to go to Ireland for my Irish roots and just because everyone says it is beautiful. Well it is! Here are some pictures from our adventures to Ireland in August. We definitely will never forget this special trip!

Enjoy,

The Milkmaid

Round straw bales, we did get to see one field being combined
but I wasn't fast enough to take a picture. There was so much
agricultural on all of our adventures. Great place to go for an
Ag Tour.

Picking up and loading on trucks

Cattle

Large squares

Kilkenny 

Kilkenny Castle- one of the many we visited

It was always so green and beautiful every where we drove! 

Waterford Crystal- a must do while in Ireland!

Beautiful!

Dairy Cattle on top of the hill, there was many dairy farms along
our drives and we enjoyed seeing so many!

Tractor driving, everyone was very friendly to farm vehicles!

Beautiful Coastline drive

Sheep

Tractor driving on what we would consider highways.. crazy! 

Blarney Castle- and yes hubs kissed the stone!

Limerick

One of the many churches we visited

Cliffs of Moher

They were breath-taking!

Rock fences- I do not know how they keep the animals in!

Galway 

An Irish performer along the streets in Galway

Dublin- From the top tower at Guiness

Dairy Cattle!!

Beef Cattle

Narrow Roads! 

Upgrading In The Farm World

Well the busy season is here!

Winter went by quickly and I don't know if I was mentally or physically ready for spring, yet. I got a bit lazy this winter!

A few key notes of some things that have happened over the last several months:

-We had a dry, warm winter. We only got one significant snow and it came in March.
-We made a few new purchases and additions to the farm
-We are so thankful to still be able to do this life and our prayers go out to all the farmer's and ranchers that were affected by wildfires. We only had smoke come through and no fires close to us. It is amazing how many farmers and ranchers (and others) came together to help those in need. It is so tough to hear/see those losses.

Now back to planting time, we recently upgraded our tractor and purchased a much larger planter. It has 24 rows!! That is 24 rows being planted at one time. It is also central fill for the seed! My mind is blown! I am so use to the 12 rows and filling boxes! I am still wrapping my mind around this new equipment!

Times have changed so much from when I was kid and definitely from how my grandpa grew  up! My brothers new tractor is so fancy, you can call from your phone via Bluetooth from the cab of the tractor! Mind blown. I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I, personally, feel as though we (a society) rely too much on technology these days and have lost some of our very basic foundations. But that is another feeling for another day. I understand how important this new technology is that we utilize for many reasons.

-GPS and autosteer help us to use the whole field to the best we can. The more we can get planted and grown in a field the more crop that is produce. This means more food for you- the people. If it isn't a food products, it is something to help us. We have to feed millions of people just here in the United States. Without it we don't use every bit to produce the most we can for YOU. It's not for us or a profit, sure we need that to keep farming but really it is for YOU! People are so far from the farm these days they wouldn't even be able to produce the food they need to survive, that's why you have hard working farmers trying to produce the most for YOU. Some individuals need to realize that just a bit more.

-It doesn't matter if you are a GMO farmer, non-GMO farmer or an organic farmer. We all have the same goal. To help feed the world. We have to find new ways to keep feeding the ever growing world. Thankfully technology has evolved to help us do that. That is larger equipment producing more efficient time management and a greater amount of acres we can produce for... You guessed it... YOU!

-I guess what I am trying to tell you, even if you don't quite understand or even know what exactly a farmer does/is go find one, ask questions and do me a favor. Don't bash one over the other. Respect. Everyone. All farmers. You may have opinions about why I should be an organic farmer, but I have studies and research to show you why we plant GMOs and back them up. To each their own.

We got a much needed rain this past weekend. A blessing for our wheat and corn. That is my update for this month. 

Cheers! 

The Milkmaid 

My Handsome Farmer Brother

Friends,

This is not my typical post, at all, but I am going out on a limb, with permission from my brother to share about him for a singles blog on Kelly's Korner. Recently, I joined a bible study group with some great ladies and this is how one sweet gal met her husband. So, when Kelly was going to host another singles day she told us about it and I asked my brother if I could take a chance and try to find him love through my blog. He somewhat agreed... so here it goes!



Meet Joshua. He has never been married, 27 and a farmer. He has a degree in Agronomy from Kansas State University and loves the Wildcats. He loves his beard but looks good without it too. He is kind-hearted, loves agriculture, farming, his family and friends. He loves to go two-stepping and can do a mean wobble baby. Dancing is definitely his thing.

He is the greatest brother, one of my best friends, and an awesome uncle to his nieces and nephew. He is great with kids and will be an awesome dad when he has his own children.  He loves joking around, laughing and being ornery. He can be a handful at times but he truly has a heart of gold. He cares so much about others and tries to be the best person he can be. He is truly a one of a kind, good guy.

He has been active in church as a youth sponsor for the youth group and loves helping out where he can. He wants to go on missions trips, his goal is to go to Africa and help teach about the Lord one day, hopefully soon! He could talk to anyone about almost anything, but he gets a little shy around women. He likes to keep things simple and live that way, too.

He is definitely the most entertaining person at family gatherings, the loudest and the funniest. He loves the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals. He enjoys sporting events, watching tv and loves to go see movies. He loves having a good time and enjoys hanging out with friends. (We live close to Wichita, KS so there is opportunities to go and do fun things.)

I pray and hope that through this blog, he finds a girl to talk to, to maybe fall in love with and maybe one day become my sister-in-law.

If you would like more about Josh or his contact information, please comment below or feel free to send me an email at dklanier08@gmail.com

Thank you for reading about my one-of-a-kind brother!