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!

Working Hard and Hardly Working- And counting our Blessings.

It seems as though there is always some new project going on at the farm. Whether it is fixing fence or equipment or building something to help something else. March was busy with many different activities. We had some fun, we gave back and we worked hard.

A few things that went on during good ol' March. We sprayed numerous fields, dealt with many sprayer issues (frustrating and annoying is all I have to say about that darn sprayer), moved some corn and built a few things. But we also took some time off and gave back to the community.

At the beginning of March, Josh sold his corn that we stored in the new bin on the farm, so we got to test out the unload system to empty the bin. The guys hauled several loads of corn to a local feedlot.

Inside of the bin with the sweep auger moving through the corn

Coming from the sweep auger into the other auger bottom

And finally into the semi trailer

I was so lucky to help sweep the last bit of corn into piles for the sweep auger to carry out for the last load. At least farm work has some health benefits of making you sweat and keep in shape!

We got a new sprayer, I have nothing nice to say about it. I don't like it. It makes me frustrated therefore I am not going to blog anymore about that darn thing!!! However, it did give Handyman a good excuse to get out his welder and make a stand for the shuttles so that it is easier to unload the shuttles and switch them in and out when needed.

AJ welding in our garage the new shuttle holder thing

The finished product holding shuttles

Handyman really likes welding and wants to teach me but  I always tell him, "It can wait" I will learn some day but I kind of have a motto when it comes to certain things. If I learn it and no one else is around then I have to do it and well if I don't know how to do it, I guess one of the guys has too! -- I will just stick to milking cows, managing cows and breeding cows-- that's more my thing!


Those were just a couple of the things going on during March on the farm. Off of the farm, we went to Oklahoma with hubs parents and we went Spoonbill fishing. It was my first time ever catching that big of a fish! It was a lot of fun and was well worth the trip down there! I was lucky enough (and it was on St. Patricks Day! Luck of the Irish!) to catch the first fish. It only weighed 29 pounds so I threw it back and kept trolling on. I caught the second fish and it was a beauty! I kept this big fish weighing in at 62 pounds! After that I just enjoyed riding on the boat watching hubs and my father in law fish. They had a lot of fun and the best catch of the day was my father in law got a whole whooping 5 pounder! Boy, was it cute!! Overall, it was a great trip and nice to take a small break from working for some fun.

AJ and I with our catches

My father in law with one of his fish

Lastly and one of the most important days of March came where we, as a family, donated $2500, to the St. Anthony's Family Shelter in Wichita. It was a true blessing. My grandfather had his name entered into a Monsanto Grant Program where they generously give a $2500 grant in different family farms name to a place the family chooses. He was selected for Sedgwick county and my grandparents chose to give the money to a family homeless shelter. It was a privilege to be there as they presented the check and we got to tour the facilities. We are so proud that we can help others in need and it is very important for our family to give back to the community.

This program helps many families in their time of need and get back on their feet after so many different situations. I encourage you to go to your local homeless shelter or any other organization- ask for a tour, volunteer or just give back in any way possible. It is truly life changing experience helping others in their time of need. I know one of my many goals for this year is to do more volunteer work and I can't wait to get started with another program that I found in Wichita.

Many blessings to you and your family, we hope your March was a great as ours!


The Milkmaid

A Monday Morning Surprise!

This morning, I headed to the farm thinking about the mud, water and unhappy cows. Since it rained last night, I was a little late showing up for work in the first place and dreading the mess I would be after milking. The cows have a love-hate relationship with rain. While it cools them off, they also get messy and bring their little dirty hooves into my milking parlor and like to get me just as messy.

Little did I know my dad would find a nice little surprise when he went out to bring the cows up for milking.


Twins, again!

We usually do not have twins, even though there is a one in seven chance of twins, we haven't had a set in a couple of years. This year we have been blessed so far with two sets. You may remember reading, The Scandalous Cow and Tale of Two Calves, where we had a rare set of twins born from two different sires but from the same dam. Well this may look like the same situation but it is not!

The dam (or mother cow) is a Jersey/Holstein cross and Miss Brownie looks like her. The sire (bull/father) is a pure bred Holstein and Miss Penelope looks like him. They just happen not to be identical twins but sure are cute and fun to play with.

Brownie was born smaller than Penelope, not by much but she is the smaller of the two.After we milked No. 61 (their mother) this morning, I took out a bottle to feed them. They both did a really good job drinking for the first time and then they had their navals sprayed to help not get an infection.

Miss Brownie

Miss Penelope

Both little heifers are doing well and happy in their new little shed and each other.


Happy Monday!



The Milkmaid