What I Remembered

. . . and what I forgot, breeding & seeding, and field meals! || April newsletter

May 02, 2024

A few nights ago, I made a cardinal writer’s mistake. While lying in bed, a story idea came to me for my April newsletter. It was great (I’m sure!), and I was excited to write it. But my phone was off and in the kitchen, where I leave it every night. Unable to jot down a quick note on my phone and not wanting to get out of my warm bed, I told myself, “I’ll remember this.”

Dear reader, I did not. In the morning, I woke up with the nagging feeling that there was something I was supposed to remember. Then I remembered that I had an idea (had being the keyword) for my April newsletter but as much as I tried, the story wouldn’t come back to me. I berated myself for forgetting because, honestly, when I was lying in bed, I knew it was ~~a possibility~~ likely I wouldn’t remember. But I was too tired to get up and do something about it.

Maybe the story wasn’t that great, and that’s why I forgot it. Or maybe it’s because I often have many thoughts and things on my mind. Or maybe it was because I was half asleep, and I can’t expect my brain to hold all the things.

We spent the last couple of weeks seeding the spring crops, and I took my last meal to the field (for now) a few nights ago. Last weekend, the kids and I made an unplanned trip out of state for a funeral. Two days after we got home, two of the three kids started throwing up. And now, here I am, sending my April newsletter in May.

I might have forgotten the story I was going to write, but here’s a list of some of the things I did remember in April:

I remembered to send dinner to a friend who unexpectedly lost her mom.

I washed (and made sure the kids had) the special outfits they needed for their school program.

I texted my grandpa on his wedding anniversary, even though my grandma died two years ago.

I remembered to return the kids' library books (every week!) to school.

I remembered a friend’s birthday by sending a card.

I remembered to schedule my mammogram (Hello, 40!).

I remembered to submit an essay for publication, write several articles before their deadlines, and give feedback and edits on a friend’s essay.

I remembered my teenage niece’s birthday, and I think she even liked the sweatshirt I gave her. I quote, “This is actually cute.” 💁🏻‍♀️

I remembered to feed and water my chickens. I paid the farm’s bills.

I remembered my mom’s birthday and got her a card and flowers.

When ordering groceries every week, I remembered (mostly) what the kids like and do not like to eat.

I remembered to buy end-of-the-year teacher gifts. 📚

Of course, there were many things I didn’t remember to do. Like washing my windows and cleaning the chicken coop. I didn’t always remember to give my kids grace and patience. I didn’t always remember to give my husband the benefit of the doubt. The kids were annoyed with me at least once for “forgetting” their names (I swear I know them, but sometimes it takes a few tries to land on the right kid’s name. IYKYK).

Maybe someday I’ll remember that story I was going to write. Likely, I won’t.

So here’s to the end-of-school-year rush and the grace we give ourselves for what we forget. And celebrating what we remember.

Farm Happenings

Yesterday, we woke up to frost on the ground, which isn’t great for the winter wheat. Hopefully, it didn’t damage it too much, but there’s nothing we can do about it. This morning it’s raining! The crew spent the last couple of weeks seeding the spring crops, and they are done! All the seeds are in the ground. 🌾

About the same time we began seeding, the ranch crew turned the bulls out with the cows. Our operation also does a fair amount of AI’ing (artificial insemination) on about a quarter of the herd. We do this for various reasons, including introducing new genetics into the herd and the ability to use sperm from a high-priced bull (which is cheaper than owning the bull).

Each cow/heifer they plan to AI gets a patch placed on her back, and then several bulls are put out with them in the pasture. The catch for these bulls is they have a penile block put on them (I don’t know exactly how the blocks are placed on the bulls, but it does not seem like a job I would like to do). The penile block doesn’t allow the bull’s “unit” to enter the cow. But, when he attempts to breed, he rubs a mark on the patch, indicating she’s in heat.1 There’s a certain amount of hours for them to AI after they know she’s ovulating. My sister-in-law does all of the AI’ing—which involves reaching her arm inside the rear end of each heifer/cow and releasing the straw of semen into her uterus.

Once they used up all the straws of semen, all the cows were turned out with the bulls (the bulls without the penile blocks). And if they didn’t become pregnant with AI, they will hopefully become pregnant the old-fashioned way.

In a post I sent out last month, I wrote a little bit about the few days I spent in the field. My job was to roll some of the fields of winter wheat—something we’d never tried before. In the past, we’ve only rolled the pulse crop2 fields. The goal is to push the rocks back down into the ground so that during harvest, there are fewer rocks to go through the combine when cutting the wheat.

Up next: the season of tending to the weeds. 🌿

Things I’m Loving . . .

Hannah Brencher

mentioned the podcast “Bone Valley” in one of her weekly newsletters, and I was immediately intrigued. Yes, it’s a true crime podcast. But, before you write it off, the story is so well done. My favorite types of true crime podcasts are where the storytelling is the focus—they aren’t gory retellings of a crime. This podcast series is more than a story about a crime—it’s a story of redemption, faith, and hope. I cried several times, not because of the sadness of what happened to the victim but because of the way the man in the podcast, Leo Schofield, came to faith during his time in prison. When I started listening to the podcast, the series was completely finished, so I was able to binge all the episodes (thanks to some tractor time!). But as soon as I finished the series, a real-time update came out on the case, and I was able to listen with bated breath to the fate of Mr. Schofield.

I don’t share much on Facebook, but this podcast with Jonathan Haidt about kids and technology was so good that I made a post about it.

Books I read this month: Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle, Where Coyotes Howl by Sandra Dallas (LOVED it), Fit to Burst by Rachel Jankovic (this was an okay read for the mom’s group I’m in), and I flew through Funny Story by Emily Henry. I think it’s my favorite book by this author, and the audio version, read by Julia Whelan, was great.3 Currently reading Fly Girl by Ann Hood, Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, and My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan.

“The fight to look like everyone else rather than accepting the limits we have will take me down if I’m not careful.” -

Katie Blackburn

I’m almost finished with the Hulu TV series, “We Were the Lucky Ones,” based on the book by Georgia Hunter. I read the book several years ago, so I don’t remember a lot about it, so watching the show feels completely new. It’s really well done, but it’s so hard to watch that I keep having to take breaks. I’ll never get over the horror and atrocities that took place during WWII.

Zinnias are my favorite flowers to grow (I’m pretty sure they are probably the easiest to grow, which is why they are my favorite). This year, I splurged on a fancy Zinnia unicorn mix.

Last month, Rich sold his pickup, yes, the pickup I had a baby in (four years ago this month!). I wrote my own version of an ad to sell it. I don’t know why Rich didn’t want to use it.

I can’t stop listening to Usher’s newest song (playing right now!).

I’ve been a member of Exhale, an online community for creative mothers, since the day the doors opened! (I think in 2018?) I don’t know where I would be as a writer today if it weren’t for the community and resources from Exhale and the women I’ve connected and become friends with. Enrollment opens twice a year, and the next enrollment period is May 6-17. If you’ve been curious about Exhale, or you’ve been looking for a creative community, you can use the code EXHALEBFF and get your first month for only $5! You can cancel anytime if you don’t love it. 💚

And as promised in the title: field meals! Here’s some of what I made during seeding: oven burgers (a favorite), patty melts, meatball subs4, chicken drumsticks, baked spaghetti, oven tacos, monster bars, my favorite chocolate chip cookies, and monster energy bites5 for snacks. I also made boxed brownies several times. Dark chocolate mixes > milk chocolate! I substitute water for milk, and I add a handful (or two!) of chocolate chips into the mix to take the boxed mix up a notch.

Planting Season

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