Okay…who knows what holiday it is in Michigan today? I’ll give you a hint…it involves lots of ammunition….a little shack out in the woods….and adult beverages. Yes, it’s opening day of firearm deer season!

Rural kids from all over the state have excused absences from school to go deer hunting today…there are probably some school districts up north where everyone takes the day off! When I came across the road to the house this morning at about 7:00 daylight was just breaking and I heard a couple of shots. Honestly, I think some hunters just shoot so they can be the first ones to fire their gun in the morning. In a couple of hours they will all gather back at their deer camp and one at a time they will give every detail of their morning hunt…right down to how many steps they saw a doe take or the exact number of deer they saw and where everyone of them was positioned or exactly what time it was when they heard the first shot…yes, they are very detailed in their story telling.

They will drive around and see if there are any other deer hunters to swap stories with and visit the local buck pole, down copious amounts of beef jerky and oatmeal cream pies and then head back out to the deer blind to sit until nightfall hoping for that big, elusive buck.

On another note, Luke had his first basketball game last night against Burr Oak and they beat them…bad….60-5. Now that was bad…I felt sorry for the other team. Burr Oak didn’t score until the last quarter.

Better get going…

Good Morning…yes, here on the Knolltop we can see the sun for the second day in a row!

Last evening JW, JW’s FFA advisor, Mr. Everett and I traveled to Blissfield to a Discussion Meet sponsored by Farm Bureau, specifically for FFA members. JW and I had no idea what he was in for…Mr. E. signed him up and told him he’d pick us up at 5:15 pm. JW got home from basketball practice at 5:10, swapped his basketball clothes for his official FFA outfit and we hopped in the car and headed east. JW’s biggest concern was if he was going to get anything to eat before the contest…fitting for a 16 year old boy.

We fed him on the way and arrived at the high school. Upon seeing the other contestants studying their notes, JW looked at me with big eyes and said, “I don’t have any notes to study…what are they studying? I have no idea what I’m doing!”

With my reassuring mom look, I said, “It’s okay, this is a learning experience for you this year, we’ll figure this all out this year and then next year you’ll know what you’re doing and win it.”

He replied in typical boy fashion, “Mom, if I’m not here to win, there’s no point in competing.”

With that I agreed and I walked up to one of the contestants who had notes and asked if she had ever been in the competition. She replied, “Oh, no, I have no idea what I’m doing, no one else does either. Do you have your introductory speech written? I had no idea what to say, but I’ve got it memorized now, I’m not sure if it’s right, you know, talking about trade issues and agriterroism..is that even a word? Oh my word, this is so hard…you know agriculture plays a big role in trade and then there’s the land issues topic, zoning, variances, land preservation, mineral rights, I don’t know much about those, but at least I have an introductory sentence…I don’t know though….I’m so nervous I hope I don’t babble on and on….”

I looked at her with big eyes and said, “I’m sure you will do a great job…after all you have an introductory speech!”

I spun on my heels and JW and I paced the long hallway making up an introductory speech about a topic that we had no idea about. So we came up with the general speech that Oliver Douglas uses on Green Acres, you know when you hear the patriotic music in the background and he talks about how great the American farmer is? You know…working the ground…producing food for the American people….most efficient farming practices…feeding, clothing, fueling the world….etc.

By this time, JW had his confidence up and started to look the part of a winner. He walked in with his head held high, using every bit of charisma God had gifted him with. Each contestant stood up in voluntary order to give their introduction and when JW stood up he did so with confidence. All those oral reasons in dairy judging had done him a world of good as he sounded great even though he might not have had the best facts to back it up.

The discussion had begun and they had 20 minutes to discuss a topic. Discuss is the key word..they weren’t supposed to debate, argue, convince anyone of their point…they were just supposed to talk about the issues and look at all sides of it, no one monopolizing the time, covering all the possibilities. Every time JW spoke he started with, “Yes, I agree with that and…OR… You are right and I think….OR….As I’m sure you are well aware…..” He was driving this whole cooperative thing home.

He was a finalist in the first go around and I was so proud. Then he was put to the test in the finals competing with five other seniors who all had experience in this event. He held his own and did a great job although the competition was tougher because they all had things to say. He could hardly get a word in edgewise.

I asked Mr. E. who his top three contestants were. He picked JW and two other experienced boys. That was not my pick….I didn’t think JW had enough experience and wouldn’t be able to hold it with the big boys at the state competition. In the end, I was right, JW didn’t make it into the top three….they picked three seniors to go to the State Farm Bureau Annual Meeting to compete against other regional winners.

The good news is that he has two more years to compete in this and when we got done we asked him if he would do it again…his answer was a resounding “YES…that was fun!” I don’t supposed his enthusiasm had anything to do with the cute moderator who is also the State FFA President who he happened to be hitting on in between competitions…..:)

Good Morning from the Knolltop. Hey…guess what? It’s CLEAR! And we can see the sun coming up….and it’s beautiful. Having a sister who lives in Montana, I’m reminded that fog and mist are a novelty to them. She has told me she enjoys the few times there is fog out there in that dry, arid country. They’re so dry out there, my nephew questions why I hang laundry out on the line because he says it’s too humid here for it to dry. Now that’s dry country!

Does anyone remember the professional bovine photographer Frank Robinson? Yes, I’m sure you haven’t forgotten last week’s picturing episode…but did anyone know Frank was a comdedian? The combination of someone with a sense of humor behind a camera can be a dangerous thing as you can see here with the “twin behinds” shot of me trying to get Jake’s kitten out from under Holly and Dan Carroll trying to get Holly’s feet set. You’re too funny Franklin!

As you can see in the next shot…Jake gave up his tail holding to get the cat from me…the cat was immediately taken away!

JW is going to compete in a discussion meet tonight for FFA…he has no idea what he’s in for…neither do I, so we’ll find out together. JW may be a scatter brain at times, like he forgot his basketball shoes this morning and he has practice right after school, but he is good at thinking on his feet. If nothing else he always seems to sound like he knows what he’s talking about even when he doesn’t have a clue!

Time to get on the day…we’re burnin’ daylight!

Okay…little did I know my pie making abilities would be brought out to the light when I posted this pie thing. Yes, that’s what happens when your college roommate reads your blog!

Julie I do remember my first solo attempt at making a pie in our Cedar Village apt. It was apple and I think Mick, Brit and Jamie were coming over that night for supper and we were going to study for a test in Farm Systems Management…a class that I needed a lot of help in and only one of these guys was from a farm…oh boy….what great study partners they were….NOT!

Anyway…as I remember Brit took a big bite of my wonderful pie and began laboring at chewing this creation…it was like he took a huge spoonful of peanut butter and couldn’t get it off the roof of his mouth. It was so funny and I’m laughing as I type this.

You see, you have to measure the lard by the water displacement method….I hadn’t mastered that little detail….I just filled the cup up with one cup of water and then put enough lard into the water until the lard reached the two cup line. I didn’t press it below the water level the way you are supposed to. So…I had too much lard and it was really greasy and stuck to the roof of your mouth….and the guys let me know.

Thanks for the memory Jules….oh how soon I forgot that one night in Cedar Village in East Lansing, Michigan!

Good Morning from the Knolltop! It’s another rainy, overcast day…but it was warm enough that I didn’t have to wear my union suit under my barn clothes…that’s a good thing.

Yesterday when I mentioned my mom making that unique Shaker Lemon Pie…I left out one minor detail and that is: My mom is the best pie baker in the world! Hands down…don’t even tell me about your mom or grandma…they can’t compare to the wonderful pies that my mom has made for years. She passed her lard crust recipe down to us girls and we continue to practice and practice to make as good a pie as she can…but to know avail…we come up short every time. So with that said…her making a pie that tasted so bad was not easy to accept and if that same pie were put down in front of me after supper today…I would still take a bite trying to convince myself that it really isn’t that bad!

I see from the comment from yesterday that Patty can make a pretty good pie…maybe you should bring one down to me Patty and we’ll just see if it’s really as good as you claim….:)

In all seriousness Patty…you should really share your wonderful recipe with the rest of us…I would love to try it. I love pumpkin pie!

JW is home sick on the couch today…he’s been sick for two days, he was sick on Saturday when he went to chop wood…but his love for money kept him going. Now he misses his first day of basketball practice. We’re headed to the doctor this morning…no not because he’s sick…because I’ve waited this long to get a sports physical for him…yes, I’m usually under the wire…I’m a writer for heaven’s sake! That’s what we do…get as close to the deadline as we can without missing it. And my husband hates that!

Time for breakfast!

It’s raining on the Knolltop this Sunday morning. What a great day to stay inside and bake! Looking through a magazine last evening while Bobby flipped through channels, (boy is that annoying), I found some recipes using pumpkin and lemon. I think I might try the pumpkin lemon pie…I’m not sure how it will turn out, but it’s worth a try. It’s can’t be near as bad as the shaker lemon pie my mom made one time.

It was years ago and Martha Stewart was a new phenomenon on TV. She worked through a recipe for Shaker Lemon Pie and my mom thought it looked good so it must taste just as good. She worked on that pie all afternoon, making sure to follow the recipe just right. It called for so many lemons she thought she might have been reading it wrong. But she forged ahead and when it was all done the pie was beautiful. She brought it to the table with a very accomplished look on her face. We were all looking forward to this new creation and of course we all took a piece. When we began chewing the first bite we all came up with the same bitter look on our faces. It was as if we had all took a big bite of lemon thinking we were all taking a big bite of an apple fritter. We were surprised on both accounts. It tasted like lemon rinds with a whole lot of sugar, which would stand to reason since it had lemon rinds and sugar in it.

Dad and Bobby pushed it aside and quit eating it…my mom and I kept eating it thinking it was going to taste better with the next bite. But to no avail…as good as this pie looked, it tasted awful.

So, now everytime we see or hear of Shaker Lemon Pie, a smile spreads across our faces and we all start to chuckle and begin to reason that mom must have done something wrong or there must be a better recipe out there somewhere.

Well, the coffee is done and church time is approaching!

It’s raining on the Knolltop this Sunday morning. What a great day to stay inside and bake! Looking through a magazine last evening while Bobby flipped through channels, (boy is that annoying), I found some recipes using pumpkin and lemon. I think I might try the pumpkin lemon pie…I’m not sure how it will turn out, but it’s worth a try. It’s can’t be near as bad as the shaker lemon pie my mom made one time.

It was years ago and Martha Stewart was a new phenomenon on TV. She worked through a recipe for Shaker Lemon Pie and my mom thought it looked good so it must taste just as good. She worked on that pie all afternoon, making sure to follow the recipe just right. It called for so many lemons she thought she might have been reading it wrong. But she forged ahead and when it was all done the pie was beautiful. She brought it to the table with a very accomplished look on her face. We were all looking forward to this new creation and of course we all took a piece. When we began chewing the first bite we all came up with the same bitter look on our faces. It was as if we had all took a big bite of lemon thinking we were all taking a big bite of an apple fritter. We were surprised on both accounts. It tasted like lemon rinds with a whole lot of sugar, which would stand to reason since it had lemon rinds and sugar in it.

Dad and Bobby pushed it aside and quit eating it…my mom and I kept eating it thinking it was going to taste better with the next bite. But to no avail…as good as this pie looked, it tasted awful.

So, now everytime we see or hear of Shaker Lemon Pie, a smile spreads across our faces and we all start to chuckle and begin to reason that mom must have done something wrong or there must be a better recipe out there somewhere.

Well, the coffee is done and church time is approaching!

It’s still overcast here on the Knolltop. The sun peeked out yesterday for a little while and it was a beautiful morning and afternoon before the clouds moved back in.

Today I’ve got to run errands. Usually I like to wait until the weekend to go to town, so the kids can go with me if they want to..it’s more fun to take the kids…it’s lonely grocery shopping by myself. But today, Sarah is the only eligible shopper because the boys all have to work…and not here.

Earlier in the week the neighbor called and said he wanted to reserve JW and Luke for today. They called early because they knew the boys seem to be busy working for someone every weekend and if you don’t call early, they’re gone. Another guy reserved them for the Friday after Thanksgiving…now that’s planning ahead..but this is the same guy that has stopped by at least three different times and couldn’t catch a boy at home.

Then last night, the grain farmer up the road called to reserve Jake for today….which is fine with Jake since he gets to ride on big equipment and talk on the CB. With Sarah babysitting three afternoons during the week and the boys working on the weekends I end up not having to say ‘no’ to everything they want to buy at the store. When they make their own money they can pay for their own silly purchases like airsoft gun BB’s, toy tractors and six packs of raspberry-spearment gum!

It’s been an eventful week…and I’m ready for some slow days. The weather is the same as it’s been the last three mornings here on the Knolltop…cool and cloudy. How many different ways can I say that? Several if I sat and thought about it…I guess.

We had a new arrival last night as we finished up milking. Charlene was born! I’m going to call her Charlie. Charlie is out of one of our show heifers, Knolltop Outside Carolyn and she is out of a great cow family so I’m very excited that she had a heifer.

JW is in a musical this week at school. His first performance was last night and they will put it on again tonight. The play is Once Upon a Mattress and it’s funny. JW is a knight and has a couple of songs to sing in it. He’s very good…yes, I know I’m his mother…but really he is good. Grandma and Gramps came down for it last night and Grandma said he was good too…yeah, I know that doesn’t hold any weight either!

I forgot to mention that I was on Rural Route Radio with my buddy Kyle Bauer and adversary Trent Loos. I was on Tuesday and we talked about healthy states…the north is healthier than the south….yes we discussed all that and I gave my biased opinions without solicitation…but isn’t that was talk radio is? If you want to hear it go to www.KFRM.com and click on Programming and then you’ll see Rural Route Radio…just click and listen.

Today is laundry day…you should see the mess I have of clean laundry that needs to be folded and put away and the dirty laundry that is…..well….dirty. I’ve still got to write my column too…that is my first priority since it was due yesterday. I need coffee…and lots of it!