BLOG: Go with the flow

This year keeps getting a little more crazy. The last week of October we had a plan and schedule for getting the cows into the new barn, beginning to train them and then what start up would look like in the new robotic milking barn. It was a very detailed plan that I spent hours on and knew where everyone needed to be when. I even had down meals that would be prepared knowing that everyone would be working around the clock to train the cows. It felt really good to know what the next few weeks would look like….

Well, on the farm, things never seem to go as planned and you’ve got to be able to go with the flow. This is definitely something that I’ve had to get used to over the years. The patience and understanding my family seems to have when life throws curve balls helps me take a deep breath and then process what changes when we need to adjust the schedule.

Friday, October 30 we were supposed to be spending the day doing final tweaks on the barn. My dad and I were going to spend the second half of the day trimming the cow’s hooves. As my mom and I finished up doing some calf chores we got a call from my brother Dustin saying that dad started trimming hooves and his right hand ring finger got caught in the hoof grinder and severed his finger down to the first knuckle. We hustled home and I drove him straight to the ER. The car ride there we had small talk and he was extremely calm the entire time. As we got into the ER and waited in the room it started hitting him, all of the things he wouldn’t be able to help with over the next few weeks. As we waited for the nurses and doctors, we made phone calls to try to line things up to get the remaining cows hooves trimmed by someone else; we revisited the schedule and tried plugging away as much as we could from the hospital.

Now, I’ve talked about my mom being a saint many times. I mean she truly is amazing. That woman has superhero powers, I swear. But this last week she exceeded all of those titles! Due to the increased risk of infection on the farm my dad hasn’t been able to help milk or be around the animals (manure). He has however been out in the new barn helping to do a few last minute things; but as you can imagine he does have pain and he is limited to what he can do. Mom has managed to keep on with a positive attitude taking on more workload.

In the midst of all of this, my initial panic has turned it to gratitude. I’m so thankful for our entire team. Our crew at the creamery is helping in ways they don’t even realize to keep our store operating as normal, and keeping production rolling. As far as my immediate family is concerned, after the accident happened it was everyone’s instinct to help and take on more. Even my husband who has a full time gig in Cedar Rapids spent his weekend with us in the barn working. I think we all already felt like we didn’t have enough hours to get done what we needed to but we all seemed to show up and help wherever we could. It again reminded me that there’s no other crew in the world I’d want to be doing this with!

While the next few weeks will continue to be challenging, exhausting and exciting I promise to make time each day you write down how the day went, what we learned, funny stories and memories that were made to share with all of you! It’s onto the next chapter in our book! Thanks for your continued support and well wishes!