update from the Farm

       We've received  from 1.20 '" of rain to 1.50" in the last 6 days so everything looks like West Cork Ireland. The talk on the radio is another 1.50" in the next two days, me I say .50" just a gutfeeling. Either that or the Bud Light talking. There was a death on the farm today..........Either Ruff or Redddy, we had two red hens just yesterday I told Rita I named them those clever names, sure as Hell one of them bit the dust today. The autopsy is scheduled for 8.00 am tomorrow , and chicken soup is scheduled for supper tomorrow night, that's how we role on the Farm. There doesn't seem to be FOWL play , that was good, but one can't rule out a weasel, they grab the chicken by the neck and suck out their blood , leaving not much evidence of trauma. I trust in Arlyn Rockman, our Coroner.  The semi-amateur Baseball team that plays their home games just one mile East of the Farm, had their first practice today, when I was done spraying I stopped by and watched some.  Looks like a strong squad. I noticed their catcher had some of the qualities of the legendary Loren Hodges, in Three years of squatting or kneeling behind the Dish I can honestly say I never saw him catch a pitch. It looked like the younger kids looked particularly salty, while waiting for the Coach to hit the ball their way most of them had drifted out to the creek to find frogs. A time warn tradition. Will Blog about the Great Flood of 2013 in two days

Just a few pictures from a fairly wet Little Sage Creek notice in one Rooster and Hen with three deer and just before sunise anotherAdd caption

My definition of a "Crying Shame"

        Rita and I maintain a cemetery. No big deal, 35 miles North of Hingham there was once a Catholic Church, St. Wencelaws, not even close on the spelling but think of that Christmas song Old King Wencelaws. Whatever, Rita's Grandfather Homesteaded a few miles away, around 1910, and was a member of the parish. the community was known as Goldstone ,A very inhospitable place to begin life in America, He and his wife spent the most of their first year living under a wagon with canvas tarp as the walls. As soon as possible they had a shack that would be called home, in time for their first baby, a girl named Mary. That is where the cemetary comes into the story. A very severe influenza went thru the area , starting with Baby Schweitzer it took the lives of sixteen children one of which  was One Year old Mary Lipp. These were the first graves in the St Wencelaws Cemetary, the Headstones are names Like Fischer, Holzer, Warhank, and Schweitzer. This is where the Crying Shame is. Thru the years the Church was abandoned and torn down and sadly the Catholic Church abandoned the Cemetary. Left to grass overgrown and tumbleweeds piled four feet high all around, the Corpus , which is the statue of Christ on the Cross in the middle of the Cemetary was missing a leg and an arm, but still there. The worst thing of all there are nothing but homemade small crosses marking 16 graves, no names, no dates. The Catholic Church says there is no record of any kind to tell us who is in those graves. I can't tell you how upsetting it is to be weed eating around them and not knowing . Rita's Dad said he always thought they were the children who died in the epidemic that got just the cross's. We might never know, but I do know that Governor  Schweitzer has both Grandparents buried there, Grandma Schweitzer, as she was called by all the children in Hingham was the last buried, in 1961. Sounds like Brian is going to run for the Senate so we will be hearing again about his roots in Montana, Hey B.S. if you want to know where your beloved Grampa and Gramma are buried, call me I'll show you. Since it is Memorial Day tomorrow and our thoughts turn to our loved ones who are no longer with us, maybe you will say a prayer for those sixteen souls who have been forgotten by most , but not by Blackjack.

The things you hear at an auction

  Ok let's try this again, the third time to write this blog my iPad has shut down just before print twice. After you read it you might think it is directed by AG Holder.     A man called JC told me this story of a day in his life two years ago. He ranches 25 miles NW of Cut Bank MT, some of his ground is on the Blackfoot reservation. One day while checking his cows with his faithful dog beside him on his four wheeler, he crested a hill and came face to face with a Grizzly Bear, who was eating one of the two cows he had killed that morning. Brakes were applied at an alarming rate the dog went flying towards the bear, JC grabbed the small caliber rifle he carried, emptying the 22 into said bear. Wounding him to the point that he roared and ran down the hill. Dog was scampering up onto the four wheeler unharmed but terrified, JC headed home after a few minutes he took a breath and said to himself "That was a Damn Grizzly, the first ever seen on his place" Once home he grabbed his big game rifle  and went back to finish him off, which he did. Then notified The Tribe and Fish and Game authorities. Once they arrived and understood the situation, they were supportive so much so that they told JC what to and what not to say to the Feds, when they contacted him and they would. JC  didn't go into much about the interaction with The Feds except to say he witnessed around &200,000 worth of waste of our taxpayer money. Some dude flew back from DC 5 times to INVESTIGATE the incident, they started talking about possible fines up to $50,000 and other penalties. JC hired an attorney and fought it , not sure how much it cost JC but the final settlement included Him writing an APology letter to whom it may concern which had to be published in the Great Falls Tribune.Now doesn't that sound childish.   A side note ....that fateful day while JC and 4 others were standing in the pasture next to a Dead Bear and two Dead Cows along side 3 pickups and two four wheelers discussing the situation, they noticed a large black Helicopter coming toward them, JC turned to the tribal representative and said " What the Hell have I got myself into" the Tribal man said I don't know what they are doing here. As the chopper landed a quarter of a mile away, JC went over to face the music, he noticed three men out of the chopper , they seemed to be rummaging thru a pile of bones that were at the bottom of a well known Buffalo Jump. Oblivious to anything else going on around them they were just out for a joy ride with The BlackHawk. Our Border Patrol at it 's best. Just a coincidence a Dead Bear was within sight.   JC mentioned to me " I don't know which was more disturbing the fact that they were wasting so much of our money, or the fact that these idiots were supposed to be on the watch for anything out of the norm" Better hit publish before Holder reads this!!!!!!!!!!

why today ???

     Started out like anyother day with the usual chores feeding , watering and gathering the livestock. All done before sunrise, so the little ones were out of the way,still in bed. She noticed the well water was more and more showing dirty, which mean't , going dry. A real concern in April since the spring rains should have been there by now.  Back in the house to literally dust off the kids as they woke up, the homestead shack made from shiplap boards with paper insulation was not keeping the dirt out, the twins were having a devil of a time breathing , not sure but she had read about something called asthma, if it could just rain....Winds were already 45 miles an hour , that makes 5 out of the last 6 days......It was hard for her to keep from crying all day long ,just lately she noticed that hours went by and she hadn't moved out of bed, kids stood next to her crying for food, food that she didn't have.....When will John be back.....Alright got to get something cooking for the kids.....all She could find were onions and a few potatoes...that will have to do..As she stood at the plywood table slicing the vegetables, a gust of wind blew the door open covering her and everything in the one room shack with dirt, the prarie powder sticking to everything and everyone. Once the door was closed she turned to see fourlittle children screaming with mud tears........................John was out to check his trapline one last time, the pelts were all but past prime but they needed something, anything, Little Sage creek, Big Sage Creek, and Tootsie Creek were his loop, taking him 7 to 10 days by foot.... His last trip was meager at best ,he carried 5 skunks, one mangy fox and a porcupine home. At least he was coming home......As he approached the shack , his first reccollection was it was very quiet, very quiet.......What was that on the front door? Looks like dark red paint,, we don't have any paint.....What are the words.....What the Hell......."IT WAS THE WIND"..........written by a woman driven insane by the elements , with the blood of her children...........................That story was told to me by my Great GrandFather Chief "Make me a Drink"....he was a lazy drunk from the forgotten tribe whose territory ran just north of Aberdeen Scotland, a place called Alford.....Fact or Fiction?????? Our spring has been one of unrelenting winds, a constant pounding , day after day after day,   40 miles an hour with gusts to 55 are common, dirt is moving every day.  ......Just last night I was standing at the kitchen cupboard slicing my Spam for my nightly Fried Spam sandwich, and a gust peppered the window with sand, I looked out into the Abyss and with Butcher Knife in Hand looked over at my faithful companion of 14 years Riley.... He looked up at me with the eyes of a 77 year old Black Saxaphone player from New Orleans, I swear  I heard him say.....WHY TODAY??????

Are you trustworthy?

 We all have people whom we don't trust ,and for good reasons right? Well here are a few of them, My Uncle Bob always said" Never trust a man with no Vices"......Or as Obama was overheard saying recently "Never trust a man who can't Bang with Shaq".....What the Hell?...Coincidently Fred Willard  and Peewee Herman both said "Never trust  or shake hands with a man leaving a xxx rated theatre"......Arnold Schwartzenegger was boasting, ok let's try this one with our best Austrian accent, "Never trust a man who can't bench press 500 pounds while simultaneously impregnating Your Nanny"......Dan Quayle famously stated "Never trust any man who can spell Potato or Catsup correctly"....One of my favorites was my beloved Mother in Law, Clara Lipp's always maintained "You can never trust anyone who after butchering 100 chickens by noon , couldn't eat chicken for lunch".....As for me I say "Never trust a man who doesn't wear a belt"....and " Never trust anyone over 13 who wears a sports jersey with a name on the back, and especially have distaste for said fan who tucks the shirt in"....For Gods sake "Trust no one who knows the words to any Barry Manilow song"..... Ok Grandkids gather up close to your computer Bop is gonna give you a good one ..."Never trust anyone who tells you to Act Your Age"