As I write my “Moos” on Monday morning, I am awaiting for the Grade 2/3 classes to arrive from J.W. Walker School in Fort Frances. Maddie and Marlee were able to take the day off to help Auntie Kimmie (and more likely to be sure no one will chase the […]
Kim Jo Bliss – Moo’s From The Herd
After taking the time to update my weather data, I can confirm that we definitely are about three weeks behind with our season. We normally would start accumulating corn heat units near the beginning of May but this year we didn’t start until May 27. Let’s hope we can make […]
It’s June—and we still are struggling to plant and get our “spring” jobs completed. I’m feeling overwhelmed right now as the list keeps growing, the calendar keeps turning, and the weather continues to not co-operate. We purchased a new brush mower last year for grass cutting here at the Emo […]
Sadly, our family lost our Grandpa Bliss on Friday night. Thankfully, he slipped away quite quickly. Grandpa and his quick talk will be greatly missed. You had to be on your toes and be prepared for him to tell you pretty much anything. If you didn’t know him well, you […]
I can’t believe how many people I spoke with who said we should expect this type of weather for our long weekend and opening of fishing season! I had big fencing plans for the weekend, but it certainly hasn’t been the most enjoyable time to be outside. The good part […]
I started working at the agricultural research station in Emo as a student back in 1987—a crazy long time ago! But since I started, I’ve never been this late at seeding the cereal performance trials. And it is starting to get to me. I realize we have no control of […]
Bring on the sunshine–my students started here at the Emo Agricultural Research Station on Monday! I have two new students this year: Nick Donaldson, attending the University of Guelph, and Lucas Hudson from the University of Western Ontario. It always is a bit challenging to start up with two new […]
Sadly, our district lost another good man over the weekend. Aarne Hahkala was actively involved in the community for many years and always willing to tackle any task–big or small. He was a great board member for the Rainy River Cattlemen’s Associawtion and a strong supporter of the Stratton sales […]
Some double-digit temperatures finally are appearing when I checked the long-term weather forecast. It won’t happen soon enough for most of us! Despite the cold temperatures and the extra work to keep water lines thawed out, the Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association’s spring cattle sale on Saturday in Stratton was quite […]
Each spring, as vaccination time approaches, I tend to worry that the handling facilities won’t be thawed out or be still full of snow. But for the first-time ever, it happened! I’m about three weeks away from breeding, so the cows needed to be vaccinated. Unfortunately, the corral still has […]
I think even my cows are growing tired of our lack of spring! For those of us who didn’t have a huge stack of hay this year, the long, lingering winter certainly is not helping that, either. Alas, the long-term weather forecast still isn’t looking very warm and we are […]
I was thinking that the cold weather Monday morning was quite an April Fool’s Day trick! The sun was shining, but it was pretty darn stiff in the barn yard. It’s amazing that last year at this time, we were thinking about planting. This year, however, I can’t even see […]
