My Inner-Farm Girl Emerges!

Well, again, I apologize for the time between posts but it's been very difficult to keep up the last two months with all of the travel I've been doing (mostly personal travel, thank goodness) it's hard to think of witty and ultimately hilarious posts about me and my house when I haven't been there technically! Now that summer is coming to and end (I know, I'm sad too) things will get back on schedule and I'll have more posts for you... promise!

As most of my current readers know, my boyfriend Emerson is a farm boy. Even though he's spent time in the big city of Boston and is working in a non-farm related field, he spent all of his life on the farm. I always knew this and was always very curious about it because he never struck me as the farm boys I had met in the past. We decided to make the trip to New England, ND to visit his family and are now here over Labour Day weekend having a great time. Now, most of you are thinking, "Katie + Farm = A Hilarious Mental Picture"... and I wouldn't have disagreed with you at first, but let me tell you, I AM becoming a farm girl (partially).

The farm here is great!! It's large and got lot's of machines, and I haven't been able to stop talking about how amazing it all is since I got here!! I said to Emer and his family that I felt like a six year old that was taken to Disney World. You take them and they run around all day saying, "Look at that! Let's ride that!" and then by 7pm they are sound asleep in the stroller and you have to take them home and tuck them in. That was me (without the stroller part). I was so excited to actually see everything in action and more so ask questions about how things work, how its stored, how it's cut and collected, and how they overall just work together out in the fields. It's something that takes a lot of planning and hard work, and a part of me felt for a moment that what I do doesn't even compare to the hard work that his family does. For a moment, I thought about quitting my computer-staring focused job and getting my hands dirty and become a farm girl. It was only for a moment... but I thought about it!

So, I have told you about where I am and how I feel about it, but you probably want to know what Katie's Inner Farm Girl actually looks like. Well, here's what I've done so far:

1. Stared at the great open fields here and have commented multiple times on how big the sky is here. The size of the sky hasn't changed... I realize that... but it does look SO much bigger out here!

2. Rode passenger in a transport truck that carries grain from the fields to the big bins they store it in. I was a good passenger and constantly commented on how fast Emer was taking corners, and I worried silently about the grain spilling out.

3. Rode passenger in the tractor that pulled the grain cart. This thing drives up alongside the combines (which is the machine that actually goes through the fields and cuts the wheat) and let's the combines dump their collected grain into it. I steered the wheel for a little bit while Emer drove... but mainly I watched out the window as thousands of pounds of grain were poured in.

4. Rode passenger in a combine! This was very cool to watch all the wheat actually be cut! I rode with Emer's brother and asked silly questions for the few hours we spent together! I talked about how the combine's computer sounded like a video game and other very important farming topics.

5. I moved some cart thingy under a transport by pulling a lever. It was hard work and cool.

6. I climbed up the bins (the tall silos where the grain is stored) and looked inside. Then I realized how high up I was and got really sweaty palms.

7. I stood inside an empty silo to see how big it actually was. I also did some serious echo testing by saying "Helloooooo", "Whoooooooooo", "I'm on a farrrrrmmmmmmmmm" loudly and ensuring it was super echoey (it was).

8. I actually got dirty and dusty. This is a huge surprise for a lot of you, but it was actually fantastic and I enjoyed it!

There has been a lot of cool things so far that I've done here and it makes me appreciate so much more where Emer comes from and the unbelievable work ethic he and his family have! All in all, it's just been such a fantastic first farm experience!

I got to have a long bath after my long day of farming! haha! It was fantastic! Then, we thought about going out and seeing the one bar in New England... but decided that it was time for bed because they had to farm all day the next day. Now, I actually decided to stay with Emer's mom all day today and shop, have lunch, and see some of the sights... but that was hard work too!

The view from on top of the Buttes looking down on some of the farm land.

Looking at the combines working cutting wheat.

Watching Emer fill a transport with grain from the fields.

Me on top of the buttes!