Where, Oh Where Has My Little Blog Gone?

And I thought June was crazy busy! The month of June brought me to my computer everyday as each day I shared a dairy topic in honor of June Dairy Month. Whew! A blog post each day can be fun, exhilarating, and exhausting. There will never be a month as busy as June, I heard myself saying. 

Wrong!

Nearly 2 weeks (yes, I have failed you, and I apologize) 

have passed since writing, so it is time to catch up on 

what's been happening on, and off, Bremer Farms.

Farmer John and daughter Sara both celebrate their birthdays in July. Farmer John got his gift early as you may remember his automatic gate opener was installed as soon as it arrived. You can see it in action here. When I asked Sara what was on her birthday wish list, her response was plywood! If you know Sara you may already realize her thoughts can be a bit out-of-the-box, so this came as no surprise. She has plans for an even bigger, HUGE Christmas display on the farm this coming December and plywood will help to make it happen. John and I presented her with a Menard's gift card to get her a step closer to seeing her dream come true. You can bet her masterpiece will be featured on my blog later this year.

 

July is also our city's annual festival "Rivertown Days." Since Hastings sits on the banks of the Mississippi River, we celebrate the Mighty Mississippi  and its beauty for four days each summer. The celebration culminates on Sunday with the grand day parade. Our family creates the float for son Michael's workplace, Hastings Community Television. This year Michael's boss chose to highlight Michael's show Take A Hike, Mike. After sewing 28 yards of skirting for the float, and outfitting 20 wanna-be-hikers with plaid shirts and bindle sticks (Mike's signature attire), it was time to roll down the parade route.

 Even our farm truck got washed and decorated for a day off the farm to pull the float.

Sara also got her very own float as Hastings Teacher of the Year!

I know it looks like I'm just taking a milk break, but I'm also showing off a thank you gift from Midwest Dairy. This month I was asked to make a little video on why I share my dairy story. Why do I think it's important to be a Champion for Dairy? Take a look...

 Bremer Farms was also recently visited by our 

County Commissioner, Mike Slavik.

 Mike's goal is to visit farms in his district to talk to farmers about issues that affect all of us. Mike understands the importance of  farming and "goes to the source" to get farmer's perspective.

 Farmer John shows County Commissioner Mike Slavik our calf barn while discussing current issues that affect farming.

I can't think of a better way to end the hectic month of July than with freshly made cheese curds. These ridiculously good cheese curds come from Redhead Creamery. You may remember their name from reading Say Cheese, Please. Congratulations to Alise and Lucas for achieving their dream of starting an on-farm, ecologically friendly, cheese plant.

I'll be back in a few days to share a few more July tidbits. Did I mention I also taught Summer school this month? And what about the root beer floats...and  our two building projects on the farm...and the crops we have been harvesting...and...

The end of July also brought the end of National Ice Cream Month, but that doesn't mean the end of eating ice cream! Oh no it doesn't!