Nature's Facelift And A Giveaway

My favorite season of the year is Fall.

Thanks to Megan Z. for this photo taken on the St. Croix River.

I love the Fall colors. I think Fall is God's way of giving the landscape a bit of a facelift before our Minnesota Winter sets in. You see, if you are not from a Winter Wonderland like Minnesota, you may not know that before the snow covers and illuminates the landscape, that said landscape is brown and downright dreary! That's when God pops the Fall color image back into your head and you say, "Yes, but wasn't it a gorgeous Fall!"

Love this tree on the front yard of my childhood home.

I've been doing a bit of facelift work too. Although not nearly as grand as the Fall landscape, I am still proud of some facelift changes at My Barnyard View. Perhaps you noticed the new photo at the header of this blog. Daughter Sara captured this image as we were finishing up hay chopping right before a rain shower that left us with a double rainbow. 

You may have also noticed the new "buttons" on the right side of my posts.

I have added Instagram, and

 my channel on YouTube showing all my videos.

I also recently added a "My Barnyard View" Facebook page. 

(That's another facelift.) 

 I invite you to click on the 

 on the right side of this post, and "like" my newest addition 

to the Barnyard family.

Following My Barnyard View is as easy 

as a click of a button!

and facelifts!

In honor of all the new changes at My Barnyard View, 

let's celebrate with a giveaway! 

 Enter to win the start of your dairy herd. I promise you will not have to clean-up after her, but if you feed her she will help you save for upcoming holiday gifts, or perhaps pay for another addition to your herd!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks

Last year at this time, I was preparing for a trip to Kansas City, Missouri. I was invited to attend a dairy moms workshop, exploring the possibilities of social media. I was anxious, nervous and excited to attend. I knew nothing about social media, other than my Facebook account, (which my kids helped me set-up). Would I be able to keep up with the discussion and the terminology? Well, I am proof that you can teach an "old dog" new tricks! Even though I left Kansas City with my head spinning with all of the new information I had gained, I knew a blog was a project I wanted to tackle!

Some of the 2012 Workshop Attendees

This blog was born in May of 2012. My plan was to give my readers an inside look at my family's love of dairy foods and dairy farming. Most people are two or more generations removed from farming, and because of this, many folks don't know what we do "down on the farm."  Soon after beginning My Barnyard View, I began a Pinterest account, and quickly followed with a Twitter account. Last February I never thought I would be this involved in social media, but over the past year I have seen the benefits of sharing my dairy story. I have been approached by folks of all ages that are eager to get answers to their farm related questions. I have discovered that people truly want to know the story of how that delicious dairy food got to their table. I am happy to share my story, even if it means this "old dog" had to learn some new tricks!

This week I will be heading back to Kansas City. Another dairy moms workshop will be held, and I have been invited back as a mentor. I am hoping I can instill confidence in other dairy moms to take the journey and share their stories of life "down on the farm."

Visit me at my other social media locations:

Pinterest - mybarnyardview  (dairy recipes and other things I enjoy)
Twitter - @mybarnyardview  (my thoughts while I'm on the run)


Workshop sponsored by Midwest Dairy, which represents more than 9,500 dairy farm families to nearly 38 million consumers across 10 Midwestern states. Midwest Dairy works on behalf of dairy farmers to increase dairy sales, foster innovation and inspire consumer confidence in dairy products and practices.

You're Never Too Old To Learn

 
Earlier this week John and I attended the Midwest Dairy Expo in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The expo is a great atmosphere for farmers to learn of the latest in their industry. Each of the three days there were exhibits to explore; to drool over the newest dairy equipment, to sit in a shiny, new combine, or to discuss finance and marketing strategies with the experts. 

There were also many seminar topics to choose from; managing employees, feeding strategies, cow management, and telling the dairy story through social media. Social media? Like blogging and Facebook and Twitter? That's right!  I was a panelist for the social media session on how we as farmers can share our farming story. I was joined by Seena, another Minnesota dairy mom, and Sami from Midwest Dairy who served as the moderator. We shared what we have done to tell our story; to educate and inform with a little entertainment along the way. Hopefully we inspired our audience to someday share their experiences of "life on the farm."

Seena, Sami and I after our Social Media presentation

And we can't go to a farm event without visiting with other farm folks who took some time away from the farm to make farming even better!

Ashley and Nikki are on Facebook (2farmgirlz)