Country Chatter

This is written by guest blogger, Karla Hostetter.  She and her brother, Ryan, have spent 5 days here over spring break. Karla is in 6th grade and loves to write.

The first full day I was here was Sunday. Noah came over and he had fun playing with Ryan and me. We first biked on the side of the driveway, but then decided to go into the cow pasture because Noah was having trouble biking on so much gravel. Ryan got tired of biking so he drove the golf cart beside Noah and me. Noah’s bike’s tire was starting to get flat so Ryan and I had to take his bike to Grandma to get the tire pumped up. I took my bike back to the house while Ryan got Noah’s bike. Ryan held the bike onto the back of the golf cart while I drove carefully and slowly to the shop. Noah’s tire got fixed by Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma pumped up the first tire, but could not get the second tire to pump up. That was because the tire slid out of its place. Grandpa put the tire back in place and got it pumped up. While Grandpa was fixing Noah’s bike, we went to play indoors. We had lots of fun. It was finally time for Noah to go home. His bike was fixed and he had fun.

The second full day was Monday. Monday was the day where I went to the back of the store with Ryan and Grandma to hold the baby ducks. I watched them for a little bit and got brave enough to hold one. He was a cute brown and black duck. I was just saying how cute he was to grandma when he did it. I didn’t realize at first but when I put him back in the cage and looked down at my hands, I spotted it. I spotted the poop on my hands. “ewww” was what I said. When I spotted the poop, Grandma did too. The entire time, from when I looked at my hands and walked back to the store counter where you check out, Grandma was laughing and laughing. That is a memory I do not miss.

Another thing that I did Monday was help clear the sticks from a certain spot across from the house. Grandma wanted to mow there so Ryan and I helped clear sticks for an hour or so.

We also drove the golf cart around the cow pasture which isn’t new, but getting the golf cart stuck was new. Ryan and I took turns on the golf cart and it was Ryan’s turn. He took the wheel and drove down to the bottom of the hill where it was muddy. The first time he drove over it just fine, but when we were going over it again he got stuck. I don’t blame him completely because I did tell him to go in through that spot, but I also did tell him to stop. I just said it a little too late. Ryan put the golf cart in neutral and then he got off the golf cart and tried to pull. I did the same. We pulled as much as we could pull and then we pushed as hard as we could, but it was no use. It would not budge. Ryan  started the engine again. The golf cart just got deeper and deeper into the mud. Ryan and I needed help. We walked all the way back to the store and told grandma. Grandma said that it was ok because they would get it out. Later Ryan and I hopped into Grandpa’s tractor and went with him to push it out. Grandpa didn’t stop the tractor for us to get out. He kept going until he pushed the golf cart out of the mud with the tractor’s “spikes”.

The last exciting thing I did that day was ride a horse! I biked to the horse stable and asked if I could ride. When they said yes,  my heart leaped with excitement. They told me that I would be riding Taz. I kept my bike helmet on and they saddled him up and I climbed up on the stairs and hopped on her because she was so big. I felt like I was so high in the air as I rode around the pen. It felt so magical. Taz. This was the most exciting day this week.

Tuesday was the day that Lauren came over. All three of us hung around for a while then rode on the golf cart. We drove the golf cart on the driveway and into the pasture. We eventually got tired of doing that and went back into the house.

Grandma said we could make cookies, so we decided to do so. We made Molasses Crinkles. We mixed the ingredients and then baked them. Some were a little crispy, but they were still good.

Lauren and I hung around and talked the rest of the time. Later, after Lauren left, I went biking in the cow pasture. I biked along the road until the pasture stopped and another one began. When I was pretty far down I saw out of the corner of my eye a cow laying in some wire. When I got close, it stood up scared. I noticed that it was tangled in the wire and stuck, so it couldn’t go very far. I wasn’t sure if I should help it myself or not, but I decided to leave that business to Grandpa. I raced back to the house, parked my bike, and walked up the driveway on the left side to get the golf cart from Ryan. I met him near the horse stable. He picked me up wondering why I was up that far up the driveway. I gave him a brief summery of what happened, then told him to take me to the store so I could tell Grandma and Grandpa. I found Grandma at the store and told her about the situation. She said she would go look in a minute. I went out to wait in the golf cart. Grandpa walked by the golf cart and went into the store. Then he came out and sat in the driver’s seat and asked me where I saw this stuck cow. I told him that it was on top of the hill and in the first pasture or the one you enter when you first go into the cow pastures. We took off to help the cow. When we arrived at our destination, Grandpa told Ryan and I to be very quiet. We were quieter than a lamb. Grandpa was amazing at getting the cow untangled. He first snapped the wire and pulled gently. Next he stepped on the wire to keep it still. Last of all he pulled a little more and the wire came off. The cow helped himself at the end by pulling away from the wire. Grandpa wrapped up the wire and put it on the fence post so it wouldn’t happen again. Ryan was going to take a picture, but he missed it. He had three to five minutes to take it and he completely missed it!

Wednesday, our last full day, and Lauren came over again but for a shorter amount of time. We started out by going to the store. Grandma had some chicks in the store and they were super cute! I decided to hold one. I enjoyed holding him lots. It was then when I decided to hold more chicks. I had held lots when a chick did it to me, again! I said, “Why does this always happen to me?” Grandma said, “I thought you wanted a farm?” I gave her a look that made her laugh. This pooping business has got me twice this week, and I didn’t come down here to get that!

Lauren and I played a game in the yard together. We would start a ways from the house. One person would close their eyes, spin around, and find their way to the house. The other person would tell them if they were close to something. Lauren and I played that game for thirty minutes or so. After we both had a chance to find our way to the house, it was time for Lauren to leave.

Later that evening I went on the tractor with Grandpa. During our “trip” I accidently said straw instead of hay. Grandpa told me the difference, which I was amazed at. I always thought that they were the same thing, but apparently hay is just dried grass. Straw is green, but turns yellow when ripe. When wheat turns yellow it looses some of its protein and the cows would still be hungry if they ate it, but with the dried grass, it will fill them up. I figured that I don’t need school with Grandpa around to teach me. 🙂