you see, old macdonald had this farm....

what better way to spend a weekend at home than going to visit the johnson homestead. amber and i took off on a hazy friday afternoon from iowa and headed to the beauty that is Hartford, South Dakota. we've been going to our grandparents' farm since we were no bigger than toothpicks in our mom's belly--so we are pretty much "pros" at farm life and farm chores in general.


friday evening we decided to head out "in style". my uncle, otherwise known as Big Ron, bought a limousine a couple of years ago and started his own limo service: Living Large Limos Limited. of course he does this on the side, his true heart and soul goes into cattle farming. anyway, we took the limo out for a spin and drive to the hilltop restaurant for some excellent pan-fried walleye.

amber and i volunteered to get up early and do chores with the men on saturday. we helped a lot. i think. uncle and gary (whose been my grandparents hired hand ever since i can remember) rounded up the cows we needed to deal with while amber and i patiently awaited our role: giving the cattle shots of anti-biotics in order to treat pink eye. yes folks, we did do it. and we did it well. what you have to do is insert the needle, which is about an inch and a half long, into the cow's neck. then you have to pump in the injection twice. stick the same cow again--in a different part of its neck--pump twice and repeat until all the anitbiotics are pulsing through the cow's veins. i learned that it takes 4.9mL of antibiotics for every 100lbs. interesting, no?


we felt pretty darn proud of our job. all in all we helped inoculate 20 cattle in just a little over an hour. most credit goes to uncle and gary though for doing the "hard" work and making it reasonably safe for us to do our work. after that amber and i headed back to the main house to help grandma prepare for fore-noon lunch. if you've never heard that term "fore-noon lunch" it means lunch before noon. it incorporates such dishes as open-faced ham sandwiches, cookies, and this time (since i was visiting from japan) sweet bean paste cakes! they were an instant hit among the crowd: my grandma, grandpa, uncle, and gary.


a good time was had by all. we danced with grandpa eldon to "big joe's polka show" until late into the night (10pm), repainted the Lilac Crest Charolais Farm sign, attended church in our Sunday best, and ate plenty of grandma's infamous rhubarb pie. no joke, this is the stuff of life.