We’re hosting a Fall Open Farm and Trap Shack Open House on Sun. Sept. 19th, 2010. Hours will be from 10 AM until 3 PM. Uncle Kenny Salwey will be there from 10 ’til 3.  He’s a cherished family member, author and story teller. Come browse the Showroom for trapping and coon hunting supplies and chat with us and  Kenny. Tour the gardens and see the animals and Welcome Home!

Flow like water, shine like the rising sun and play like an otter!

Sue Roskos

Thanks to Patzie, a great neighbor Bernie and good weather-we made the highest quality first crop hay, we’ve ever made. It’s neatly stacked and under cover of tarps.  Tom would add that he had one of his biggest belly busters again. Day two of hay making and I was giddy with another day of raking hay. I gleefully hopped on the Field Boss Tractor with the Tonutti Rake pulling behind. Tom gave me a refresher course as Hawken added his own version of instructions. I waved them away and half way through the round, I heard a squeak. Oops-I loosened the tightly pulled parking brake.  A short version is Tom later went to beg Bernie to come to the field I raked. Tom had to give up using our baler. Bernie came and later told Tom he’d have to charge us mileage. Made a lot of rounds and few bales. “I think a cyclone went through the field after Sue raked it!” Let’s just say the tonutti rake was for sale before this story and now it will be on an auction for sure by next year. I did make it to Broiler/Dairy Days Kiddie Parade with Hawken though. He asked me where the kitty cats were though @ the kiddie parade!

Making and raking hay,

Sue Roskos

If you are looking for a delightful place to rent a place down in Baraboo region, we’d recommend Prairie Hill Farm. The owners are special people with an eye towards things we cherish. The farmhouse has paths mown around the land, a beckoning swing that called me every late evening, and solitude. We were able to be outdoors from daylight til dark as at home, and roamed freely on the lovely property.

The sweet melodies of the whispering pine trees featured in Aldo Leopold’s books, spoke deeply  in a rich whispy voice to me. Amidst the eager chatter of touring people, I was sunk so lovely and peacefully in the midst of nature’s nest. I could easily see and hear the voices of the past and present all connected.  I know the green fire in the wolves eyes that changed Aldo’s life.

Flow like water and shine like the rising sun,

Sue Roskos

We assembled in Tim and JoJo’s yard and sang Happy Birthday to salute Grandma Melvina Salwey who turned 97 years young on that May 15th day. What better way to honor the woman who with her late husband Willard-is the reason we all cherish trout. She did get to visit her 100 yer old friend Clarwin Klein who promptly told her she best listen to his story-cause he’s older than her!!

Not just wishin’ we were fishin’!!

Sue Roskos

The evening venture to Big Bend and along First Pond were the big sign I asked for. There so deep in the mud were wolf tracks, next to coyote tracks, my tracks, Sandhill Crane and deer tracks.

Feel the connection to yourself and the river that runs through you,

Sue Roskos

Three elves picked up Uncle Kenny Salwey from his home and loaded up the rehabilitating Kenny in his blue sedan. Kenny was 2 weeks post-op from a hip replacement. We roadtripped with him to a fishing region that was easily accessible for him and for our 3.5 yr old son Hawken.

Uncle Tim Salwey and Aunt JoJo White presented Hawken with his own fish pole. Tim then escorted Hawken to the creek holes as friends and family gathered along the creek banks. The anticipated arrival of Hawken and Kenny prompted a bantering and chatting that is conducive to eloquent fish tales being told.

I retreated to fish 15 minutes and returned to find Hawken with 2 brook trout. The rest of the 10 adults all smelled like skunk after we fished for 2 hours.

Uncle Kenny chuckled all the way back to his place commenting that together we all probably have caught 5,000 fish over the years and today we’ve all been outfished by a little boy. We all basked in the beauty of passing along the tradition of fishing opener to the youngest member of the Salwey family.

Flow like water and shine like the rising sun,

Sue Roskos

My wish was to make an easier path for little legs, strollers and people with impaired mobility to have easier access to the backwaters when touring. With our friends that run a nice bulldozer and excavator, my wish was granted. A special thanks to Timmer and Jeffrey Reglin from Reglin and Hesch Construction from Waumandee for being accommodating and made it all seem so easy. The Sandhill Cranes, deer and coon have left their tracks etched in the bulldozed soil along First Pond along with my size 8.5  black tingley boots. I noticed a two foot long scratch in the soil with three claws on it’s tip. I’m dreamily gazing @ the nesting geese and ducks are floating. Then I notice a shimmering, slick dark animal inch-worming it’s way down the path towards me. It appears as an otter all curious and I stop to enjoy my first experience of seeing an otter on shore in our backwaters. He was out for a morning walk with me and eventually plopped back into the water and turned his head to watch me as I passed by him to check the beef cattle herd.

What have you been seeing out in nature?

Flow Like water and Shine like the Rising Sun,

Sue Roskos

Tom and I had been preparing for his departure and teaching  days spent in Viroqua for Organic Valley’s annual class that Doc Paul Dettloff leads.  The glorious weather prompted extra activity this year on our farm. By the middle part of the day prior to Tom departing for 3 days and 2 nights, the universe slapped us up as the treadmill sped up again. A call from the stockyards wondering if we wanted a load of black feeder lambs. We decided to take them. Then we needed to vaccinate, castrate and immunize our lambs prior to turning them out on pasture with their Moms. Hawken was smitten with the lambs and carried them around while Tom held the lambs and I did the tagging and vaccinating. 

Our dear Patzie, Ed that is-helped us that day with fencing and getting Tom ready to rollout of town. The vet phone was adjusted to allow ample time to get calls completed, we thought. Tom was in cattle pasture and discovered a dead cow with a calf trying to suck on her udder. He returned to find Hawken and I and then proceeded to intercept Patzie to help. They hopped on the gator and Patzie was insistant on wanting to tie the beef calfs legs together when they caught it to haul it home. Tom pounced on the agile calf and hung onto the balling calf with one hand and eventually they hog tied the kicking calf with a rope. Tom mentioned he was desperately trying to help hold that calf so Patzie didn’t get whacked on the back of the head. Then they smartly decided to conatin the calf with a sturdy pen in t he barn on our lower farm. Then Tom popped in during Hawken’s bath and appeared concerned all over again. Rosie, a pet cow had milkfever. He was able to easily catch the cow and ran an IV of calcium to her out on pasture. We found frozen colostrum milk in freezer and I thawed it out for the orphaned calf. With Hawken tucked in bed, I started the process of warming cow’s milk. I poured the milk into a calf bottle. I flipped the barn light switch on and the resting calf was all tucked in a corner. I sweetly murmered words and then the calf stood up and charged me. A 90 lb. black angus  heifer calf is quickly shoved into a corner with a plastic bottle filled with warm milk shoved in it’s mouth while I’m smiling.  1/2 hour later-I’m still smiling and have gotten but a few drops in the calf that perpetually charges me. I grab it by it’s ears and hold her. Tom walks in and attempts to get the calf to suck and I head up to the drug room to get the tube feeder. I called friends of ours the next day and asked them to come pick up the  spirited calf as a gift….please..just take the calf as a favor to me. I haven’t spoken with them since to see how the calf is doing.

Feel the Spirit of giving while you are living,

Sue Roskos

I love to sing “Ewe are so Beautiful to me-Can’t You See??  You’re everything I hoped for, you’re everything I need.” That song has many meanings and the latest is the ewes have lambed on our farm.  They are loafing and grazing on pasture and the youngest are being tended in the shed.  Last Summer I personally selected the male sire to utilize for the ewes to be bred to. Yeah, my first solo sheep purchase. I  bought a load of feeders and a male to service the female sheep. Let’s just come to the conclusion that he appeared inferior in height to actually reach the females. Tom and I stared @ the wide gap between them and just laughed that the buck needed a 5 gallon pail to stand on to reach the ewes. The buck never really grew and we opted to sell him and purchase a different buck. This Spring the joke is on us. That seemingly too short buck apparantely was able to impregnate all five ewes for the gestation period matches when he was in with the ladies.

Stories-it’s all stories,

Sue Roskos

Now Jim and us have never met and this was me inviting him to come and share nature that we all hold in high regard. We all agreed to bring the metal canoe closer to where Jim was standing in our pasture on the banks of Sunrise Slough. Tom mentioned about the other wooden paddle and I was watching and pointing @ the geese and ducks. I had this vision of Tom and I pulling the canoe from where it was tied to a tree through the boggy grasses over to Jim-why would I need a paddle for that? Silly guy!  We arrived @ the canoe and Tom turned the girl over and exposed her belly to the sun. Then he started to put it in the water and I am inquiring what he was doing???  Then the jokes again on me. This time we didn’t have to pull the canoe like last week. There was actually water and we could put the Michicraft in the water and paddle..oh-there’s one paddle. The other paddle is keeping all of Jim’s camera equipment company in the back of the truck. We giggled and thought it’s all about the stories and a lady pointing in the sky or @ the water.

Jim was  kind to put up with all the humor and he even wrote us into part of his weekly column. He also included a photo of the Voyager’s as he called us as we pulled up  to him in the Cadillac of Canoes and he eyed us up and said he trusted us. He got in with all of his camera equipment and it was a sharing of nature and paddling with hearts filled with Cranes, geese and ducks. Thanks Jim for the photos and we look forward to your many returns and Hawken wants to show you more chickens and the rest of the farm too.

Feel the Spirit of the Backwaters,

Sue Roskos

Canoe Can Do!!

Sue Roskos