Spring 2015 on the farm

Easter Sunday

Emmit 11mo old.

This is not Emmit's most impressive coverage or tasting, but it's an activity that's becoming quite common.

Nightly reading:  2 books, which Simon chooses, and Emmit rarely sits still for.

Blue Mounds State Park

We got back from a short 30 hr camping trip we took to SW Minnesota -- Blue Mounds State Park to be exact. The weather wasn't ideal, but wasn't all that bad either. We rented a tipi and mostly did a fair bit of hiking around the Sioux Quartzite outcropping and quarry that gives the park its name (apparently the red stone really looks blue from a distance).

S did pretty well on the trip and really enjoyed the opportunity to hone his rock climbing skills.

A few pics of the proof.

Unsafe at Any Speed

Our dear S, the joy of our gushy parental lives continues to engage our world at ever increasing speeds.  Over the past week or so, under the loving tutelage of his grandparents (all four, yay!) he has upgraded from the worm to a real, honest-to-goodness crawl.  His field of vision has greatly expanded and he now explicitly seeks out cat food, chocolate bars, small (now broken) carved stone frogs, containers of recycling, containers of mittens, containers of magazines, containers of plants, all other kinds of containers, cookbooks and brooms.  It's fun to watch.  We. Love. It.

Video, because it really did happen.  We're not sure who that awkward adult male voice in the video is... clearly not P, because he does not talk like that.

Progressing Like a Worm

Development of a small child is truly amazing to watch. Right now we're getting a firsthand look at how our little S works to understand the mechanics of crawling.  From the push-ups and "Cobra Pose" to the rocking back and forth on hands and knees, we've gotten to see a lot of techniques being tried out.  Recently the desire to have independent mobility has inspired S to do something C is calling "the worm."  It's not quite like the "worm dance," but you can maybe see the inspiration,  if you squint.

Mostly, for the family...

So, there are many updates we could/should be providing, but here is a brief update as to S's accomplishments of the day.  Lots of jumping, maybe even 30 minutes worth.  He took a nice long nap later that afternoon.

Food Progress

In the past month it is fairly clear that S is becoming more accomplished at eating solid foods and using sippy cups, but it's also painfully clear that his dad is slipping further and further into slightly embarrassing baby talk.

Well, this has been the year of updating electronics for us.  Recently P bought a "new" computer.  In my mind a new computer meant a nice new plastic or metal box all put together and ready to go, but of course P does things slightly different.  (And I appreciate his frugality, it means I can buy more clothes at thrift stores.)

He began by disassembling our current computer and selectively taking parts from an old box that had been collecting dust upstairs.  Of course, he had also purchased some updated hardware, and then this past Sunday evening he spent a few hours assembling our "new" computer on the living room floor.  It only took a few of hours, and voil la we have a new computer!  It works much better, is quieter and even has a little port where I can put the memory stick from our camera (which we also finally bought this past year).

...And thus, with this tidier port, I've recommitted to blogging every once in awhile.  Well, here is the latest video of our little guy.  Enjoy!

 Mr. Sockmonkey was introduced to S over 2.5 months ago and S took an immediate interest in him.  I use the word interest, not liking, because it took a little time to establish a trusting relationship.  However, now S lights up when he sees Mr. Sockmonkey and has a chance to soak him in saliva.  We trust the previous owners of this argyle sweater/sock washed it before transforming it into it's current form as a monkey.  This has the potential of developing into a long-term relationship.

This last picture was taken today and I'm amazed to see how much he has changed in 2.5 months.  

According to my kitchen scale...

According to my kitchen scale, minus 3 lbs for the fruit bowl, S weighs in at 12 lbs! Recently, when I've picked him up, especially at night when it's been a whopping 3.5 hours since I last held him, he has seemed heavy...or at least heavier. I wanted to weigh him and figured a kitchen scale would be slightly more accurate than an ancient bathroom scale.

Thug Life

It started with this awesome baby bag/robe thing we have. An offhand gangsta comment from P precipitated into a staged photo shoot of S by C. This is how S works the camera. Kinda makes you wonder how soon he'll be asking for gin with his juice.

It's time for introductions

Well, it's been a while since we've made time to document our lives and a fair bit has changed.  There are new jobs, different sheep, more cows, better landscaping and the worst drought in years.  Oh, and we've also started a family.

As for the introductions, World Wide Web, meet Simon Peter Ortman,  Simon Peter Ortman, meet everyone.

Below are a few snapshots of the birthing experience we had. It's kind of a long story, but the synopsis is that we had intended on a natural water birth at a hospital in SF, and after a long, exhausting labor we were thrilled to be surrounded by excellent facilities and people that enabled us to have a safe and expedient C-Section. It wasn't how we drew it up on paper, but we believe we made a great team that made the best decisions possible given the realities and ended up with a rediculously cute little boy and a joyous and exhausted set of parents.

Early on C labored by walking around, shaking her hips and... reading.

More intense labor on the birthing ball with some key counter pressure from P.

The water felt great and the rose was a nice visual touch.

Even going into major surgery, C had a sense of humor.

The proud Papa, with more than a few sniffles of joy and relief as he gets to meet Simon for the first time.

The joy is contageous and Simon is loving his mom.

In surgical recovery Simon had an accute sense of what his first job should be.

Rediculously cute.

P works on tickling S with the chest hair -- everybody loves it.

Father and Son size comparison.

The first bath was a bit of a shock, but it felt good to get clean.

C is looking good, happy and exceptionally well accessorized.

If you're interested in even more photos, they're available via Picasa/G+.

Feline vs. Amphibian

So, last night we had a snake in the back entry, and tonight when we came home, Dash, or "-", didn't greet us at the door as she normally does pleading to go outside.  We knew something was askew, and what we found challenged C's ethical code.  Note, that she loves our cat, but also loves frogs...a lot.

The dilemma: Allow Dash to continue playing with the trophy she discovered in the basement, a small toad, or save the poor things soul.  C rationalized that releasing the damaged toad out into the cold wouldn't save it's life anyway.  So, we allowed Dash to play with, and then eat her bed lunch.

Now I'm going to have to check my shoes!

We just returned from an evening spent frightening the youth of our church (no, not a hell house, just a scavenger hunt with us hiding and jumping out at opportune moments) when P noticed something slightly amiss in our entry.


Namely, there was a snake present.

Granted, it was a garter snake and it was trapped while trying to enter the space under the door jam and was thus quite helpless, but it was a little bit disconcerting.

The snake was clearly alive and wedged in and totally stuck.  A brief but fairly animated discussion took place as to whether - should be allowed to see/eat the live snake.  C held the pro-natural-order-of-things position, and P the anti-bloody-stub-of-a-snake-by-our-back-door position.



In the end P went to get a screwdriver to provide un-wedging support for the snake and C rounded up -.  The screwdriver was used, but the snake could not be backed up and eventually slithered under the door jam.  Meanwhile, once the snake slithered away, - became very interested in attacking the screwdriver, and quickly forgot about the snake.



End result, we know we do not sleep with a homicidal kitten at our feet, but we're left wondering that since the snake was trapped while trying to leave our home, where and how did it enter? And, perhaps most importantly, do snakes climb stairs?

A new addition to the family

It's been a while since we've posted and that's in part because we were busy preparing for a new addition to our family. This may come as a bit of a surprise, but we finally broke down and got a kitten. She's adorable and has already proven to be a lover of our laps. She has already been litter box trained and uses her scratching block accordingly, leaving our furniture alone (knock on wood).

Settling on a name for the little kitten has been a bit of a challenge for us. She has a sibling named "Ears" resulting from ear hair that is out of control, but in all other ways looks quite similar. P then thought it might be funny to call the her "Ne" (pronounced "knee") as both an acronym for "Not Ears" and in honor of Monty Python's "Knights Who Say Ni." This was deemed officially not funny by several people. Then, the name "-" (pronounced "dash") was found to be fairly funny by P. This comes from a name which we heard of while living in Elkhart county: "La-a" (pronounced "Ladasha"). Remember folks, don't let your - be silent. Other names we've considered is Acorn, Turtle, or Mousse. C thinks she looks like a delicious turtle cheesecake. Sadly, we're still using "kitten" as her primary name, alternate suggestions welcome.

Currently, we're hoping that she can be trained to herd sheep, but admittedly, that's coming along a bit slower than we had hoped.

These photos document early life on the parent's farm, then coming home with us on that fateful Sunday in September and a couple taken at home. Don't worry, this won't become yet another blog of adorable kitten photos, we promise. Let it be known, we also believe promises are meant to be broken.

Pied Piper

When you envision a cattle drive, you might not know exactly what we mean. Likely it envisions romantic visions of horseback riding, river crossings and lassos. Those visions are definitely romantic, but not accurate the Ortman farm. One of our little secrets is that our cows are trained (somewhat) to come when we call. While this isn't too unusual, we're a bit biased and think our cows are pretty awesome and generally respond very well to our calls of "Come Boss" which has been distorted to a non-word call of "Kah-boss"

The proof, as they say is in the pudding (apologies for the pretty rough/loud audio, this is the best I could do holding my own phone):

This video is a bit of lie. What's not shown is the group effort involved in the cattle drive. While the cows and calves are clearly following P when he calls and leads, C was also making sure the stragglers were coming along in a timely manor and P's dad was making sure the path ahead was ready for the cattle.

She's got the country thing down

Recently it was noted that C seems like she's a "real country girl." Coming from a real farmer, not me, that was intended, and understood I should mention, as a genuine compliment. I think this photo only adds credence to that statement.

C: As I am not one for the spot light, I have been using my editorial rights to not publish this entry-notice the comfortable cool weather spring attire. However, there has been a lull in new content....more to come soon.

Talk to the hand

… Or, rather, let the hand do the talking.

When I was a kid I was always amazed that my father's hands seemed to be in a constant state of healing. Now, I too, have hands that are looking a bit more experience tested and well worn. Perhaps C's theory of wearing leather gloves when working is a reasonable one. I'll have to consider that more in the future.

And they'll know we are farmers by our tans

P is becoming a Neapolitan farmer. While the photo perhaps doesn't show it well, you'll just have to trust us that there are three distinct shades of skin tone in the picture.

After reviewing the Neapolitan Klondike Bar commercial on Youtube, I realize now that the shades of color are not in the right order. I guess the reader will have to use even more of their imagination. While you're at it though, imagine nicer muscle tone and less upper arm hair – P would appreciate it.

Meanwhile, C is developing a great sock and sports-bra tan line and is really looking forward to evening things out this 4th of July while spending a little time on the wonderful beaches of Lake Michigan.

The roof is on fire

Actually, the house roof was not on fire, but you may have been able to cook an egg with reasonable efficiency.

The cute little house we live in has had a pretty horrible roof for some time now (leaving substantial numbers of shingle pieces in the yard after windy days) and P's aunt and uncle who own the place decided to replace the asphalt shingles with a steel roof. After a bit of consultation with us regarding color selection the process got under way.

In many ways the entire process is very much standard protocol for Ortman projects. Some perhaps unique aspects:

1. Start by consulting with each other and spit-balling various ideas about how to handle the trickier aspects of the project. During this time reflect on past, similar projects that involved metal sheeting or roofs in general.
2. Determine what pieces of farm machinery and supplies are best (ab)used when undertaking the project. In this case a manure spreader and loader tracker took center stage, though we also used part of an old automotive leaf spring.
3. Begin the project slowly with a few fits and starts as all people learn their role and grasp back in their memories a decade or so since the last time they helped a relative or MDS with working with metal sheeting/roofing.
4. Start each morning reviewing OSHA rules, checking safety equipment, and … just kidding, I can't even hold a straight face while typing.

Anyway, both of us have gotten into the work and have been helped out significantly by P's first cousin once removed and, of course, P's uncle whose taking charge of the project. We spent one day ripping off the dry, dead asphalt shingles, getting down to the cedar shakes below. Then, the next day, we started putting up the metal sheets over top the shakes attaching with screws. By the end of the day we had about half the roof recovered.