Bulls, Boys, and Blessings

Fixers and Menders

Julia Jacobsen

Fixers and Menders

If you are one or just live with one there is something comforting living with a fixer.  Farmers fix things.  They come by it naturally, generally something they’ve watched their entire lives so it’s nothing to make mention of.  The thought of not fixing something is likely an odd concept.  This carries over from the shop to the house and that is reassuring to me.  Fixers raised me, I’m a fixer and I married a fixer who was also raised by fixers. These people look up part numbers and order pieces to fix the problem.

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Carving space for people.

Julia Jacobsen border collies cattle dogs dogs farmhouse farms love dogs ranching

Carving space for people.

We were loading up and the gal accidentally bumped into/stepped on my dog and she promptly apologized to her by name.  I rarely can recall a new person’s name I’ve just met and she remembered my dog’s name. I didn’t know when, I didn’t know how… but , I knew I would make room for this person in my life. She apologized to my dog by name!

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I'll love you till the cows come home???

Julia Jacobsen

I'll love you till the cows come home???

At least on our ranch.. maybe back in the day when this saying was created they didn’t come home. Maybe they were free-range cattle and you just roamed and moved around with your herd?  This saying makes me laugh because it reminds me of something my then boyfriend shared with me.  A quote he created on the fly that puts the cows coming home to shame!

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What will you be remembered for?

Julia Jacobsen

What will you be remembered for?

Grandkids told stories of how they could drop in anytime and Grandma would put on hot cocoa and always had a homemade pie in the fridge. She made everyone feel welcome, always.  She never had that panicked look on her face that I get when an unexpected visit arrives at my country doorstep and I don’t have a

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Terms of Ag-dearment by Addie Carstensen

Julia Jacobsen

Terms of Ag-dearment by Addie Carstensen

Growing up in rural Eastern Washington to parents whose pasts were steeped in farming history, lead to a wonderful array of farm idioms or sayings for my sisters and me to pick up on.  Though I think there are some universally used, understood, and recognized farming idioms such as “a hard row to hoe”, or “beating a dead horse”, some of my favorites are the ones that are the ones that I grew up hearing around my house and my grandparent’s house.  I can easily smell my Grandma Hazel’s basement

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