easter on the farm

This sunday starts like so many others. A partly cloudy morning, its wet from rain overnight, and we have cattle to feed.


These are the cows that have allready calved. With the later easter we are busy with calving but not half way yet.


A few of there calves sunning themselves as the day brightened up.


This group is the cows without calves. As they calve we move them to the other lot.


This is the last of morning chores. Feeding the calves at home.

With a little time before easter dinner with the family I took a run back over to check on the cows and then stopped at a landmark along my route.


The Brooks - Parker cemetary. I go past here everyday. This is one of 5 in our township that is taken care of by the township. It sits on a little knob in the corner of a farm field. Its one mile from my house. No records exist and it was unkept until the township took over its care back a few years.


No one has been buried here in well over a century. None of my family is buried here but they were likely neighbors and friends. Not many stones left anymore. Decades of being uncared for has left its mark.


Some of the stones are like this one and in remarkable condition but some of the ones that date in the earlier 1800's are nearly smooth from the weather. I would hate to guess how many people have driven past this cemetary and never given it a thought.


Those who are buried here settled what is now Trivoli Township. This was once a land of large open untamed prarie. The harships they endure are hard to imagine and some of these men were vetrans and likely granted land here for their service in arms.


Of course there is wrigley. Not a thing goes unnoticed on his watch. After a fun day of playing with everyone at easter dinner he is all done in and sleeping peacfully. No new calves when we did chores tonight but a nice day. Not much field work yet as the rain continues. When the sun comes out everyone is ready to go.
Hope you all had a nice easter!
bill

Looks like home,even the dog,except Wally's got a little more white on his face.

Shame about that cemetery.Thanks for the pictures and update.

Vito

Hi Bill, nice pictures , thanks for taking the time to share. cheers

Bill, thanks for sharing your Easter Sunday with us. The chores of a farmer seem to be never ending, just a few breaks here and there.
I miss farm life but sure don't miss the mud.
A nice day in Galesburg, partly cloudy this morning, sunny after lunch. Great spring day.
oleblu

As always, we love the pictures. Thanks. Good to see the sun makes it to the ground somewhere. My "neighbor" Loren the ACG, captured what little we had yesterday.

Mr. Parker was probably a rarity to make it to 86 years old in the 1800"s.

Bill,I want to thank you in a big way for all the photos you have posted in the past. I can relate to your comments and pictures , as I am a retired farmer from northern Ill. As they say , B D,D T. Mud , cold, snow and everything that goes with farming.I hope you keep posting . Thanks agin. clint in OK.

I always enjoy your pics and naration. The people buried under those stones didn't have a glimpse of notion that someday pictures of their stones could be taken with a little camera and sent around the world to millions in mere seconds. What will it be like 170 years from now? Jim

Great pics.

Bill,

You think it's wet around here - went down to church and to the folk's around Lincoln today!

WOW - Lot of standing water, creeks outa the banks, stalks over the road, etc. Cousin said they had over 4" this past week. Looked like a couple of fields had corn planted but don't look good.

Hope the weather changes soon!

There's your picture of Wrigley to put in an 8x10 frame and hang in the shop.

We have quite a bit of water. I believe we ended up the week with over 4 inches of rain as well. Not much corn planted around here and what is planted, well, that outcome is yet to be determined.
bill

He sure was, the other guy died at 44... the earliest record of someone in my family in North America died in Montreal otel d'u? Hosptial anyway, in 1707, of a jaw infection, age 44. When I was 44, the dentist said if I waited 3 more days to have the wisdom teeth removed.... the infection could have spread into the brain etc etc... an average age before antibiotics. A family freind was born in 1899, she died in 2001, if you don't stop to do the math it looks like she was 300... there is a big tree getting closer and closer to my grandparents... I don't like it, kinda creepy... I'm glad people are helping this one, a relative in Rhode Island had to organize a fight with a cheapskate with disc harrows trying to creep in on one in his field... Captain Blythe's brother is in it. All in 1700's, never to soon to start preserving...

Bill there were a couple battles of the Blackhawk War fought in Stephenson county about 20 miles from me

i spent all day fixing wiring to my water pump. havent had water since about 5pm today and just got it fixed at about 10.30pm. had to dig everything up finally found where it shorted out and a bunch of bare wires that were chewed or something were melted to gether.

Thanks for the pics trying to see if we can read the tombstone a bit better --- Not much but best I can do .

Thanks for sharing. Great pics, and the story was well put together. Nothing better than something that makes you get deep thoughts like those photos.

Nice pics and thanks.

The cemetery reminds me of the cemetery that borders my land. Very few recent burials but two Revolutionary War Vets and two Civil War Vets rest there.

This shot is much easier to read. Because there are no records that still exists they simply put names on this monument that they found on stones scattered around the cemetary. When I looked in the past I found names that are not on this new monument. It is most likely burials occured here starting about 1830.
bill

That would be the Hotel Dieu - french for Hotel of God - Not quite the outlook you hope to have now when heading into the hospital.

Funny, Gordo, I thought the same thing when I saw it. The ole Wriglemeister won't be around forever, and that's a great picture, with him outlined against the sky. Would be a fitting tribute.

Something odd: My great, great, great, grandfather was Samuel James Parker. He fought in the War Between the States. I think he was born in South Carolina somewhere.
I just thought this was kinda funny. SF

A colleague owns an old cemetary here. Burials from roughly 1890's to 1920's. Walked through, and didn't recognize a single family name! And I've been around here forever. He said there are two folks who show up every Memorial Day, out of probably 200 graves.

Why does someone buy a cemetary, especially when it is no longer selling plots? This one is on a hillside, great view of the valley. Cemetaries are exempt from real estate taxes, including the "caretaker's cabin". So he built a 3,000 square foot caretakers cabin, with a million dollar view, and has never paid a dime of property tax on any of it, much to the dismay of the taxing authority. To his credit, he does maintain the cemetary well- apparently for the benefit of only two descendants.

#%$& lawyers- always looking for loopholes.