Country Living

Farm Wife Diary by Doreen Rosevold. Hear about life on the farm from a woman's perspective. Humorous and insightful.

Rural Life by Dr. Val Farmer. Take a serious and helpful look at the challenges of life on the farm, especially as it relates to the business enterprise and family life.

The Recipe Box by Gail Mantz. Here's a fine sampling of down-home recipes submitted by our readers. Click on Gail to choose your recipe book chapter and browse the numerous scrumptious choices!

Up Sims Creek by Rodney Nelson. Have a smile and a chuckle or two by checking out this cowboy humorist's tales of triumph, trials and tribulations.

Farm Wife Diary

Three entirely capable women on a mission to see Elvis

A lot of preparation has gone into this trip. I bought some treats to take in case we don’t see a restaurant every 15 minutes. I also had to stop watching the television program “Law and Order” a couple of months ago so I didn’t have nightmares about being murdered in my motel room. Then I had to buy some comfortable jeans (some I could wear sitting down and still breathe). I had to practice driving a little too - I followed vehicles closely even though they were the only ones on the road. I honked my horn even if no one was around me. I adjusted the base on my radio so the thumping could be heard outside the car so no one would know I was a rural Midwesterner.

Rural Life

Be careful - even the right advice can backfire

Editor’s Note: Val Farmer is on vacation. This column was first published in January 2000.

Up Sims Creek

Know your horse, its disposition ... and hire someone to train it!

It seems like things are running late this spring; in fact, we are running out of spring. Summer starts June 21, and the days will start getting shorter. Many people still have lots of spring things to do and not much time left to do it. I guess I am caught up on everything but horse training. The late spring snowstorms and mud made it hard to get started.