The sun pulls hard when it is finally spring. There is an energy about it that makes me think that I can do all those outside jobs I was glad to see snow cover in the fall. Today, I cleaned off the garden. Most people do that in the fall, but for me, when I pull that last carrot and dig that…
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
As I sit at my kitchen table and look at the snow flurry-filled gray sky, I can’t help but think about last weekend when temperatures were hovering around 80 degrees and I spent most of the weekend doing yard work. It was too warm for this time of the year, for sure, but the blue sky and the…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: We read your last column where you talked about a life estate on land owned is not subject to probate costs. You also mentioned it was not subject to Medicaid attachment should we need to go to a nursing home and run out of money there.
- By BILL LOWMAN
It’s amazing how fast life goes by when you’re busy. The weekend of May 23-24 will be our 40th annual Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering, held at the western-styled Medora Community Center.
- Doreen Rosevold
It was the middle of the night, and we were barreling down Interstate 29 south of Sioux Falls, S.D., trying to beat a weather system on our way home from visiting our grandson. We had a motel reservation for another night in Kansas City, Kan., but decided to just take a nap, a shower, and th…
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
We’re living in the season of hope. Welcome to spring! Here in south-central Montana, the grass is getting greener each day, baby calves are bouncing around pastures, and my lilacs are quickly developing buds. Like many of you, I spent this weekend working on various yard projects and develo…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: We have reached the age (65+) where we need to be considering either a living trust or a life estate. Our attorney has advised a living trust but we are not sure if this covers us if we go into a nursing home and do not have enough money.
- By BILL LOWMAN
Us rural country folks probably eat out in restaurants more often than the local urbanites do. On every business trip to town, we always patronize a couple of our favorite establishments where we run across friends and acquaintances from far away distances that do the same. We’re not big on …
- Doreen Rosevold
At five o’clock, around the world, there is an uneasiness and darkness that shadows the earth. It is the bewitching hour that begs the question, “What is for supper?”
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
I recently met up with a dear friend for a quick trip through some of Oregon’s coastline and wineries. She and I have been friends ever since kindergarten, when we rode the bus together and giggled and laughed about things that girls giggle and laugh about, talked about boys and classes and …
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: We have been quite successful in life and have acquired a large amount of liquid assets. In the back of my mind, I have always wondered about long-term care insurance. Now that I have acquired sufficient funds to pay for my own long-term care, is long-term care insurance worth …
- By BILL LOWMAN
When young folks start out in ranching, unless they’re stepping into a generational family operation, they’re forced to purchase their base herd. Although we partnered with my parents, JoAnn and I went out and bought our herd to immigrate with theirs, on borrowed money of course. Stock cow a…
- Doreen Rosevold
I’ve taken up a new hobby – painting. Not what I should be painting, like the barn or the bedrooms, but painting that is a slap in the face to Leonardo da Vinci.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
Over the weekend, a storm blew across Montana that brought several inches of heavy, wet snow to many areas. It should help with incredibly dry conditions that much of the state is suffering from. We endured terrible winds for two days prior to the storm, so for about four days we had dark, h…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: I am a widower. My wife died seven some years ago. I have three daughters who do not farm. I have just over 600 acres south of Jamestown, N.D. – half farm and half pasture. I kind of have it in my head how that I want to split the property between the three of them. One has a c…
- By BILL LOWMAN
Despite some early wet and heavy ice pack over ridges and all from rains through November and December, it’s been a wide-open warm winter other than a couple January nights of 35 below. The daily winter-feeding routine of today is a far cry of year’s past. It used to involve hand sacking 100…
- Doreen Rosevold
Bacon is a wonder food. I use it on a regular basis and on special occasions, like the day that the payment for my credit card is due. Bacon for breakfast? No complaints from the spouse on most any charges that day. Not even that charge from Etsy.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
Every time I travel back to Lonesome Prairie, I am so acutely aware of its appropriate name. Growing up there didn’t seem all that lonely, as it was what we knew, and of course, school and activities made a difference. I respect the women who live in these remote areas and I think of their u…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: We have been very successful at farming these past two decades and our estate values have increased dramatically. I am a widower as my wife died about 15 years ago. With her estate added to mine, my estate is now hovering around $20 million.
- By BILL LOWMAN
A while back I came across a full-page article in a nationally published newspaper that revealed the “third space.” I immediately thought of family life, my childhood, and growing up in the “fourth space.” Being the “little tick” in a young, roughneck, four-sibling family, I had to “hustle” …
- Doreen Rosevold
I am a worrier and don’t want to be. I am mostly aware of how irrational my worry topics can be, but that doesn’t seem to eliminate them. For example, I can have angsts about world issues and whether a belly button can come untied within the same day. I worry that the crops have had too much…
- By DARLA TYLER-MCHSERRY
As I continue to plod my way through winter, I’ve been mindful in trying to follow my own recommendations when it comes to managing mental health. In my opinion, the current “open” winter creates a sense of restlessness, as this is supposed to be the quiet time of the year, with sounds, ener…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: I began ranching along with my two brothers decades ago. When our dad died, we were given the land jointly but later decided to divide it into equal pieces of land – a division that all of us thought was fair at the time.
- By BILL LOWMAN
Now is a good time of year to settle in with a good book or two. I just finished a 374-page book I got from a good friend in Albuquerque, N.M. It’s a very well documented research of most all the “infamous” gunfighters of the south’s reconstruction period following the Civil War and on up to…
- Doreen Rosevold
Recently, I’ve been ruminating about my disdain of freckles. I’m the only one in my family who has these imperfections. They make me look like a banana that will soon become inedible from over-ripeness. The only good thing about them, I guess, is that they hid high school acne and can still …