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What people are saying... |
"In her book, From High Heels to Gumboots: One Cow Pie at a Time, June Hilbert shares her experiences as she transforms from a city girl working a 9-5 job, to the wife of a farmer....June uses a good dose of humor and an easy style as she recounts her adventures as a farm wife in northeast Kansas. The result is an easy read that will keep you entertained -- whether you have experienced similar activities or have never stepped foot into a cattle pen. So whether it's learning more about bovine dating and mating habits, taking care of a sickly calf or reading about how a community pulls together, you will enjoy the short vignettes that describe living in the country." --Cindy Baldwin, Editor, The Country Register, Kansas Edition
Kansas Profile - Now That's Rural - June Hilbert - High Heels to Gumboots
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
A head of broccoli. That sounds like the beginning of a healthy supper. In one case, a head of broccoli also became the beginning of a healthy courtship and a happy marriage. This marriage entailed the bride's transformation from city girl to farm wife. The woman who experienced the transformation is now a rural Kansas author.
June Hilbert is a farm wife and the author of a new book which describes her experiences. She grew up in Burlingame and was exposed to farm life through her grandparents. But after studying at Emporia State and Kansas State, June became a full-fledged city girl in Topeka. She got a job at Capitol Federal downtown and enjoyed the urban lifestyle of the capital city.
In 1982, she took up competitive running and joined the local runner's club. While volunteering to help with a local athletic event, she met the event chairman: A former farm boy and Kansas Department of Agriculture staff person named Bill Hilbert. Bill asked her to lunch and then to dinner.
That's where the head of broccoli came in. After their first date, Bill didn't send flowers – that would be too boring. Instead, our creative farm boy showed up at her desk with a bouquet consisting of a head of broccoli – bigger than a dinner plate. It made an impression.
The two fell in love and ultimately were married. Bill had a cattle operation near Valley Falls and June joined him there but continued to work in Topeka. They later moved to their current farm near the rural community of Meriden, population 807 people. Now, that's rural.
When the two were wed and June began the transition from city girl to farm wife. It was a bit of culture shock. Country living, big farm equipment, and recalcitrant cattle were all a change from her everyday life in the city.
June continued to work at Capitol Federal. During lunch and breaks at work, she regaled her coworkers with tales of her (mis)adventures on the farm. Her coworkers greatly enjoyed her stories and would say: “You should write a book.” Eventually, she decided to do just that.
With help from a neighbor and published authors Max and Carol Yoho, June joined a writer's group and began the process of authoring a book about her experiences. In August 2013, the book was published. It is titled "From High Heels to Gumboots – One Cow Pie at a Time."
The book describes the hilarious misadventures which farm women can experience. Unfailingly, it seemed these incidents would happen at a time when Bill had a professional obligation elsewhere and June had been left in charge. Suddenly the city girl was faced with perplexing situations such as how to find and catch a missing steer or how to help a cow in labor. It was a new world.
I don't think there is an operator's manual for farm wife living. Maybe this book is the closest thing to it. It is written with June's wry humor. For example, at calving time she describes herself as a Certified Bovine Midwife Assistant. She writes, “First calf heifers do not read What to Expect When You're Expecting. They do not attend baby showers. They do not attend pre-natal classes.” Assisting those heifers can be a major job on the farm.
June also coined terms such as St. Barb, the Patron Saint of Barbed Wire Fences; Pasture Pyrotechnics; and the Mars and Venus of the Laundry Room.
June's chronicle of trials, joys and triumphs on the farm make for a very interesting and enjoyable book. For more information or to order, go to amazon.com or to From High Heels to Gumboots.
A head of broccoli. It's not just a healthy supper, it became the beginning of a romance for June and Bill Hilbert which would take her on a journey - from high heels to gumboots. We salute June Hilbert and farm women everywhere for making a difference with their contributions to family and farm. We appreciate this wonderful book which describes June's transformation. We might say that this journey in her life has helped her get a head.
(The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit.)
A head of broccoli. That sounds like the beginning of a healthy supper. In one case, a head of broccoli also became the beginning of a healthy courtship and a happy marriage. This marriage entailed the bride's transformation from city girl to farm wife. The woman who experienced the transformation is now a rural Kansas author.
June Hilbert is a farm wife and the author of a new book which describes her experiences. She grew up in Burlingame and was exposed to farm life through her grandparents. But after studying at Emporia State and Kansas State, June became a full-fledged city girl in Topeka. She got a job at Capitol Federal downtown and enjoyed the urban lifestyle of the capital city.
In 1982, she took up competitive running and joined the local runner's club. While volunteering to help with a local athletic event, she met the event chairman: A former farm boy and Kansas Department of Agriculture staff person named Bill Hilbert. Bill asked her to lunch and then to dinner.
That's where the head of broccoli came in. After their first date, Bill didn't send flowers – that would be too boring. Instead, our creative farm boy showed up at her desk with a bouquet consisting of a head of broccoli – bigger than a dinner plate. It made an impression.
The two fell in love and ultimately were married. Bill had a cattle operation near Valley Falls and June joined him there but continued to work in Topeka. They later moved to their current farm near the rural community of Meriden, population 807 people. Now, that's rural.
When the two were wed and June began the transition from city girl to farm wife. It was a bit of culture shock. Country living, big farm equipment, and recalcitrant cattle were all a change from her everyday life in the city.
June continued to work at Capitol Federal. During lunch and breaks at work, she regaled her coworkers with tales of her (mis)adventures on the farm. Her coworkers greatly enjoyed her stories and would say: “You should write a book.” Eventually, she decided to do just that.
With help from a neighbor and published authors Max and Carol Yoho, June joined a writer's group and began the process of authoring a book about her experiences. In August 2013, the book was published. It is titled "From High Heels to Gumboots – One Cow Pie at a Time."
The book describes the hilarious misadventures which farm women can experience. Unfailingly, it seemed these incidents would happen at a time when Bill had a professional obligation elsewhere and June had been left in charge. Suddenly the city girl was faced with perplexing situations such as how to find and catch a missing steer or how to help a cow in labor. It was a new world.
I don't think there is an operator's manual for farm wife living. Maybe this book is the closest thing to it. It is written with June's wry humor. For example, at calving time she describes herself as a Certified Bovine Midwife Assistant. She writes, “First calf heifers do not read What to Expect When You're Expecting. They do not attend baby showers. They do not attend pre-natal classes.” Assisting those heifers can be a major job on the farm.
June also coined terms such as St. Barb, the Patron Saint of Barbed Wire Fences; Pasture Pyrotechnics; and the Mars and Venus of the Laundry Room.
June's chronicle of trials, joys and triumphs on the farm make for a very interesting and enjoyable book. For more information or to order, go to amazon.com or to From High Heels to Gumboots.
A head of broccoli. It's not just a healthy supper, it became the beginning of a romance for June and Bill Hilbert which would take her on a journey - from high heels to gumboots. We salute June Hilbert and farm women everywhere for making a difference with their contributions to family and farm. We appreciate this wonderful book which describes June's transformation. We might say that this journey in her life has helped her get a head.
(The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit.)
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"Never again will I complain about the cost of my T-bone steak!
Never again will I doubt the power of love—a love so strong it can make a city girl forsake her stylish, high heel shoes and don the clumpy gumboots of a ranch wife. In this hilarious, loving and enlightening new book, June Hilbert pulls no punches in explaining why the gumboots were a darn good idea. In a "cow-calf operation," we learn, one might well also find need of a hard-hat, safety goggles, a bottle of liniment, a good 'emergency' bottle of wine, and an unfailing sense of humor. This old city-boy loved it."--Max Yoho, Kansas author and humorist |
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"This is a hilarious accounting of a city slicker becoming a farm wife. Whether you hail from the city or the country, you'll be able to relate to the bittersweet experiences of life on the farm!"--Jody Holthaus, Meadowlark Extension District Agent, Livestock-Natural Resources, Kansas State University |
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"Readers who have navigated successfully mixed marriages on the farm or ranch—that is, the union of partners from rural and urban upbringings—will identify with June Hilbert in her funny, honest and energetic adventures after joining her country-reared, professional entomologist husband Bill on his cow-calf ranch in northeastern Kansas.
If this marriage was made in Heaven, it was also made with pluck, good faith, determination, humor, intellectual curiosity applied on the go, the usual give-and-take and some amounts of physical courage and willingness to work through the many animal care crises that arise in these operations. Cow pies and placentas form something of a glue here, while Hilbert's frankness about ranch realities wins the reader's trust." --Jim Suber, Veteran agricultural columnist, vegetable grower and county commissioner |
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"A witty and whimsical memoir of a woman dealing with the transition of becoming a farm wife."
"When June met the love of her life, Bill Hilbert, and agreed to marry him, little did she fully realize the adventure awaiting her as a farm wife. Even though she grew up in a rural community, June left that small town long ago to start a career in banking in the big city. One never knows when or where love will sneak up and change the best- made plans. That's exactly what happened when Bill wooed June with a head of broccoli bouquet. After such a romantic gesture, how could June not fall head-over-high heels in love with him?
The journal June Hilbert has been keeping of her transition from city girl to farm wife makes for a wonderfully witty and whimsical memoir. Being raised on a farm myself, I could relate to everything she shared about her new life, while laughing along with her blunders and cheering her many accomplishments. FROM HIGH HEELS TO GUMBOOTS (One Cow Pie at a Time) will keep readers thoroughly entertained and quickly turning pages to see what new adventure June encounters and how she deals with it. June Hilbert is a resilient and talented woman!" --Tanzey Cutter, Fresh Fiction |
