Memorial Day

I'm going to copy what my nephew Reed said on Facebook today:

Thank you veterans..past and present, for the sacrifices you have made to let us enjoy a beautiful Memorial Day.

Memorial Day Weekend

The past few days have been quite interesting. Thurs. evening I went to Lacey's preschool graduation (Bill went to a visitation at the funeral home - our neighbor's mother). It was a really cute program, and Lacey did a great job. They had lots of words to songs and motions to remember! She's under the first "O" in this picture with a white nurse's coat on. They sang and did motions to some of the ones we all know like Ants Go Marching, It's a Small World and If You're Happy and You Know It. Lacey lost her first tooth while chewing gum the day before this! I'm sad - I think baby teeth are so cute. She was wanting the tooth fairy to bring her $100 but she got $1. She's funny - she doesn't want to put her money in the bank - she's afraid they'll keep it!

Thurs. I went to Ft. Dodge for semi parts. Stopped at Menard's to price some landscaping things and get a new dehumidifier for the basement.

Last evening we helped put up the flags in the cemetery - there are about 50. Several people came to help so it took less than 30 min.! They just leave them up for this weekend. There is a ceremony Mon. morning that the school band plays for, there's a speaker and lunch afterward.

I've been to the hospital with Diane a couple of times this week. She's having some early contractions and not sure when to go in. The hospital is 26 miles away from their house so she's worried about waiting too long especially since her dr. said she may have it pretty quick. It's been neat for me to be with her to hear the heartbeat and what a kick sounds like when she's being monitored! I'd like to post a picture of her pregnant but she would not be happy!

Seems like it took a while to be flower planting weather, but I finally got my flower pots going. I'm trying some new sunpatiens (impatiens that like lots of sun instead of the usual shade), a trailing pink geranium, the one hanging over has small white flowers and there's a spike in the middle. The garage faces west so they will be getting lots of heat and sun.

Looking forward to watching the pre-race activities and at least the beginning of the Indy 500 tomorrow. Being from the Indianapolis area, we went to the race several times. It's always blocked out in that area so it's a treat to be able to watch it on TV here. Jim Nabors has sung "Back Home Again in Indiana" for years - one of the traditions. My dad used to try to sing it like he does - every year. I found out a couple years ago that my cousin, Paul, has told some of the George family that when they need him, he's ready to take over for Jim! He's a dentist and takes care of some of their teeth so maybe he has a chance at the job!

Snake in the window!

This snake was in the window well of my stamp room for several days. I kept mentioning it to Bill but to no avail. I finally decided today that I'd have to take matters into my own hands! I didn't want to have to look at it any longer or have it maybe find a way into the house! This was the first snake I'd seen around our house and I've never seen one when mowing anywhere. I've seen them on the road a few times and Glenn had some in his yard.

I got Grandpa R.'s old sidewalk edger out and thought I'd chop it in half. Either the edger was really dull or snakeskin is tough (probably both) 'cause it wasn't as easy as I thought - ick. I ended up getting a rake and bringing it up out of the window well that way. I carried it over to the lane with it's tongue going in and out the whole time (after it had been stabbed many times!). Thought chopping it on the hard gravel of the lane would do the trick. Still not easy but think he'll surely die eventually!

Last Tree Down

The ground last week was still too wet for spraying so finally late Fri. afternoon Bill decided if that's the case, it's a good time to take down a tree. We had picked up the rough draft landscaping plans from Del's that morning. This tree was in the way of being able to make our driveways connect. People have a hard time backing out of our new driveway since it's angled (so we could keep a tree) so we thought we'd do a circle type thing. This tree was also leaning toward the old garage and drops dead limbs too often.

When these guys decide to drop a tree, they do it fast! Here Tim is up in the bucket to put a cable around the tree.

Bill making the cuts.

It fell right where they wanted it to!









We asked a couple of people if they wanted the wood but it's elm so they didn't. Bill hauled it all back to our burn hole and had it all cleaned up by Sun. afternoon.

Bill's brother was here for the weekend - to get some fresh asparagus while we have it. His sister & family came down Sat. evening. His mom fixed supper for all of us. The kids had fun learning about finding and picking asparagus. They about blew away though - it was so windy.

Yesterday Diane was having some contractions while doing her mail route. She got the mail delivered and she and I went to the hospital in E'Burg so she could get checked out. They monitored her for a few hours and sent her home. Her due date is June 25th.

The wind had finally quit today and Bill was spraying - until it rained about 3:00 . . .

Baby Chicks

Todd and his dad have been experimenting with having chickens for the past year. They recently put some fresh chicken eggs in a warmer type thing. It took a few days for these babies to crack their way out of the eggs. These are just a week old! There are 19 of them. Watch the video at the bottom to see them running around and best of all HEAR them!




They got chicks in the mail last year about this time and have had 13 chickens for a year. (mail carriers don't deliver boxes of chicks - the people have to pick them up at the post office! )

They get big enough to lay eggs pretty quick really. They lay from 9-12 eggs a day in these 6 boxes.


In Bill's Iowa Farmer Today that we got today, the cooking article is all about eggs! It says that eggs contain 13 vitamins and minerals, fiber and high-quality protein at only 70 calories each.





















I had been hearing for years from mom & my uncles that roosters are mean. I hadn't experienced that until yesterday. This one came running into the chicken house when I was getting eggs and flew up at me for no reason! Diane says they try to "spur" you with their feet. I kicked it when it flew up a couple of times but it didn't seem to help - as I backed up to the door! Then when I was taking this picture outside the fence, he was still wanting to get me! I guess when kicking didn't work, mom and her brothers resorted to a baseball bat. They talk of one time knocking a rooster out and they thought it was dead! They were happy! But not sure if they'd be in trouble.

A Public Service

I've been taking pictures to blog about the past few days but haven't taken the time to post them. Have various subjects coming up: making sugar cream pie (the Indiana state pie - a Hoosier thing), baby chicks including video and corn coming up. Check back if interested. :)

You'll have to click on this first picture to see it bigger, but it was a successful burn of the house where there was a fire last July 4th (there was a blog post with pictures when it burned the first time). Tuesday the firemen went and finished the job. This house is right across from the golf course so I'm sure many will be glad it's down. Picture was taken from our house.

We had Glenn & family including Diane & Lacey over last night for a cookout. Diane also did haircuts for all of us. This was the sunset as they were leaving.

This morning I went to Diane & Todd's house. They were having some carpet installed in the baby's room and kind of needed someone to be there. That's when I took pictures of their new baby chicks and had my first encounter with a rooster! I had heard so much about how bad roosters are from my mom, uncles and now Lacey! Anybody have an extra baseball bat I can borrow?

Bill and Tim finished planting yesterday and replanted a few spots here and there today. I got to "help" this afternoon which was just driving the pickup from field to field as Bill replanted. The truck had some bags of seed in case he needed it. I read a magazine while waiting. Tough job. :) Tonight we're getting some light rain - perfect timing!

Great Weather & Bill's Truck

The weather has been great yesterday and today with more of the same to come so farmers are starting to get back to work in the fields. Bill is spraying beans today and hopes to plant too. This first picture of spraying was taken last year.

This is Bill's new truck - a 2005 Ford. I think he likes it! He does have to get a new hitch for it and some touch up paint.












My tooth is not very sore today from the root canal. The endodonist's office even called this morning to check on how I was doing. Now to the appointment with the dentist for a crown in about a week.

Monday

Today I'm headed to Ft. Dodge for a root canal. Not fun! My dentist is sending me to the specialist who has lots of years' experience since my roots are curved so I'm glad of that. I've not had real good luck with dentists since I moved here.

Bill is hoping to plant. It was still too wet yesterday.

Easier Seed Handling (part 2)

These are all pictures of the seed tender pulled next to the planter. The seed tender has a conveyor belt (the arm type thing that swings out). The seed is gravity fed from the boxes and goes through chutes to the belt which is driven by a small motor.

They have to shake some white talc (like powder) in with the seed. Then they stir it/mix it in with a boat oar! The talc keeps the seed from sticking. Bill tells me you only have to do that with John Deere planters!

Today is another nice day. Hope the fields dry. A few guys were able to work in theirs yesterday, but Bill found mud where he needs to go.

We had a good lunch of homemade chicken pot pie, fresh fruit salad, deviled eggs, Dutch apple pie and ice cream.

Easier Seed Handling (part 1)

Bill & Tim bought this fork lift when Glenn sold his shop last year. Having it has made it possible for them to go ahead and get several boxes of seed to have ready for planting (2nd picture). Before having the forklift, they had to just get two boxes at a time. That's how many fit on this seed tender. (some can hold 4)

The black boxes hold the equivalent of 50 bags. Before getting the seed tender 2 years ago, they had to lift and empty all of those bags into the planter! They would need to get and handle 1300 bags of bean seed and 700+ bags of corn seed!!! The seed tender and these boxes have really saved wear and tear on their backs - wow!

They do still have to handle a few bags to make the quantity for a field come out right. (3rd picture) The next blog post will show getting the seed from the boxes into the 2 yellow tanks on the planter (Bill says the tanks are officially called central commodity system or CCS).

Diane called me yesterday a little after 6:00 am asking if I could come to their house by 7:00 to stay with Lacey who had been vomiting and had a fever. The post office didn't have a sub available for her and Todd was in Des Moines at school for work. Lacey's still not keeping anything down today. Diane took her to the dr. this afternoon. They want her to bring her back tomorrow if she isn't better.

Today was a mostly sunny day with little breeze but still way too wet to do any work in the fields. We were all able to cut grass starting yesterday.

I thought this was kind of interesting the first time I saw it. They just pile up the empty seed bags in the field and burn them.

Below is a video showing lifting an empty box off the seed tender with the forklift. Click on the arrow to view.

Happy Mother's Day

These are the Mother's Day cards I made for our moms.

The Stampin' Up! products I used are the Cottage Wall Designer Paper, the Big Shot Top Note Die and Cherry Blossom Embosslit, Rich Razzleberry and Orchid Opulence card stock, Beautiful Wings Embosslit for the tiny butterly, and gold brads. On the 1st one, I used a punch for the leaves and Little Leaves Sizzlet for the leaves on the 2nd one.

For the words on the 1st card, I stamped and punched out with the Word Window Punch and then punched with the Modern Label Punch for the layer behind. These flowers and leaves would look great on spring & summer scrapbook pages too!

Bill spent the afternoon yesterday with nephew, Matthew, riding with him while he rolled beans.

Nephews Rob, Ross & Reed came over in the afternoon and then we went to Pizza Hut and to see the new movie, Iron Man 2. Stopped at DQ for Blizzards after. Got home in time to see the end of the NASCAR race with Bill.

Bill is getting back to planting some beans this afternoon even though it got down to 29 last night and will only be in the low 50's the next few days. He only has about 250 acres to go.

Rain Delay & Tire Problems

We've had rain again - enough to stop field work. Bill says he could be done in two full, good days but the weather forecast isn't looking good for that any time soon.

Yesterday was one of those days. I started out by going to Case IH in Spencer (about an hour away) for tractor parts (4 wheel drive). Which isn't all bad since there's a Walmart there and Del's Nursery. Bill requested something from Walmart and said I didn't have to rush back so that was nice. I made it back a little before noon. Came by the house to drop purchases off and heat up leftovers for our lunch to take out to where Bill was planting. Was glad I had leftovers including main dish and 2 vegetables!

After lunch I picked up the mower and headed to our house to cut the grass. Not too far down the road, I had shredded a tire on the trailer that Bill said was most likely flat when I pulled out - not good. I got a ride (kind of like hitch hiking but I knew the guy that came by!) back to Peggy's house where my Pilot was. Went and got Bill. He took off the shredded tire, found another old one, sent me to the tire store and he went back to planting. I went back to get him after I had the "fixed tire", he put it on and went back to planting, and I cut the grass at our house.

I was planning to do the bin site next, then on to Zeman's and be done before the rain came! But halfway there the trailer started shaking bad and sure enough, another shredded tire - same one! This happened by the highway and Bill didn't answer his cell phone (probably no service) so I decided I shouldn't leave the mower there right by the highway & other reasons) so I drove the mower to Peggy's (about 1 1/4 miles). She gave me a ride back to the field Bill was still in. I rode with him until Tim came to the rescue with a NEW tire he had off of something else. He then followed me to Peggy's where I parked it!

Then I went to the seed dealer for some bags of bean seed. They don't use many bags now with the new planter (they get them in bulk in big boxes) but to finish up fields and have the amounts come out right, they need some bags. The bags are 50 lbs.

One of the farmers there at the Pioneer seed dealer's thought it was interesting that I had on a DeKalb jacket! I explained that the elevator was giving Bill a "free" jacket the first year I was here and asked what size I wanted, color, etc. I finally got it about 2 years later! In the meantime they gave me a lighter weight one which is what I had on yesterday. This guy said "at least they give stuff" because I guess the Pioneer guy doesn't!

On the way back, I stopped by home and made us some sandwiches and went back to where Bill was - with food and seed. We ate and it started to rain. He kept planting and managed to get the field done. He said he made 11 calls and received 9 yesterday - most after lunch! It was a crazy day for us and Tim & Bette Jo too. They had been gone and got home to find out that her dad had gone in the hospital.

Today, I've been at home doing what I do better - I made homemade spaghetti sauce for lunch and to freeze and baked brownies. We're getting pizza tonight! It's been rainy and very windy today.

Sunset with Rain in the Distance

This was the sunset we watched last night from the field. I took Bill a ham & cheese sandwich, some chips and rice & raisin dessert (see below). After he ate, I rode with him until he was done which was only until he reached an area that was too wet to plant. His pickup was at his mom's so he needed a ride. I think we got home about 8:30.

While riding, I told him that I wish he had some kind of field work to do most of the year instead of a few weeks in the spring and fall since I like field work - both riding or doing it. He looked at me a little funny and said I should've married a farmer from California! :)

Even though my tooth was better yesterday morning, I ended up calling the dentist after lunch to have it checked out. They were full for the day but they thought I should be seen and squeezed me in, so I went to Laurens at 4:00. It turns out my tooth was abscessed and had been for quite a while. The dentist "opened it up" as she called it, drained it and gave me a prescription for antibiotics. I have to have a root canal in 2 weeks in Ft. Dodge.

When leaving Laurens, I stopped at their grocery since I had never been in it. I like to check out things like that in all the towns around. It seems quite a bit bigger than ours. They had a deli which is always nice. I found a small container of the rice & raisin dessert that I took to Bill - he really liked it! It was like a rice pudding with raisins and cinnamon.

Very windy again today - up to 50 mph gusts - and a few sprinkles this afternoon. They're saying maybe frost later this week. Not good since the corn is barely up.

Back to the Fields

It's a sunny and breezy day so Tim has been working ground and Bill hopes to plant beans after lunch if it's dry enough!

We're having crock pot whole chicken, mashed potatoes, creamed asparagus, and vanilla pudding/banana tarts for lunch today.

This picture shows you that our trees are just leafing out here. When I was in Indiana a month ago, they already were there.


I checked my 2 spots in our ditch for asparagus this morning. I started harvesting "my spots" a few days ago - about 4-6 spears a day so far on warmer, sunny days. The ones in this picture are lighter green than what I had seen, but Diane tells me it comes in all shades of green and some purple.

I didn't get to work on my purses yesterday because I had a really bad toothache all afternoon and night. Have an appointment with the dentist this afternoon.

Mark Dickey is going to fix a few places with the siding on the house today. We moved in a year ago this week so need to have them come back and get any repairs done since a year is about what the new house warranty is.

I've just added a new feature to the blog. Toward the bottom right you can now click there on any of my labels like if you want to see all of the recipes together, click on Recipes. If you're only interested in my stamping or farming posts, you can click on those labels.

Rag Quilt Purses

Yesterday I got busy working on my Rag Quilt Purse projects again. When I was at Mom's, I got the purse part made of the first one but not the handles (2nd picture). Just getting back to it here. I got all of the batting cut (3rd picture) and the 2 patterns of fabric (4th photo) run through the Big Shot (last photo) for a 2nd purse.

Today I started trying to sew. I say it that way because this sewing machine was Grandma R.'s, and I had not ever used it yet! She would've used it last about 4 years ago! It took me a while to figure out what the settings needed to be, find a different foot and throat plate, put in a new needle, fill a bobbin, etc. It seemed a little sluggish at first (probably needs to be oiled!), but it's sewing pretty good now.

Grandma would be really happy that I'm using her sewing machine. She put lots of hours on it. I think she probably would've made rag quilt purses for all the girls in the family for Christmas too! Every year she always made something for us like crocheted scarves, cross stitch pictures, doilies and covered hangers.

I haven't really sewn since 4-H, except for fixing things here and there, so that's been years ago. I never liked making those aprons and skirts we had to make in 4-H!

The Big Shot is a product that I sell through Stampin' Up! (see right column) When these rag quilt purses became hot a few months ago, I thought "I can do that - it's just all straight stitching"! Sure enough - it's easy and fun!

You can put a long strip of fabric 5" wide folded up through the Big Shot using the scalloped square die we also sell (in the last photo), and cut 6-8 squares at a time!

I'll post pictures of the finished purses in the next couple of days!

I'm excited to get these done so that I can make Diane a baby quilt with these scalloped squares! It'll be fast and easy and very soft. Shhhhh, it's a surprise! It'll be a surprise to me too if I get it done, but I think I can!

*** let me know if you're interested in buying a Big Shot so you can do these fun things too! It's a great machine for scrapbooking, card making, fabric projects and lots more.