Happy Halloween!

The pumpkin patch at Spencer's near Carmel.

More pictures from my trip to Indiana - lots of pumpkin related ones for Halloween!

I really like the face on this one.

This was outside a grocery in Carmel.  Reed took the picture.

Lots of times we go out for supper on Halloween but when we've been home, we haven't had any trick or treaters.  This year I bought some candy just in case.

Misc.

I was glued to the TV yesterday watching the Hurricane Sandy coverage on CNN.  The destruction is unbelievable.  We know a couple from here who is stuck in a hotel in NYC.  They had gone to a big cattle show.  The hotel they're in has power thanks to a generator.  They will be thankful when they finally get back home to rural Iowa!

The crew is "wrapping" our building today.  

I happened to see the guy in the last picture just laying back on the roof like he was taking a nap!  He almost broke his wrist the other day, but guess it was "just" sprained and he's back up there!

This morning I woke up hearing "beep, beep, beep".  Two electric company trucks were here to set a new pole.  Our service is being moved so that the electric line will no longer go across above the lane that tall equipment will be using to go back to the fields and new building so that's a good thing.  They're also going to be upgrading the electric line that comes to our house along the road!   It's very old.  When I first moved here five years ago (already!), our power flickered and went out quite a bit but since we bought a generator, the power has been good! 
 

The Canteen

I had a day of painting in the new addition at our church today.  We had at least 15 painters so good turnout.  Someone made BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, chips, layered salad, choc. chip cookies, banana cake and apple pie bars for lunch for us.  We painted lots of shades of browns with accent walls like navy, rust and red.  I'm wondering if I'll be able to get out of bed in the morning!

After the rain we had a couple of days ago, Bill got back to applying anhydrous to the bean fields this afternoon.  He's working until about 10:00 tonight.  

This was a stop I made on my way to Indiana.  I had read about The Canteen in Ottumwa, Iowa in Our Iowa magazine and also the pie lady's book, Making Piece.   Click HERE to read rave reviews and more info. about this place!   

It's been around for many, many years and a parking garage has been built above and around it, but people still come!  There are only about 15 seats at a horseshoe shaped counter inside this diner that mainly has "loose meat" sandwiches.  Check out the menu in one of my pictures!  They have several kinds of pie each day but no longer make it there.  I'm not a fan of loose meat sandwiches including maid-rites, but this is another one of those places I'm really glad I took the time to find and have lunch at!

Check out how a parking garage was built around it!

All seating (15 seats) are at the horseshoe shaped counter.

  

The limited menu that has been the same for years.

This is the meat cooker that they serve from in the middle of the horseshoe.

The loose meat sandwich usually ordered with mustard & pickle - and no plate!

Lots of visitors have found it.

Flowers in the street by where I parked.

A building in Ottumwa.

Machine Shed Progress

Bill in the quad trac pulling the anhydrous rig.

We FINALLY got 1" of rain overnight!  So nice to hear rain coming down all during the night and then to check the rain gauge and find out we actually got a nice amount.  We're happy we won't have to water the trees now for at least a couple of weeks.  We saw the first snowflakes today but they didn't stick and didn't last long.

Bill and Tim have been putting anhydrous on the bean fields the past few days.  Today I went with Bill with empty anhydrous tanks to West Bend and dropped them off and got full ones.  This was my training trip in case he needs me to do the hauling in the next few days.  Now that we've gotten rain, Carl should be back by the time it dries enough and he will do it. 

I took these pictures today which show the progress of the new building and location from the house.  We think they're about done with the framing.  Bill says they're running out of "sticks".  His overhead doors are going to be on the south and east sides (east is the railroad track side - away from the house).

This is the south end and it will have an overhead door.

     

Back Home

I got home Sun. night after spending about 10 days in Indiana.  The 10 hour drive home is always longer than going.

Bill is applying anhydrous to all of the bean fields - I think he said 12 fields.  Tim is going back and forth to West Bend to keep Bill supplied with new tanks of anhydrous.  It's keeping Tim busy keeping up.  There has been a lot of progress on our machine shed while I was gone.  I've taken pictures that I'll post later.  I also have more pictures taken in Indiana.  The trees there were so beautiful - so glad I was able to just decide at the last minute to go.

We are helping friends today.  Terri's mom is downsizing to an apartment and selling her beautiful home.  Today is the auction.  There has been a little drizzle this morning and we're supposed to get rain tonight.  Hoping it holds off so there can be a good sale.  

I Love Fall!

Taking lots and lots of pictures while here in Central Indiana.   Some of the leaves have turned just since I've been here.  Almost overnight the Bradford Pear trees in front of Mom's house turned red this week.  Iowa has lots more sunny days than Indiana but while I've been here, it's been mostly sunny.  There was a little rain Wed. night and last night and it's supposed to be cloudy today.  It's going to be sunny and in the 70's all next week so they're wanting me to just stay till Thanksgiving!

I found this in front of a landscaping business here in Carmel.  The bigger display was on a busy road.  I drove back in to see how they decorated their actual building and saw the little pumpkins.  Might have to do something like that next year since I found out this year that Uncle Tim grows the little ones!

SO PRETTY!!!

This is a house in Mom's subdivision.  She thinks this is the house that goes all out decorating for Christmas too.

Wonder how much all these pumpkins cost?

These winter cabbages are in the median close to Mom's subdivision's entrance.  This is where you turn in to Salsbery Brothers Landscaping.   They always have huge, beautiful hanging pots of flowers and other displays decorating their business.

The Apple Orchard

Last Sat. Mom, Rob, Ross, Reed & I went to Mooresville to go to the Anderson Orchard.  It's been a family business for about 45 years.   I used to try to go there every Fall.   They don't have near as many apples this year as usual and the ones they have have spots due to the drought.  They have lots of varieties of apples.  I bought a bag of one we hadn't heard of - Black Twig.  It's supposed to be similar to Jonathan.  

This time we drove up the hills back in the orchard - it's huge and very pretty!  You can pick your own apples and pumpkins if you want to.  This area of Indiana is hilly with lots of trees.  Many of them had not turned yet last weekend but enough had that it was pretty.

They have LOTS of varieties of apples and each row is marked.

Mom got a pumpkin from the patch up the hill.

More pumpkins of all types for sale around this tree.  The owners actually live in this house.

The store - lots of fall foods.  The fried biscuits & apple butter are so good.

We found this lake up the hills and toward the back of the orchard.

Fall in Indiana

If you don't like Fall or pretty leaves you won't like this post!  I left for Indiana last Thurs.  This is what I saw as I left the house!

Since we got done with harvest super early this year due to the drought, I realized I should head for Indiana to see the leaves since most years I'll be in a tractor the month of October!  When we got married (5 years ago) and I agreed to move to the flat land with very little trees and ones that mostly turn yellow, I told Bill that I might have to go on road trips once in a while to get my fall fix.  He said that would be fine - "go".  But that was before I learned how to drive a tractor!  So this was a spur of the moment trip, and I happen to be here for the peak color week.

At Mom's church.

At Anderson Orchard in Mooresville, IN

View from Mom's house this morning.

Grandma & Grandpa's grave site.  The trees are always pretty here.

Near Mom's house.

This trip I'm not doing any stamp classes or downline meetings - just being with my mom, brother, nephews and seeing friends and family - and enjoying the  
beautiful scenery!

My favorite picture so far.

At Anderson Orchard.  The sun wasn't shining but still beautiful.  (my 2nd favorite)

 

Building Progress

Since the crew started our machine shed, we've had several windy days.  It makes it hard for them to get these boards up straight.  You can see in one of the pictures how big the holes are for these.  They put concrete in the bottom of them.  They have to travel an hour each way to get here and have been coming in the mornings to get some done before the wind comes up.

Most fields have been harvested now and you see very few still hauling into town.  Bill & Tim worked on taking out a fence along a field here at our house the past couple of days.  I finished ripping the last field last evening after we went to Enid's funeral and dinner.  They will still need to rip some end rows in all of the bean fields.  

I got some of my annual flowers pulled out since we've had some freezing nights and all have died.  All of a sudden ALL of the pretty leaves have fallen and our trees are bare already.   

Fresh Chickens

Diane's father-in-law decided he wanted to have some chickens about four years ago so he and Diane's husband built a chicken house at Diane & Todd's house and bought some chicks.  They just had chickens for egg laying for a couple years.  Then the past two years they also raised some for butchering.  Yesterday was the day for butchering the current group.  It was a perfect sunny, cool Fall day for this job which involved the whole family.  I was very impressed with their equipment and how clean they kept everything.   It was a much "nicer" process than I remember seeing at both Grandmas' houses years ago.  They've invited me to help next time. 

Papa Dallas caught the chickens.

The chickens were put into these cones - I won't explain what else happens here.

Then they were put into boiling water.

Diane's brother-in-law has the de-feathering job.

Diane's husband did the gutting and trimming.

They had this sink to clean up after each one.  All were wearing gloves.

At this table, any parts of feathers left were plucked out with tweezers.

Into an ice water bath and then into big Ziploc bags.

Into the house where Diane dumped out any liquid and pressed out the air.  She uses a lot of bleach keeping things clean and safe when they do chickens.

Into the freezer.  They ended up with 48.

The kids had fun playing in the leaves.  This is a cousin.