There's More in Iowa Than Corn

Most people think that Iowa is just a boring state with a lot of corn.  Our newspaper had an article this weekend saying that Iowa is #1 for egg production with 50 major egg producers and 60 million layers that generate 14.4 billion eggs each year!  That's a lot of eggs!  

The Iowa egg industry is a big purchaser of Iowa's other agricultural products.  The chickens consume 57 million bushels of corn and 28.5 million bushels of soybeans.  The industry employs 8000 people.  

The article says the top five egg producing states are Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and California with a total of 286 million egg-laying hens.  U.S. eggs are sold worldwide. 

The article says that people are not consuming as many eggs now - about 250 per year per person down from 402 in 1945.

May is National Egg Month.  Think of Iowa the next time you have one! 

Tea Party - Part 2

Back on April 18th, I posted about a tea party I had, and I said I would post more pictures of the food and guests later.  So now a month+ later, I'm finally getting to that.  The menu was cucumber sandwiches and pimiento sandwiches, cinnamon scones and lemon cream scones with lemon curd and clotted cream, mini chocolate mousse tarts and iced cookies, pink cream cheese mints, candied nuts, all with either cinnamon tea or vanilla hazelnut coffee.

one of the guests, Sandy, brought these beautiful cookies!

I'm still collecting old, pretty tea cups and things to use at tea parties - fun!   I hope to do more of these, inviting lots of different groups of ladies.  If all the good tea rooms are closing, we just have to do our own, right?!

Mary, Mel and Marlene

Marlene, Peggy, Lois and Sandy

A Change at the Bin Site

Just north of Peggy's house in a field of hers is what we call "the bin site".  We have five grain bins there.  Bill and Tim decided recently to get rid of two of these (the 2nd and 3rd ones) that are at least 40 years old and replace them with one new, bigger one.  It will hold 21,000 bushels. 

They had to take these unloading augers off of them . . .

and then smash them and pull up the old concrete.  Someone that lives nearby drug the steel away and will sell it for scrap.  Below is what it looks like now with them gone.  The new one is supposed to be put up in June.  It will have one of the "new", safer, stairs going to the top.  Bill says now there will just be 8 others he can fall off of.  I should've taken a picture up close of the little ladders that go straight up on these older ones.

what the stairs may look like

 

Jim Nabors Sings "Back Home Again in Indiana"

Lots of people, including me, will be crying today as Jim Nabors sings this for the last time at the Indianapolis 500 as the balloons float up.   It's one of the most special traditions during the pre-race ceremonies.  He's been singing it since 1972, and he's 83 this year.   HERE is a link to a nice article about him and this tradition.  Be sure to click on the video at the bottom to hear "Back Home Again in Indiana".

The only hope is that my cousin Paul will take over!  I think he's been practicing for years!    

Happy Memorial weekend!

Reed, Ross, Rob, Glenn heading out to the race

Special Day

Recently we went to Blue Earth, MN for a special day - our niece and nephew's First Communion.  

Dave & Karen (Dad & Mom), Ryanne and the twins

the twins with Memaw (Bill's mom, Peggy)

After church, we went back to their house for lunch, cake and opening gifts.

Jim & Bill, Taylor & Matthew

 The kids did really well and were also very patient with all the pictures!  Nice day!

I Missed It!

I had been watching a horse about to give birth via a web cam for a few days HERE and getting the owner's updates on Facebook.  Monday night I watched until about midnight. They were saying that she had all the signs she could give birth "soon" but they had been saying she was very close for a few days.  Watching the web cam she was still standing around and eating so I went to bed.  You guessed it - she had it about an hour later!  

The web cam is going to be up for about a week per the owner so you can check in and watch her with her mother in the barn and out in the pasture.   They live in Maryland.

HERE is a link to the story of how the birth happened including pictures.  Very interesting.

Finished! And Good Restaurant Find

We got finished with planting on Sun. and rolling and spraying yesterday!  So far this year is already better than last year.  Last year we had lots of" just wet enough to not be able to do anything" weather, and we and others didn't get to plant some fields AT ALL.  So it is good to have everything planted this year.  

Yesterday I went to Bible Study and then the four of us went out for lunch to Carnegie Cafe in Lake City.  What a treat!  The food was very good and so was our waitress plus the atmosphere.  This is an old library on the town square turned into a restaurant.  The decor is very nice too.  I loved the Apple of my Eye Salad which included really tasty grilled chicken, sliced strawberries, almonds and cheese on greens with a secret dressing served with a "sister roll" that was unusual and very good.

tables outside the old library, now cafe

my Apple of my Eye 1/2 Salad, sister roll and French Onion Soup

me, Deanne, Sandi, Deb

 

some of the decor - our table was there in the corner

After lunch, we walked around the town square and checked out the flower shop and other shops there.  Really nice day.

Another Web Cam to Watch

If you enjoy watching the eagle cams waiting for eaglets to hatch and then grow up and fly away, here's another web cam for you.  A horse is about to give birth any time and you can watch!  I'm hoping to see it since I haven't seen anything being born!  They say that she is showing lots of signs that it should be soon (but they've been saying that for a few days).

http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=mcmjotte

I'm waiting for the call to go pick up Tim and deliver him to wherever he needs to be next and then I'll head out to field cultivate the last two fields.  Bill is finishing planting beans here at our house.  We have a sunny, chilly day (46 so far).  It's supposed to be the same tomorrow with chance of rain Mon. so we're hoping to get done tomorrow. 

There's my call . . .

Fun Spring Porch Decor

We've had about 2" of rain the past five days or so and are trying to patiently wait for the fields to dry to get back out there.  We have our corn planted and have been working on the beans.  We have about three more days of planting to go to be done - about 700 acres.  Some of the corn is starting to come up.  Temperatures are still cool and our furnace is running at night for sure.

Spring is finally slowly arriving.  The leaves are just barely starting to come out, the grass has been greening up and a few people have cut their grass.  I'm going to cut ours for the first time today.  

Another sign of spring is what I've been watching on our front porch.  A pair of robins started building a nest in the corner of our porch swing!

They did a real neat job and they were fast!  As soon as the nest was done, the female layed four blue eggs within two days.  

I Googled info. about robins' nests and found out that they normally lay four eggs.  It takes about two weeks for them to hatch and then about two weeks for them to fly away.  It's been fun watching the process, and I wonder if they will come back and build a nest in the same spot next year.

The beautiful Orioles are also back.  They are such a bright orange and black.  I love to see them.  The feeder for them is right near the robins' nest so I can see them both from the couch or chairs in our living room.