Century Farm

One of the ladies we farm for e mailed us this summer and said that her farm would be recognized as a Century Farm at the Iowa State Fair this year.  She is in her 90's and was not going to be able to attend and wondered if we could.  A Century Farm is farm land that has been in a family for 100 or more years.  A Heritage Farm is 150 years.

Bill had not been to the State Fair for many years, and I had not been to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines yet since moving here so we were happy to go.  The night before, we went south of Des Moines to spend the night at Longview Farms Bed & Breakfast so that we'd be close to get there and sign in for the program the next morning.  Will post pictures of the B & B in my next post.

In these pictures, you'll see us accepting the plaque and certificate on stage and then pictures of the plaque installed at the farm which is just west of Rolfe.   These are good fields to farm and close to our home.  
 

Last Day of Stampin' Up! Stamp Sale! Don't Miss Out!

Order any time through my web site:  cindykemna.stampinup.net

Black Bean Taco Soup Recipe

I recently tried this recipe for the first time and we liked it.  It makes a nice amount but not too much.  I used my medium size crock pot and it was about 3/4 full.  I did use black beans.  And I used a bag of our frozen corn instead of the canned.

Black Bean Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 package taco seasoning
1  16 oz. can corn (undrained)
1  16 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed (or kidney or pinto beans)
1  14 oz. can stewed tomatoes
1  14 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
1  8 oz. can tomato sauce
1  4 oz. can diced green chilies
tortilla chips
other taco toppings you like (cheese, sour cream, avocado, etc.)

Directions:
Brown meat and onion; drain.  Stir in taco seasoning, corn, beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and green chilies.  You can either simmer on low heat for 20-30 min. or put in the crock pot and cook on Low for a few hours or High for 2-3.  

Serve with tortilla chips and your favorite toppings (we like cheese and a little sour cream, and I add green onions to mine).

This freezes well too.  Just thaw and add a little water when reheating.  
 

Small Helper

Our nephew really likes to help Uncle Bill during Harvest but with already being in sports, he doesn't make it down here much anymore.  Luckily he got here Sat. because we got done combining Sun. around noon!  It doesn't usually happen, but field work (ripping) was done soon after - on Mon. night! 

Now Bill and Bryan are getting the quad trac ready for putting on anhydrous.  The soil temp. has to be consistently 50 degrees or below so it will be a while.  In the meantime, all the equipment has to be cleaned and put away.  

We're still having great Fall weather and actually need rain.  It's been almost a month since we've had any.  The corn crop in our area, with our nice 1" rains this summer, is very plentiful.  Yesterday several area elevators were closed so farmers were bringing theirs to our elevator causing a very long line. Some towns are dumping corn in the streets!  They say that hasn't been done for 15 years.  

Bradgate, IA - the pile is lots bigger since this was taken

 

Stampin' Up! Sale

Stampin' Up! just announced this sale - all stamp sets are on sale 15% off today through the 23rd!  E mail, call me or order through my web site at cindykemna.stampinup.net.   This is a great time to get the things you need to make Christmas cards, tags, etc.  Lots of great new things in our Holiday Catalog which you can see online at my web site too.

 

Bad Day Continued

If you read yesterday's post, this is a continuation of that - my bad day this harvest season.

So after Bill rescued me from the cemetery predicament, he went on his way back up north to his field, and I made it over to mine - whew.  And had a good day ripping.  

Later I moved to another field and that was going well until just before dark.  I was going around the edge of the field which used to be REALLY stressful for me but now it's ok.  Bill likes for us to do a good job in the corners and back up and rip as close as we can to get rid of as many weeds as possible.  Sometimes this is easier than others depending on whether or not there are still fences around the field, a pile of rocks in the corner, etc.  Why we still have fences that used to be there to keep the cattle in I don't know.  Bill says that I can take them out any time I want to work on that.

In the last corner - after going all around a big field with several corners and other issues - there were weeds and appeared to be no fence in the corner!  So I backed up really far, put the ripper down and took off.  I got a little ways forward and all of a sudden it started pulling hard which seemed strange - something had to be wrong.  I looked back and saw a big mess IN the middle of the ripper!  Got out and OMG, there was a huge metal gate stuck in the middle of the ripper along with a lot of dirt and weeds!  Where did that come from?!  So I raised the ripper to see if it would just drop it but no such luck - it was in there bad (along with a lot of dirt that the gate had eventually drug with it).

So I called Bill to come help - again.  While I waited for him to get there I pulled as many weeds out of the way as I could and cut a little wire, etc.  (I have my own wire cutters in the tractor for this very reason!)  It got dark.  It took him quite a while to cut enough wire to get this thing loose.  And turns out it was not one gate but TWO!!  OMG!

But Bill couldn't be mad because they had left these gates, laying flat, there for several years once they weren't needed anymore.  And weeds grew up in and around them.  

He was nice and finished going along the last edge with fence for me, and I think I quit for the night at that point.  Soon after, I got an e mail that there was no meeting - but it would be soon.  Whew - what a day but all turned out ok.  As Tim has said before, as long as nobody got hurt it's ok.  I was amazed and thankful that not even any equipment was bent or headstones knocked over or anything!  My "lucky" day!

  

A Good Harvest Season

We are almost done with 2015 harvest.  It has been a rare one with no rain delays and all beautiful weather to work in.  We should be done combining by tomorrow night or Monday morning and the ripping should be done by Monday night.  Bill's brother, Jim, came home this weekend to rip so I've had a couple days off. 

The elevator closed at 5:00 today and will be closed all day tomorrow but due to this, the guys took a few loads to the elevator today and the rest will fit in the grain bins so with that, we can work as long and late as we want to (Bill would like to work until midnight if the rest of the crew would agree!).

Seems like every season I have one bad day.  And I know you like reading about my (dumb) mistakes so I will share this year's bad day.  It started off in the morning.  I had a phone calendar reminder of a 9:00 meeting but no details about where.  I didn't remember getting details about this meeting but was in a panic because it was an important one.  So I sent an e mail to the woman in charge and waited to hear if I had missed this meeting.

I warmed up the tractor and pulled out of the driveway headed to my field for the morning thankful that nothing else big was on the road with me (yet anyway).  I got to the cemetery corner and a combine was coming from the direction that I needed to go.  Hmmm, don't know which way they're going to need to go but thought if I cut through the Catholic Cemetery he could go on by and I could turn and go west like I needed to.  Only problem was there was not enough room to turn the corner in the cemetery.  I was awfully close to a headstone that had statues on both sides of it and Mrs. Wagner buried on the other side of the driveway.  I was "stuck".  I knew if I tried to pull forward and back up much I'd tear up grass or knock over statues or worse.  So I called Bill who was headed way north to where he was working.  I said "I'm stuck in the cemetery, I haven't hit anything, come back fast".   He said "but I'm 10 miles north".  I said "I know, hurry!"  Only a few people stopped or drove by and waved while I was waiting . . . and he did hurry I think!

The neighbor that had been in the combine, came by (with his wife and son) and stopped and asked if I wanted him to try to get it out, but about that time Bill got there and backed it out the way I had come in.  And he didn't hit anything.  I owe him.  He and Tim told me to stay out of the cemeteries from now on.

I'll continue with that day on the next post.  

Good Lesson

This was just shared on Facebook today, and I think it is worth sharing here.  I've been thinking that we need to make lots of memories for the bank account of memories while we can.


The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it,” she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room …. just wait.”
“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged, it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away, just for this time in my life.”
She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.”
And with a smile, she said: “Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less