Planting - almost done

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Bill planting

Bill's Mom's house & barn in the distance

The weather is perfect here this week.  I finished the field cultivating yesterday.  Bill hopes to finish planting today. He's doing the field around our house and has one more.  Then Tim will spray them and be done and Carl will roll them.  It's strange that they roll over newly planted beans with big, super heavy rollers!

Now there is mowing to do, laundry, and we need to water our trees/new grove.  I bought flowers this morning and plan to plant them this afternoon. 




These pictures were all taken several days ago.

I like all he changes of the colors of the landscape and even now when the dirt is dark brown when newly worked and planted.

2 deer in the field

These 2 deer were in the little field Bill was moving to next.

One day I shared a field with about 6 deer for a while and several  mice. The deer were laying in a weedy  area I had worked earlier.  I guess it was maybe cool for them. 

Moving Right Along and then . . .

Looking out from inside the cab - Bill & Carl working

 Yesterday was going to be a good day with all of us smoothly getting a lot done.  My biggest worry was moving from the first field to the second - ON THE ROAD ! ! !  They've been having me move myself the past few days and it does make me nervous.  I don't mind the driving on the road part but my fear is meeting cars or especially other big equipment.  There isn't room for both of you on the road.  What I'm pulling takes up about 3/4 or more of the road.  You have to be constantly looking for some place you could pull over even if just a little bit.  Most of the time the edge is not very wide and there's a big drop off into the ditch.  Most people in cars just speed right by and have no patience.  There are a few that know better and they find a spot to get out of your way - but very few.  It's scary.  Thankfully I haven't met another tractor yet this spring.   I told Bill there should be a flashing sign that says "Beware - Driver in Training" on the front of my tractor! 

Working near the train track

So I got moved to the second field without meeting anyone and all was going well until I was almost done in a field about 4:00 and ready to move to the next field when a transmission hose broke.  It sprayed oil all over and took the guys about 4 hours to fix and it wasn't an easy job. They got done right before dark.  They said it would've happened to whoever was driving (whew!) - the hose had rubbed on something and wore through.


 We were working right next to the train track west of town.  Two trains went by during the day there.

Today we have visitors coming.  Our little twin niece & nephew & their sister.  Matthew REALLY likes farming and will be riding with Uncle Bill and asking LOTS of questions.  Jim is back this weekend.  Peggy is having lunch for us.

Today I'm going to start in a field that's the main corner into town.  Hopefully most of the farmers will be busy in their own fields and not driving by.  :)  (when you're a rookie you don't want people critiquing how you're doing!)   I think I'm still supposed to be babysitting Diane's girls tonight.   Busy day.

The new hose (Bill & Uncle Tim)

Good Weather!

We finally have a stretch of good weather and just got done with planting corn this evening!  Now on to the beans!

In other news, the NEW Stampin' Up! catalog can be ordered from beginning June 1st!  My customers will have theirs by then.  It will also be online through my web site, above right.  Lots of our stamps and accessories are retiring to be replaced with exciting new product so be sure to check it out!  You can always order by e mailing me or 24/7 on my web site.  


The Rolfe Sesquicentennial Cookbook proof arrived today!  Very exciting!  We only have three days to look it over. 

Rain Delay

We had almost another inch of rain Fri. night so I've been doing some cooking.  I made shrimp stir fry.  It's really good and a good way to get Bill to eat a bunch of vegetables!  Then in honor of the Kentucky Derby running yesterday, I made Kentucky Derby Pie.  There was a horse from Iowa, Dullahan, that came in 3rd.

 KENTUCKY DERBY PIE

1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. chocolate chips 
3/4 c. chopped pecans or walnuts
9" pie crust


Combine all ingredients and bake at 350 for 45 min. or until brown on top.  Good served a little warm with a dollop of Cool Whip.  It's rich so start with a small slice!  Note - those in the South add 2 T. bourbon to the pie.

 

Dallas - Part 5

Glenn with FJ Cruiser

Glenn's House

One more set of pictures of our Dallas trip after this.  (go carting) 


I liked driving Glenn's FJ! 




 

Dallas Highways

Glenn's house has some land with it.  He has a hot tub in back, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a nice size living room with fireplace.










We were a little worried about driving around Dallas, especially from the airport, but the Garmin came through again for us!  I love that thing!  


Tuesday night we got 7/10" of rain so no field work yesterday.  That night Bill got within 6 rows of being done in some fields of his mom's before the sideways rain started.  Due to the warmer temps, we have a chance of storms every night this week.  They missed us last night.  Today is nice with a little breeze.  

Happy May Day!

Prom Kids

I've always liked the month of May.  When I lived in Indiana, besides the weather being so nice with no bugs yet and nice temps, we had all of the excitement of the Indianapolis 500 Race.  Here in Iowa, some people still do May baskets.  (see my post where we made some last year)  The lady who taught us how to make some with milk cartons and tissue paper last year brought this surprise to me today.  She used a plastic champagne glass upside down with the newer, pretty tulip cupcake liners and a white paper cup inside to hold the candy.  She added some silk leaves with floral tape.  Cute!  (pictures below)


The above pictures were from church Sun.  Prom was Sat. night so the kids who went always wear their dresses and tuxes to church the next day.  It was also Confirmation Sunday.  One of the families serving refreshments after church made ALL of the cross cookies this year!  They were all the same (which looked nice) except for the color of the flower.

Bill was able to get back to planting after lunch today.  Tim worked ground.  It's very windy though so the spraying probably won't get done.  Were supposed to have storms this evening. 

I'm still trying to figure out this new Blogger format and haven't figured out how to move the pictures around yet.