Corn

We finished planting our corn on Wednesday, April 25.  This is the earliest we have finished in years.  We were able to plant 8 consecutive days (minus Sunday) without a weather interruption.  Rain was much needed by the end of the stretch.  We immediately switched the planter over and started planting soybeans, because we were at our most distant farm.  So, we also have one field of beans done.

Friday evening we got .2" of rain which gave us a break from the fields on Saturday.  So the old farmer took his wife out to eat in the evening, and then went tie shopping.  Sunday I slept in until 8:00, which gave me 8 1/2 hours of sleep for the night.  Typically I get 6 3/4 hours a night.  Then, after a blessed day of worship and fellowship in church, I went home and took a nap!  So, I ought to be caught up on sleep.

March ended up being a warmer month than April this year.  We have no corn up yet because of the cool temperatures, despite some of it being in the ground almost 2 weeks now.  We have received a total of .8" rain over the last three days, and with predicted temperatures in the 80's for the next few days, the corn should pop out of the ground soon.

Shop Kitty gave birth to a litter of shop kittens.  Somewhere along the line, she snuck out and had a liaison unknown to us.  We did notice her increasing waistline the past few weeks, and we made some assumptions.  They are still very little, so we don't disturb them.

Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.
Isaiah 66:9

Congratulations

A week and a half ago we took my parents down to C-U to visit daughter #2 and see her house. 
Then we took the "Upper Room" out to eat at Biaggi's before attending Champaign church.  I had a lobster/mushroom/sauce combo served over black fettuccine.  Different looking, but very good.

Last Saturday night we went to Uncle Bill and Aunt Lucille's 65th anniversary celebration in Gridley.  It was good to see lots of relatives and friends that we don't see real often.  The evening consisted of good food, fellowship, memories, stories, and entertainment.  And numerous recitations of Uncle Bill jokes.

Bill was a track star in high school and was considered a one man track team.  In particular, he was an excellent high jumper.  He was asked if he remembered how high he could jump.
"Well, I don't remember exactly, but I know I could jump higher than the house!"

"Of course, the house couldn't jump!"

Pause.  Groans all around.

Anyway, Congratulations Bill and Lucille!  What an accomplishment!

We started planting corn on Tuesday afternoon, and despite a couple of minor setbacks, we had a very productive week.  We were thankful that the bad weather that had been predicted for the last half of the week never materialised.  By Saturday evening we had over half of the corn planted and I had my 75 hours in.

For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.
Psalm 18:29

Violets

Search long for a girl who loves violets . . . special are the women who love the scent and sight of violets fresh from a spring garden.  Girls who love long stemmed roses are many . . . roses are emblems of status and can be bragged about to companions.  Violets are for the quaint of heart, the sentimental of soul, the pure of intellect.
~unknown

When I was a kid and played in the yard, I would pick and eat violets for some unknown reason.  I've been known to eat some even after I grew up.  I loved the simple beauty of them, even though they are generally considered weeds in the yard by most people.  This spring, the violets are abundant around the farm, and I still love to see them.  It's hard for me to see them get mowed off.  And I think little violet bouquets are very chic.  
So I did a little research into the subject (thanks, wikipedia!). 
The flowers and leaves are both edible raw or cooked, but make a somewhat bland vegetable or salad.  They are sometimes used as a garnish.
The flowers, leaves, and roots contain vitamins A and C, and contain an antioxidant called anthocyanin.  The Chinese used violets to make an herbal tea, and the Cherokee used them medicinally to treat colds and headaches.
They are also used as a source for scents by the perfume industry.  Violet is known to have a "flirty" scent as its fragrance comes and goes.  They contain a compound which turns off the ability for humans to smell the fragrance for moments at a time.

The common blue violet, Viola sororia, is the state flower in Illinois.

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
Song of Solomon 2:12

Root Beer

...if there is one great benefit we received from prohibition, it is the proliferation of quality root beer...
nephew Ned

Since Ned was in central Illinois for his 21st birthday, daughter #1 ordered and picked up a keg of 1919 root beer for his party.  Son #1 bought a garbage can and fitted it with a drain cock and iced it down.  Saturday, the family gathered for his party.  It's hard to beat a frosty mug of draft 1919 root beer.
But, it takes a long time to drink 16 gallons of root beer!

Little Miss Cecily sitting on the keg.

Sunday afternoon we went seeking old family cemeteries, looking for ancestral graves.  It was a beautiful day as we drove down a dead end dirt road, drove through a cow pasture, hopped across a small creek, climbed a hill, and found the Lantz-Zimmerman cemetery.  The last burial was in 1919, and was my children's great, great, great, grandmother.

Next we found the old Slabtown cemetery high on a hill in the trees overlooking the Mackinaw River valley.  Some of our ancestors are buried here, but story has it that a herd of horses destroyed some of the grave markers many years ago.  It was still a beautiful, peaceful setting as we strolled around trying to read the inscriptions on the weathered stones that were left.

Today, we had a new arrival on the farm.  We brought our "new" combine home from the dealership.  It is a 2007 John Deere 9660.  We also traded our corn head and platform, so we are fortunate that our banker likes us and still lends us money.  The stack of operators manuals for the combine, 2 heads, and GreenStar receiver and display, are about six inches thick, so I will have plenty of reading material to study between now and wheat harvest.

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
John 7:37