Winter

Winter has arrived on the farm.  I put my long johns on for the first time last week  The temperature in our bedroom has been running in the 65 degree range at night, so the old farmer's wife put the flannel sheets on the bed.  We had our first snow on Nov. 18.  It was just big, wet, flakes that didn't stick, but we have been warned.

We finished our tillage after another breakdown, a weeks wait for parts, and welding shop repair. Now we are starting to put equipment away for the winter.  The double crop soybeans were finally harvested after a three week wait.  The almost 50 bushel per acre yield was our highest ever.  It made the wait worthwhile.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we made a quick trip to Burlington and Mediapolis as Son#2 announced his engagement.  We are thankful, excited, and feeling blessed.  We are looking forward to a wedding in March.  Rachel is from Oakville/Mediapolis but is working at the U. of I. Vet Clinic in C-U.  That is where we met her while some of our kids (including Son#2) were at U. of I.  We've been friends with her parents much longer than that.

Three of us drove down to Centralia to get a visit in with Phil before Christmas.  It was a nice sunny day and we enjoyed a nice visit with him.  Going through pat-down, the officer pulled the insoles out of my shoes when he searched them.  That was a first!  I was wearing one of my oldest pairs (and most comfortable) and his eyes widened at first look.  He told me the steel shank was showing through, and I wonder if he thought at first that I was hiding a knife under the insole.  He let me through!

The farm meeting circuit has started, and I had my first Wiegand steak (Trails End Catering) last week.  Today was the Earlybird Fertilizer Christmas Open House and 50th anniversary celebration.  More good food.
The oldest farmer was one of Ralph's early customers back in '67 or '68. We have been trusting them with our business ever since. They provide excellent service, high quality products, a large fleet of application equipment, cutting edge knowledge, integrity, and two generations of personal relationships.

 
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Revelation 19:7