One Ring

The old farmer's wife thought she heard our dinner bell ring once, followed by a few woofs from Gus.  It was two in the morning, but she went back to sleep.  Our dinner bell is fastened to the back of our basketball pole near the garage.  When I got up in the morning and looked out the window, Gus was sitting under the basketball pole waiting for me.  He stood up and started wagging his tail when he saw me look out.  I grabbed the .22 from the gun safe and headed out.  Parked on top of the hoop supports was a big furry fellow.  As soon as the raccoon dropped, Gus was on him, grabbing him by the back of the neck and shaking.  It made quite the mess on the pavement!  The old farmer's wife and Jack had to do some scrubbing to get it clean.  This is the fourth coon in the last two weeks!

April was the second coldest on record for central Illinois.  We only had 3 tenths of an inch of rain for the month of May coming into last night.  But early this morning we had a nice shower, followed by a couple more throughout the day and we ended up with 9 tenths for a total.  It was a very welcome rain that should get the last soybeans out of the ground and give the corn a good boost.  A crop duster sprayed fungicide on our wheat today.  It is heading out, but is shorter than normal.

We went to graduation parties this weekend, including Tate and Kyle's.  Congratulations to both!

Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.
Deuteronomy 15:23

Night Excitement

The corn is up and is looking good so far.
We hauled enough liquid manure to get us by until July, then on Friday morning we disced in the manure, had herbicides applied in the afternoon, field cultivated, and planted our last soybeans.  Rain came Friday night and Saturday.  Hopefully we will not have to replant anything this year and we will stay done.

I love the violets, and hate to mow the lawn when they are in their prime.

Saturday evening we went out to Steak and Shake followed by a stop at Bass Pro Shops.  It was well after dark when we pulled into our garage at home.  Some guests of our neighbor across the road met us and informed us that there was a pig wandering around the neighbor's yard!  I quickly threw on a coverall and boots, grabbed a flashlight and we headed out for the roundup.  When I got out, the neighbors had the pig back in our yard, and the pig seemed to prefer to go towards light.  So, he headed into our open garage.  I had the neighbors and the wife keep the pig corralled in the garage while I went to see where he may have came from and figure out where to put him back.  I opened a gate hoping to chase it into a holding area, but the pig had other directions in mind.  After leading us on a wild pig chase for a while, I opened the hog house office door with the lights on, and we were able to coax him through that door.  Then I was able to run it through the hallways to a temporary pen.  A little Saturday night excitement!
By the way, he left a deposit in the garage.

We enjoyed our Mother's Day gathering at Ron and Kary's, with Ron grilling burgers and frying fish.  With only one grand-kid there to chase around, it was a relaxing evening.

My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Proverbs 1:8

Much Progress

After unseasonable cool temperatures and snow the first three weekends of April, it finally warmed up and dried out the last week.  We started planting corn last Wednesday, and in parts of six working days we were able to get it all underground.  We planted our first field of soybeans yesterday, finishing ahead of the rain that moved across the area.  We were ready for a little break, but I spent much of the day catching up on the power-washing.

This young man stops out regularly to make sure the equipment is still in good condition.

A couple weekends ago we went down to visit Phil.  From the time we stepped in the front door of the prison until we were in the visiting room, it was only about twelve minutes!  That included a bathroom stop! That was the quickest we ever made it in.  Usually you have to figure on at least a half hour or more.  We had a good visit and Phil was in good spirits.  He got a new set of false teeth, so he even looked good.

A couple of weeks ago, Gus trapped a ground hog under our grill right outside our door.  I dispatched it for him, but then it disappeared.  Apparently, he buried it in our planter box outside the kitchen window and probably forgot about it.  This week after the temperatures warmed up, he dug it up and it is now adorning our yard.  Last night, he had something cornered in our old shed, so brother and I investigated.  It was a raccoon and Gus was bound and determined that he was going to own it. With the help of a pitchfork, we were able to coax it from its hiding place.  Gus took over from there.  Now we have two dead furry things in our yard along with the usual assorted pig carcass parts.

"I like pigs;  cats look down on human beings, dogs look up to them, but pigs just treat us as their equals."
Sir Winston Churchill

 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
Isaiah 24:22