Delayed

 I was able to watch the partial eclipse through a welding helmet, and took some pictures with double welding helmet glass.  Pictures rarely do justice to what you see, but it didn't turn out too bad.

Ross Blair, owner of Blair's Disc Sharpening, came down from North Dakota and sharpened a couple of tillage tools for me.  His dad sharpened blades for my dad when I was a little boy.  He camped overnight in my yard in his converted bus because of how late he worked.  I enjoyed his stories about living and working along the Canada border.  You would think that living in the middle of nowhere along the border, it wouldn't be a big deal for a farmer to cross it.  But cows getting out and crossing the border can be a major ordeal.  Or if you fall asleep with autosteer on and the tractor crosses the line before you wake up, the border patrol will show up.  There are electronic sensors all along the border, which is just a six foot strip of grass in that area.  He can see Canada from his house.

 I got started planting soybeans on April 15, and made good progress until the rains started.  I was able to work two days the last week of April and finished the beans and started corn.  Then the rains came back again.  I received 5 inches over 7 days and have not been back in since.  And we've had another 1.2 inches in the last few days.  So we got off to a great start, but now we are behind!  There is lots of ponding in some of our fields, so I know there will be replanting.

Gus helping me check the outlet of Lake Homeless Lady (inside joke).

My strong hive made it through the winter and is stronger than ever.  I installed a new package in my second hive and have a swarm box out in case my strong hive swarms.  I'm hoping for a good honey year.  The fruit trees have blossomed, but it doesn't look like it will be as good of a fruit year as last year.  My cherry tree looks to be the most productive this year.

Our old lawn mower gave us fits all last summer.  I replaced the fuel pump twice, the fuel filter once, and bought a new battery.  It has a slow leak in two of the tires.  It also spent some time in the shop with hydrostat and frame problems.  So I ordered a new mower for this summer.  Shipment was delayed several times, so I serviced the old mower and it has been working perfectly so far this spring.  Finally our dealer (Blunier Implement) found the same mower on another dealer's lot who had given up their dealership. It ended up being an upgraded version of the mower we wanted at a slightly less price! It is the old farmers wife's Christmas, birthday, and Mother's day gift!

But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.                         I Samuel 13:20