Round Two

 A couple of days after my plumbing project, I couldn't figure out why the basement carpet wasn't drying out. I put a dehumidifier out and had a big fan on but it seemed to be getting wetter!  I looked above the dropped ceiling for leaking water pipes, but all looked dry.  I checked outside for a plugged downspout that might be causing water to leak thru the sill.  No plugged downspout.  Finally I discovered a leak in the cast iron Y where it goes through the poured concrete wall.  This is hidden behind a fake beam.  When I was running the snakes thru the drain line when we had the plugged line, I must have hit a thin rusty spot and caused a leak. We immediately stopped using the sink and dishwasher.  I made an emergency call to Clayton, and he stopped to look at it.  He gave me some advice, and the next day I was able to buy the products he recommended at Menards.  I was able to clean up the cast with a steel brush and then using an air compressor, I blew out the dirt and dried it out.  I applied Hydro Seal on the outside of the cast, and then silicone on the inside of the pipe and let it set overnight.  The next day I buttoned it all back up, tested it for leaks, and we were back in business.  It took a week to completely dry out the wood and carpet.  Everything is now back to normal and we got some cleaning done in the process.

I hadn't checked my bees since late August.  On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I went out to check on them.  I wanted to check for mites and small hive beetles.  Going into winter they need to be in top condition.  My bees are usually pretty docile when working with them, but on this day they got very angry with me.  They did not like me disrupting their day!  My smoker didn't seem to calm them at all.  I wear a full bee suit plus nitrile gloves (easier to work in than leather gloves).  My suit has elastic cuffs that are getting a little loose.  When I stretch my arms, sometimes a half inch of wrist is exposed.  I was being bombarded by the bees, and they found each wrist more than once.  Aside from the initial stings, it didn't hurt too much.  But the next morning, both hands were puffy and my wrists and hands itched all day.  I will have to do something different next time out, but maybe they will be docile again.

We have a small building on the farm that started out as a tiny home.  When my grandparents were going to build the house I am now living in, they built a single car garage sized house to live in while building.  They wanted to tear down the old house which set back a lane, and reuse some of the lumber in the new house.  Thus they lived in the little house during construction.  After they moved into the new house, it became their chicken house.  My dad used to keep boars or a bull in when he didn't want them breeding.  When I was a teenager, it was just used to store mostly junk.  After I was driving a while, I wanted to turn it into a shop and garage for my car.  Dad cut open a wall and installed a used garage door someone gave him.  I insulated the walls and added cheap paneling. After Dad and Mom moved to town, Fred and I converted it into a woodworking shop, which is what it is still mostly used for today.  The old free wood garage door finally rotted, so Jack helped me tear it out, and Rusty's door service installed a new one for me.  I am working on cleaning it out, and we will have to repaint it next summer.

 

Harvest is progressing nicely after a slow start.  The first couple weeks were damp and cloudy and the crops didn't dry down much.  This last week was beautiful and we made great progress.  All the soybeans are out except the double crop and replant beans.  I bought a truck this summer. I was able to  pass my semi truck license test just as harvest started, so I am doing most of the trucking.  Son #1 is running the combine most days, and the old farmers wife reluctantly got a refresher course with the auger cart.  We hired a homeschooled young man from Congerville to run the cart for us most days.  Mahlon picked it up quickly and is doing a great job.

We celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Washington Apostolic Christian Church in September.  I was in college at the time, but I spent many Sunday mornings on a folding chair in the Lincoln Grade School gym.  I helped work on the new church building on Cruger Road whenever I was available.  I distinctly remember helping Fritz & Gudeman pour concrete, helping set the trusses, and helping Chris Koehl build the pulpit area.  My old green Chevy pickup was borrowed to pick up the baptismal tank in Gridley, Kansas. I was able to work there with both my father and grandfather. I was blessed to find my salvation here, participate in the Young Group, raise my family here, watch my children find salvation, and serve in a number of different capacities.                                                                                                 A lot of people have passed through the church over the last 50 years.  All were invited back for an excellent meal and a history presentation.  Some of them were able to come for the commemoration, and it was good to see them. Son #1 was in charge of putting together a book with pictures, stats, ministries, activities, and a timeline.  It was a blessed day.

 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.             Psalm 127:1

Water, water, everywhere

 We had about a week and a half of Canadian wildfire smoke that caused a hazy sky, irritated the lungs, and smelled.  The sweet corn crop was good, and as usual, I ate my share.  We had plenty of green beans and the pear trees were loaded this year.  But, no apples for some reason.  I harvested my honey in early August, and got the largest amount that I have had so far. I weighed over 60 pounds of beautiful, sweet honey!  It rained most of the first half of August after a dry July.  I didn't keep close track, but I think we had close to seven inches of rain.  We have plenty of moisture now to carry us towards harvest.  The spots in the fields that were ponding in June have ponded again in August.  The weeds are popping through in the wet spots.  The majority of the crops still look pretty good, so we  should have decent yields this year.

Our road has been a tar & chip surface since I was in High School.  For some reason, the last 20 years or so, it has been more tar in the summer than chip.  The road commissioner has resurfaced it a couple of times in the last 6 - 8 years, but it doesn't seem to help.  Or, the snow plows peel a layer of chips off in the winter.  So, this summer he tried something new.  An LP burner rig heated the road to 600 degrees Fahrenheit, then the melted road was stirred, an additive was mixed in, then it was leveled and rolled.  The final surface is supposed to be like asphalt, and they put a seal coat on that.  It still seems a little tarry on hot days, but we shall see what happens long term.

    

We made two day trips to Iowa to help Jake and Rachel paint the house they are moving to.  Her parents built a new house, so they are buying the family home in the country that has a big yard, acreage, timber, ponds, and much more room.  Three weeks ago we headed back out to help with the move.  There was plenty of good help, vehicles and trailers, so the move went smoothly.  

The family golden key showed up (as it does at every move), but it was gone the next week.

Meanwhile, back home, I hired an independent mechanic to inspect my combine before harvest.  It hadn't been inspected for at least two years and I don't like harvest breakdowns.  The two young men who worked on it specialize in green combines and really know their stuff.  I was amazed at how fast they disassembled the machine and showed me everything that needed repaired or replaced.  I helped when I could, but I was gone a lot while they were working on it.  We pulled out the unloading augers and I took them to their shop to be rebuilt. When they picked them up to bring them back to the farm, Lee dropped one of them on his finger and cut the tip off.  It was still hanging by skin, so the doctor was able to reattach it.  A day and a half later he was back on the farm working on my combine.  He was trying to take it easy, but his bandages were pretty greasy!  I hadn't cleaned it off after wheat harvest, and then it sat out in the rain a couple nights while being worked on.  Now I have wheat sprouting all over the machine.  I will have to do some cleanup before harvest.

Then came the next move.  Bob & Jenny moved out to their new house at Firefly Woods.  It was a week after the Iowa move.  Tremont had five inches of rain overnight, so the storm sewers backed up.  The check valve didn't hold the water back, so there was close to two feet in the basement of the house they were moving out of.  That made a huge mess of everything that was to be moved out.  The new house stayed dry!   Overall the move went well, and they were able to salvage quite a bit from the basement.  Amazingly, the two freezers, the washer and dryer, and the furnace all worked once dried out.  There was plenty of good help, and I think they are fairly well settled in.  The golden key showed up above their unfinished fireplace.

The depth of the basement water shows up on the old Tremont Church bench that was in the basement.

 

There is still work that needs to be done, but they were successful in building a new "old Foursquare farmhouse."

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, someone who shall remain unnamed cleaned out the refrigerator and tried to dispose of all the old leftovers through the garbage disposal.  Somewhere in the plumbing of our old house, the ground up food plugged a pipe.  After the dishwasher water backed up into the kitchen sink and wouldn't even slow drain overnight, I knew we had a real problem.  Both sink traps were clear.  I have two snakes.  I ran the 15 footer down the drain from under the sink.  Nothing.  Our kitchen is on a different system from the bathrooms, so I opened the manhole cover outside and inspected.  No problem there.  I ran our large tile snake from there back into the house until it reached a sharp corner.  No problem to there.  Down in our basement above a bank of cabinets in our recreation room, there is a cleanout.  It is normally hidden in a false column between our bookshelves.  We moved the books, cleared off the countertop, and I set a big tub under the cleanout.  I removed the plug and nothing came out.  I snaked as best I could from there, and cleaned out all the gunk I could reach.  But still no water drainage.  Next I tried a high powered Drano poured directly into the pipe under the sink.  I was puttering around in the basement waiting for lunch (this process took all morning!) when I heard the

whoosh of backed up sludge spraying out of the basement cleanout. It filled the tub, splashed up the countertop, sprayed out onto the floor, and splattered my recliner and other furniture!  It created a big smelly mess.  Jack was a big help as we cleaned it up, but he was fighting nausea.  I wet vacced the chunks up first, then wiped everything down, shampooed the carpet, and used febreze to remove odors on the floor and my recliner.  I think we were successful in returning the room back to normal.  I buttoned up all the open pipes and drains, and the kitchen is back in business.

And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.                                                  Isaiah 48:21

Aunt Pearl

 Mom and Pearl were farm girls from Lester, Iowa.  They were two years apart in age, so they were always together growing up.  Then they both married central Illinois men, so they were best friends after marriage also.  We spent a lot of time together with the Streitmatter family growing up.  Uncle Vernie was a car salesman and worked late most nights of the week.  Pearline and kids were at our supper table several nights a week.  We spent every Sunday afternoon/evening together that we didn't have other plans.  We traveled to Lester together for holidays and camped together in the summers.  Mom and Pearl did much of life together.  They shopped together, entertained together, put up green beans, sweet corn, and apple sauce together, and gave each other perms.  Pearl became like a second mom to me.  She could scold me, give advice, give encouragement, and give praise.  

After Vernie died at age 58, she spent more time with our family.  They were with us every big Christmas and every big family vacation.  She was a good cook, hostess, gardener, and always brought her homemade sweet breads to family gatherings.  The old farmer's wife started a tradition of having my parents and Aunt Pearl to our home at Christmas for their favorite oyster stew.  She often received compliments on her beautiful white hair.  She was a faithful Sister in Christ.  She and Vernie were founding members of our church in Washington.  She served lunch the first Sunday.

One of my favorite sayings of hers (she had many!) was regarding corporal punishment for adults who committed serious crimes.  She thought prison was too comfortable.  "They should tie them to a post on a busy street corner, and everyone who walks by should kick them."  Another was when we would complain about a pain or hardship, she would look at us and say, "you don't die that easy!"

She was having health issues including some abdominal pain, so they took her to Eureka hospital.  She was transferred to a Peoria hospital where many tests were done.  It was determined that she was terminal and should go on hospice.  The morning after she was admitted to the Eureka Home, I stopped in for a quick visit after a meeting I attended at the home.  She was sleeping, but opened her eyes when I spoke to her and she gave me a big smile and we chatted a bit.  The next time I visited she wasn't able to communicate very well.  One week after being taken to the hospital, she passed away peacefully. 

After being a widow for over forty years, we laid her to rest by her husband.  It was a nice service and her great nephews and grandsons sang at the cemetery.

Mom is now the lone survivor from a family of 14 children.  We are praying for her.

Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.                                                           Matthew 13:46

Working High

 After a dry start to the growing season, it has now turned wet.  It rains easy now, and we are probably ahead of normal for rainfall.  I started working on the combine, getting it ready to harvest wheat.  One afternoon I was going to pull it out of the shed to work on it outside.  I turned the key on, and heard "clunk, clunk, clunk".  I stopped and wondered what that noise could be.  My first thought was maybe a cat was in the engine compartment and was hit by the fan blade.  I open up the back, climbed up, and checked the engine compartment.  There was a racoon between the radiator and fan, and he was bloody!  I tried to fish him out with a hog catcher, but he wanted no part of it.  I decided it was best not to bother him and wait until morning when he would either be dead or gone.  Thankfully, he was gone in the morning and I could continue my work.

Father's Day weekend, the old farmers wife made a fancy meal of roast duck and bloomin' onions.  It had been a while since she made duck.  We were mostly lazy on Father's Day.

I had the combine all ready, and the straw was mature, and then it rained again.  I was thinking that I might have to miss the big family vacation, but the rain allowed me to take four days off.  We were packed and ready to head for Indiana on Thursday morning.  Son#1 and boys had just left with our spare van, when we got a call from the Kellenbergers.  Their van had broken down in Fairbury. Matt stopped and picked up their luggage and we stopped and picked up R & K.  Their van was repaired in Forrest while we were on vacation, and they were able to pick it up on their way back through going home.

We had a good time in Grabill as always.  Catered meals every evening and large homemade breakfasts.  The Klops bought a new boat, so the kids got in lots of tubing time.  They also enjoyed the pool.  I chose not to join the pickle ball tournament this year, but I did play a practice match. Being close to the 4th, they put on a fireworks show for us over the lake.  It was the 40th annual family vacation, so special T-shirts were printed along with coffee mugs.

The back side of the group picture line up.

We came back home to the hottest, most humid week of the summer so far.  I was able to get the wheat harvested despite the soft, tarry road and the fact that the township was working on it.  The yield was very good, and we made ready to bale straw.  I was able to find only two teenagers to help.  The rest were middle age and us old guys.  Because of being short of help, and the extreme heat, the haymow crew couldn't keep ahead of the baler.  So it took us two days to bale the 1000 bales I wanted for the haymow.  We made the rest of the straw into large round bales and hustled them off of the field.  Then I was able to drill in my double crop soybeans just ahead of another rain.  I watched a coyote hunting while I was drilling.

The Brakers invited us for supper on the 4th, and then we went next door to Ron and Kary's to watch fireworks.  It was an extra impressive display this year because of our nation's 250th celebration.  But there was heavy cloud cover and the wind was wrong, so the first ten minutes we were mostly watching backlit smoke.  The wind shifted eventually and we enjoyed the show.  We also enjoyed the root beer floats afterwards.

Waiting for the show to begin!

Our friend Dan fell off of his roof and was injured badly with several broken bones and a head injury.  He spent a several weeks in the hospital, but is at home recovering nicely.  I say this because I've been keeping a list of jobs I need to do around the farm that require working high up in the air. My wife helped me decide that maybe I shouldn't be working off of high ladders anymore.  So I have rented a 45 foot JLG lift for a week and am now in the process of repairing the barn roof, trimming trees, changing a yard light, cleaning gutters, fastening tin on the crib roof, and spraying Wet & Forget on the sides and roofs of the house and another building.

Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.                   Isaiah 58:14

Spring Growth

 The crops are in the ground and growing nicely.  We had a good week to work in mid April, then a two week rain break.  A good week in May and we were finished. It went quickly and smoothly this year with a new tractor and Matt's help.  It's been dry since, but we just received about two inches of rain in the last couple days, so everything looks good.  The side-dressing is finished and the first round of spraying is done also.  

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Apostolic Christian Home of Eureka.  Bro. Benj and myself are the board members representing Washington Church.  In mid March we gave a presentation to the church highlighting the past history of the home, the current stats and challenges, and our future vision.  We are planning and preparing to build an $18 million Assisted Living/Memory Care Assisted Living building on the empty lot across the street from the home.  It will be the culmination of a three year researching, planning, and designing process that has consumed a lot of my time. The oldest Baby Boomers (the largest generation)are just now turning 80 years old. There is an increasing need for more senior housing.  We are in the fundraising stage now, which I don't particularly enjoy.  Our first major contributor was a community member who has high respect for the home and its mission.  When he heard rumors about a new building, he walked into the home and asked about the project and how he could help. He was our first million dollar donor!  We were humbled and grateful! 

We were humbled and blessed when each of our children gave their hearts and lives to the Lord.  Now our first grandchild has turned to the Lord in repentance.  Once again we are humbled, blessed, and full of joy!

We attended out first "We Love America" program at Davenport Grade School. It is put on by the third graders, and we finally have one attending there.  It was the fiftieth year they have presented this program, and it was pretty impressive for third graders.  There is a lot of patriotism, history, patriotic music, acting, and military tributes.  They have a special preview just for grandparents.  I remembered how much I don't enjoy sitting in grade school bleachers!  We should have the opportunity to attend at least four more times.

The grandkids have rediscovered the haymow this spring, so I have been spending time up there with them.  We've built some forts, cleaned up some broken bales, and swung on the old hay rope.  It's getting low again, so I will bale my wheat straw this year.

  Son #1 turned 40 this year, so his sisters planned a big party to celebrate.  They rented the Goodfield FH gathering room and invited lots of family and old friends.  There was a good turnout, good fellowship, and good food from Trails End Smokehouse.  There was also quartet singing, gifts, and cake.

We celebrated Mother's Day with Mom and Pearl with a meal at the Condos.  The Oldest Farmers widow now has a great-great-grandchild. There are currently five generations living. 

I haven't spent much time helping work on the new "old house" at Firefly Woods.  I did get down there one day to help paint.  They are in the flooring and trimming phase.  It's progressing nicely and is starting to look like the finished product.  They have a driveway and grass growing in the yard now.

Son #1 sang in the Peoria Bach Festival again in this year.  It highlights the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and members of his family.  This year, it included pieces written by his grandfather and his son.  It includes both choral and orchestra.  It features mostly local musicians, but also attracts national and international talent. I skipped the Sunday School VBS picnic to attend. I very much enjoyed it.

Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.                            Psalm 71:9

     

Cruise

 I have never been to the Caribbean Islands, and probably would never have planned a trip there on my own.  I have been on one cruise, our Alaskan cruise a couple years ago.  We enjoyed the cruise, but didn't have a burning desire to become cruisers.  One of the marketing firms that I subscribe to, Roach Ag Marketing, puts on a marketing cruise each winter for clients.  This year, they had an 11 day cruise planned to the Eastern Caribbean that stopped at six different Islands.  This sounded like a great opportunity to see a sampling of the Caribbean, enjoy a cruise, enjoy warm weather, and meet some farmers from around the Midwest.  We signed up and off we went.

We flew from Peoria to Ft. Lauderdale through Chicago.  We went a day early in case of weather or flight delays.  We spent the extra day Ubering around Ft. Lauderdale including visiting the beach.  It was our first experience using Uber, and all went well.  We feel like we have joined the modern world now!  We boarded the Celebrity Ascent on Feb. 23 and found our stateroom and made the required visit to our muster station.  It is a fairly new boat, very nice, and holds around 3200 passengers plus about 1400 crew.  When Ed and Peggy heard about our trip, they asked if they could join us.  As they are experienced cruisers, and have been to the Caribbean, we said yes.  We were able to split our time between the farm group (about 75 in that group) and Ed and Peggy.  

  We docked at Basseterre, St. Kitts for our first Island stop.  Ed and Peggy rented a car and we drove the full circle route around the Island.  They drive on the left hand side of the road down there, and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car!  I'm glad Peggy did the driving as the roads are also very narrow. Some of the highlights of St. Kitts were the old plantation house we toured, the Brimstone Hill Fort, and the surf along the rocky coast.

Our second Island stop was Antigua.  We took a bus tour of the Island with the farm group.  We spent the most time on a boat tour at Falmouth Harbor and toured Nelson's Dockyards.   Admiral Horatio Nelson of the British Royal Navy spent several years stationed here during his career.  The British Royal Family also had a home here where they would vacation in the winter.  It is now a hub for sailing races and regattas.  There were lots of luxury yachts docked there for the winter. 

Next stop was Castries, St. Lucia.  We took a catamaran tour with Ed and Peggy which included snorkeling. The water was a little rough, but I was able to see colorful fish and coral as I snorkeled.  They also took us to see the world famous Pitons; two volcanic mountain spires.

We next docked at Bridgetown, Barbados.  We took a bus tour to a rain forest botanical garden.  We stopped at Haymans Market which used to be a sugar processing plant.  Now it is a museum, shops, and restaurants.  We drove along the West coast of the Island where all the beaches and resorts are.  Barbados beaches are all public beaches, not privately owned like most of the Islands.  Their beaches are also beautiful white sand beaches.

When we pulled into port at Roseau, Dominica, there was smoke rising from the downtown area.  They had had a fire overnight and some of the streets were blocked off.  We took a bus tour through a rain forest, to a waterfall, and another botanical garden.  We also did some shopping before heading back to the ship.

Our last Island stop was at Phillipsburg, St. Maarten.  We left the ship with our farmer group and headed for Orient Beach.  It was a beautiful beach and had beautiful blue water.  They had lounge chairs and Umbrellas set up for all of us, so we relaxed in the sun and walked the beach.  They served us a nice meal at the resort then spent more time on the beach after lunch.  We shopped awhile before we boarded ship again.

On every Island and tour, we were offered Rum Punch which is their specialty drink on the Islands.  We tasted it but weren't impressed.  While on the ship, we spent time visiting and playing games with Ed and Peggy.  I took naps and read.  We went to some off the game "shows" and played some of the trivia games.  We checked out some of the entertainment in the theater, but not greatly impressed.  The four sea days I attended the marketing seminars.  We ate a LOT of good food.  Every type of food you could want.  The dinners in the evening were excellent with lots of choices including prime rib, lobster, oxtail, steaks, fish, chops, and about anything else you could want.  Lots of appetizers and lots of desert choices.  We even had fried octopus!  We ate with the farm group four evenings, and with Ed and Peggy the other evenings.  And we usually topped off the evenings with ice cream.

We enjoyed our time on the cruise and may cruise again.  I was worried about getting seasick, but with precautions I never had any problems.  It was only really rough one night and day.  Back in Ft. Lauderdale, we exited the boat at about 8:30 in the morning. When we were in the Ft. Lauderdale airport getting ready to fly home, we waited in the TSA line 45 minutes.  All passengers had to walk slowly two by two at intervals down an aisle while a drug sniffing dog circled us.  That was a first.  Then a severe thunderstorm in Chicago delayed our flight 2 hours.  When we got to O'Hare, our Peoria flight had been cancelled.  We got booked on a later flight that kept getting delayed, but we finally made it home by midnight.

About a week and a half after we were home we had a good old fashion March snowstorm.  We had enough snow and wind that Logan and I went out a couple days later on a Tuesday and dug a snow cave.  By Thursday, the temperature was in the 70's and the snow all melted.

And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.           Mark 4:1

California 26

 I am wearing my skunk boots again.  The smell has dissipated.  There are still some nocturnal animals out and about, but I haven't gone after them.

We attended the Camper and Boat show at the Civic Center, but it wasn't very large.  It did get us in the mood for camping again, be we don't have a camper or a vehicle to pull one.  So, we will probably just dream.

We hadn't been to California to visit our Brother-in-law/Sister-in-law since Amy and Alan's wedding.  I have points to use, so we booked a flight to Sacramento to visit them in January.  We missed the coldest week of the year here in Illinois, and enjoyed mild weather in Sacramento.  Temperature there was in the 40's at night and the 60's during the day.  They have a grapefruit tree in their back yard, so every morning we picked fresh grapefruit to add to breakfast.

We had good flights both ways, and enjoyed staying with with Ed and Peggy.  We did several sight seeing trips during our stay.  We drove past Folsom Prison, and we may have started singing a Johnny Cash song.  We took a day to visit the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park where gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in 1848.  This discovery sparked the 49's gold rush.

We toured old town Sacramento one day also.  It was a fast growing town during the Gold Rush, but was built on low lying ground between two rivers.  After it flooded once, they built a levy around it.  It flooded again after the levy broke, so they raised the levy and raised all the streets ten feet.  This caused the first floor of all the buildings to become the basements.  The second floor became the main level, and you would have to go downstairs to get to the first level. So, many of the buildings were jacked up ten feet to road level, which made for a lot of underground dungeon-like basements.

On our last full day in California, we drove to San Francisco.  We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge coming and going.  We hiked around Land's End, and then we spent some time at Great Beach.  The water was freezing, but we waded anyway.  On our way back, we stopped at Muir Woods.  Its is a forest of giant coastal redwood trees.  I am always impressed by the size and age of these magnificent trees. We spent an hour hiking among the trees.

 

We had a very enjoyable time with Ed & Peggy, Amy & Alan, and their sons.

Back home again, I've been finishing up taxes, making crop plans for spring, and attending farm meetings. 

  

Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge the earth.                                                  I Chronicles 16:33