Sunday, October 19, 2008

Happy 50th!






Saturday brought a 50th Wedding Anniversary - Gerald and Gay! Turns out their reception was actually on their anniversary day. 50 years on Oct. 18th

I don't see any changes over 50 years. Do you?


A little over a week ago Jeannette spent a little time with us. She does pretty well. Our biggest worry is that the dogs in some excitement to get somewhere fast will bowl her over. Generally speaking they keep a fairly low profile. As you can see Daisy is trying to blend into the sunbeams. Sunday we had Jackie and Clarence over for dinner before taking Jeannette over to Ralph and Ginny's.



Jon, Jamie, and family came up from Layfayette the first weekend in October and we had out own Apple Days. Our trees are loaded so we put all the kids in the loader and picked some apples. After washing the apples and opening them up and removing any bad parts, we chipped them and then pressed apple juice. We probably ran three runs through the press and got 4 1/2 gallons of juice. Not bad for a few hours of work. Grandma Kate got some pictures and you can see we had lots of help. When we were working outside the bees showed up when we were chipping so soon we had to move inside.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

You know brothers when you see them

I had to laugh. I went to Indy monday and got to see Ingrid and Jake. Well, originally I thought that Gunnar had flag football practice and Ingrid had plans for supper so Jake and I would go to football practice and see 'organized chaos.' Anyway that was not the plans at all and aften a nice dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans I left for Fort Wayne. But before going I got a picture of Ingrid and the boys. As you can see Aiden did not want Gunnar in the picture or at least on that side of Mom!!!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Jude's 6th Birthday




And there is more than calves!! Can you believe it? Anyway we went to West Lafayette ChuckieCheese and Jude's 6th birthday party. Lots of fun for all and Jude had lots of fun. How can you not have fun if there are dinosaurs on the cake & Chuckie Cheese singing "Happy Birthday to You"? HIGH FIVE CHUCKIE!!

Freddie Mac has arrived!!



Thursday a week plus ago Maude finally had her calf. She is our last one so now it is only keeping things in order. (So to speak) Maude has 'lost' her calf several times. We had to help her look and when (we found it and) she finally got her calf back, mainly because he did'nt 'want to get up' and was on the other side of the electric fence, she seemed to think it was our fault. Anyway, Freddie Mac has arrived! After Maggie mae, Sallie mae, Fannie mae, Ellie mae, and Lissy mae, we have a BULL so Freddie mac is here!! He is so White!

Saturday, August 23, 2008





Also we had Jackson, Jilian and Jude at Science Central and didn't post any pictures. Well here they are.
We went to what was called the 'tide pool' and couldn't see much. However, feeding the animals in the tide pool was to occur at 3 so we came back and were the only customers to see the show. She pulled out snails and fed them (scallops), fed anemone's (sp?), and showed us a spider crab before she fed it. Then she pulled out a big crab and showed us it before she fed him scallops also. Jackson always able to ask the hard questions asked how old the crab was and stopped her in her tracks. It was fun to see the crab try to find the food. She had to put it in one of his pinchers before he could really start to chow down (and not get pinched in the process).
Jilian look funny in the mirrors and also had three Grandma's taking her picture!!
When we climbed the stairs to the bicycle ride you could see all of the places we had been. Lots of fun... But nothing was as fun as the 'sewer.' You would go down a man hole and crawl through twisty tunnels that were pitch black and then 'viola' you were out. Jackson is looking in the exit trying to figure out what is taking everyone so long getting out. They went through the sewer so many times it was hard to count (especially when Jude remembered that Kate had a little flashlight in her purse!!).

Well, we are kind of slow getting this posted, but Mocha had a calf last Tuesday. In keeping with the naming, Kate named her Lissie Mae. We keep hoping for a bull calf so we and use Freddie Mac. Maude is the only cow we are waiting on and if she has a heifer we will have to think long and hard. Mocha is in keeping with her performance last year and was down and unable to get up on Thursday morning (milk fever) so we had to i.v. 1/2 a liter of calcium gluconate before going to work. Her calf was not with her so we had to bring her up and she danced around her mother trying to get her up because she was hungry. She got up in about 2 hours. Maybe we should have given her two bottles!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008



Then later in the day a little storm blew up and though we didn't get much rain we did get a nice rainbow. I think there is gold out there!! The hummingbirds seemed undeterred in their mad dash for sugar.


This last weekend we had Jackson, Jilian, and Jude for Thursday nite and Friday before Jon, Jamie and Jude showed up for Saturday and a visit to the zoo. On Thursday we went to Science Central and had lots of fun than the kids played in a fountain at Headwaters park. The zoo was packed and as we trudged around we were glad it was not as hot as some recent days have been.

Sunday, August 3, 2008


Oh, and I forgot to say that during all of this time there was a lunar eclipse!! Amazing to see the solar system keeps on going as if nothing ever happened!! I know it was just a shadow but doesn't shadows of planets mean something more than shadows of other things?????

Saturday, August 2, 2008



And then this last Wednesday, Tulip had her calf. A little heifer that is bright eyed and bushy tailed!!! We named her Ellie Mae. So this years calves are Maggie Mae, Sally Mae, Fanny Mae and now Ellie Mae. We need a bull calf so we can call him Freddie Mac.

Then it was Jake's and Gunnar's Birthdays. Wow!! These kids are growing up fast. Jake is 3 and Gunnar is 6 - the backrow kids.

And shortly after coming back it was Jackson and Jilian's birthday. Happy 7th Birthday!



Then Katy Jane went to Boston with Jake and Ingrid. They stopped at Niagra Falls on the way to look over into Canada. Of course they had to look for a few whales in the Atlantic.

Well, when I got home we bought a round baler and started rolling our own!!!
Well, so much time has passed since the last post that I'm going to just really list them.
In June, I went with Jon and Jamie and kids to see Grandpa Art and Grandma Dot. They needed help getting haying going and Jon and Jamie wanted to see DC. All went well and we haybined and rolled up several round bales. Good to see everybody over at Fredrick.

Thursday, June 19, 2008


Well, now that the weather is finally dry for a spell, we are trying to get some hay put up. The hay is way over ripe and thick so cutting has been slow and hopefullly we can get it dried and put up before rain comes our way. The little picture icons show partly cloudy for today and then next couple days show thunderclouds but when you read the prediction the percent chance is 20% for today, 30% Friday and 50% for Saturday. Like my dad says at least til Saturday there is greater chance it won't rain so why the thundcloud icons? One thing that is slowing us down from cutting a whole bunch of hay is the bolt pictured below. One little bolt that holds the sickle bar on and keeps breaking! New Holland dealer didn't have it so went to hardware store and bought one with same characteristics. A lot cheaper by the way. However, the sickle bar must be having trouble getting through the hay causing the bolt to break. I might need to put new sections on and sharpen it up. Gordon, you will see that we did pick up all of the old silo metal we drug into the field and you cut up!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Petunia and Fannie Mae



You can see that they are doing fine here a week later! Her eyes have cleared up and now looks like a normal inquisitive calf.

Petunia finally delivers


I know this is a long time in coming but Petunia finally delivered. Last Sunday morning we woke up and she had a new calf. She was off to herself Sat night and we wondered about her. Maybe we should have checked on her during the night since the calf named Fannie Mae had really blood shot eyes and the ‘Devil Calf’ look. It must have been a long hard labor. Monday the calf was bellowing and hungry since Petunia’s bag was so big and low to the ground she could figure out how to suck. Maybe hard labor was an understatement and Fannie was our cerebral palsy poster calf….. Anyway with a little guidance and proof she was getting some milk we turned them out with the others.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Yesterday morning Bonnie, Clyde, (pretty boy) Floyd, Jesse (james), and Billy (the kid) were herded into a stock trailer and sent off to Topeka. Things are kind of quiet now in the herd without these 'almost' yearlyings butting and tussling around all the time. We kept Belle and now she plays the older sister to Maggie and Sallie. We thought we would have a few more calves by now since Petunia is huge and ready to pop but she just gets bigger and bigger.....

Saturday, May 10, 2008



Hey! This must be the switch!!! HMMMmmmmmmmmmMMMMmmmmmmMMM

Friday, May 9, 2008



A few more pictures.
Silo Blocks for any and all!! Come and get them!!! Ten loads and the pile didn't seem much larger.

And then there is this ongoing game of 'star wars' (seemingly organized by Gunnar but Jilly seems into it, I think she was Leia). I'm told later as I'm handed a black flashlight that I'm Darth Vader! Oh no! they are shooting at me. What to do? Water is bad, right????? A flashlight is not a light saber!! So, wave it like it works..... Anyway...... fun is fun, lots of screams and running and I think I won.



Anybody ready to go mushroom hunting???????? I'm ready!! (says Jilly but who is listening?)















Later Grandma is explaining something deep at Puchinis (sp??? I think there is a y in there somewhere). Nice pizza place and even Leia has her buns!!

Thursday, May 8, 2008


Gordon and Myrna came to spend a long weekend with us and see whats happening in Indiana in May. Its been a long time since they've been here and much has changed. They had hoped May would be warm and a few of the days were but Saturday we went to Jon and Jamies and it was cold. Friday 'the girls' went Vera Bradley shopping and 'the boys' cleared a lot of the old silo blocks out of the barnyard. Saturday was Lafayette and a little morel mushroon hunting. We left them in Lafayette Saturday night and after meeting Jon and Jamie and all the grandkids took Gordon and Myrna to see the race track in Indy and cars going over 200 mph. I guess that wraps up Indiana in May.

Sunday, April 27, 2008


We had lunch today with Mr. Mulchman (Thanks! Anne it was a wonderful lunch). He was like most (very supersecret super hero) nonchalant. Seemed his wheelbarrow has a crack in it..... Oh Well when you're Mr Mulchman what's a crack?

Saturday, April 26, 2008


Kate went down to see the cake auction and also to see Jon's new retaining wall of pavers. She tried out Jon's new Kubota 20HP tractor. As you can see Jeffy and Jillian are showing her the ropes! Jillian it can't be that hard.

Jackson had a cake auction for cub scouts. He came up with a cobra design and had lots of fun decorating it. It sold for $15 dollars (winning bid Jon via Jackson). He also got the scariest cake award! What a scary red tongue!!



Jamie got a new puppy named Jeffy (sp?). Jackson said it was short for Jefferson. He's a cross between a beagle and pug so I guess that makes him a puggle. The kids think he is great and carry him all over. He is small enough that he can walk right under JunieB.

Monday, April 21, 2008


And OH!! Sally mae was born last night and I need to post a few pictures of her. Mom immediately wanted a treat for such a good heifer but before she could get it the other calves all rushed in and wanted to meet her! She did not have a quiet day! Here she is. Her left eye is outside her blaze and her right eye is encircled!


Maggie was born a few weeks ago. She was the product of a teenage pregnancy. Her mom should have waited a year to get pregnant but life on the farm is pretty fast. She showed up hungry and mom doesn't make much milk so she gets a bottle twice a day to help out. What is really funny is how she will go to the trough and act like one of the big cows eating hay! Here Maude looks at her and wonders where Maggie came from. Maggie on the other hand munches like she knows what she is doing and Dot her mom is somewhere else interacting with the social scene.......

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!


Today is Grandpa's 86th birthday. Still farming (he says) after all these years. This picture was taken this last December when they came over and Jon and Jamie came up for a couple of days. Jake and Grandpa had a great time - Grandpa couldn't hear and Jake wasn't talking.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I can't believe it! We haven't had rain now for two days and the ground may actually dry up a little. Although the grass is starting to green up everything seems to be very slow. In Fort Wayne we have seen some daffodils blooming and ours are quite a bit behind. Maybe all of those buildings help since ours are out in the open.

Gordon and Myrna called and plan to visit the first weekend in May. That will be nice coming in Thursday and leaving Monday. I'm hoping the weather will have warmed up a lot by then!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008


Here they are!
Looking a few years younger.
This was taken at Basil and Beca's wedding.