Last hurrah??

We have been busy the last couple of days getting ready for company. Josh, Debora and Thomas should be here later tonight and Sally, Scott and Sam will be coming tomorrow night. This may well be the last time that the Bacons will be able to come up before they head to Germany in October! So, we are going to try and make the most of our weekend and build up lots and lots of "Thomas Memories". We are still going to Brazil in December, but after that it isn't sure when we will get to see them in person. Thank goodness for the video conferences that we have through the internet! We were able to see Thomas' attempt at an Army crawl this past week, and I am sure we will be keeping up with his development while they are in Germany using that means of communication.
I will be posting pictures and such from the weekend sometime next week, so until then, I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Grampa and Gatfly doing Daycare!

We went to Baldwin Sunday night after chores so we could take care of Sam on Monday. (His daycare lady took a four day weekend.) Grandma Diane and Great-Grandma Ele watched him on Friday. I hope they had as much fun as we did!

Happy 30th Anniversary to Alice and Steve Kolb!

This photo is of Dan's sister,Alice, with her Mother and sister, Linda, who was one of her bridesmaids. I couldn't put my hands on one of Alice and Steve - not even in more recent years! (The white on Linda's glasses is damage to the surface of the photo.) I remember there being quite a hullaballoo at the farmhouse that day, as everyone got ready for the wedding, which was held at Parfreyville. I think I remember doing Linda's hair, poor girl!

Saturday's Events

The picture above is of Dan's cousin Joann (Bacon) Knutson along with her husband, Jim, walking their daughter Kendra down the 'aisle' yesterday. It was a beautiful wedding, with lots of gorgeous flowers and everything looking so green. (they were able to irrigate this area) All of their hard work paid off! We were only able to go to the ceremony, but I imagine they had a great time celebrating later at Bear Lake Resort. It would have been fun to go, but the nights get too late and the mornings come too early! The woman on the right with the camera, is James Bacon's wife, Tanna. Their son, Titus (6), was the ring bearer and did a great job along with his niece, Makayla (Stacey (Bacon) Myers' daughter). I'm guessing she was 3 or 4, not sure. Very cute couple.

I don't have time to finish this post now, but I want to get this up. I will write more at a later day. We go see Sam tonight to do daycare for him tomorrow!

Hilarious!

When I gave Nutmeg her piece of lettuce this morning, Pelé was very interested, so I let him try it. He took a bite and seemed to like it! Then he had to munch on it at the same time Nutmeg was eating - funny! I never knew a cat to like lettuce!

Happy Birthday to Caroline!

Happy 5th Birthday to Caroline Kostuch!

She is Krista & Joe's younger daughter,

so that makes her my great-niece!

Compare to Krista's picture in the previous post...

A Fun Picture from 32 Years Ago....

I would caption this photo as

"Belly-up to the bar, boys!"

Or rather, girls.

My nieces, Cariann (5¾) and Krista (2½), partaking of punch up in the woods following our wedding ceremony.

It was a beautiful day and a wonderful memory-maker!

This picture just makes me giggle....

Happy Anniversary to Us All!!

HAPPY 38th ANNIVERSARY TO LARRY and DEB SYRING!

(Mike's folks - I didn't have their wedding photo!)

HAPPY 3rd ANNIVERSARY TO MICHAEL and MARA SYRING!!

This is a special anniversary for them, as they are expecting their first baby this coming year! What fun! (just a note: the gazebo has never looked that good again!)

AND HAPPY 32nd ANNIVERSARY TO US!!!

May we all have a wonderful day - each in our own way!

A toast to all of us!

A new addiction....

My niece, Cariann, sent me a link to a site that helps you learn another language. So far, I really like it - so much, that I am spending far too much time on the computer! The site links you up with people who speak the language you are learning, and they critique you - boy, do they critique you! But it is really very helpful, for the most part, except that they tend to do it in Portuguese, so that I have to look up words to try and translate what they wrote. More practice, I guess. The site is http://www.livemocha.com/ , for anyone who wants to check it out. From what I have experienced, you are better off if you have some experience with the language, as they assume you know some things. It forces me to use other sources to play "catch-up", and that is okay, too. I may actually be able to speak a bit of Portuguese by December! There are lots of languages to choose from, not just Portuguese!

Yesterday was a beautiful day here - only to the mid-70's - so that I got out and did some weaving. That felt good. That is one of the best therapies to pull me out of the summer doldrums. Yup, I'm afraid that's where I was.

Oh, Sally's daycare gal is taking off on Friday and Monday, so Diane and her mom will watch Sam on Friday and I get to do it on Monday! Dan may even go with me, if we can get Linda to work then instead of Sunday, our scheduled day off. (I haven't called her yet, but will today - I wanted to be sure that Dan wanted to go with) Looking forward to spending some time with Sam.

Happy Birthday Paul Hansen!

Happy 29th Birthday to my nephew, Paul!

I hope you have a wonderful day -

collect a big hug from your wife and daughter from us!

(we'll pay them back in September!)

Thanks Everybody!

Thanks for the stuffed Holstein cow Heather and John! I'm sure our grandsons will love it! Thanks too, for the cute card. I'm sure they will like that, too, but only with supervision (it moos!). As you can see, I have survived turning 51 - didn't hurt a bit! We are on chore detail today, but I have my most-favorite morning in tomorrow!
I have to thank Connie for lunch on Friday, and a cute card with a toe-ring inside. I'm wearing it in the picture (the toe ring, not the card!), you just can't see my feet. Helps keep me young-at-heart!
Thanks Mary for the nice card, too. I didn't get over to pick any beans while you were gone, but thanks for the offer....
Mara got the jump on everybody this morning, by posting Birthday Wishes for me on their blog at 1:12 am! Can't imagine what she was doing up at that time - yes, I can - studying! In a week or so she will officially be a second year med student - way to go, Mara!! Mike will also be jumping back into classes this week. I also got a phone message from Mara while we were milking in the evening - thanks for the beautiful song!
We spoke with the world-travellers last night. Josh, Debora and Thomas got home yesterday and will be trying to get back on schedule today. Tomorrow Debora will be taking her Citizenship Test - best of luck to her!!! She will then know more than the average US citizen about our country, I'm ashamed to say. We also talked with them this afternoon - they sounded much more rested up today! Thanks for the cute song, Josh - I'll have to think up a good one for you!
Check out Sally and Scott's blog for some really cute pictures of Sam! He is such a ham!! That picture sporting his new front tooth is adorning our computer background. I got to talk with the Aho family this afternoon, too. I think the message on my cell phone was a duet - love it!
I am hoping for another chance to get some pictures of our boys together before the Bacons move to Germany!
This noon we are going to my folks' for dinner, and hope to get over to see Uncle Laverne while we are down that direction. Connie has also invited us over this forenoon to meet their friends from Minneapolis, who just happen to be Bacons, too. Sounds like a fun day between chore-times! It was nice to meet Jack and Chris Bacon at Connie and Mike's. He has done a lot of genealogical research, but we didn't know enough of our own background to see where/if we tie in with his. A site to check out is RootsWeb.com where you can see what other people have researched. Some is free access. Great dinner at my folks - Dad fixed fish - yum!! We had a really nice sit-and-visit time with them, then headed for Wild Rose. Uncle Laverne looked great! He has such a positive attitude. He credited it to the pain meds, but also said that he felt Saturday was a turning point for him. A postive attitude can sure go a long way... We will try to get to see him as often as we can. His room is pretty much bare-bones, but that may be easier for them to keep cleaner (I don't think sterile is something they know about) for him. I had to go and hunt up a fly-swatter for him, as there was a couple pestering him and he kept swatting at them with his bandaged hands! I had to go out and buy one, and Dan was able to dispatch a couple of them. When we were getting ready to leave, his nephew Ben(?) Eastling stopped in with some fresh-picked blackberries. They looked delicious! We were glad we stopped over. If you have the chance, go see him - he really enjoys visiting!

Happy Anniversary Mike and Lorrie!

HAPPY 33rd ANNIVERSARY TO MIKE AND LORRIE HANSEN!!!!

May your next 33 years be just as good!!!

Have a wonderful day!

It's been one of those odd weeks - it was gone before we knew it and we didn't have much to show for it! Dan has been busy of course, with the irrigation (aka, irritation). Several times he has come home soaked to the skin - temperamental stuff, irrigation. And he will tell you that there is nothing colder than well-water!

Pond-water has it's own bug-a-boo - the smell! The fields that have gotten irrigated seem to appreciate it though.

I don't think I posted it here, but Uncle Laverne has opted not to have any surgery and has returned to the nursing home in Wild Rose. This is in accordance with his wishes, and we have to respect that. We are probably going to try and go see him tomorrow afternoon, if nothing interferes. It doesn't pay for us to make plans in stone around here, though. My folks have invited us for dinner, so we will be half-way there already.

Josh and Debora (and Thomas, too!) are due to be back in Iowa later this afternoon. They have spent the past two weeks in Germany, looking for a place to live for when they move there (keep watching their blog for a post on this) and Josh had to learn about his new position there, too, as the fellow is retiring that he is replacing. This will be a good move for him, but we will miss them terribly! I try to look on the bright side though, so - maybe we will have a trip to Germany sometime in the coming year or two! I've never been to Europe, although Dan has been to Scotland and Ireland. The kids have made world-travellers of us! Thanks!

I have spent about an hour a day this week, working on my Portuguese. S-L-O-W process! Those of you with little ones, if they have the opportunity to learn another language at a young age - grasp it!!!

I better get to work at something - tchau!

Where's Waldo?

Okay, now that I have your attention, I need help locating something.

We used to have a wire rabbit hutch, that has been used for various things over the years. It was a puppy kennel for Echo, and I used it outside for giving our guinea pig fresh air and dandelions to browse on, after we no longer had a rabbit. I have looked high and low for it, and can't put my hands on it.

Did I lend it to someone? That is fine, if I did - I will stop looking for it. I just can't remember if I did. You know what they say about the memory....

Anyway, what I wanted it for was the pellet feeder that I think was still inside of it. Nutmeg keeps getting shavings mixed up in her pellets. I'm not sure I would set her outside, as the dogs have been VERY interested in her when they hear her squeaking. (which is quite a frequent occurance)

A funny thing happened this morning when Dan gave Nutmeg her corn flake. His cereal has several kinds of flakes and he offered her one that wasn't made of corn. She refused to take it and squeaked until he gave her the right kind! Can we say "spoiled"? Also I found out she doesn't like banana. So far, it is only that and zucchini that she has turned up her nose at.

Anyway, hope you all have a great day - lover these cooler temperatures!!!

Tough Decisions....

David, cousin Irene's husband, called last night. They had a family meeting at the hospital in Madison concerning Dan's Uncle, Laverne Bacon. His burns are not healing well and because of his age and general health, they are opting against doing any skin grafts. This leaves him with few options: either amputation of the worst-affected areas - his right leg and some fingers/fingertips, or do nothing, which would give him approximately 3 months to live. Not a good situation at all. Aunt Audrey called this morning and said that he was having a lot of pain, and she was concerned that his right arm was also pretty bad. Hopefully he will opt for the surgery, but ultimately, it is his choice. The surgery comes with it's own risks, because of his age (86). This is a man who enjoyed fairly good health and clarity of mind up to this point, even though he has had to deal with a lot of sorrow in his immediate family through the years. We heard this afternoon that the doctors are giving him a couple of weeks to make up his mind on treatment.

Please keep all of them in your thoughts and prayers. David also has a medical condition, known as NF1 (you'll have Google that to find out what it is) that keeps him in pain quite a bit of the time. All of this is probably stressing Irene out to the max. Our hearts go out to them!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FRIEND, PETE KNIGGE - HOPE IT WAS A GOOD ONE!!!

Quiet weekend, quiet day

Nothing too much going on that is very exciting, so thought I would post a picture and a video of Nutmeg. She has become quite the character, and insists on sharing in Dan's breakfast of cold cereal. She seems to like his cornflakes and begs for one or two (by squeaking loudly to draw his attention) when he is filling his bowl.

The video below is of Pelé and Stella trying to play with Nutmeg. At least that is how I choose to interpret it. It might be a whole different story if there wasn't a cage separating them. I guess we won't find that out anytime soon. Nutmeg does not appear to be very afraid of them, although she will spook if Stella's paw gets too close. I keep waiting for her to bite one of them. The three younger cats are declawed on their front paws, so there isn't much danger that they could hurt her - inside the cage, anyway. I don't always leave her cage on the floor, just in case she would get upset about their pretty-much-constant-vigil. The picture with Dan shows her safe-haven.

Yesterday I went to the Memorial Service for Aunt Marilyn. It was good to see the cousins, but I hear I left too early and didn't get in on a Jensen-cousin picture. I knew Mary was wanting to get one, but figured it wouldn't be until after the lunch and I wasn't staying for that. Oh well. Nice service, Aunt Marilyn would have been pleased. Dan was busy with the irrigation and didn't go with me.

I heard it through the grape-vine that Tom Jenner might have lyme's disease. He was sick enough to go in and have it checked out, but haven't heard any more beyond that. There is never a good time to be sick, but in the middle of your growing season is pretty much a bad time for it. Here's hoping he recovers quickly, whatever he has. I know it puts extra work on Linda's shoulders.

Everyday life on the farm....

Nothing too exciting going on around here. I finished up the chopping this morning - just got home a bit ago. The fields that are left -

I started this post yesterday, and as usual, didn't get it done in one sitting. Oh well. The rest of this was written on Friday, August 8th.

As I was saying, the fields that are left will be baled. After lunch I dove into the farm bookwork [I had a good start on it before I was called to go and chop] and was able to get it completely done by suppertime. That always is a good job done. All in all, a pretty good day.

I need to do a quick update on Uncle Laverne for the family:
Aunt Audrey called the other night and said that he is back down at Madison. He had to go for an appointment for cleaning/rebandaging and they were appalled at the condition of his burns. Also they felt he wasn't receiving the pain meds that were necessary to deal with his discomfort. So, for now, he will remain there. I haven't heard anything else, and Dan hasn't had time to give David a call. Hopefully he will do that this weekend.

Roger is back to combining the wheat - after a false start or two, when Dan had to do some repairs to the combine. They had it overhauled this winter/spring, and apparently the fan checked out okay at that time. Wasn't in good shape now. Hopefully they can get the rest of the wheat off without any more disruptions.

There is the continuing saga of the irrigation well. I haven't written about that because it changes every day. First there was a well drilled - no water (there were wells all around that area, so it should have been okay), then a test well that shows no water at that site, then a test well done in another spot that indicated there would be plenty, then another well is drilled, there is water, but not enough and Dan said they ran into further complications yesterday. Not a happy story and confusing as well.

Dan just called that he had to make a side-trip on his way home from Plover. He was bringing tacos for our lunch. John needed him to pick up some hyrdraulic oil for the dump trailer (for hauling wheat). There is always something. No problem for me, because I had him get me a burrito - easily warmed up. His tacos would be better eaten right away though, as microwaved lettuce doesn't bear thinking about....

I've got a busy afternoon planned with critter-care (litter/bedding, etc.) and mowing. I wonder how long I can drag out changing litter and guinea pig beddig...

Happy 13 Months to Sam, plus....

Sam is walking by 13 Months Old!

Happy Birthday to Becky Towne

and Happy Anniversary to Pete and Theo Knigge, today!

Happy Birthday to Little Will Huenink yesterday!! Wow - 2 years old!

AUGUST DATES TO REMEMBER

1 - Debora Costa Bacon :)

2 - Deb Syring (Mike's Mom)

3 - Paul & Heidi (Hansen) Smidansky (niece) - 5 years?

4 - Will Huenink - 2 years old! (friend)

5 - Pete & Theo Knigge (35 or 36? years)

5 - Becky Towne (friend and neighbor)

10 - Memorial Service for my Aunt Marilyn Stedman

11 - Lizzie Billington (one of Mara's B's)

12 - Pete Knigge (friend)

14 - Bill Batten (Dan's cousin)

16 - Mike & Lorrie Hansen - 33 years!

16 - Theo Knigge (friend)

17 - Me!

18 - Paul Hansen (Mike's oldest)

21 - Larry & Deb Syring - 38 years!

21 - Dan & Holly Bacon - 32 years!

21- Michael & Mara Syring - 3 years!

22 - Caroline Kostuch (Krista & Joe's youngest) - 5 years!

23 - Kendra Knutson/Peter Thewis Wedding (Joanne Bacon Knutson's daughter)

26 - Steve & Alice Kolb (Dan's sister) - 30 years!

28 - Paul & Stephanie Hansen - 4 years?

31 - Bert & Andrea Stone - 5 years!

Wow! August is a very busy month!!!!

Just for fun, I added up all the years of marriage being celebrated by family and friends - and came up with 186 years! Wow!

Sam's Big Day!

Sally gave me permission to post some pictures and video from yesterday. See their blog for their take on it all. We were so privileged to be there when Sam took off walking! He had taken several steps, at different times, but this was the 'real thing'! He was so serious! You could tell that he was all concentration.
Good job Sam, and look out Mom and Dad - just another step towards ultimate independence!
Sunday with Sam, Sally and Scott more than made up for the folly of the day before....
Enjoy this phase of his development - it all goes so quickly!!

Happy Anniversary to Paul and Heidi (Hansen) Smidansky!

Heidi is my brother Mike's daughter.

They live near Seattle, WA.

Hope you had a great day!! (on Sunday)

Playing catch-up, again....

Happy Birthday to Deb Syring, last Saturday!

Hope you had a wonderful day!

(Deb is Mike's Mother)

A Comedy of Errors....

Saturday morning went fine, deceptively fine.

Then came the afternoon. If I was at all superstitious, I would think someone had a voodoo doll of me somewhere, and was having a great time! I had chopped in the morning, and all had gone well. I went back after lunch, and just before I got a full load the tractor ran out of fuel. This wasn't entirely my fault, as the fuel gauge doesn't work on that tractor, but there really isn't anyone else to blame, so I'm it. The tractor died down real sudden, so I didn't have much time to stop before it completely quit. Dan wasn't too far off, and Roger was at the farm, so between the two of them, they got me fueled up, the line bled and the tractor up and running. Not so, the chopper. Because it died so quickly on me, it got plugged. At least it wasn't a FULL plug job, just a little one, so they got that cleared out and I was back up and running. I finished up the field I was on and headed to the field just north of Andy Gaines' house (for those of you who know where that is). I had begun chopping in that field when Roger and Dan both pulled into field , Roger with the big truck and Dan with the utility truck. I figured I had room for another round, so kept going. I was at the top of a rise on the far side of the field, just starting to go down a slope and the right hand tire flew off the chopper! As I chop, I look back frequently to make sure the hay is going into the wagon, as the spout changes on slopes. Just as I looked back I saw the nuts fly off the wheel and the wheel rolling back away from the machine. Because I was heading down the slope, with a pretty much full wagon, I wasn't able to stop right away and dragged the hub in the dirt for about 20 feet. They didn't even see it happen! I called Dan on his cell phone and they both came tearing across the field. Even though I was on quite a downhill slope, Roger decided that I should try to dump the load. He backed the truck up alongside me, put it in park and got out to inspect the damage with Dan. Meanwhile, I dumped the load. As I had it completely dumped over, the truck started moving backwards - with no driver in it - towards me (it wasn't completely parallel to the chopper), so that the truck box was putting pressure on the chopper box cover. They motioned that I should tip the wagon back, and when I did, the truck started rolling - but suddenly the brakes grabbed again and it stayed put. Whew! Another crisis averted.

Dan and Roger worked on getting the axle off so they could remove the hub. Five of the six studs had sheared off and the sixth one had pulled through the wheel, thus ruining it. After they got that tore apart, they worked together trying to trim out some trees/bushes so that the pivot would be able to go all the way around. That pivot is the one that we had moved earlier this spring, so this was it's maiden run. It was getting on towards chore time, so I headed home to grab a bite to eat and get things set up at the farm for milking. John was gone for the afternoon and evening, so the guys were going to have to hustle up to get everything cut and out of the way, so they could get home for chores.

Well, I got things set up and was going to try and chase in the first group of cows and get going with milking. We have a sprinkler system in the holding area, to help cool the cows off, and I could see a cow laying down under it at the far end. She was causing the other cows not to want to come up into the holding area. I went down to get her up, only to find out it was a dead cow! What next!?! From then on, things more or less progressed normally. But what a day!

We did get to end the day on a good note, as we went out for supper with Bill and Geri Batten. They have been working on cleaning out their house, just east of us, as their son, Wes and his girlfriend have moved out west. They are planning on putting it on the market, but have quite a bit they want to do to it first. We had a good time, and put our frustrating days behind us.

Happiest of Birthdays to Debora!

Happy Birthday to our Debora!!!!

It was hard to find a picture of 'just' Debora,

then I realized that, for right now at least,

she isn't 'just' Debora.

The two that are most dear to her heart are part and parcel of her!

Here's wishing a very special gal a very special day!

Love you much, Debora!!!

Feliz Aniversário!! Parabens!!

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