No Betsy in Sight

First of all........gaze upon this colorful holiday goody tray my son's girlfriend's mother graciously gave us!

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Sad to say, there is no good news of our missing dog, Betsy. I'm resigned to the fact that she must have become trapped somewhere and has frozen to death. She was not one to wander off the farm, so I'm sure she's somewhere on the farmstead. My guess is that possibly she chased a rabbit into one of the crevices in the round bale rows and got stuck or caught on some loose netwrap inside. That netwrap is nasty stuff to get tangled up in. We searched all the holes and crevices in the bale rows, and didn't see her, but she could have been too far in to be seen. We're all very sad, but there's nothing to be done, except enjoy our good memories of Betsy and start looking for a new Australian Shepherd pup. Thanks for thought, prayers, and concern for Betsy's welfare. I'll post some photos of her later in the week.

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Today we went to a funeral home visitation in Waterloo, about 20 miles away. Our route went through the downtown........here is a historical mural which watches over Lafayette Street on the East Side.

Along Mulberry Street, across from the Courthouse, is the former East Side Public Library, embellished with interesting rooftop features:

After crossing the Cedar River, we headed up the hill on West Fourth, in the area dubbed "Church Street", due to several churches nestled right next to each other there. The next photo shows the twin bell-towers of Sacred Heart Catholic Church; and, in the left lower corner is a bit of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church.

Finally we reached the funeral home where we were greeted by Husband's nephew, now serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, and stationed in Jacksonville, NC. He looked so nice in his dress uniform (green "service alphas", he calls it)! He has served twice in Iraq and will be returning there in February for a one-year tour. He just got married in September! Goodness.......to think he and his new wife will have to be separated that long.......
The funeral visitation was for Husband's brother's wife's mother, a woman I've known as long as I can remember. She was the organist in the Baptist church I grew up in, and she taught Sunday School, Bible School, and Youth Choir, where I was under her tutelage many times. Quite a gifted person she was, indeed.......she played organ and piano by ear......truly. She rarely ever used music books or hymnals. She could play any song anyone mentioned. Her funeral folder stated that she was recognized as a musical prodigy when she was a child, but it was the Depression era and going on to college was not possible. She also raced model planes when she was a child......if you can imagine that.......she once took part in a race in Des Moines which was emceed by an on-air personality from radio station WHO.......Ronald Reagan!
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This woman had some rather rigid religious beliefs, however.......which were passed on to some of her family. Shortly before I got married to my Lutheran husband-to-be, this woman invited me over to her house to have a talk during which she solemnly informed me that "Lutherans are not saved" and I should rethink my decision to join them. Her daughter who had married Husband's brother had convinced him to join the Baptist church. I suppose she thought I should insist my husband-to-be to do that, too. It just wasn't in me to do that, though. For better or for worse, I joined the Lutherans.
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Being at the funeral home today was like a step back in time; I encountered many faces I haven't seen in over 20 years. Most of the names came to mind after a few seconds. It was fun to visit with these folks and catch up on news of their lives. It seems to take deaths to get people together, doesn't it.
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Leaves Blue & Swept

The other day the wind blew and blew and this blue leaf blew, too, and got caught on this tree branch. (This photo is for those who are tired of seeing autumn colors.......don't try to hide; I know you're out there!)

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Today is so typical of November, I can hardly stand it. Drabness permeates the atmosphere......a gray sky is parked overhead and mud globs fill the driveways around the farmyard. Husband is overwhelmed with equipment breakdowns; if it isn't the silo unloader that screeches to a halt, its a cow drinking cup knocked awry by a clumsy cow's head.

Between each two cows in the barn is one of these bowls shown below, for the cows to drink water from. With her muzzle, a cow presses the lever down inside the bowl which allows water to flow in so she can slurp it up. If you think cows are considerate beings who treat equipment with gentleness and care, well, you have another guess coming! Cows have big, heavy heads and necks which they throw every which way, at their discretion. That means trouble for whatever or whoever is in the path of the cow's swinging head. Take my advice.......watch out, or better yet, stay away!

While Husband grumpily worked on fixing drinking cups after milking this morning, I finished scraping the barn alleyways and wandered into the dreary outdoors to figure out what to do next. The morning was very still and I realized it would be the perfect time to sweep the garage. Lots of leaves had blown in there, and, of course, more will blow in in the weeks ahead, along with debris from the cornfields. It never pays to do too much raking or yard clean-up around this farm, for new batches of crap keep blowing in. Who cares, really? We live way out in the middle of nowhere, and no one of any consequence sees our yard, anyway.......just the milk truck driver, an occasional bull semen salesman, the dairy supply guy, the neighbor (whose yard looks similar to ours), and us, of course. There's no need to keep up appearances for the sake of the neighborhood around here! Everyone understands, and no one gives a hoot if your yard is messy at times!

Ok, so the sweeping went well......like I said, there was no wind for me to fight against. Cats.....now that's another story. They presumptuously assumed I was raking the leaves into a comfortable pile for them to lounge on. Harrumph......no way, kitty.......SCRAM!

Finally, the job is done. As I said earlier.....its inevitable that more leaves will come swirling in, but for today, the garage floor is clear. By the way, I love my Rubbermaid cart; its very handy for tasks like this. We have two of these carts; Husband uses one in the barn to move silage around. The first cart was acquired for me to use around the yard, but it didn't take long before Husband had confiscated it for barn use. That was no fair at all! Before long, he agreed we could buy another one.

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Are things drab and broken down where you are??
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Man In Tree

Its a hidden picture game! Can you see the big, overgrown tree branch that seems a bit out of place? Haha. That's Husband.......Man in Tree!! Should I call the Fire Department to rescue him? Hardly. He climbed up there of his own free will to trim branches off this tree next to his dad's house in our nearby small town. His dad passed on last fall and the house is not sold yet. The other day in the mail we received a letter saying the trees need to be trimmed.......15 feet above the street and 8 feet above the sidewalks!

The branches filled the pickup:
Oh, golly.......there he is up there again. I can't even watch him.......he makes me so nervous sometimes!


I'll just wander around, watching things on the ground, instead!

Leaves, leaves everywhere..........and not a rake in sight!! Too bad.

So many bright, beautiful red leaves here and there........but, wait.........this next one is not a leaf! Its a petunia!! A lonely little petunia in the onion patch.......I mean, the autumn leaf patch!!

Ho-hum. Might as well check the temperature on this trusty, old Yoder Feeds thermometer hanging by the garage door. Cool, but pleasant.......around 50 degrees or so. Ho-hum.

After Husband was finished showing off his tree-climbing and sawing abilities, we drove the branch-laden pickup to the outskirts of town where there is a dump area for yard waste.

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That's my post for the day.......not very exciting, but the tree trimming did need to be done. We'd sure like to sell the house soon to get the estate settled. If any of you have a hankering to live in a small, very quiet (or possibly, boring) Iowa town, and are in the market for an older house on which to practice your fix-up skills.......please let me know!!!

Over the Hill He Went

The party's over........

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Husband went without a fight.........into that good night.........OVER the HILL!!

Did the "surprise" party live up to its billing, you ask. Yes, it certainly did; I was astonished at how the entire day's circumstances seemed to close ranks to protect the surprise intent of the party!!

Uncharacteristic for him, Husband left the farm for a couple of hours in the afternoon, giving me opportunity to fill coolers with pop and beer and hide them in the garage, and do some straightening up in the house, without him seeing.

When Husband finally got home and was safely secured away in the barn, milking, I could really get going on preparations, including the placement of this welcoming sign near the driveway.

I had told the guests to arrive around 7:30 p.m., thinking Husband would be done in the barn by then. Well, extra problems developed with a fresh cow, causing chores to run until past 8:00 p.m.! That meant cars full of guests were arriving while Husband was still in the barn. I directed them to park behind the house, and gather on the porch, opposite the side of the house which faces the barn. By then, though, I held out little hope that Husband had not seen at least a couple of the cars drive in.

I was trying to keep tabs on the guests on the porch and watch the milkhouse door for when Husband would exit it to come to the house. When he did, I nonchalantly sauntered out to meet him and try to assess whether he was aware of anything going on. To my great amazement, he said, "Well, I guess I could get cleaned up and we could go miniature-golfing." Cracking up inside, I calmly answered, "Ok, if that's what you want to do." Our son, who was leaving the barn, too, was trying to keep a straight face.

Husband headed to the basement to take a shower. When he finished, I knew he would walk up the steps wearing only his underwear, because that's what he always does. As he showered, I ordered the group on the porch to crouch down and be ready to jump up and yell "Surprise" when I gave the OK........which would be as Husband was coming up the steps, but BEFORE he got far enough for anyone to see his state of undress........they would hopefully see just his head!

So I stood there waiting, and then up the steps Husband came.......and at just the right moment, I motioned to the people on the porch and they jumped up and hollered "Surprise"!! (Really original, huh?)

Husband groaned and wheeled around in his tracks, heading back down to the basement. Out of the kindness of my heart, I tossed him a shirt and jeans to put on. (I did get a photo of him at the moment of surprise........please understand why I decided not to post it!)

Husband has five brothers.......two of whom live close enough to attend the party. Out of great love for their brother who's turning 50, they chose very appropriate and thoughtful gifts........as you can see in the photo below:

I didn't know there are Depends made just for men......did you know that? Also.....see the old buckaroo whose pants form a planter? He came from Father-in-law's house, and has become sort of a traveling birthday gift amongst Husband and his five brothers! Oh, yes, and that's a flower bouquet of PRUNES there on the right!

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Anyhow, the party was a smashing and "surprising" success!! Though the day had been hot and muggy, the evening was cool, breezy, and we all could sit outdoors and chat comfortably.

There were around 35 guests at the party. I think I mentioned earlier that I don't consider myself much of a party person, and last night I may have figured out one of the reasons for that. When my party involvement is as a host, I tend to be constantly scanning the crowd to see if everyone appears to be having a good time. I like to be able to give attention to each person, talk to them, look them in the eye......but that's often difficult to do in a large group, and then later I feel like I slighted this or that person. Its a rather paranoid way to be, I know, but I can't help it.

I tried to visit with most everyone, and keep up with whatever needed to be done in the kitchen. Two friends recently returned from travelling, and I greatly enjoyed hearing them tell about Ecuador and Spain! I suppose I knew this, but never really thought about it.......at the equator, days and nights are always equal in length......12 hours. My friend said, "The sun came up every morning at 6 a.m, and by 6 p.m., it was dark again." Its like that every day of the year!! She said the ancient Aztecs knew about the equator, the center of the earth.......I always must shake off the embedded idea that the only people in the world who had any scientific knowledge were the Europeans. I also learned that one of the favorite foods in Spain is HAM!! That was a surprise!

Yeah.......'58........it was a very good year!!

Helter-Swelter Sauna

Oh, my goodness sakes, I wish there were some way to convey to you.......or GIVE to you some of the muggy, horrible humidity we have here today!! Ugh! Its so uncomfortable, even the pigeons in this photo are trying to flee the scene!!

We tough it out each summer without air-conditioning. That's right, no A/C except in the vehicles. Just a minute ago I opened the refrigerator to get lunch ready, and it was all I could do to refrain from crawling right into it!

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On my walk this morning, I found out there's another party going on in the neighborhood........some sort of bug get-together on top of this Queen Anne's Lace bloom. A little sign nearby read: "Come one, come all.......Nectar provided......Bring your own drinking straws!!"

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If you read the previous post, you know I have a surprise party planned for this evening to celebrate Husband's 50th birthday. So far, all seems to be going as planned, and he knows nothing about it. He is doing a strange thing right now, though.......washing and waxing his pickup, which he NEVER does. I hope he's not entertaining some crazy notion to go out for supper tonight. If so, I'll have to feign a stomachache or something until our guests arrive!

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Party Animals

My hardworking farmer husband, owner of the workshoe and fertilizer cap in this photo, turns 50 today!! That's right......he married an older woman, as I regrettably am three weeks his senior, a fact he rarely lets me forget.

A surprise party is being thought of.......so cheer up, Piglet!! Buster looks ready to party, don't you think? Actually, Buster exists in a state of perpetual party-readiness!

Snickers and Furby await party-time, perched in their favorite tree, ready to pounce on the birthday honoree!!
And, Miss Kitty inspects the decorations, making sure floral arrangements are in place and fragrances are just right!

All the while, as these party preparations percolate just beneath the surface of the obvious, Birthday Guy has not the slightest clue that his farm will be invaded by well-wishers and rabble-rousers tonight after milking chores are done! I'm not much of a party animal myself, thus it would be uncharacteristic for me to plan a social gathering.....thus the reason he is clueless! This week, too, my affect has been very low-key, which isn't difficult to do, that being my normal modus operandi anyway, especially in the heat and humidity of summer. Hahaha! Birthday Guy is in the dark!!! (And, obviously, he's not a blog reader, either!) Don't you dare inform him of the party animals' plans!!

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Gulf of Tiredness

The Gulf of Tiredness is where I go for vacations.......yesterday we baled small square bales, and there are photos of that to post, but not now.......I am completely exhausted after a day of driving the rake and the baler. While trudging to the house last evening, I quickly snapped a shot of these Golden Columbine, which are extra prolific in the blooming department this year.

The scientific----or whatever----name is Aquilegia "Denver Gold". Last year it had only a handful of blossoms.

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Husband is simply in his glory when baling is going smoothly, with good drying weather and properly-working machinery. Our farm is 200 acres, 80 of which is in hay this year. We have baled 27 acres of that 80, meaning 53 acres remain covered in hay swaths lying on the ground waiting to be chopped or baled. Husband says the plan for tomorrow is to chop hay and put it in the silo as hay silage, which we call "haylage".

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Husband is blessed with an exceptionally strong constitution.......maybe its a German farmer trait.......he never gets tired, or sick......and never takes a vacation, and can't figure out why other people get sick, or tired, and take vacations. I lag far behind him in energy and stamina, and that's becoming more pronounced as time marches on. I'm not complaining......just stating facts. Husband is very blessed to be so strong and healthy........ I am thus blessed, also, of course, but not so much in the vim and vigor category. There's a yawning gulf between our energy levels. Is this common between men and women, do you think?

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Enjoy your Thursday! Mid-June is a gorgeous time of year........I was thinking that yesterday as I raked back and forth across the hay field.......is there any other time in the year when the sunshine seems so balmy, and almost healing in nature. Maybe that's because we're approaching the summer solstice, with the sun at its zenith for the year!

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(My brother-in-law just sent me an email containing this link to Cedar Rapids flood photos.)

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How Windy Is It?

Its very windy out today.......and it was very windy out yesterday.

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Please ask:

How windy was it??

So I can post this answer:

It was so windy that Husband got sprayed with cow pee from 30 yards away!!

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Snore Away....Please!

Why does snoring have to exist?? What on earth can possibly be its purpose, except annoyance. Last night, I had to flee to the sofa to get away from Husband's raucous snoring. He works very, very hard all day long......and snores very hard at night. Sometimes, the snoring will cease if I gently shake his shoulder, prompting him to roll into a different position, but last night that didn't work. The rattling mass of sound started in again after a few seconds.

Therefore, today I stopped at a drug store and found these two hopefully helpful products. Husband has used Breathe Right strips in the past, so I was familiar with those, but never had I heard of Snore Relief before........I'm hoping it will cause me to not hear of snoring again!!

I'm headed to bed now.......and to see if these products live up to the promises on their labels.

Blind Manipulation

I like to believe I'm not a manipulative person, but these new Levelor cordless blinds may recently have been installed due partly to my manipulation of my husband.......

I ordered the blinds back in late October, and they arrived a month later around the time of Father-in-Law's death. When they arrived, Husband briefly looked inside the box and said he would deal with installing them "later".

So the long Levelor box has been sitting in our house since then. Nagging is never a good option, so I simply let the Levelor box speak for itself......."I'm in your way-----INSTALL ME!", but it didn't seem to be working.

Two days ago, my stepdad was here to work on the room in the basement. At lunchtime, he, Husband and I were at the table enjoying our meal. The conversation came to a lull and I suddenly turned to my stepdad and said, "When you're finished in the basement, you'd be welcome to put up the new window blinds......". He smiled and nodded. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Husband staring at me......probably glaring.

But, the wheels were set in motion. Right after lunch, Husband pulled the blinds out of the Levelor box, read the directions, gathered a tool or two, and had the installation done within a half hour!

Anyway, I like them very much. They add a somewhat out-of-place sophistication to our farmhouse family room. The cordless design is nice.....no cords hanging around, obviously. The blinds are metal, but have a matte texture. The color and texture are called Earth Stone and Native Stone, but I can't remember which one is which. Some sort of valance or topper would look nice, probably, so that will be the next thing to think about.

No Time.....No Time.....

That old Guess Who song is running through my head......"No Time Left For You.....No Time.....No Time". No time for blogging or reading blogs today. My morning routine was swept aside to make room for my son's orthodontist appointment, followed by Husband and I presenting our bookwork to the accountant for tax preparation. What a joy that is every year! Milk prices were fairly good in 2007 and Uncle Sam forces generosity out of us as a reward.

Husband grumbled all the way home. The way he sees it, you either work for Uncle Sam or you work for the machinery companies......you either pay taxes or you buy machinery to avoid paying taxes. He's considering selling some cows, he says.......what is the point of knocking yourself out working so hard just so you can pay Uncle Sam? As always, I just sit and listen.

Actually, more than listening, I was pondering the notion of running to town for groceries after lunch. It was turning out to be a run-around day anyway, and the cupboards and refrigerator are looking bare and lonely, so off to SuperTarget I went.

There I wandered around, picking up items on my list, soon realizing I had chosen the most rattly, squeaky-wheeled cart in the store. Oh, well. Soon I was noticing another oddity......in almost every aisle I turned into, there were pregnant women. Very obviously pregnant ones. Truly, they were everywhere! And that's a wonderful thing, but it seemed unusual to see so many of them at one time under the same roof. I got to thinking-----I don't know if this could be connected------but back in late summer, a large battalion of reservists, the 133rd, returned from two years in Iraq. It was big news here in northeast Iowa, and maybe their return is going to result in a baby boom! Then again, that may have nothing to do with the particular group of pregnant gals there at SuperTarget today. It may have been just a coincidence.......

By the time I got home, it was dark, and my calves were bellering for their bottles. I ran into the house to change, and seeing the answering machine blinking, I listened to it. It was my college daughter's garbled voice.....I could catch some of her words. She was having a bad day, so I quickly called her back. It was nothing really serious......she said her down mood was triggered by a professor who seems to know everyone's name in class......except hers. Sounded like a really serious problem......and my daughter admitted it did sound silly, but it just kind of bummed her out today. You know how little things can set us off sometimes.....

I was talking to her on my cell phone, and then the house phone rang, so I answered that, too. It was Husband's nephew calling from Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia where he's a patient after having a 7-1/2 hour operation on his lower back, which was injured a couple years ago in Iraq (he's in the Marines, but it was not a combat injury). The surgery was on Wednesday and he's already up and walking around. I put the cell phone and the house phone on speaker mode so my daughter and her cousin could converse as I held the phones next to each other. That seemed funny for some reason.

Later, after feeding calves, the groceries needed carried in from the garage, so I was at that task when a spot of ice caught me off guard and down I went backwards, hitting my head on the cement. Fortunately, I still had my heavy chore coat on, with its thick hood cushioning my neck. I've taken some ibuprofen, but can feel my upper back and neck getting stiff. The bed looks inviting, but I need to stay awake until my son gets home from his basketball game-----it was two hours away, meaning he won't get home until after midnight.

Cell phone just beeped......a text from my son.....they won! And he may not get home until 1 a.m. Oh, my.....well, I'll surf around and read countrygirl and nannykim and then go read a book.

Snow For Sale!

Snow, snow go away.......
Come again some other day!
(Not for a long time, though.)

Here is Husband in the tractor blowing the powdery white stuff out of the way so his brother can begin a long trip home to Montana. He came to Iowa on Amtrak last week to take part in the divvying-up of Father-in-Law's earthly possessions. He's returning to Montana in his dad's pickup, which he purchased.

I couldn't hold back the tears when this brother-in-law left this morning; he lives so far away and it was hard to say good-bye. He has a very long drive ahead of him in this extremely cold weather. Seeing the pickup disappear down the driveway for the last time was difficult, too, because the vehicle is so identified with Father-in-Law. The pairing of a farmer-----even an old, retired one-----and his pickup, is a special match; they were steady, faithful companions.

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This afternoon it was deemed safe for a daughter-in-law to enter Father-in-Law's house, so I spent time helping Husband load out some of the remaining items......mostly junk, at this point. Now, my house is becoming filled with piles of miscellaneous.......towels, rugs, Christmas wrap, tins, kitchen items, baskets, books, knicknacks, etc. All the flotsam and jetsam of someone else's life is now mine, as if I didn't have enough of my own already! But, I'll dutifully go through all the piles and boxes to see what might be of use, or generously shared later as a gag gift!! Seriously, there are some special items that I hope to eventually give away to the little grandchildren and great-grands as a remembrance of Grandpa.

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Husband has held up well through the last several days of commotion and disruption of his normal daily work schedule. Its obvious he's exhausted, though. Last evening his eyes were glazed over as he struggled to stay awake after chores to eat supper and visit with his brother. He also admitted to me that he's sad to see his dad's pickup depart. Not that he wanted to have it, but like I said earlier, its so closely identified with its former longtime owner.

Reminder of Warmth

To offset today's bitter cold, this photo is offered as a reminder of warmth past and future. The clouds resemble a big rosy dove, possibly. We're looking north, early one morning last fall.




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We remain in the deep freeze. When temperatures are this cold, the snow squeaks as you walk on it. If someone was idiotic enough to want to make a snowball, he would be unsuccessful, for the snow loses its stickiness in the bitter cold. There must be scientific explanations for this, but its beyond my ken.

Warmth being my only concern, I sinned and wore jeans to church this morning. Nice jeans, not faded ones. I should have toted a blanket along, too, because the church sanctuary was freezing! Non-LCMS-Lutherans will not know what I'm referring to, but we used Divine Service 4 from LSB this morning. Its an unfamiliar liturgy, meaning that those of us who read music and like to sing felt as if we were singing solos. It was rather pathetic, and made me wonder once again......."How did I get myself into this? Oh, yeah, it was because of that handsome farm boy I met back in high school." Way back then, a church was a church was a church, in my simple mind. Little did I know.

Well, anyway, I tried to sing out, not loud enough to be ridiculous, but enough to maybe help others along. The vacancy pastor once again rushed too fast through the Nicene Creed and the Lord's Prayer. What is the deal with that? Is that some new seminary teaching? I emailed my opinion to him when I got home. He probably won't like it, especially since its coming from a woman. Our deacons seem to be cowed by the authority of the pastor, and won't say anything about it. That's one thing I cannot comprehend about Lutheran laypeople. They are taught to just meekly go along with whatever the pastor does.

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This afternoon I tinkered with the header on this blog, and it turned out better than I expected. I finally figured out how to crop a photo to fit and change the color of the wording inside the photo. I'm very slow and ignorant about such things. The header photo shows the road where the dogs and I walk, alongside a freshly cut field of hay. Ah.....memories of summer.......and warmth!! I love those evening clouds in the sky......it was one of the first photos I took with my digital camera.

Today I am enjoying an afternoon alone at home because of a once-in-a-lifetime event.......Husband and his brothers have spent the weekend going through all the stuff at their dad's house and dividing it up. None of us wives are allowed to participate, which is a good thing. So I've been providing food and lodging for Husband's out-of-town brothers. Thankfully, it appears they'll remain on friendly terms with each other after this whole ordeal of settling their dad's estate is over. He would be very happy about that!

I'm curious, of course, to see what Husband's share of the household items will include. Already yesterday, they brought one of the things here, a bed to put in our basement room that is being remodeled. One of the brothers slept in the bed last night, along with two of our cellar-dweller cats. He said they snuggled right up to him, and one of them was giving his hand a bath when he woke up this morning!

Secretly, I'm hoping that Husband is able to get a couple antique items.......like maybe the advertising crock from a local general store, or the crockery rolling pin, also printed with advertising from that store. I like things like that. I'm not holding out much hope, though, because one of the out-of-state brothers is really into antiques. This was one time to just keep my mouth shut. The whole weekend has been one of listening, listening, listening, and nodding and smiling at whatever is said. The best thing is to stay on everyone's good side. Maybe I'm "cowed", too.........similar to the deacons at church........must be that Lutheran submissiveness rubbing off on me!!

Actually, I've been very proud of Husband and his commitment to keeping peace amongst his brothers. As co-executor he is in a position to do so, and it seems to be of the highest priority with him. Many times, we've heard of families who end up permanently split due to difficulties with estates. Materialism takes over. Husband doesn't want that to happen and keeps saying that the peace in the family is a blessing from God. He's a good husband.

Buying An SUV

Everything seems out of kilter this morning......due to daylight savings time ending and my routines being thrown off over the weekend. On Saturday morning, Husband shocked the heck out of me by announcing he wanted to drive to Winona, Minnesota, to look at a vehicle. For the past several weeks, we've been searching online for a midsize SUV to replace our beat-up '90 Dodge Ram van. We browsed on AutoTrader.com and CarSoup.com. When Husband started typing in searches of over 100 miles away, I laughed and said, "There's no way you will drive that far to look at a vehicle!" He proved me wrong, bless his heart!

We hurried to get barn chores all done, and then headed for Winona. The day's weather was sunny, making the two-hour drive a pleasant one. We stopped for lunch at Subway in Spring Valley, MN, and arrived in Winona by 2 p.m. Quickly, we took a test-drive in the SUV, crossing the Mississippi and going into Wisconsin a few miles. We had test-driven a few SUV's in our local area, so we had an idea of what we were looking for----leather seats for sure and an exterior color that will hide the dust from our gravel road. Plus low miles and a good price, of course! This one seemed to have everything we wanted, so we took the plunge and purchased it.

After an hour or so of paperwork with the business manager, we were on our way home by 4:30......with lucky me driving the SUV! A great pleasure! Husband followed in the pickup. We decided to take a different way home, heading straight south on two-lane roads toward Mabel, MN. The wooded, winding roads led us through the little burgs of Hart, Choice, Rushford, Bratsberg, and Prosper, MN. Interesting names! At Decorah, Iowa, I turn off to get groceries at Walmart, while Husband continued homeward to see how our son was doing with the milking chores.

In Walmart, I suddenly felt completely exhausted, and in slow-motion mode. Everyone else seemed that way, too! Maybe it had something to do with all the fluorescent lighting in the enormous store, I don't know. It felt like I was in a trance. The Christmas music playing overhead seemed bizarre. The check-out clerk moved very slowly and deliberately. I decided that maybe my problem was that I hadn't eaten for several hours, so I ordered a Big Mac-to-go at the McDonald's that was inside the Walmart, on my way out. I had never seen a McDonald's inside a Walmart before!

To test the SUV's CD player, I had bought the new Eagles' CD, "Long Road Out Of Eden", that was in a big display there at Walmart. Joe Walsh sings of solitude in track 5 of disc 2, in "Last Good Time in Town"......that describes how I feel most of the time, too! Staying home is great!

While driving up our farm drive, I pressed the CD eject button. Whichever Minnesota radio station that had beened tuned in came crackling through and the first words I heard were, "Get your copy of the Eagles' CD, "Long Road Out of Eden" today......exclusively at Walmart!" I laughed and thought, "Funny thing.....I just did!" You've got to love those cool coincidences!!

Mary Magdalene's Day

This is my 50th blog post! So exciting, isn't it?!

Also, I post today in honor of my wedding anniversary.......29 years young is our marriage. Some of the lyrics from an old 1970's pop song, "Still The One", sung by the group Orleans, seem to hit the nail on the head for this marriage.....

"We've been together since way back when;

Sometimes I never want to see you again!

But, I want you to know....

After all these years.....

You're still the one I want whisperin' in my ear!"

I love the honesty of the first two lines. Husband and I were 15 when we met, and then got married at age 20.....that's quite young by today's standards. Maybe in a way we've grown up together. I would assume that nearly every married person has had the thought, "What was I thinking back then? How did I get myself into this?!" You just make up your mind to stay the course, and pray for wisdom. I have learned to keep my mouth shut about certain things, laugh as often as possible, and if all else fails, just head out the door and take a long walk.

I didn't know it back then in 1978 on my wedding day, but July 22 is also the day set aside to honor St. Mary Magdalene. (The church I grew up in didn't commemorate saints' days.) The Lutheran church I belong to now has been getting more into that sort of thing, and in our new hymnal The Lutheran Service Book, there is a hymn to honor special women of the Bible, "For All The Faithful Women" (#855). We sang it this morning in church, not all 13 verses, but we did sing verse 11, the one about Mary Magdalene. The Old Testament lesson was Proverbs 31:10-31, which begins with..... "An excellent wife who can find? She is more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her." I really chuckled inside, considering this was also our anniversary day. Humorous little synchronicity!

Later, Husband commented about the verses of Proverbs 31: "What's the husband's role all the while the excellent wife is doing things like bringing food from afar (verse 14), considering and buying a field (verse 16), making and selling garments (verse 24), etc., etc.?" I replied that the husband is to be "known in the gates where he sits among the elders of the land", as stated in verse 23. We wondered if that means Husband should sit in the town coffee shop and play cards with the old guys?!

I had worn a red shirt to church this morning in honor of Mary Magdalene, since she was so often portrayed in scarlet garb in old artwork. She was maligned for years by the Church, given the label of prostitute by some pope way back in the 500's A.D. The Eastern Orthodox Church supposedly views her as the "Apostle to the Apostles". Interesting. Today's Gospel reading was from John 20, where Mary goes to Jesus' tomb, finds the stone rolled away, and then has an encounter with the resurrected Jesus. Amazing that she, a member of the lowly female gender, was allowed the privilege of being the first person to see Him alive again after the Crucifixion.

I read The DaVinci Code a few years ago, and I have read a couple of Margaret Starbird's books, The Woman With the Alabaster Jar and The Goddess in the Gospels. I'm not convinced about the theory that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married, but I did enjoy the latter book because Ms. Starbird goes into detail about the many synchronicities she experienced during the writing of her first book about Mary Magdalene. Fascinating......particularly the time when she unexpectedly met people from Provence, France. Her experience in the psychiatric unit hit me in a very personal way, as I once had a somewhat similar ordeal come into my life. What she wrote nearly gave me chills.

One speculation Margaret Starbird makes in her books is that the title "Magdalene" possibly does not refer to the town where Mary came from, but actually is "the Magdalen", meaning some sort of tower, referred to in the Old Testament somewhere.

Sometimes I do wonder, though, couldn't Jesus have been married? Marriage is not a sin. Scriptures don't directly state whether He was married or not. As a teenager, I remember seeing the movie version of "Jesus Christ, Superstar". Actually, I think our pastor had our youth group watch it so we could discuss the scriptural and nonscriptural aspects of the story portrayed in the movie. Mary Magdalene was given the prostitute persona, I think, and the movie probably suggested that she and Jesus were unmarried lovers, so it was easy for me to then dismiss the whole idea as a fable, since we know Jesus did not sin. Its a little more difficult to totally dismiss if you consider Mary Magdalene not as a prostitute, but maybe as the legitimate legal wife of Jesus. And I can't entirely rule out the possibility that a patriarchal church hierarchy would later cover up evidence of such a marriage.

Think about getting a church year calendar which shows saints' commemoration days throughout the year. I never thought I'd be interested in such things, but it does make me feel more connected to meaningful events far in the past. And if your birthday or anniversary falls on a saint's day, it can seem very special! I ordered my calendar online from the Fellowship of St. James, and it includes dates significant in both Eastern and Western Christian traditions.

Monday Musings

Today is a sunny Monday, but with a nippy west wind. Quite "burr-fee", as an old high-school friend of mine used to say.

During milking this morning I dutifully listened to Husband grump and growl about two cows, Delilah and Kirsten, who were causing him trouble. Both had "freshened" (given birth) on Saturday, and were still weak and having trouble standing. Husband blames this on their rather frail body structure. He feels that the breeding companies nowadays are too focused on increased milk production, with not enough emphasis on sturdiness and hardiness. He had to use the skid loader and a hip lift apparatus to raise Kirsten to her feet so she could be milked.

I started a load of laundry and made a trip to our local small town for banking and bill-paying. When I got home I wanted to pick up the piles of leaves and sticks my sons had raked together over the weekend, but the wind was blowing too hard. After lunch, my father-in-law stopped by and I listened to him blather on about news he had heard during his usual morning card game "uptown". It's usually depressing news about illnesses and deaths in the community, with sometimes an impending divorce thrown in. Years ago I learned I must let everything he says go right on by me, and it's not so hard to do that now that he stops by rather infrequently. When our kids were small, however, he would be here to do farmwork nearly every day, and for lunch, too, and he would sit there and drone on and on about all that depressing stuff, and I would almost go insane.

This afternoon I bundled up and took a long walk in the wind. Several years ago when I decided to start walking on a regular basis, I read an article that stated that the length of time you walk is more important than how far you walk. It said that it takes about 45 minutes of walking before the "feel good" endorphins are released in your brain, and I can attest that that is probably true. I've reached the point where I can pretty much tell when my mood lifts during a walk, and it is at about that 45-minute point. The main reason I walk is to maintain a better mental state and have more energy, with the muscle-toning benefits being an added bonus. Plus, I sleep better, and have less stiffness and aches when I maintain a regular regimen of walking. My father-in-law used to make snide remarks about people walking, but after he was diagnosed with diabetes, he, too, had to start walking to help control his blood sugar.

Blessings to everyone on this day. Take a walk!!!

Winter Storm Warning

My, how quickly the weather can change! Bright and sunny yesterday, and today is overcast with a strong south wind which seems to go right through even the heaviest coat. The forecast includes a winter storm warning for the whole weekend. Fun. My daughter's band group is supposed to get back from Chicago tonight around midnight. I pray for safe travelling for them. Wow......I just saw a flash of lightning in the west! The first lightning of the spring. And the sleet has started.

Yesterday afternoon, Husband managed to get his silo unloader put back together up in the silo. He carried the 60 lb. drive wheel up the chute ladder 60 feet to the level of silage. He would go up 5 rungs at a time and then stop to rest. Needless to say, he is now complaining of a sore back.

The past couple of days, I have been putting pictures, etc., up on several walls that have been bare ever since we did some remodeling last year. We built on a family room and redid the kitchen. The whole thing is kind of like a "great room". We really like it. But, the bare walls have started to bug me lately, so last week I bought some nice decorative items on sale at Penneys and Gordman's. And I've been searching through things stored away here at home. In the process I found a little print I had purchased many years ago on a trip out west. It's entitled "The Prairie is My Garden", by Harvey Thomas Dunn, an artist from the Dakotas. I'm pretty sure I bought it at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. A paragraph on the back of the print says, "it portrays the Dakota pioneer woman's determination to cope with the harsh elements of the prairie, and her love for the beauty of the land." I love the scene......it is of a mother and her two children out gathering wildflowers on the prairie near their homestead. You can see it at www.southdakotaartmuseum.com/shop_dunn.htm . I may order a larger print sometime, or maybe one of the artist's other prairie scenes.

Well, I need to bundle up and head out into the sleet to feed the calves.

Blessings!

Ashes of Wednesday

What a sunnybright Ash Wednesday! Lent begins, and a hint of spring is in the air. Much snow has melted the last couple of days, leaving the farmyard full of slushy ruts and tire tracks. It's wet during the afternoon hours, and frozen slush at night and in the morning, making walking hazardous.

I was awake at an ungodly hour this morning, 3:00 a.m., in order to drive my daughter to school to embark on a band trip to Chicago. She has been very excited about the trip, but was not too keen on getting up so early in the morning. She just now phoned me from their hotel in downtown Chicago; they will soon be heading for the Art Institute. There's so much to see in Chicago! I'm excited for the kids.

Husband is having difficulties with the silo unloader again this morning. He was doing quite a bit of yelling during milking this morning.......just to let off steam. Our one dog must have thought Husband was yelling at him, for he kept trying to hide behind our oldest dog. It was funny......as if the old one would be able to offer any protection in the first place!

The drive wheel of the silo unloader is broken, that is the problem. The drive wheel is a starlike-shaped thick block of cement with metal casing. It is very heavy, so it is with alot of difficulty that Husband removes it from way up in the silo. He growled, "Who do they think I am.....Hercules Fix-it?!" It will probably take most of the day to gets the repairs done, throwing the normal cow and heifer feeding schedule out of wack for the entire day. The forecast for Husband's mood will definitely be cloudy and stormy on this Ash Wednesday!

Here is a helpful thought from the February 20 entry in Corrie ten Boom's book Each New Day:

"There is nothing anybody else can do that can stop God from using us;
the fault always lies in ourselves. We can turn everything into a
testimony. Even opposition can become an open door."

It's all about attitude. That is something I need to remember on a daily basis, and am trying to instill this mindset in my children. The other day I bought a little wall plaque which says, "Opportunity is often Found in the Middle of a Dilemma." I hung it here on the wall above the computer where the kids will be sure to see it. My daughter commented on it right away that first evening.

Look for the silver lining!

A blessed Ash Wednesday to all.

Morning Chores

Brr! It's great to get back in the house on this blustery, snowy day. The wind howled all night and I almost expected a school cancellation, but there wasn't enough snow blowing for that to happen.

So I got unbundled from my heavy chore coat, soggy gloves, and boots. The mirror reflects my usual winter after-chore image......flattened hair with a few strands animated by static, face reddened by the wind. The coffeemaker is my next stop, and then here to the computer.

The E-Blogger info site states that some people blog to organize their thoughts, so maybe that is why I am blogging. That must be the reason, for I don't really expect many people to read this blog.

Anyway, here's what morning chores consists of for me......I go out to our barn where Husband is in the middle of milking 80 cows. With the scraper, I clear away whatever manure piles the cows have dropped behind themselves. I push the manure into the gutter behind the cows. Then I go to the milkhouse and fill bottles to take out to the calves. Calves drink milk from a bottle until they are 7 to 8 weeks old, and are in individual pens during that time. Right now there are 16 calves on bottles. A few days ago there were 22 on bottles, but we weaned 6 the other day. That means six calves were old enough to discontinue bottle feedings and be moved into a pen together where they will be fed grain and hay and drink water from the waterer. The newly weaned calves usually are not happy about the loss of their bottle and they beller loudly for days whenever they see me. I also make sure the bottle calves have enough straw in their pens for bedding, and grain to eat.

Husband just came into the house growling because he has to climb up inside our tallest silo to remove the unloader gear box which just quit working. In this very cold weather, working in the silo is no fun. Husband came in to don long underwear, insulated coveralls, a ski mask, and warm gloves. He will then climb up the ladder inside the silo chute, remove the gear box so he can take it to town to be expensively repaired by workers in a warm shop. After it is repaired, Husband will have to return the gear box to its place up in the freezing silo. This is the kind of fun that a dairy farmer has on a regular basis. After all these years of being with Husband, I have learned to tune out most of the resultant grouchiness and negativity. There is nothing else I can do since I have no control over machines breaking down or cows getting sick or low milk prices, etc. More on all of that another time.