Extracurricular

Do you ever do anything extracurricular, meaning something out of the realm of your normal? An example would be a farmer writing a blog. I suppose a person could argue what normal is. Well this week it just kind of seemed we had our share of extras.

Several Moms from the Osky Chr. Grade School came to the cabin this past week. They had Jan help them bake 3400 cookies for a valentine's fundraiser.

The FCC decided all business radios needed to be narrow banded. Only the 2-ways bought in the last couple of years could be reprogrammed. The older ones had to be replaced. A fairly sizable expenditure. This extra job included collecting the radios out of all our farm vehicles and either reprogramming or replacing them.

So, what do farmers do all winter? Well, sometimes we go to meetings to learn about the latest crop input options. It usually also involves a free meal.

Our family moved dirt well into January. Then it got cold and snowy so we have been hauling equipment home and running it through the shop getting ready for spring.

Kurt and Karl and a friend Andy went to Cary, Mississippi with a church group from Pella to roof a building for the Cary Christian Center. Thanks for letting me borrow your picture Glenda.

Mike was invited to tour the Caterpillar assembly plant in Illinois. He texted us a picture of this huge truck. We have a scraper that holds 18 cubic yards of dirt. This truck holds 250 cubic yards and it's tires stand 13 feet tall!

We received an unexpected visit this week from Senate Minority Leader, Bill Dix. We talked about Iowa's legislative session this year. Politics is definitely an extracurricular activity in my book. However when asked, we need to share what we feel is important.

Mark and Stacy took their family last Friday evening to see my brother Dan in Newton. Thanks Le Ann for the picture. Dan continues to struggle, is on oxygen, and gets visited by Hospice in his group home.

Jan and I actually flew to Arizona on Friday for a week together. We plan to visit friends, stop at quilt shops, go to Old Mexico, and attend a Ritchie Bros construction equipment auction. Below we are picking grapefruit for Aunt Ruth. It's cool and occasionally rainy here.