It's February And Holding

Burr. Well for those of you that aren't in Iowa it's definitely still winter here. It's not one of those mornings when you just run to the shop office in a tee shirt and flip flops unless you want to get snow between your toes.

LP prices have quadrupled the last couple of months. So we made a plan as a family to make sure our contracts would last the winter for everyone including Karl and Kristin's who are trying to keep 2400 little pigs warm. Below we are moving a portable tank from the dryer to the shop.  

The guys also replumbed a waste oil heater in the shop. Waste oil heaters are a great way to get rid of old oil but tend to be a little ornery about being reliable. It's interesting how high input prices and lower markets make us look for ways to be more efficient.  

There are plenty of jobs on the lists yet that need done and on many milder winters we have worked every month. However this year with 0 degrees, snow, and 30 inches of frost in the ground our work is limited to indoors.

So some days we work on pickups.

And other days we work on heavy equipment.

Since hard winters push jobs on top of each other when things warm up it's good to be as prepared as possible.

Some days we get company.

There is always a little grain to haul for neighbors. This year it has taken a lot of power service to keep the diesel fuel from turning to jello.

Yesterday Ethan, Gideon, and John decided they needed a project so they walked from our house to their house which is just over a mile. There plan was to push this motorcycle all the way back in the cold and snow.

Fortunately Mike, a compassionate neighbor, saw them and asked if they would like a lift in his pickup. They were twice blessed as Uncle Kurt helped them clean their carburetor and got their motorbike running.

Grandsons Cody, Ethan, and I spent a cold morning at the Farm Power Show at Vets in Des Moines looking at new equipment and visiting with our local reps. Ethan gave me all his quarters for the parking meter but we couldn't figure out how to make it register for parking time so we finally gave up. On the way home we stopped at Goldie's in Prairie City for tenderloins. When we got home I gave Linda the parking ticket and she mailed the $15 fine.

There was a farm real estate auction held in our local mall this past week. Around 100 farmers attended. Brothers Gene and Verlan had been tenants on this 300 acre farm for over 30 years and are retiring. A young 30 year old farmer was the final bidder. I thought the selling priced reflected the lower markets some.

So like in the picture below be a friend to someone. It helps make the winter seem not quite so long. With the continuing forecast for more cold and snow it's starting to look like spring won't be arriving anytime soon. As Forest Gump would say, "and that's about all I got to say about that for this week". :-) Thanks for the visit.