StillwatersIowa

Twenty six years ago this evening I was planting corn when Jan called on the two-way and said it was time to go to the hospital. I asked her if I could finish the field. 1989 was a very dry spring. That night God blessed our family with two more sons and our crop with two inches of rain. Happy Birthday Kurt and Karl. Last month Becky took Jackson's(on the right) picture. His dad's(Kurt) picture is in the center. His granddad's(me) picture is on the left.   A long time ago on our wall in our old house Jan started with her and my baby pictures and then our 6 children's around them. And our grandchildren around that. However Jackson, Harris, and Malaki aren't up yet and we are out of room so when we move to our new house we will need to find a bigger wall. Thursday Mike called, said he was working east of Blakesburg, had a flat, and needed a spare tire. He told me not to worry about a jack. BJ and Mark had a productive wee...

Good morning. It was an eventful week. Congratulations to Karl and Kristin who welcomed Malaki David into their family Friday morning. He weighed 10 lbs. 6 oz. and was 23 in. long. A lot of corn went in the ground this week for mid April. Dry soil is a gift to a farmer at planting time. Planting in wet conditions can hinder a corn crop all season. With the soil temp in the low 50s the little seeds are growing. Our April 6 planting is just about emerged.   Becky had a birthday this week. I remember April 15, 1983 we hadn't turned a wheel yet in the field because it was wet. Everyone was telling us that spring they sure hoped we had a girl to add to our boys. I really didn't care but after she was born I remember being thrilled at having a daughter. I still am. I remember enjoying telling folks she weighed 10 lbs. 15 oz. Two sprayers ran hard this week. It's important to get planted corn sprayed as soon as possible after planting. There...

Have you ever come to a place when your load was wider than your road?  Chuck says there are three types of folks when it comes to finding a solution. There are the innovators, the maintainers, and the inhibitors.   The innovators go right to work to find a way to cross their bridge. They also fix the problem so next time it's easier for themselves and others. The maintainers wait for help or direction on what is their next step. They also come to the same bridge with the same load and the same results every time they need to cross.   The inhibitors not only think it's not possible to cross their bridge, they don't want you to cross yours either.   While helping grandsons chore before I took them to school one morning I noticed the old hybrid. In 1977 I only had one tractor and couldn't afford a second so I combined a 1956 1 ton truck I bought for $500 with my father-in-laws Graham Bradley tractor. My father-in-law had come up ...

One of the first things the grandkids like to do as soon as the weather warms up is to go on Ranger rides with Grandma. You know spring is here when sprayers first start to hit the field. Mark took down Virgil's barn this week with his trackhoe. If you were ever east of Pella you could see it was wanting to come down for some time. I have always thought it was good to take advantage of opportunities meaning if you are given a time to get something done you need to get it done. Taking advantage of opportunities can happen in every day jobs. It can happen in business in general. It can happen with people. It can happen in our faith walk. This is a picture of all the semis waiting at the terminal waiting to load NH3. Since less nitrogen fertilizer got on last fall this spring is over busy. We are running 4 tool bars. The big planters weren't hooked up for lack of tractors so we planted some with Kurt and Karl's old 8 row. The first thing Matt and John ...