StillwatersIowa

We have a farm cat around here that is always meowing for attention. I think it got a little more attention than it planned on when Malaki (maybe Grandpa helped a little) put the kitty in a tile intake top. No worries. After letting the cat go it hurried back for more. It's seed delivery season and we are busy hauling out seed to our customers. Believe it or not planting season will soon be here. When you were small did you ever hear your mother respond to a foolish stunt, "I suppose if so and so jumped you would too"? Well that's what these deer did. Five of them all jumped to their death off a Hwy 163 bypass bridge just northeast of our place. Mike built his first terrace of the spring this past week. To my right Kasey is covering with black dirt. I'm on the 1945 D7 3T I bought for sentimental reasons (It's what I learned to doze on as a high schooler) at a sale last year. I'm mainly trying to stay out of the way. The tile plow was moved...

You've often heard folks, even from these visits, say we need to think outside the box. To broaden our horizons. Be open to new ideas. Last week we said if you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done. Thinking outside the box helps us grow. However many times ideas come from within. From the folks we already have. From equipment we already use. From jobs we already tackle. From a process we might do every day. Solutions around here often come from our early morning coffees. Or working together in the shop. It seems this past week we did a lot of thinking inside the box.   One morning last week I went north of Sully with a tractor to pick up a planter. On may way home I noticed how pretty this farmstead looked and took a picture of it. Good job Lawrence and Helen. An advantage of cousins getting together on Mondays at Grandmas is they learn how to work (actually play) together on a single project. These l...

I've read somewhere once that if you want something you've never had you have to do something you've never done. That often requires us to step out of our comfort zones. It sometimes takes an investment. There is usually a risk. There is often a reward. Gideon and Ethan spent their spring break working at Outer Limits fixing trucks. Drilling a hole in your black and blue fingernail after smashing it is one of those jobs that's kind of scary but usually fixes it by relieving the throbbing pressure. That's what Gideon did after a semi brake drum landed on his finger. I think the subject of this week was the conditions of our gravel roads as the frost is coming out. Earlier with the ditches full of snow our roads couldn't get rid of the melting snow and water so they turned to mud. Muddy roads mean muddy vehicles. Earlier this week many gravel roads needed 4-wheel drive to navigate. There have also been a number of vehicle parts found on these roads li...