StillwatersIowa

Good morning. Have you ever noticed how we go through the routine of normal, or in our case, the routine of abnormal this spring? And then one day we look around and realize, Wow, summer is here. Summer is a season of life, growth, and activity. Because of the fast growing corn crop we will have our hands full for the next month as we spray for weeds a second time. And spread nitrogen while our machines can still get down the rows. The soybean crop will also need it's second pass spraying in about 10 days. I'm sure many of you have had your hands full keeping the yard mowed in our warm wet weather so far here in Iowa. Friday Ezra came to find me and ask if I would pull Elijah out. His mower had slipped a little too close to the pond. With a few days of dry weather forecasted, a lot of hay was being mowed yesterday. More and more folks are using tedders these days. Tedding is done after mowing and before raking to spread and fluff the windrows to speed up and shorte...

I had just written and returned an email that had requested some of my personal information. I pressed send and reread the info. I noticed at the bottom of my message it said "virus free". For a split second I wondered how my computer knew I wasn't sick. Then it dawned on me that it was just saying this message was safe. Thanks Ezra and Elijah for helping Grandma plant trees. This Grandma's Ranger is ready and equipped for her many tasks. Jan carries a spade and a tree pruner in the back. And as you can see in the front she has her water, her jacket, a car seat, and her gun, in case she sees a snake sunning itself around the pond. We have taken the current weather break from farming this week and have been cleaning and putting spring machinery away. The corn crop continues to progress however our soybeans seem like they need some warm temps. Thanks Pablo. Thanks for the picture Alex. Karl assisted a neighbor and friend in getting some rye chopped for catt...

Good morning. A little different format today. Hopefully more pictures and less talk. Gavin and Sienna were over this week with their Mom, Kristin, to visit their mother and grandma, Linda. Linda is our bookkeeper and our crew would be lost without her. Gavin reminds me of his Grandpa Kevin. Sienna is quite the princess brightening up life wherever she goes. Pre Normal . We have a number of grand-kids graduating this spring. Gideon as a senior from Pella Christian High. Amelia and John as 8th graders from Osky Christian Grade. It seems they are graduating by themselves with just their parents as observers. Pre Normal. Mark and his boys Ethan, Elijah, and Anton, were participants in a motorcycle race yesterday without a crowd to watch. Thanks for the picture Mark. Pre Normal. Several churches have started or are starting soon to meet again. However with lots of rules. Last week Sunday Glenda and her four daughters were one of several praise teams that sang on-line...