Christmas is here.....

Well, it has been a most excellent day here on the farm, for me anyway I didn't check with anyone else. I made a trip to see my radiation doctor today and some prolonged checking of my vitals and asking questions he painstakingly shoved what felt like a movie projector up my nose and down the back of my throat. After some hummmms and oksss, he tells me he sees no sign of a tumor and everything looks okee dokee. To say the least, I was elated. I do have to go back in Feb. for and MRI and CT scan for further confirmation but the prognosis is excellent!!!! LONG LIVE THE DOC!!!
The photo is another, and most definitely one of the best, Christmas gifts from Kim and Susan. You can see there are babies abound and all look very happy and content.
May you all have the most wonderful Christmas ever......till next year.....:)

Stuff....

This is one of the examples of our health care dollar at work. Don't get me wrong, if it were up to me I would give them all the money they asked for without an argument but that opinion is coming from a strictly biased point of view. This thing is a modern marvel to say the least. It projects outward at the pivot point to the table you are clamped to, rotates 360 degrees, can pinpoint a tumor the size of a pin head and zap it with radiation while at the same time causing very little if any damage to the surrounding cells and tissue, unlike in years past where it had to bombard a much larger area causing much more damage to surrounding tissue. And it also can take photos of it's progress, how cool is that. I am impressed even though my neck and chest looks like a wiener that has been in the broiler too long and man does it hurt.
I have missed the last couple of roundtables and wouldnt you know it when I am not there I would win a 100 grand from the boss who, in some sort of goofy state, gave it to my WIFE to give to me!!!! Luckily, it got to me intact and at this point in time it is in a safe place waiting for me to enjoy it (without the use of a blender).
The weekend is looming, and the weatherman is calling for a lot of rain. That is not good. The crops guys have the beans done and a good run into the corn, they didn't need the rain to slow them down.
Well, it is getting late, (2:53 A.M.) so I will go for now..............:))))

Just Ramblin.....

Yes I found a better mouse trap. Trouble is, way too much clean up to do plus I still have to feed the cat, but he CAN reload without me.
As of next Monday, I will be half way through my radiation and chemo treatments. To this point I think I am doing OK with the side effects although I am almost hairless and just about finished ingesting food except through a peg tube which kinda takes all the fun out of it if you know what I mean. The nausea and the ulcers and extreme burning in the throat is the worst, the fatigue is just a given. Hopefully a big mac and fries are only a few months away!!!
Well, the flu is starting to rare it's ugly head along with strep throat and maybe a little laryngitis, that appears to be what Lori has had. A few others have shown signs of strep throat but no flu like fevers yet......
I am hoping for a big warm up next week so the boys can get back to beans but the weather man says we could see some snow flakes Saturday night, go figure.....
Chase pulled in South Dakota and took 8th place out of 33 in his class, WAY TO GO CHASE, what a great run you have had, next year is only a few monts away so get ready. Had to be a most excellent trip for all, Andy and Stacy even managed to run into some old friends they hadn't seen in years, a win win trip if you ask me.....
It has to be nap time or at least ralax time so I will......:)))

Chase is still Chasin......

This is the only photo of Chase I have on a pulling tractor so I will use it for now. His update is that although he didn't win his class in Michigan he is still eligible to pull in the Nationals in South Dakota. Andy and Stacey have decided to make the journey to get him there so as soon as I know something you will know something as in how he does in the pull offs!!!
It has been a somewhat wet and lazy weekend around here, not enough rain to really help the beans but enough to green up the grass and settle the dust some. It has also been an invitation to the grubs to move in and along with the grubs their arch enemy's the moles whom are also MY arch enemy's because they destroy more yard than I care to spare. And when they are done in the yard they move into the flower beds and wreak havoc there. Looks like mortar practice when all is said and done. Well, I guess it could be worse, it could be skunks burrowing under the house to mate and raise young, that would really stink huh.....:)
Let's all wish Chase good luck in South Dakota!!!!!!!!!

Days End....

Another beautiful sunset on another great day! Yep, it was a good day even though we could use some rain especially on the beans. I think my yield predictions are going to be a little short given the lack of rain to this point but they still will be good.
As of yesterday afternoon, the guys were busy taking down the scaffolding around the Old Brick which, I believe, has been there for almost 4 months, and it is looking like a home again. Gary has been painting up top as the contractors move out of the way and I think he is almost ready to start on the sides of the house.
Next week at the Unit starts a new breeding week which will include the all famous 4-H bred sows. Some of these girls are solely dedicated to producing 4-H quality pigs and I am here to tell you there are no better 4-H pigs produced the the state of Indiana and several surrounding states as has been proven at the county and state fairs. Andy Mench at Turning Point Sires has brought in some new genetics at his boar stud and we will be teaming up with him to hopefully produce some new "Super Pigs" (my word) for next years crop. With Lori being back at work, after a "baby vacation" and taking over as breeding manager, we will be able to spend a little more time on quality control in picking genetic lines in the 4-H sows.
It's getting late and I need to go to work (the sows miss me) so I will eat my coffee and get....
that is all Marie will let me have for breakfast after my tummy tuck so to speak if you want details (however embarrassing) you can ask Ronda, she came and sat with me in the hospital when I, well she knows, and that's all I have to say about that...........:))
Thank You Ronda....

Star Wars or Spider Man....

Is this amazing or what....yep it's me in my new targeting or grid mask, the techies referred to it both ways, but to make a short story long it is a mask that can be drawn in grids to target radiation bursts to specific areas of the head and neck without actually marking on your body with ink. As you can see, the start of the laser on the forehead area at the time of the photo. The mask is pulled over you hot and wet and if you look around the body it is then clamped extremely tight to the steal table you are lying on. After about 30 minutes drying it is removed and each session of radiation you put it on and the target area is exactly the same, cool huh. Going to have to put this on at least 35 times, I think a bigger microwave would be cheaper but then I would be cooked all over and I am not doing that, it is just amazing how advanced these things have come in the past few years.
This is going to be the fight of my life. Loving my wife, God, our life here on the farm and all the wonderful people around us makes the fight worth fighting and all the more winnable and I hope to have that mask mounted on the front of my jeep when all is said and done. (jeep is white too)
Well, I have a steak cooking on the grill so I will be gone....it is a holiday weekend, all are home and probably cooking out on the grill, and all is well on the farm once again........:)

Ruby Ann Loves Pigs Tooooo......

Well, she actually took less time than Jonathan to reveal her feelings about the porcine creatures but never the less she did and as you can see she does "Ruby Ann Loves Pigs"( of course she knows it is a pig, even I can tell that by it's warm pink color and NO it doesn't matter that it is stuffed with cotton instead of corn it is a very accurate depiction of a PIG) as is evident by the wonderful smile on her face ( yes, given she is Lori's daughter I had considered the possibility it was just gas) and the way she is nurturing it......she loves it.............:)))))

Champion Puller.....

This is Chase Bruns, son of good friends Andy & Stacy. Chase is displaying proudly the trophy for winning the State Pedal Tractor pull in the 5&6 year old class pulling 500 pounds 31 feet 6 inches!!!!!! WAY TO GO CHASE... this boy has some super legs on him to say the least. Now it is on to Michigan in September for the Regional. Good luck Chase. I will keep you posted on his progress......:)

Lori Baby Update.....

Yep, Ruby had here first check up yesterday and she weighed in at 10 pounds 4 ounces and a length of 21 inches and all are doing just great!!! Well, unless Lori is eating most of the dinner cause Jonathan was heavier at his first weigh in so go figure but either way all are just great as you can see....
Just for the record I would like to apologize for any trouble my namesake may cause here in the near future. It was NOT my idea to put my name on a hurricane and I am not responsible for any damage it/I do even if it is to something that needs it (like some of the billboards you see along the road) and there it is again "BILLboards" I can't win, but hopefully I will fizzle out without a fight but to tell the truth that is not in my nature.....:)

New Baby Update.......

This is Logan Matthew, the brand new baby son of Joey and Heather Burke born Thursday July 23 at 7:00 P.M. weighing in at 8 pounds and 13 ounces and 19 inches in length. Logan has had some rather serious complications to this point. Heather is being released today, Logan is off oxygen and is no longer has an IV. His "Billy Ruben" number (Jaundice) is high for his age so if it
goes down or stabilizes the he might get to come home tomorrow (Monday). If this number continues to go up he may be transferred to Indy.
Let's all keep Joey and family in our prayers and be there if he needs us, good luck kids......

Visit With Our New Mom.......

Marie and I were able to visit with Lori, Eric, Jonathan and of course Ruby Ann today and as you can see Lori and Ruby looked just fine, happy and sleepy, you decide which is which, she has Lori's face and Eric's hair (after looking at his head I think all ) Eric looked tired and hungry and Jonathan was, well, just a proud big brother and full of energy as always. They all expect to be home sometime Sunday if all goes well and I am sure it will, so you can send them your best wishes there. I have closeups of Ruby but you can see them quicker on the hospital web site. They did get the flowers from the farm so the room didn't smell like baby, well you know.......:)
P.S. Lori was in the new birthing center and the rooms were really the babies goo goo gaa gaa......:)))

New Baby.....

We would like you to meet Ruby Ann Snyder, the brand new baby daughter of Eric & Lori &, new baby sister of Jonathan Snyder a most proud little brother whom by the way said if it wasn't a girl he would send it back!!! She was born at 8:12 this morning weighing in at 7 pounds 12 ounces, was 19 and one half inches long, and extremely hungry (like mommy) !!!!
All are doing fine and expected to go home in a couple of days......
CONGRATULATIONS KIDS, All here at the farm wish you nothing but the best.......:)

A New Baby.....

This is Marlee Jo, the brand new baby girl of Andy & Heidi Mench born only a few hours ago. Mother and baby are doing just fine and I will get more details as soon as I can. OK it is Monday and I have more info. Marlee Jo weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces, was 21 inches long and her head was 14 centimeters in diameter....ouch.......Congratulations guys and good luck, we are all happy for you..........:)))))

New Baby Update....

Well, Luanda is, at the time of this post, is starting to trade those weird looking eggs in for wet little chicks and I think we will call the first one Itty-Bitty-One......works for me.....let's see how many more will hatch........Mallory's are still cooking.............:)

Another New Farm Family....

This is Luanda another "Family to Be" here on the farm. She has gotten so used to me checking on her egg progress that she hardly moves when I approach her nest, she posed well for the photo....(most girls are hams).....:)

Malloy

Ooops, I almost forgot a picture of Malloy.......:) Quack on Dude.........

New Farm Family

This is Mallory, and as you can see, by Mallory's nest, she has decided to raise a family here on the farm (a most excellent choice and I know from experience) within spitting distance of my house!!!! Lee was trimming along the new split rail fence today and discovered her. Her and, let's call him Malloy, had been hanging around my yard off and on for about two weeks and then just disappeared, until now. If this was a dairy you could say we have some quackers and milk but it's not so let's just say we have another happy family here on the farm......:))

"The Smile In The Sky"

About Duggy his Crew & FriendsDuggy 'The Smile in the Sky!', is a cartoon character of the famous Douglas DC-3. Like all airplanes, trucks and boats, Duggy is a collection of parts - he does not have the ability to fly or move. However, with his crew and other dedicated humans, Duggy 'springs to life' with a heart of gold. Duggy is everyones' best friend, always there with a smile and kind word. In Duggy's world the glass is always - "...more than half full!". Yet with that positive attitude and giving nature Duggy often over- commits to his friends and gets himself into trouble. But, as we all discover in life, if you treat others as you would like to be treated - you find yourself with a great friends ready to help you out. These friends of Duggy are the relationships that he is blessed with as they always come through for him and rescue him from his danger and worries. Mitch's dream (is now reality) and it is to touring the country's Air Shows as a real-life "Duggy - The Smile In the Sky!" Currently Duggy's primary mission will be to attend air shows throughout the USA and promote positive character building traits. Mitch has always had Duggy's core message as being, "Know good from bad, right from wrong, respect others and chase your dream!" This is summed up with the simple mission statement: "Live your Dream!"
I gotta tell ya, if I were ever to attempt a flight in an airplane it would be this one, but I am sure that ain't gonna happen not with me conscious anyway.....a great machine and even greater mission...
SMILE.....:)

Thursday........

This is what I call a natural SMILE!!!! Kim sent this to me today and I had to share.....:)))

Another weaning day has come and gone without a lot of problems, give or take a few gals with a stubborn streak who didn't want to associate with the group, and we even got outta the barn on time. Four more weanings to go before we start on a new journey which in theory at least will take us towards some bigger healthier piglets, did that sound like a Star Trek thingy "to oink where no piglet has oinked before," "to wean like we have never weaned before" well that much is true. We will start our new batch system (that is all in a big bunch to you city folk) May 6Th and are looking forward to some pretty dramatic changes both in tasks and pig performance.

Given the number of pigs and sows we are going to have to deal with we have been looking at some new possibilities in speeding up the moving process. No, not make the pigs move faster I mean like roller blades, skate boards, electric carts, and my personal favorite small 4-wheelers with carts behind. We have even looked at the grain vacuum but pig damage might be a little over the limit (which is none) so that one is out. I am sure we will come up with something innovative when it is time (we are really good at that).

I will leave now before I start getting silly or just rambling on about nothing and heaven knows I wouldn't want to bore everyone with mindless dribble, or is it drivell or maybe druell I can never remember although I can't say that I ever did know but If I were to know I bet it would be dribble cause I do that sometimes when I am drinking and I get it on my shirt or what I am reading which I really hate but what is worse is when it gets on your shirt and the shirt is white and your dribble is red or brown but wouldn't that be called druell or just at what stage does dribble turn into druell or are they the same thing or is dribble when it comes out fast and druell when it is really slooooow and this brings up another question, just what is drivell or is that just something I made up, I think not, but it could happen but in any case I am sure I have never drivelled, someone would have told me.

It is as quiet as a mouse outside, rain is on the horizon, everyone is home and tucked in for the night and all is well on the farm once again......:))

Changes..........

Changes are a big part of our lives and like them or not they will happen and you WILL have to deal with them, but it is how you deal with them that matters most.




For those of you that don't know, this is Terry, a long time Manager here at the farm. We won't go into the apron he is holding or why, or what else was cropped out of the photo. Sadly, the 26Th of March is Terry's last day at the farm and I for one am going to miss him. Terry is going off to be a mechanic for some race car driver, something he really wants to do and all here wish him nothing but the best (sending pit passes back to us couldn't hurt either) and a fond farewell...:)
So, when you see Terry next week be sure and say your good-byes and give him a big hug, a hardy handshake, and what the heck, a great big kiss, tongue no tongue your choice but be sure and wish him the best and let him know we will miss him and his family, God's speed Terry....:)))

Things are growin........

See what I found today! So, do you know what that means??? Yep, tulips are coming up! I spent most of the afternoon with the lawn roller trying to smash down the mole hills left by the mutant ninja mole that invaded our yard last fall.

I am not kidding, it looked like a scene from Bill Murray's Caddy Shack you know the one with the gopher that invaded the golf course.....if I had been in possession of some C-4 I would have used it!!!

It's been a pretty quiet week work and weather wise. Nothing too exciting or mind bending oh well, maybe a little fun with Matt (the new guy) since today was his birthday HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT... and we kept him up half the night watching for us to pull a prank on him so he was a little tired, to say the least, and a little jumpy to boot!! Ronda did have to come over and fix our copy machine....hey, she should have known better than to send us a machine with no hand book and think we wouldn't push all the little buttons to see what they did or didn't do so it's not our fault the pages all came out solid black or covered in spots......well, maybe a little bit our fault, but we did pull the plug when it started to smoke......:)

Well, I will take my leave of.......something.......and go find a pain pill and the TV and call it a night like everyone else has or at least it appears that way. But for now all are home and tucked in for the day and all is well on the farm once again.....:)

Laaaaaaaazy Day.....

What a lazy day, or maybe it is just me. I've been fighting the side effects of antibiotics of which have not cured my problem but instead made me develop a whole new set of problems and given the new set, I wish I had left the medicine alone. Sometimes technology sucks, anyway I dug out this list this morning and decided to post them, again so to speak, they are "Kims Top Ten" as I like to call them or tips if you will from one of our previous round tables and I liked them very much as they are good advice........

Before you say anything to anyone, ask 3 things: Is this True? Is It Kind? Is it Necessary?
Make promises sparingly and keep them faithfully.
Never miss the opportunity to complement or say something encouraging to someone.
Refuse to talk negatively about others; don’t gossip and don’t listen to gossip.
Have a forgiving view of people. Believe that most people are doing the best they can.
Keep an open mind; discuss, don’t argue.
Forget about counting to 10. Count to 1,000 before doing or saying anything that could make matters worse.
Let your virtues speak for themselves.
Cultivate your sense of humor; laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
Do not seek so much to be consoled, as to console; do not seek so much to be understood, as to understand; do not seek so much to be loved, as to Love.

Remember to set your clocks up an hour on Sunday, I'm just not sure which Sunday or which hour but I am leaning towards lunch time.......:)

Gettinnewstuff........

It was a beautiful sunny 40 degree day and a perfect time for Jerry to unload the new semi scales and set them on the concrete...but wait, the concrete isn't there yet....ooops, Jerry said Kim had been on him about that but he was just a little behind....(I'll let that go, you fill it in)....

Don and I tried to tell him they should go end to end but you see how that went....see what happens when Randy is not here........:)

Weather........

Indiana weather, a little extreme, but sometimes gives us a very nice picture. Last week a minor snow storm, 8-10 inches, Saturday morning, -5, when I got up today it was almost 40, and the weatherman is saying we could have a round of thunderstorms by the weekend after another round of snow in the eastern part of the state Tuesday and Wednesday, go figure.....

Enjoy the warmth ...........:)

Good Deed Dooer....

I know what you are thinking but your wrong.....I think....but under that retro outrageously stylish hat and under that, lord only knows what it's for, pie pan lies a heart of gold, or maybe silver given the outfit, and today he let it show......Randy got up before daylight and got the lane and roads, yep roads, all the way to town plowed of snow so all those coming to work who didn't have 4-wheel drives, and all those whom it wouldn't matter what they drove couldn't navigate the snow (Lori) could get here without getting stuck or getting an aneurysm from gripping the steering wheel to hard (Ronda) so everyone at work thanks you Randy and I think you may have set the trend in farming attire..........:)

OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER:

Staples does hearby deny any knowledge of or any part hearwith in the taking of this photo but does claim that no office supply products were injured or damaged in the making of Randy's outfit!!!

Yep, the frikkin spell checker was off......I'm done...

BREAKING NEWS.......

We all got a bit of a suprise this morning from Lori, and I am going to let you figure it out using the attached photo. July (4-H fair time) is the date she hit, I mean gave us so we will all be looking forward to that.......
So when you see her, give her a big hug and a hardy "well done" cause she is 2 for 2 in the conception category.....by the way, the vet paid us a visit today and got us on the right track again and honestly it had nothing to do with Lori and her, well, you know, he was just here for the 4 legged animals.......:)