Category Archives: Farm Posts

The Secrets from Cemetery Hill

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A new week is here!

The news from the farm is that the wheat harvest is in.

You may have noticed a header picture of the combine harvesting wheat.  Here is the picture:

Do you see the white shape on the left horizon.  That’s the white cross at the Penelope Cemetery.  Here’s a picture of the cemetery:

Now, let’s look back at the 75-acre Patch from Cemetery Hill:

This is actually one of the header pictures and it has some secrets for the close of eye. Do you see the dust rising from the wheat field beyond the first line of trees in the distance on the left?  That’s the combine working.  (Hint: if you click on the picture, many programs will expand the photograph and give you a magnifying glass for closer perusal.)  Now, can you see two white elongated shapes, one far off against the trees in the middle right and part of another on the far right?  Those are the grain trucks waiting to be loaded.  Below is a picture of a grain truck to help you spy them:

And, if you look really closely, you might be able to spot a green John Deere Tractor with a green grain buggy attached.  These are hard to see.  Here’s a picture of the tractor and buggy to help your examining:

Now, when you see the picture of the 75-acre Patch from Cemetery Hill, you know and can find its secrets.

Enjoy you day and stay alert for surprises.  You never know where they may be hidden.

Grandpa Jim

 

Tomorrow is the Day.

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Good Thursday Morning to You All,

I just checked and it looks like Uncle Joe got rain at the farm overnight.  More may be on the way.  The corn will be pleased and the garden will go crazy.

We are close.  I am still getting comments.  There are some tweaks to make.  So far, it looks good.

“Uncle Joe and the Haunted House” should be published right here tomorrow morning at 9 am Central U.S. time!!

This is the first “storytelling” story, so get ready to storytell it to someone. That’s what storytelling stories are for — for storytelling. You can talk low and scary, loud and rushed with your hands waving in the air, slow and thoughtful with a finger on your chin, you can stand up, you can sit down, you can act out of breadth, and at The End you can wonder with your audience what it all meant.  That’s what storytelling is all about.  Have fun.

I’ll be storytelling with you.

Have a wonderful day.

Grandpa Jim

Wednesday Hello!

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I hope you all slept well.

The weather chased us back from Fort Worth last night.  Strong winds and a few limbs down.  Hopefully, the rain made it to the farm.  Uncle Joe could use 1 or 2 rains to finish the corn.  He said rain would be okay for the wheat.

I forgot to mention that after we left the farm on Sunday we stopped by the National Polka Festival in Ennis, Texas.  We arrived in time to catch the last set of Malek’s Fishermen Band from Garner, Iowa, which is just west of Clear Lake and only about two hours from where I grew up in Cedar Falls.  It was a delightful time to chat with the brightly outfitted and smiling Mid-Westerners, many of whom had caravanned down from Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin.  When the Fisherman finished, we visited the other halls to hear and dance to Czech and Then Some, a local band from Ennis, and The Texas Legacy Band from Columbus, Texas.  After about 4 1/2 hours of dancing to polkas and waltzes, my feet had just about worn out.  We headed home tired and happy with polka music playing in the car.

Have a great day,

Grandpa Jim

Uncle Joe is Here!

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Good Morning and Hello,

We had a bit of violent weather with rain come through about mid-night.  Woke me out of sleep.  After that late-night scrub, this morning is quite refreshing, cool with sunlight on the green leaves and a soft breeze.

Ms. Mary and I spent part of the long weekend with Uncle Joe and Ms. Christine at the farm, and I was able to corner that busy farmer long enough to get him to sign off on “Who is Uncle Joe?”  The article is posted on the home page.  If you can’t find it there, it should be in its own file under the Articles tab.  It talks about Uncle Joe, his Mom, their garden and farming.

The garden is doing wonderfully.  On Saturday morning we were out early and harvested about 200 pickling cucumbers.  Here is a picture of the cucumbers going through the washing process.  Before pickling, you have to remove all the little “dots,” which are bumps or thistles on the surface — I never knew they were called dots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn’t resist showing you the picture below as the cucumbers lose their bright green color to become pickles and pickle-colored.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pickle picking, processing and packing is a production.  Phew, try to say that a few times fast.

Enjoy “Who is Uncle Joe?” and I look forward to talking with you more about our adventures in the country.

Grandpa Jim

PS: Thank you Granddaughter Katelyn Lorraine Rose for your Goodnight email last night.  It was a special treat.