Thursday, December 28, 2023

No, we didn’t have a White Christmas, but we got some snow three days late.  On Christmas, it was 54ºF (12C), but this morning it is 33ºF (.6C) with snow in the air.  The ground is lightly covered, the roads are slushy, and this snow probably won’t last through the day.  But it is nice to finally see soft snow blanket the ground.  I love seeing snow.  The only time I don’t like it is when it melts away… it’s kind of a muddy mess when that happens… but today I’ll just enjoy the snow.

At 7 am, before daylight, it had already turned the yard white…

Even the trees are covered with this heavy, wet snow.

Brandon has been sweeping bins this week, and Bill has been helping him deliver the soybeans to market at ADM in Newburgh.  There is not much ‘carry’ in the market, so we think it is a good idea to go ahead and clean out the soybean bins.  That should be complete soon, maybe by tomorrow evening.

Brandon works in this dusty bin.  He wears a respirator.  He had a little trouble with the sweep auger.  But he got the bin swept out!

We had a lovely Christmas celebration on Tuesday… that’s the day when our sons and their families could come.  I don’t insist on a Christmas Day gathering; we don’t care which day it is, just so long as we can spend some time together.

Our family poses in front of the tree. It was a wonderful and fun day together.

For New Year’s, we will probably go to a fellowship time at church.  There will be great conversations, some food, and a prayer time to ring in the new year.  Should be really nice.  The teens are following that with a ‘lock-in’ until morning!   Too late for me!

I hope your Christmas holiday was everything you needed it to be. It was wonderful here… I wish we had some snow then, but it was okay without it.  We just feel so blessed.

Soon, it will be 2024.  Many things about #plant24 are already completed.  Others are ‘in the works’ (like we still haven’t taken delivery of our new corn planter, a pretty important piece of machinery!).  Our wheat crop looks really good this winter.  I hope when the really cold days come in January and February, that the wheat has a white blanket over it to protect it. A little over 90 days will put us into April.  There are still some things to prepare, but we will do our best to be ready for #plant24.  I think that it is significant for me, because it will be my 50th crop to plant!   Another personal milestone.

Have a great weekend.