Sad News

The past week began a new chapter in the lives of my husband and his brother. They were notified by a neighbor that their mother hadn't been seen by anyone, or wasn't answering her phone for the period of two days. It was discovered that she had gone on to meet Jesus, her elder brother, and can now stand with the saints in the presence of God. Lucy will be missed by all her family and friends.

It's a Remington

My husband and I did exchange gifts last Wednesday night , January 10th. The speculation that I was getting a shotgun had been laid to rest. It is a fact that he took counsel with our neighbor and returned to the local gun shop. The shotgun is a Remington, Model 870 Youth Express, Pump Action,21" barrel,20 gauge, Rem Choke. Otherwise known as a "Lady's Gun" as well... Because of my short stature other full sized shotguns are a bit hard for me to handle. Having control when it comes to aiming at a moving animal is a high priority. I am looking forward to the opening of the hunting seasons next fall...After a summer of practice with my gift I should be able to provide food for our table, harvested from our land. Thanks Honey !

Snow or Ice ?

What was the weather at your house? Snow or the ice that has caused a lot of damage through the south and Midwest ? Here in Iowa we had some freezing rain but not any huge accumulations like our neighbors around us have had to contend with. Then the snow arrived. The meteorologist had given a time frame for expected arrival - they were only an hour off. Maybe, because they were forecasting for the metro area not 35 miles into the boonies. We do have some beautiful white ground cover. Last night, at the "deer hour", they came to feed. The snow blowing, they chose to stay in the timber rather than to venture out to the bean field. I had to chase a year old buck away from chewing on the yew shrub out in front of the house. Before the snow began to pile up I chased a deer away from my flowerbed. Where a sweet william plant had greened up from our unseasonably warm temperatures. It had been sniffing the air , smelling the essence of nitrogen . I opened the back door and told it to find other things to eat. The skies have cleared, now the wind has picked up. We have some small drifts in the driveway within view of the window by my desk. Time to wrap this entry up ...Everybody stay warm!

Checkin' Back In

Did you have a good holiday ? We had a nice visit to North Dakota at the New Year. Got to experience some winter weather the day after our arrival . We woke up to falling snow on Saturday December 30th. It was accumulating on everything before our outing to Fargo . As we traveled to Fargo the weather had several changes. There was the mix between snow/rain, sleet/ice, freezing rain then to all liquid by the time we got to our destination at the "Fargo Air Museum". Spending not more than three hours in Fargo was a good idea! Our return to Valley City was really interesting as we retraced our tracks westward the weather had become more intense in our absence. Visibility declined even more just a mile west of Valley City where our family continued on their trek to reach home to the delight of their three doggie kids; Kahlua, Peaches and Peaches' son Champ. The Pheasant season has not concluded here in Iowa yet. By Wednesday the 10th it will be time to allow the population to have a chance to re-coup. I don't know of anyone who took any roosters from the adjacent area, not to say there wasn't success. Had to laugh this morning as I viewed the bean field outside my house. The rooster pheasant that comes at 8:20 to feed daily, more or less was running from his entrance point to the cover of longer foliage in the pasture on the other side. He was trying to avoid the attention he had received from the gun the last three days. Yes , It's true! He still lives to run the neighborhood... Haven't opened my Christmas present from my husband yet but I do know that it is a shotgun...Others have openly asked me how I like my "new shotgun"? I just smile and tell them " don't know I haven't opened it yet ; )" It isn't as if I won't get to use it this year...just not for another 9 1/2 months.