Summer Vacation on BRSK Farm

So what did FabHub build this time?

He started on Monday.

First he brought in a load of fresh cut lumber.

Then he and BIL set some posts and did some framing.

On Tuesday he added a wall, and half of the back.

On Wednesday he added the interior wall and the rest of the outside walls.

On Thursday he went and bought the roof tin.

Friday he put on the roof

and started stacking the wood on the inside. 

When half of this shed is full we will have most of what we need for the coming winter.

It is nice to have that part done already!

This has been a very productive summer.

Electric, wooden, and woven fences installed in various places.

Giant load of firewood brought in.

Hay baled and in the barns.

Reworked a truck flat bed into a trailer.

Fixed the tractor and other stuff.

And this week's project is to build a goat house.

He might want to reconsider that teaching gig that gives him so much "free" time.

Glad I have a job to go to!

After all the blogs I have posted recently I just realized I hadn't put up the Sunflower growth post from last weekend yet. So I figured I can just combine it with the latest update.

This is from July 18th.  

And this is July 23rd.

These things are getting monstrous.

There really is corn in there too. This pic is from the 18th, 

but in the one from the 23rd you can see some tassels.

This is my straight neck squash.

Surrounded by marigolds and STILL I had to squish squash bug eggs today.

No deterrent there. Not sure if there should be either, but plenty of eggs got squished.

There are plenty of bees out there too.

While I was squishing bugs the honey bees were buzzing, which was okay, 

but the wasps and stinging bees that showed up weren't so welcome. 

Then again, I didn't bother them and they didn't bother me, physically anyway, either.

This is my bean patch. It used to be the pea patch.

It is producing pretty well.

This is the first batch of beans and the third squash.

Hopefully I will get more squash. Last year the plants were ruined by bugs.

I have tomatoes.

I started this year with three kinds of tomatoes.

A Better Boy, a Parks Whoppers - both supposed to be about 15 ounce fruit

and one yellow tomato that should be about 7 ounces.

 These are the Brandywine tomatoes that I got from Jones.

They are pretty far behind my others, 

but that will be okay since I don't want them all coming in at one anyway.

This is a sawdust pile. It will be used to mulch the beds, but not right now. 

It is hot out there.

Where did the pile come from? Well that will be a post in the Farm Fun category.

Later!

Iowa and Minnesota Travels

After we left Dave's ceremony Mom and I headed to Iowa for the main event of the trip.

Not that we aren't proud of Dave,

but there was a baby waiting to be born and we wanted to be there.

So we headed up the road and were very happy to see this sign.

Then we stopped at an Iowa Welcome Center.

And found this family waiting for us.

On another part of the trip we got to see how the landscape is changing in some areas.

This is what the horizon used to look like.

Corn or soybeans for miles spotted with homestead.

Or maybe like this closeup.

An old barn with a quilt pattern on the haymow door.

I read an article a year or so ago about the 4-H club painting these for people who were willing to display.

They are a welcome surprise to look for along the highway.

Now there is a new structure along side those old barns.

The windmill. 

There are a lot of them in some areas.

On Monday my nephew Reece Allen was born.

And his big brother Garrett was very excited about it. 

Somehow I don't have but a couple good pictures of Garrett,
but I did "borrow" one of the brothers.

Photo by their Mom.

After Reece was born Mom and I made a quick trip up to Minnesota to take care of some property paperwork.

After the courthouse we tried to go out to the farm.

We got within 5 miles and had to turn back.

Mom and I had forgotten how bad those gravel roads can be when it has been raining.

And they have had plenty of rain in the days prior to our trip.

Slippery, deep, and not a good place to spend time.

We did make it to Hardwick though.

Things in town have changed,

but the old sign is still there showing the way.

That McDonalds sign is new.

THEN...

The return trip took us to Sioux Center for a stop at Casey's bakery.

Hey! The new mom had put in an order for Rusk buns.

We couldn't let her down!

We also couldn't leave behind the Almond patties, Windmill cookies, or Crimp bread.

Very tasty.

THEN...

We then drove over to Orange City and visited with my Aunt Rose and Uncle Harold.

We had coffee and almond patties along with some good conversation.

THEN...

We drove over to Sheldon to visit Aunt Marlene.

We had dinner and good conversation there too.

THEN...

We drove back to spend the rest of the week with the boys and their parents.

After all this driving we went back to the house and spent the next few days back and forth to the hospital since Reece had to stay for a few days after he entered the world the hard way.

His big brother is tough like that too.

Should be fun in that house!

I am looking forward to the stories.

We did make one other stop on our trip though.

Can any of the relatives tell me where/what this is?

I will put it on Facebook too for more input.

That was our trip.

Deacon Dave

So finally I made it back online. Things have been busy outside around here lately. There is a wood shed being built, luckily we are all good people who won't need to be taken out there for a whippin'.

Speaking of good people.

This is my brother Dave.

He was ordained as a Deacon in his Missouri church while we were there.

He has pretty much been a good guy ever since I quit being mean to him when we were kids.

Seems he turned out okay. (Smiley Face)

This is the man who mentored him for the last year or so.

Everyone we met there was really nice. 

We are glad he is happy and enjoying the chance to share his beliefs.

This is Dave and Mom.

We all wish even more happiness for Dave.

He deserves it.

Quick Pics

I have lots of stuff to post about our trip to Missouri and Iowa, but I had to start with some of my favorites.

I had so much fun playing with Garrett on this trip.

He doesn't stand still for pictures very well though.

Here is Garrett and Dad on the Elmo couch.

Yes, if you look closely he has a black eye, both of them actually, and a bump on his head. 

Garrett is 100% boy all day every day.

They are looking at a picture of Baby Reece. 

Here is Reece Allen and his Mom in the hospital.

He took the hard way into the world so he is spending his whole first week with the awesome care of the nurses. He is doing fine. She is too.

Here is Big Brother Garrett again. He is very independent. Can you tell?

By the way, the eyes are better now.

It was a wonderful trip.

I will post some other scenes from our travels later.

Illinois and Missouri Travels

 Mom and I headed to Missouri to see David ordained as a Deacon in his church and to Iowa to meet the newest Cutest Nephew in the World. Right now the original CNW is helping me with the blog. He likes the pictures of the horses and Nana. So will see how long this lasts. Okay all the pictures are loaded and he is bored so off he went.

 On Friday we were driving down the road in Illinois and saw something sticking out the side of this horse trailer. My "drive-by-shooting" companion needed some prodding, but we got organized in time to catch these pictures.

 Then we pulled along side and saw who it was.

 I call him Breezy, he is just enjoying the ride.

In Mount Vernon we took a drive down Potomac Blvd. 

This is a replica of the Washington Monument.

The lightpole and I give you some perspective to size.

Further down the street was a challenge to getting back on the interstate.

It is a sculpture. We didn't get lost.

On Saturday Dave planned for us to go to the WWI memorial.

 This is the Liberty Memorial.

The museum is underneath it.

Dave and Mom took a nice picture on the roof of the museum.

Dave and I took a ride up to the top. 

The first picture I showed here was taken from near those cars in the middle. 

The elevator operator told me to get this picture.

It shows the poppy field they have under the glass walkway with the Liberty tower reflected in the glass.

Good picture advise!

After the memorial we went to lunch. 

I asked for a local place and Dave suggested Grinders.

This place was part of a Diners, Dives, and Drive Ins episode.

This is my lunch.

The philly cheese steak and tater tots.

Pretty good to me.

They have some arty tables in the Grinder.

This was ours.

 On Sunday we were going to Dave's church for the ceremony.

Mom took a break while we waited.

More to come.

Have to go see the new baby -

And No I am not telling you the details. Not until they do.

But I am a very proud Aunt Sandy.

Sunflower Update

I am a bit early with the sunflower update this week, but since I will be in Missouri for most of the weekend I thought I better get this out now.

This was the first week, about June 14.

Then the next update from June 22.

This is June 30.

And this is July 7!!! They ate the scarecrow!

This is Violet and the girls - Sweet Pea, Tulip, and Daisy.

They want to know if you have any cookies, cheerios, or sweet feed -

because you can see they have nothing else to eat.

Nothing at all.