Thanks guys. Our family was all there on Monday to hear the doctors pronounce the sentence. The cancer is unoperable and is terminal. Cancer is in the liver and bile ducts shutting down the liver. Severe infection in her system precludes any chemo treatment as it would shut down her immune system. Sad to hear her time is coming. She will be taken home tomorrow to be more comfortable in her home.

Gene

Took a few pictures on the trip through Pennsylvania. These may be a little foreign to Ralph, but familiar to Charlie.

Gene


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Gene, looks like you had a beautiful day along I-80.   I love some of the sweeping vistas across the long valleys that the highway parallels, and going through those tunnels always reminds me of being a kid in the back seat on long-ago summer trips with my parents.

Now even my own kids are grown and out of the house, my time with them as "kids" gone and over.  Sometimes I think about the passage of time and the changes that have come, some good but others not.  No parent should ever have to face the changes your family is facing--but you still noticed the beauty along the side of the road.  Lesson for all of us there.

You are correct, Gene. I am not "well traveled", but have been around  Pa. some.  There is an abundance of beautiful scenery in the state. Hope you are holding up under your current stresses.

Our weather here yesterday was the perfect day, or as near as we get.  Clear sky, light breeze, high near 80 degrees.  We gained just over 1 inch of rain in two t-storms last week.  The storms were not real long but the water really came down.  In spite of that we are in an overall drying trend.  I see corn in a few fields up and peeking around.  Thousands of tiny two leaf plants.  Most other croplands are nicely finished which makes me think they are seeded.  Grasslands and alfalfa fields look tall and lush so first cuttings should be good.

We are still having cool nights in the 50's so it is good for sleeping without AC.  The house is actually a little cool feeling in the morning.  I let the heat run one cycle this morning. Good to keep the moisture dried out of the furnace.

Dean, hope life is good in your new digs.  Betting you are having no problem keeping busy.  I know Ralph is  hard at it with tractor work.  

Hope everyone has a great Sunday.

Charlie

The trip was along the Pa. turnpike, I76 toll road. Been this way many times in the past from the time I was stationed at Dover Air Force base in 1961 to 1964. Still enjoy the sights along the route. My daughter did all the driving so I was able to see all the scenery and take a few pics. Weather was ideal for traveling.

I had cut my hay on the Friday before we left on Sunday. Had about 1.5 inches of rain by the time I got home Tuesday night, so the hay got wet. Nice warm, dry weather for rest of the week dried the hay so I was able to bale it on Friday and delivered it Friday and Saturday. Finished mowing the lawn on Saturday and woke up this morning to light rain with about .75 inches in the gauge. Nice rain for the soybeans and sweet corn.

Word from Pennsylvania has little change. Older daughter drove out on Friday and will come home this evening. Brave girl and dedicated to her baby sister. Great driver too. I want to go out for a couple days. Haven't decided if I will fly my airplane, drive the jeep and stay in a motel or drive the motor home and be able to stay a little longer.

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Hard to understand why things happen the way they do. I am doing alright as long as I keep occupied. Don't know how I will be later on.

Some more pics

Gene

Sitting on the back deck enjoying a nice 77 degrees F with a comfortable light breeze off and on.  Humidity is up some, but not too uncomfortable now.  We touched on 90 F. around 1pm when I finished the back half of the lawn.  Did the front half Saturday evening after the strong winds that blew all day settled down.  Finishing the back was on my Sunday agenda but was put off due to getting into and mostly finishing badly needed weed tree and brush cutting.  Yesterday's weather was perfect for more labor intense jobs.

I have worked on the cutting and clean up in three different sessions.  Started with some lilac bushes that grew rampant. Whatever variety they are they had grown to 25-30 feet tall.  Most of the blooms come at the top so only folks in planes get to enjoy them.  I took them all down to about 12 feet.  Should have taken them lower but wished to maintain some privacy.  An electric pole saw is a handy tool for that work.  Next came cleaning out many weed trees that were in my row of pine trees and everywhere else that is not regularly mowed.  Probably 50  Norway Maple trees, numerous Box Elders, a few Catalpas, and assorted grape vines and what not.  My brush pile of cuttings out in my water hole would fill a decent semi trailer.  With that the front part of the yard sure looks better.  Out behind the garages I have acquired a genuine woods.  That will take a lot longer to get cleared, but at least getting the front done is a nice start.

Charlie

Charlie, it is incredibly green here with all the rain. Too much . We got another two inches last night and I have water standing in the fields where crop was planted. Water running from one slough to the next as it eventually leaves the farm. I even got stuck with the old Honda trike and had to a little maneuvering to get out. Ducks are happy in my yard. Mosquitos and beavers are thriving. Crops need spraying but not in the mud. This is a photo of a large beaver lodge on one of my biggest sloughs. I need to spend some time there with the .22. Municipality pays a bounty on the tails.

Sorry for you on that weather, Ralph.  Brings to mind a couple of years ago when folks up your way were getting big equipment burried in the fields because it was so wet.  Sometimes if it weren't for bad luck, there would be no luck at all.  Hope sunshine and clear skies head your way soon.

Charlie

Charlie seems to be getting a lot done. Good to hear he is getting along good.

Has been a wet week here. Had about two inches Monday and Tuesday and heavy rain late morning and early afternoon today. Moisture is more than adequate. Water running across the lawn and front hayfield.

Was able to get the soybeans sprayed a and the sweet corn hoed. Crops looking good, just hope they don'drown out.

Will be driving to Hamburg for my daughter's celebration of life. Will stay overnight and come home Sunday.

Gene
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Hope you have a safe trip, Gene.

Charlie

Been a hot muggy day here in Ohio today. Thunderstorms started about 6:00pm. Getting a pretty steady rain now at 7:30. Didn't really need the rain. Mostly the soybeans are doing well except for a couple low spots drowned out. Thunderstorm watch for our county.

The trip to Pa went well. Had light to moderate rain till past Harrisburg then dry rest of the way. The celebration went extremely well. I was amazed at the number of friends and co-workers in attendance. Probably 200 people  and many kind words of eulogy from many of them. This Saturday we will be having the celebration in Marysville, Oh where she grew up. Most of the family will be here for this.

Got a new computer yesterday and plan to get it set up this evening. Wish me luck and if you don't hear from me, you will know it got the best of me.

Gene

Hi Gene.   Sure has been a lot of rain showers this month.   My commute to and from work takes me past a lot of farm fields, and just as you said the low spots are drowned out.  Still standing water in a lot of them--seems like it just starts to dry out when another line of thunderstorms comes through.

I celebrated the sunshine this evening by going to pick up this old wagon that I'd bought from a fellow down the road.  Not sure what I'll do with it, other than hayrides, but it looked good and solid.  The previous owner told me his mother used to sit in the back of it as a young girl, separating good seed-corn ears from the rest as her brothers picked and threw the corn into the wagon.  It's been green as long as he can remember but he said when he went to repaint it a while ago he found red under the green--so who knows.  I'll see what I can learn about it as time goes by.  For now I need some remedial studies at backing a four-wheel wagon.  

Dean
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Nice looking wagon Dean. It even has hubcaps. No name on them? A low reverse gear and power steering really help in backing up a four wheeled wagon.
Still too much rain here too. Over four inches last week have drowned out many of the low spots in the fields. Flax and cereal grains are turning yellow from excess water. Canola turning purple. More rain forecast for the whole weekend. I managed to get my canola sprayed today without getting stuck but tore up a lot of crop in the wet spots.

Ralph, the hubcaps on that wagon say "Dodge."  

Wow, that's a seriously wet field you were working there.  Four wheel drive looks like it'd be mighty handy for such situations.   We've had a couple of nice days here but the forecast calls for a chance of showers on three of the next four days.  Looks dry after that, though.  There's a young guy who's been waiting to cut and bale my hay for me on halves, and I'm hoping he can get it in without getting rained on and before it all gets beaten down any more by heavy storms.  

I took the Super M for a short drive around the back woods yesterday evening just to see how things look, and I need to get serious about getting a pull-behind brush hog, or perhaps another tractor with three-point and a brush hog.  I've got lots of chores in mind for that area but they all involve being able to move around without needing a machete.  Still, the tractor sounded good and it was fun to amble along for a while.

Dean

Dean, you might have already seen the videos I posted on youtube of working with my 6 foot rotary pull type mower. It is a Farm King built here in Canada and has been a pretty good mower. I've chopped a few rocks and other foreign objects with it and it still works. Biggest mistake I made was putting 108 horsepower up front and twisting the tubular driveshaft in heavy willows. It works well behind the Case 730 or Cockshutt 40. Does a pretty nice job on grass considering it is only a rough cut mower.