June First

I said when I started this that if I got something posted once a week I would consider it successful ... and I'm already falling behind!

It has been a busy week since by birthday.

The farming has picked up speed here with better weather and Ben says if he gets through this next week he'll be glad. Troy's brother Brian and a friend are trying to start a chopping business ... except for the part that they don't have a chopper ... so Ben is sort of involved in that deal too. They lined up plenty of silage acres to chop, (triticale, first cutting alfalfa, and sweet corn, I think) from customers they knew from their jobs at Simplot. Maybe next year they can take this year's results to a banker and become financed enough to start the business for real and quit their jobs there. Although why they'd give that up (company pickups, 401-K, regular hours and weekends off) to go to work for themselves (demanding customers who expect you to be there yesterday, weather and equipment breakdown delays, and 'whats a weekend?') I am not too sure. So they are using one of our choppers, the spare. The neighbors also bought a self-propelled chopper this year for their business (yes, there is plenty enough chopping to go around). They bought what they thought was a used but field-ready chopper, but of course, when you buy something from far away, the seller knows they will never have to see you again for repairs -- and so Ben got several calls from them for advice on what the problems might be, and loaned them a few parts we had on hand for our choppers to keep them going. I figure the neighbors are really lucky Ben knows his way around a chopper's insides; they would be pretty frustrated by now! Besides chopping, there is still manure being spread on ground that we are renting that had alfalfa on it (got chopped this week), then it needs to be worked and planted to corn asap. Ben is still working on the 4-tower used pivot on another piece of rented ground which will need L&I inspection, PUD hooked up, and then planted. Oh, and the corn that is already planted and growing will need dammer-diked soon before it gets to be too tall. Along with keeping the irrigation pivots going. So Ben's right, it could be a killer week.

We aren't going to be as much help as he probably wants this week. Jason is returning from his Iraqi tour and we will be going to the ceremonies for a day to thank him for his service and take some pictures for posterity. It will be a one-day trip, and it's good he will arrive at a decent time of day for us to do that.

We have considered heading to Oregon for a day or two this week to be with our nephew Kyle and the family during his brain surgery for a newly discovered tumor. One wants to DO something when these things come up, but of course, there is nothing substantial that can be done, really. I wonder if our being there could turn out to be more of a problem than a help if anyone is inclined to feel the need to entertain us. If I lived closer I could have helped out with the bbq they are having today, for his friends to come see him and get the story on what it is and what the plan for treatment is, recovery, etc. Cell phone text messages are still no substitute for face-on conversation, it turns out. The surgery day is the same day I told Kelli 6 weeks ago that I would watch Nicholas while she sub taught for a friend, and I really do need to follow through on that one. I thought I could keep Kyle's sisters occupied instead of sitting at the hospital all day, but that is the day I can't be there and I'm not sure how much help I'll be (or what they'll need) the two days following. So we'll see how things are going by Wednesday, if we make it to OR or not before MN. We don't want to wear Ben out to the point he's so tired and stressed that he can't think straight and gets careless with the equipment, either -- can lose an arm that way, or worse, with these choppers. Or drive something into a canal.

The blog world is much more interesting when there are pictures in the blogs ... I'll have to focus on learning how to do that pretty soon since my entries are pretty dull. But not today, sorry. And that is probably enough to soak up for the day, too.

Give your kids a hug, everyone, and our prayers are with you KYLE!
Debbie