Dump Truck

I traded a PTO unit to a neighbor for an old International 2 ton dump truck. They had an extremely hard time keeping it running. The engine was shot, it sounded like it had a serious case of pneumonia. The valves were really wheezy and you never knew you would get where your were going or not. It also has air brakes on it but the only brake that worked was the right rear which could be the cause of some rather interesting road experiences. After we got it home Sonny suggested we change the engine. So, we did.
About 12 years ago the farm had purchased a school bus. We took the body off the bus and put a silage wagon box on it. The brakes on the bus went kaput so we parked it in the tall grass where it has been rusting in peace for the last 8 years or so. We scrubbed on the points a little, put a battery in it and cranked it up. It ran like a charm so we pulled the engine and transmission out of the bus and placed them gently in the truck. We had the truck running today and I think it will be fine. I will be going to get some brake parts in the morning and we should be ready to use it when we cut silage next week.

Pricing

Here is an interesting question, for me anyway. We have been selling tapes for $8 and Cd's for $12. On our most recent tour we noticed tapes were not selling so we slashed our price to $5. (If you are interested in tapes we will sell them to you at this price...) We did not slash our CD price. Here is the question. Is $12 to much for a CD or is it not enough? What price do you think we should have on our Cd's?

Airy Mont Farm Facts

I thought I would fill you in on some month of July farm facts.
Fact 1
I am guessing here but I think we may have finally got an inch and a half of rain.
Fact 2
We have had 20 (another guess) cows/heifers calve in the month of July.
Fact 3
Based on fact 2 this means we are feeding 20 calves.
Fact 4
I am not sure how factual this post is if it is all based on guess work...

People

I was able to renew some acquaintnaces on our most recent tour. Some people I met knew me because of this blog others I knew because of their blogs.
Rob Miller or the The Rob Log and his wife drove two hours up to Lancaster to hear us. Then Mr. Iced Tea Forever Iced Tea Forever drove from northern IN to Plain City OH. This was at least a four hour trip. In Georgia I met some blog readers. A fellow farmer who told me he was also a poor mechanic. I spent the night at Nevin Strites

4 GUYS & A LADY

To my surprise an old friend of mine, Lavern Martin, showed up. Lavern was in my bridal party years ago. We were great friends and it was good to see him again. Thanks to you all for showing up. I am sure I am forgetting someone but such is life with a memory like mine...

Teasing

What do you do when your children continually tease one another. The teasing is very innocent but somehow it seems unkind. Maybe your children don't have this problem...

I Want An Apple

Aleya went with me to my trusty NAPA auto parts store in Altavista. Before we stopped for parts we stopped to get off road diesel fuel at the Altavista Mini-Mart. Aleya informed me she wanted some skittles. After we were in the store she wanted m&ms. However, when she saw the apples she decided she wanted an apple. She is probably the only child I have who would pick an apple over candy...

Rain

It rained! The late corn was very short and not too far from tasseling. Hopefully this will give it a reason to grow. Will also help the ears on the early corn fill on out. The vet is coming today and we have a huge herd check. 16 fresh cows plus open cows and preg. checks. We will be checking between 30-40 cows.

Acclimating

I think I am slowly reaclimating myself to my real world. A world full of cows, chores, calves, mechanics, lack of rain, and family. We got no rain while I was gone so my late corn looks pathetic. Early corn is making an ear and one good rain would finish it off very nicely. (We shall see...) This morning I took our trusty bus up to Automotive Concepts, Randy Martin, who will be selling it for VOP. We are hoping to get the thing sold in the next week or so. This afternoon I worked in the shop some after I wandered around taking in all the sights and sounds of my little dairy. Not sure what I will be doing tomorrow only time will tell.
By the way, if you are interested in seeing pictures from tour you can use the VOP link on the side bar and then use the Photo Album tab to navigate to lots of pictures....

Final Lap

I will be leaving here in roughly 25 minutes for South Boston. Our final stop is at First Baptist in the South Boston metropolitan area. I would say we had a very sucessful tour...
On another note of interest, my wife and the children are traveling as I type. They will be home when I return to the premises. Tomorrow will be spent wrapping up some left over tour items and trying to reaquaint myself with the daily grind of dairy farming.

Three To Go

Tonight I should be back in my own bed. We will be driving on home after our program in Hillsville. Needless to say I am looking forward to it. Last evening I expierenced an interesting dilemma. I was going to change clothes after we arrived at our hosts and discovered I had Paul's suitcase.
As I mentioned in my last post we were going to be singing at AiG on Thursday morning. I have never been treated so well, like royalty. We sang for the staff at a short chapel service after which Mark Looy gave us a guided tour of the offices. This was very interesting. After the tour we had the planatarium to our selves for the show. We then toured the museum and were given some dvd's and books. They allowed us to tour the museum for free also. If you have never been to this place you really need to go. It is well worth it. If you do go you need to figure on spending a full day. It was a very unique expierence and was the highlight of the trip.

Half Way

I am currently sitting at Aden Miller's computer in Hartville OH. We are, as you know, heading for Plain City in a few hours. Last night went well. My wife and her family came down to hear us. My parents traveled over from Guys Mills. Dave's family also traveled over from the Guys Mills area. I would say tour is going well. I will only say that the bus is never big enough...
Tommorow morning we will be singing at a chapel service for the Anwers in Gensis staff. Will be a long day starting at 5:30 or so and ending in Athens TN that evening.
Till next time...

First Program

Well, we had a full day of practice, laughs, and a service. Went well allthough their were quite a few rough spots. I felt the presence of the Father which is the goal and the reason we do this. Thanks for praying...

Loose Ends

I think they are everywhere. As tour director I feel very much at my wits end... Tommorrow we leave for Cumberland VA. A full day of practice and a program. Oh yes, The album arrived on my door step tonight so we will have them available on tour. Whew....

Poll

How many of you will be coming to hear us at some point on our tour?

Colored Folks

My mother sent this to me via email today.

This was written by a black gentleman in Texas

And is so funny. What a great sense of humor

And creativity!!!




When I was born, I was black,
When I grew up, I was BLACK ,
When I went in the sun, I stayed BLACK ,
When I got cold, I was BLACK ,
When I was scared, I was BLACK ,
When I was sick, I was BLACK ,
And when I die, I'll still be BLACK .
NOW, You "white" folks....
When you're born, you're PINK ,
When you grow-up, you're WHITE ,
When you go in the sun, you get RED ,
When you're cold, you turn BLUE ,
When you're scared, you're YELLOW ,
When you get sick, you're GREEN ,
When you bruise, you turn PURPLE ,
And when you die, you look GRAY .
So who y'all callin'
C O L O R E D folks?

This Week

Monday through Wednesday I need to finish all my tour stuff. This includes when we need to leave each morning. How to get where we are going and things of that nature. I have the lofty term Tour Director. What this means is that I put together a plan we never follow....
I also need to help Sonny get an engine pulled and transferred to a dump truck. More on this later.
Rachel is leaving Thursday morning for OH and I am leaving Thursday morning for Cumberland VA. We are planning on spending the day their at Oak Grove Mennonite practicing and then singing that evening. We leave Friday morning for Lancaster and the tour will be officaly under way. For information on where we will be please visit our website (see side bar and click on the Voice Of Praise link).

Rod & Christa

Well, it appears my wife's sister, Christa, and her family will be moving to Mexico. Their house has been sold and they need to be out by the middle of August. They will spend some time in orientation before they actually move down in Sept. or Oct. I am not sure which. They will be living near Choix and will be helping with church planting as well as working with the children at the orphanage. Your prayers would be coveted.

Manure Pump

I don't remember but I think I mentioned this in an earlier post. It was probably two months ago now. At the time I had purchased a manure pump at an auction for $250. Well, the last ten days we have been working on this pump. We are nearing completion. I need to manufacture some hydraulic lines and then it will be finished. The pump was 21 feet long when I bought it and now it is close to 40 feet long. We took a hitch off of an old 3960 chopper and I then spliced it onto the existing hitch. The actual hitch that connects to the tractor was very wore out, kinda like me, so I discarded it. I then went out into the bushes and found an old corn planter that had burned. I cut this tounge off and took it back to the shop. I discovered that this new toungue would slide inside of the chopper hitch. (These hitches were tubes... Is any of this making sense???) I then welded this to the chopper hitch which was welded to the manure pump hitch. We had rebuild and patch a few other things as well. I must say I am feeling very good about what we have accomplished. I will gladly post a picture of this new and improved piece of equipment if someone wants to see it. I may post it even if you don't want to see it but I think I am now beginging to ramble andstuffsoIthinkitistimetostoppppp

Ahh, Rain

This afternoon around 4:00 we had the most beautiful storm. I would say it rained roughly three-fourths of an inch. The corn was soaking it in. Rain is a good thing...

Quartet Retreat

You may remember a rather grumpy post concerning my lack of ability to find men willing or able to take on some responsibilities at the SMBI Quartet Retreat the last weekend in Sept. I am happy to report that the speakers for the weekend have finally been finalized. However, my happiness began to wane and falter when I discovered my name on the list.
Rich Denlinger Mass Choir Conductor
Dave Gingerich Quartet Development
Kelvin Good Balancing Music Ministry with Work, Church, and Family
Glen Zehr Balancing Musical Excellence and Worship

Potty Training

Ah yes, the joy of a life time. This little post is in response to a comment on a previous post in which the author wondered if we were potty training yet. The answer is no. I don't know if it is emphatically no but it is no none the less. We, my wife mainly because I am not a woman, believe that our children sit and sit and sit on the potty without doing anything. Then when they are old enough to know what is going on they are tired of sitting. We are a little more laid back, waiting for the child to be good and ready before starting. How do we know this you may ask. That is a good question. When the child starts running off into some corner to take care of his or her business then it is time to at least try things out. If they still can't figure out what they are supposed to do in this little potty, we simply put it away. A couple months later we get it back out and hopefully then they are ready.
What is your plan of action???

Humility

This morning just before SS ended we touched on humility. This got my mind rolling a little and I have some questions. What is humility? I wonder if we think humility is a feeling of worthlessness. We don't know how to react to praise. So, instead of accepting compliments we tend to talk about what our problems are. Doesn't true humility accept praise graciously? I guess true humility doesn't allow praise to become the god of life.