The Hay is Done, The Wheat is Done, The Oats are Done!

A relief that the the fall work is drawing to a close.  Soybeans and Corn left.  Isaac and Silas have spent a lot of hours working in the fields leaving Arthur free time to work on the maze. Thanks, Guys!  There wasn't as much hay as we need so Arthur's looking to buy some.  It's been really, really dry around here which hasn't helped.  So dry that the pastures are pretty much brown, meaning the cows need hay already to stay happy and healthy.  I don't think we've really had any rain more than a few sprinkles in over a month.  If you think of it, you can pray for rain!

Sweet little Esther!  We will miss her, and Aaron and Naomi so, SO, SO, SO much when they move down to Tennessee on Friday. 

I'm so glad for little Daniel, David and Jeriah that live so close!  Here's Daniel on my dad's old Ford tractor.  If you look in the background, you can see the results of a fire at my parents.

My kids actually got there before the firemen and DNR firecrew.  (We were gone).  Accidentally, their barn started on fire and with how dry it is, it just spread all over and into thier yard and woods. 

And this is the barn now.  No, there wasn't anything really valuable in it other than an old tractor that was my Grandpa's. And maybe that wasn't even valuable to anyone but Arthur and my dad.   Most valuable were all the memories that are gone!  My sister's and I's old playhouse corner in the sheep barn.   The tricycle that my sisters and I used and each of our children used when they visited.  Old jars that Silas was slowly collecting.  That kind of stuff.  Oh, the fun we had in the big old barn as girls.  Kept some calves, pigs, and sheep at times but for the most part it was like a big empty playground with old stuff that no one wanted to throw out but didn't know where else to store. 

What a good reminder that we cannot take "stuff" with us.  Someday all our possessions will be worthless and what really will matter is whether we trusted in Christ or not.  After two days of firemen and dnr guys working on putting out hot spots, the fire was finally out for good.  It was really windy and dry so it kept spreading in their woods.   Good thing my dad has trails all over in his woods that made it easy for them to drive around. 

The Bible Bee locals for 2011 are history and we wait for the results of who made the top 100 in each category.  They post it on Wednesday!  The girls enjoy this so much and don't really care whether they win or not. 

Weekend two at the maze went good.  We had a good turnout and the weather was nice.  People like to comment to us on things we've changed or added.  One person told Arthur, "Next year you should add a farris wheel".  How did she know!!! ;)