Invasion of the Army Worm

Rain + Growing Beans = The Army Worm

One of the hoodlums

July and August have been good to us. Nearly 7+ inches of rain since July 4th has caused a complete turn around from the previous months. Although the rain came too late for the corn farmers, the bean farmers have been able to see a small glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. 


Until the army worm...

Army Worm Buffet

Dan walked out into the field one day and army worms had completely taken over. They had been glutenous little creatures and nibbled on the bean leaves like it was a Ponderosa buffet line. Apparently this type of insect only invades every couple of years. They come in in hordes (hence the name army worm) and invade. This type of infestation is due to moth migrations from the south and are primarily a pest of grasses and small grain crops.They hide under the leaves during the day and feed at night which is why considerable damage is done before it is even noticed. Such sneaky little things!

Don't these army worms realize we are having a terrible crop year without their help!

On a brighter note, I am a proud parent of a rooster! The last remaining chicken has recently announced it 's gender. Daniel's great grandmother, Granny B, has been my chicken mentor since the day those three furry-butt baby chicks stepped foot on our farm. She raised a chicken or two back in her prime and is of great knowledge. One day Daniel's grandmother, Granny, called up Granny B and got to talking about the chicken. She asked Granny B how to determine the chicken's gender. Granny B quickly stated that you would either find an egg or hear a crow. OK...I think I might just be able to figure this one out...maybe!

So a few weeks ago I caught the chicken laying down and flinging dirt on its back. It would dig a hole in the dirt then lay down. It was extremely strange. Granny thought that this just might be a sign of it trying to lay eggs. Like a giddy little school girl I made it a cozy little place to lay eggs in. Several days later, still no egg.

When I got back home from Florida I had a chicken that started to grow some rather large tail feathers. By now this chicken is well on to being 3 months old...old enough to either be a hen or rooster. No egg. No crow. I think this chicken is down right confused with what it is supposed to be. All of this confusion until last week.

One morning I was feeding the horses and the chicken greeted me with what sounded like a rooster going through puberty. I wish I could attach a sound recording because it is darn right funny. That poor thing let out a very strange and loud screech. He practiced and practiced but no such luck to getting it to sound like a true rooster's crow. The very next morning my little unknown gendered chicken turned into a full grown rooster. It let out a full blown rooster crow.....even though he was about 3 hours late of sunrise.

What What Chicken Butt

We now know that my chicken is a rooster and he lets me know every morning for 10 minutes straight while he crows with the best of  'em.

They like to scratch each others back

Little Miss Annie Herself

She is such a ham!

Oh the joys of being a farmer's wife!

Vacation Shenanigans

"John, you better go grab yourself a stiff drink, your phone and a chair." These are not soothing words to ones ears the moment they walk into the beach house that has been rented for the week.

So to bring you up to speed let me begin by saying that we took a family vacation to Destin, FL with my mom's side of the family.

Her family had stayed at this exact home seven years prior. They all enjoyed the lovely home set right on the beach. Everyone agreed that this was the place they wanted to stay.
The pictures on the internet looked just the same as it did back then so it seemed like a good choice.
The pictures were taken back before Hurricane Dennis struck land in Destin, FL...

With my family (mom, dad and Dan) being the last to arrive at the house, we were greeted in uneasy terms. This was not the place that everyone remembered. Wood floors were stained and "dirty" looking. Blinds were tattered. Windows were rusted. Paint was chipped. Ceilings were moldy. Emotions were running haywire.

How could a real estate owner allow good and innocent people to stay in such a dump?? As everyone attempted to brighten their spirits one thing led to another. We went on to take our bags to our designated rooms. Dan and I were assigned the pull out couch. OK...not exactly what I was thinking but I can cope. That was until we tried to pull the bed out. After yanking the beggebies out of the folded up frame, Dan finally unfolded a pure masterpiece....a lumpy and tattered mattress. Dan attempted to sit on this fine piece of furniture until he sank right to the floor. Somehow the bed had one remaining spring holding up the mattress. This was NOT going to work.

Completely distraught we decided the next best thing was to stay in the bunk room.....with 5 other women! Poor Dan was stuck in a twin bed in a room with 6 women. Till this day I am unaware of how he survived!

As the days passed, I became acclimated to my rock hard twin mattress and stiff sheets drifting away to the sound of a room full of snoring women. Needless to say I believe I went through an entire bottle of Tylenol p.m. due to nearly everyone in the house needing a sleep aid. Come on, why can't anyone sleep on a hard or lumpy mattress with an air conditioning system that wasn't quite up to par?

I'm sure this vacation just sounds wonderful but believe it or not, we did actually have fun a time or two! We ate like Kings, enjoyed watching the Olympics as a family, played games, swam in the ocean, played in the sand and shopped till we dropped.

We were blessed enough to celebrate my mom and Aunt Carol's 54th birthday together as well. How did they want to celebrate their day of birth you ask? They wanted to rent bicycles. You know, the kind that have the big baskets in front and annoying bells on the handle bars. Aunt Carol picked out her bicycle and requested a bell. The owner smiled as mom and I shook our heads and sarcastically thanked him as he strapped that dandy bell on the handle bar. By the end of our bike ride I not only had tired legs and a sore hind end but an annoying ringing in my ears. Thank goodness for Carol it was her birthday because I almost hijacked her little bell after the 50th time it rang. God love her!



The birthday girls



All in all we had a great vacation. A week basking in God's glorious creation and spending valuable and precious time with family. Yes, the house was not what we expected but it sure made me appreciate my clean floors, super comfy bed and the ability to fall right asleep without the sound of a room full of women snoring!



The greatest parents ever







Aren't they cute!



Sweetest family ever!



The Girls



Dan and I



The beach sure is exhausting!

How sweet is this