Moments

Just a short post for tonight. Since I didn't have a blog last week just wanted to check in and say hi! I'm still trying to do the blog weekly. I thought the winter months would be a lot easier to get that done, but it's not! Last week little miss Autumn had her Christmas pageant and her first dance recital so to Abilene we went last week. Today Mom and I went shopping. Yes, I know what you're thinking. Wow, Kelsey you're getting your Christmas shopping done really early! Okay, so not really. I'm still not done! Four more to go, but they should be easy ones!

I got the chance to people watch at one of the stores we went to while Mom was doing something. Everybody seemed to be in such a hurry. Places to go and things to do. Mom and I were no different at most of the places we went. But the thing I will remember about this day for quite some time is not the gifts I bought or the places we went, but the time I got to spend with my mom. Since I got married we don't often get the chance to be together and just have fun going shopping together. I enjoy the time I get to spend with her. I'll also remember the kind gentlemen at Walmart that was walking by as I was reaching to get something off the very top shelf that stopped and got it for me. It's the little moments in life that we remember. Not if everything was perfect at our family dinners, if the tree was decorated or situated exactly right or whether or not we got the most expensive gift. We'll remember the times that meant something to us. At a recent funeral I attended one of the sons talked about the moments in life. He had a fancy word for it, but what we will remember most about life is the moments in life that meant something.

This holiday season as we hopefully spend time with family, be sure to remember why we're celebrating. Appreciate the people in your life and the time we get to spend with them. We never know when our last moment will arrive so make the most of every one that we get. Create the moments in life, this holiday season, that you will think about when your time comes to an end. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

Breeding Season

Another week has come and gone again. Sorry about no blog last week. There is no excuse other than I was being very lazy.

Because of the gorgeous weather at the beginning of the week, we got some cattle work done. Still a long ways left to go, but getting there very slowly. We have all of the Herefords worked, but only 1/3 of the fall calves done. The fall calves were born starting in mid-September, They are mostly done calving by now. The ones that haven't calves are being pulled off to go to another pasture. A cow's gestation cycle is 283 days. That means we're turning the bulls in with the cattle so they get bred and will calf on time next year.

Bulls over 24 months of age are consider mature bulls. They can breed (depending on the operation, circumstances and body condition) on the upward of 30-35 cows. A lot depends on the factors surrounding the cattle. Bulls can start breeding around 12 months of age. This is on the young side, but if in perfect body condition and with a few cows and careful observations they can begin breeding. A general rule of thumb is that "yearlings" (12-18 months) bulls can breed the same number of cattle as the number of months they are. For example a 16 month old bull can breed 16 cows. A 20 month old bull can breed 20 cows. Once they reach maturity (normally around 2 years old) bulls can breed, comfortably probably around 30-40 cows. New research is showing that given good circumstances, bulls can breed up to 50 cows. Most cattle producers are leery of putting one bull in with that many because of the possible implications if the bull doesn't get his job done.

Conditions are a big part of bulls getting their job done. If there is more than one bull in the pasture, a pecking order will have to be established. There will be a dominant bull if there are multiple bulls in the pasture. That one bull will try to breed as many cows as he can and not let the others breed even if he isn't. Body score of the bull has a big part to do with how effectively he breeds. Most bulls go through a breeding soundness exam before being turned out. It's imperative that bulls are in top physical shape so they can get their very important job completed.

That's a little bit about what's been going on on the farm lately. So after the soapbox of a blog about not doing Christmas before Thanksgiving. I hung the few Christmas lights I hang the weekend after Thanksgiving. We haven't got our tree, but getting there. I'm officially getting in the Christmas season.

An update on Matt's grandpa, for those that know him. He's in therapy and will hopefully be coming home next weekend. He's gaining strength and seems to be in good spirits.

Matt has been sick this week. With his Mom's prodding we went to the doctor this week and he was diagnosed with strep throat/bronchitis. He's been taking pills and is almost healed. A good night's sleep tonight and he should be fixed. I'm hoping I don't get it, but if I do he better take as good of care of me as I took of him.

It's the little things in life that mean the most. Today my mom spent a lot of the day with us. She helped me do some cleaning. Matt even helped a little! I got a lot marked off my to do list and hoping to get some more thorough cleaning done this week and then get our tree up! I enjoyed getting to spend some time with her not having to work cattle.

This holiday season I encourage everyone to spend time with your loved ones. Be thankful for the friends and family in your life. Not everyone has as much as we do. We're so blessed. Have a great Christmas and don't get too wrapped up in the gifting to remember what the season is about.

Have a great week!

Let It Go!

Glancing through my Facebook newsfeed, I saw A LOT of people were putting up Christmas decorations this weekend. I'm a stanch believer in waiting until after Thanksgiving to put up any decorations or basically doing anything towards Christmas. Thanksgiving, I feel, is one of the most overlooked holidays. It's so close to Christmas, everybody is already looking forward to and planning for Christmas and the holiday season. For God's sake people, stop planning what expensive toys, trinkets and technology you're going to buy for the people in your life. Take a week in a 52 week year and spend every single day of it being thankful for everything we are given as American citizens. Seven whole days out of 365 days being thankful for every little thing that we have and not complaining about what we don't have. Do some say our country is falling apart under the current leadership, absolutely. Who can say they HAVEN'T complained about Congress' inability to pass any laws? Can anybody say they've gone even a day, let alone a whole week, without picking up their smart phones, tablets or computer? Can we say that we've taken time out of our oh so busy lives to call our grandparents-the ones that built this country and would be ashamed to watch the ACM awards on TV tonight.

Have I complained about government in the past week, yes. I don't remember the last time I didn't get on my computer in the evening. I haven't talked to my 101 year old Grandma in about 2 weeks. Am I so busy that I can't take 5 minutes out of a 24 hour period to call my grandma on the phone or even better...go see her!? How blessed are we in this country to have everything we have? And have the need for #firstworldproblems when we can't find two of the same color socks? What is wrong with our civilization that we have to complain about EVERYTHING! That we are so busy bustling through this life, that we can't take the time to do the things that truly matter. In the last week alone, I can think of a dozen things that I've nagged Matt about doing or not doing. If I'm honest there's been a dozen things today alone. Why? Why do I have to nag about the little things that I feel should be done and be done MY way. Why can't I appreciate the stress he's under and instead of adding to that stress by nagging, take away the stress by just doing the things I want him to do.

Why!? Why can't the world's problems be solved peacefully? Why can't every child born in the world, be born into a loving situation? Why can't there be food, water and shelter available for EVERY SINGLE person on this Earth? One of my Forever's most favorite thing to say right now has to deal with the movie Frozen. Whenever I'm going on a rant about something and in the process of creating a grudge that I fully intend to hold for a long time, he asks me if I've seen the movie Frozen and after telling him yes, he tell me to, "Let It Go".

Let go of the anger towards fellow human beings, let go of the hurt and disappointment, let go of the worry, let go of being a person that complains and nags, let go of not doing the little things for your family, let go of the battle to be number one.

We aren't church attenders. I cherish Matt and I's Sunday mornings of being together. Sunday mornings are our time to be together, to chat and to love. Not that we don't all week, it just seems like Sunday mornings, there are less distractions and we can just be for a little while. I love everything about our Sunday mornings.

If you believe in God, you believe that everything happens for a reason. If everything was perfect in the world, there would be no need for God. It's our weakest moment, that God takes control of our lives and shows us the path he has for us. He has a reason that there is so much anger, hurt, disappointment, worry, complaining, nagging and competitions in the world. For everything there is a reason. For everything there is a season. Even in the worst times you can always say, "and this too shall pass". Whatever the "this" is for you that you are waiting to get past, take time each day this week to be thankful for every little blessing in life. Be thankful we're in America, a country that has amazingly brilliant healthcare givers so we have minimal disease outbreak unlike Africa, a country that has freedom to choose, unlike so many other countries, a country that an individual can make change happen in, a country that we get to be so blessed that we forget how blessed we are and complain about how slow the internet is working, not that we don't have internet, but it's just working too slow.

Every single day this week, take 60 seconds out of your day to thank somebody or do something nice for somebody. There are people in your own communities that don't have it as good as you. Take a moment this week and do something for those people. Take a salad to your local Thanksgiving dinner, volunteer your time. Be thankful for the family you have around you. A 15 year old girl from Topeka passed away this week after a courageous battle with a brain tumor. If that doesn't put life into perspective for you, not a lot will. 15 years old, not even through high school and she faced death. Her family is without her this Thanksgiving and Christmas season. A classmate of mine passed away in high school our junior year and I miss him everyday. What do you think those families feel? Everybody has lost somebody in their lives. Appreciate the people in your lives everyday, but especially now. Take the time this week, to be thankful of their presence in your life and LET THEM KNOW you appreciate and love them. Take the time to be thankful for all the blessings we have just by being born in this country. Take the time to be thankful for the little things in your lives, like the availability to food, water and shelter. Not too far away from us, maybe even down the street, is somebody that doesn't even have that.

This holiday season after we've been properly thankful for everything and start stringing our lights, decorating houses, picking out the perfect tree, preparing scrumptious feasts, loosening the waste bands on our cloths and perfecting the perfect gift, I encourage all of us to let go of the negativity that is all around us, instead be the change you want to see in the world as Gandhi said.

Enough of a soap box for you? Pushing Thanksgiving to the back burner has always bothered me because there are so many things we need to be thankful for, but it's so easy to skip over. Borrowing lyrics from the oh so popular, Frozen...


Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door!

Turn away and slam the door in the face of not being thankful, of skipping over Thanksgiving and not helping your fellow human. For one week of the year just LET IT GO!

How to Keep Your Ladies Warm in the Winter

It's official...farmers are crazy! Winter has officially hit in Northeast Kansas. Hopefully it hasn't set in for the season, but it is definitely giving us a sneak peak as to what is coming.

We were given our first snow of the season on Saturday. Thankfully, it wasn't very deep and didn't stick to the ground, but it's still been a good heads up to prepare for the winter. Since about Wednesday of this last week, it has been very very cold! It went from T-Shirt weather on Monday to layers upon layers of clothing for Tuesday. It hasn't been much above freezing or at all since. This means cattle are needing a lot more care.  Like my dad explained to me when I was a little girl riding around in the tractor with him. Cattle need hay in the winter because they have furnaces inside their stomachs and without hay that furnace doesn't burn. But when they eat hay, it allows the furnace to keep running and that's how cows keep warm during the winter. Okay, that's not true-there's no furnace, but it gives a good illustration.

As a cattle producer I hate seeing the cattle out in the cold weather. However, cattle are equipped to be out in the weather as long as we, as cattle producers prepare the cattle for the weather coming. For example, during cold weather producers increase the amount of feed fed to livestock to increase their metabolism which in turn produces more body heat for the cattle.

Another thing that producers do is provide windbreaks. Just like us, we can stand a colder temperature as long as their isn't a bitter wind blowing. A good wind break is a essential for cattle to withstand the cold for multiple days. Wind breaks don't have to be fancy or anything incredible, just something for cattle to get behind. A lot of producers in NE KS use the natural shelter in the pastures such as the trees.

Next, water availability. A lot of producers rely on ponds during the summer to water their cattle and let them cool off. However, during the winter we like to shut the ponds off so the cattle can't get in to them.  Cattle can get on those ponds and fall through and freeze to death if you don't catch them in time. This means there has to be another water source. This could mean an automatic waterer or a running stream or creek. For cattle in a more confined area this could mean a water tank that has to have ice broke on them everyday. Whatever the water source, it's very important for producers to keep the water open and available to cattle so they don't go in search of water and get into dangerous situations. Water is also important for health reasons. Remember, the cattle are eating more and just like us when we eat more, we want more to drink. Cattle need this as well.

What's next? Feed, water, and shelter. All things that producers can provide for their cattle. But what do cattle do for warmth for themselves? When winter sets in, cattle (just like your pets) develop a thicker hair coat. This hair coat naturally insulates them from the wind and cold weather like snow. Cattle gather together to get group body heat. These two natural reactions can prevent cattle from succumbing to the cold.

So while it is very cold outside, producers are doing everything they can to provide for their cattle and keep them warm. Please be careful with your pets and outside animals. Make sure they have the same things that we're providing to our cattle, shelter, food, water. I hear there is a warmup in the nearish future. I hope it gets here and gives us a chance to adjust to the cold temperature rather than just shocking our systems.

An update from Matt's grandpa that is in the hospital. I haven't been to see him for a little while, but Matt saw him this week. He's doing much better! He got the tube out of his nose that was pumping his stomach out and is starting to eat and drink again. He's a lot more alert and interested in what's going on on the farm. Long road left, but he's doing much better!

Another side note, I was telling my dear Forever about the blogs that were the most read. He says it all depends on the title and how good the title is. So, the title this week is all his! We're doing an experiment on who has the better blog titles.

Again, I welcome any questions you may have regarding this blog or any of my others. Hope you have a great week and stay warm!!

Short Blog!

First off, if you have some extra time thoughts and prayers to Matt's grandpa, Willy. He's Matt's mom's dad. Willy had cancer surgery and is now in recovery. It's a slow journey, but he's doing pretty good. We're definitely sending our thoughts to Willy's kids. They've been spending a lot of time at the hospital. They've been switching on and off and someone is with him basically all the time. They doctors say they have got it all though, so that's great to hear! Sickness effects us all at one time or another. Hoping for a speedy recovery!

With the creation of this blog, I've had the opportunity to network with fellow farm bloggers. Some of them grew up on a farm like me, others married into the farm. Regardless of background, we're all working towards a common goal, educating the non-farming community about why we do what we do.  They often have a much tougher audience than I do. However, they often have questions about fertilizer.

Matt's uncle gave me a card that he carried in his billfold. It has a lot of good information on it and thought it would clear up some misinformation dealing with fertilizer.

It's from fertile minds (www.nutrientsforlife.org)

1. Fertilizers are drawn from nature-they are not man-made.
2. Farmers are not adding fertilizers to the ground. They are replacing nutrients that are lost at each harvest.
3. The world has no choice but to use fertilizers. Without them, 2 billion people would starve.
4. By helping conserve land, fertilizers safeguard recreational land and wildlife habitats.
5. Farmers care about the environment as much as anyone.

Farmers must care about the environment. Without taking care of the land, farmers wouldn't be able to continue what they love doing.

I would love to have further conversations with anyone that has questions. I know that isn't a whole lot of information, but it's a start. Not a lot of time to write much more. Trying to clean our very dirty house when Matt gives me time off.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Have a great week!

Picture Week

Time goes so fast! I can't believe it's Sunday already! It's been a busy day/week. Sometime this winter when it gets dark at five maybe I'll be able to get a good blog done, but for this week the pictures are going to have to do.

One of my favorite cows on our place. She's a pet and will tolerate just about anything you do to her. 

Is she saying she doesn't like the color of the hat?

Repping the purple! 

She even let Matt ride her. Told him to do it to see what she did. She just kept eating the wheat mids. She would be a bad rodeo cow.

It's been a week of nieces and nephews. This is my sister's girl, Autumn. Not sure why I never get pictures with her?

One of Matt's sister's twin boys. I have never seen him to still! He had this facial expression for at least five minutes. I'm not sure if he ever decided if Uncle Jason passed inspection or not? Uncle Jason kept him entertained a lot longer than anybody else could though!

All four of the Kansas nieces and nephews that we have on Matt's side. The twin boys, Sawyer and Sawyer's new baby sister Lorelei. They were all line up on Great Grandpa's floor.

Matt made homemade fish this week and homemade tarter sauce to go with it! I have no idea how he made it because he told me to go sit down and not watch what he was doing. I got somewhat of an idea when I had to clean up his mess though. I'm not a big fish person, but this was absolutely delicious! It was wonderful! He payed more attention to his mom's cooking then I thought he did apparently.

So I know that's not a real great blog. I promise to do better blogs this winter. Still trying to finish up harvesting. Been too wet in the fields and it's supposed to rain again tomorrow. Hope you have a great week!

Harvest Videos

Sorry I'm a day late. Been busy harvesting. Last night we went to my parents to celebrate my middle older sister's birthday and I forgot to take my computer to get the blog done. It wouldn't have mattered anyway because my parents were out of internet anyways. But back to the point. This week has been a lot of the same harvesting stuff we've been doing. 

My oldest sister, Kristen, has a blog as well. She lives outside of Abilene, Kansas. I don't know how she did it, but she got videos of the complete harvesting cycle. This is their wheat harvest, but the process is all the same for the corn and soybeans that we're harvesting right now. 

So enjoy my sister's blog from last wheat harvest and check out her blog!

http://felbushfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/2013/07/wheat-harvest.html

It'll take you a while to watch the videos, but they explain very well.

Hope you have a great week!

Letter to my Forever

"I, Matt, choose you Kelsey.

Loving what I know of you,

trusting what I do not know yet.

I will respect you as a partner and an equal.

I promise to laugh with you when times are good and endure when they are bad.

I will always adore, honor and encourage you.

You are my best friend and I will love you always.

Together...forever."

"I promise we will fight.

I promise I'm not going to be perfect in any area.

I promise I will make mistakes on the farm, in the house and in our marriage.

However, I also promise that I will say I'm sorry for the mistakes I make, ask forgiveness for the wrongs I do and tell you I love you everyday.

I promise to try to be the best wife that I can be for you because...

I will always love you even when I don't like you."

365 days later, the words are more true now than they were then. 

8760 hours ago you placed our wedding band on my finger that I haven't taken off since then. Every hour of every day since then I can look at my finger and remember the beautiful wedding we had, the promises we made and the love we share. 

525,600 minutes ago we were celebrated and loved at our reception for the first time as Mr. & Mrs. Matt Pagel.  

In one years time, we have traveled through 14 states and been to Washington D.C. We've started learning how to live with each other. You've dealt with my meltdowns, I've picked up your socks that you refuse to pile together and we have completed the first year of the rest of our lives. 

My dear Matt, I want you to know that I love you more than words can describe. No matter how much you think I don't. I really really really really do. I know I'm an emotional over reactive mess, I know I make you miserable sometimes, I know that I make demands on you and create stress for you that you don't need, but I love you. 

I love that you love me. I love that you put up with me. I love that you pretend to like my cooking even when you really don't. I love that you work so hard to provide a good life for us, even though I yell and nag at you about working too hard a lot. I love that you're a person I'm proud to call mine and wouldn't trade you for anybody. I love that we got married in the middle of harvest season and took a week long honeymoon afterwards. I love that I'm your number one above all else in your life. I love you for letting me get a dog and letting her be in the house. I love that you can make me smile even when I'm furious with you. I love how much you've taught me how to do in the past year. I love that you think I'm capable of so many things I'm not. I love you.

I'm so glad that I have to pick up your socks all the time because that means I'm spending my life with you. I'm glad I have to put your dishes in the dishwasher because it means that I'm married to someone that can feed himself if he has to (which he doesn't have to because his mom is too good at taking care of him) and that we have food in our refrigerator, freezer and cupboards to eat whenever we want. I'm glad that I have to complain about not having the yard mowed because that means that we have a house and yard to care for. I'm glad that I have to yell at you about spending time with me because it means you're involved in an occupation that you love and one that is feeding the world. I'm glad that you leave your boots right in front of our door that I have to push out of the way so I can get in the house because it means that you're home in our own house safe and sound.

In conclusion, I'm so happy that last October 12th was much more beautiful outside then this one. I'm so blessed to have gotten the wedding of my dreams. Every part of it was special to me and love that we got married in my Grandma's hayfield in the month that both her and my parents got married in. I'm blessed that we got to take a week long honeymoon in the middle of harvest. I'm blessed to have you, my love.

You will make me mad again. I will make you mad again. Maybe even today, but I can't imagine living our lives with anyone else. You are my first and last, you are the love of my life and you are my Forever.

I love you and Happy first Anniversary sweetie. May we have many many many more together. 

Harvest Season

A busy, busy time in the life of a farmer. When it's time to harvest, ti's time to harvest. (Unless you want an October wedding, then it will just have to wait.) This is my second harvest season with the Pagel's and very different then last year's. Since I accepted a job at FSA, I'm only at the farm nights and weekends. It's surprised me a lot just how much I miss being on the farm and working with Matt everyday. I mean practically everyone works somewhere else then with you spouse. Most say it's best not to work with your spouse. In the 3 weeks I've been working off farm the one thing I've missed the absolute most, is my Forever. Oh he tells me stories, (long, VERY detailed stories) about what he did that day. (I don't get to tell him about my day until he's done with his!) And I LOVE hearing his stories. For those of you that know Matt and thinks he's quite, I wish you could see him when's he's telling me these stories. He lights up and I can't help but smile. But...I miss sharing those escapades with him. As you can tell, we're still adjusting to our new schedule.

We started harvesting last Saturday somewhat. Sunday I got to run the combine while Henry drilled and Matt kept the corn away and trucks empty. Monday we really really got started with the 3 of us. Henry runs the combine, Matt unloads the trucks and I drive the grain cart and take trucks to Matt so they stay empty. For those that don't know about harvesting, we'll start at the very beginning. keep in mind this is what occurs in Northeast Kansas on one particular fram. In different parts of the country, state and even county the timeline may be different. The same concept, but different ideas and timeline. It all depends on the growing season, condition and farmer.

Corn is planted around the middle of April. Before even planting, producers sit down with their seed representatives and start figuring out what type of seed to plant where. It all starts with choosing the right seed to go in the right type of ground. I've never been involved in these talks, but there are tons of choices to make before even purchasing seed! So after the seed is planted, farmers are forced to wait 5 months or so and hope for favorable weather conditions so their seed will grow. During this time we spray the weeds so they won't overtake the crop. Then we hope for rain at the right time, no hail or wind and good harvesting conditions.

When that tiny corn seed finally produces a corn stalk with ears on it and the ears turn down and the moisture dries out, it's time to harvest. We've harvest for 2 full days and another couple 1/2 days. This is how harvest season has gone for me so far.

Day 1 (Saturday): Re-teaching myself how to drive and operate grain cart, combine, trucks and remembering what to do.

Day 2 (Sunday): Got to run the combine! This hardly ever happens! I love harvesting! I want to go on a harvest crew.

Day 3 (Monday): 3 of us harvesting-ran grain cart a lot of the day. Our neighbor girls, the Slipke's, and their dd came and rode with us and helped move fields. Talked to Matt about how fun it would be to o on a harvest crew together. Combine broke down in the evening. We wouldn't have to be in charge of anything on the harvest crew. If something broke down, it wouldn't be entirely on us to get it fixed and running quickly.

Day 4 (Tuesday): Up at six because Matt was headed to get parts and wanted to be there as soon as the store opened. I went to work. Ran lunch to the field for guys over my lunch break. Snarfed food down while driving to and from. Get off at 5 hurry home, change clothes, check cows, head to harvest. Ran grain cart most of night. 8 o'clock: getting pretty dark, try to turn on tractor lights-wouldn't come on. No big deal, Matt an fix them when he gets back with empty truck. Matt gets back, plays with fuses while I'm unloading onto the truck. Doesn't get them fixed, but truck if full so he leaves. Completely dark at this point. Try getting to lights on the combine using flashers on tractor while avoiding running over any corn left standing. Combine is full-Henry turns on flashers (which is code for I'm full-you should have been there before that point) so I drive faster in complete darkness weaving around corn trying to get on the correct side of corn-going the correct way. Mission not accomplished-got to the combine, but going the wrong way so we had to sit to unload. Notice while sitting there that it is incredibly hot in the tractor. Go to turn fan switch on. Fan switch is already on. While playing with the fuses, Matt took the fan one out and put it somewhere else. At this point it's late, I'm tired and decided I'm not going to be hot and tired, just tired. So Electrician Kelsey starts pulling out fuses and inserting into fan slot. Sparks start coming out. Abort! Decide it's nice enough outside that I can just open the window and doors and not start the tractor on fire. See the truck lights come back. Drive quickly through darkness again avoiding corn. And so it continues. Storm coming in that night and we're trying to get the field finished and equipment home before the storm. Finally, get caught up between truck and combine. At this point it's about 11:15. Matt gets in to ride to combine to get the second grain cart to fill truck. In that ride together I made it very clear to Matt that I never EVER EVER EVER want to go on a harvest crew. I'm much too tired and those people run 24 hours a day and never sleep! It started raining about 11:45 so we started the several trips it took for us to get things home to the shed. Hnery sent me home at midnight, but couldn't get to sleep until Matt got home at one so I knew he was safe and not crawling up metal bins in lightning. Instead taking a shower in lightning, but at least I knew he was home with me.

My grain cart help. She's growing so much. She slept all lot of the day, but enjoyed getting attention lavished on her by the Slipke girls.

Today is the first day it hasn't been raining or wet enough to harvest. I think they are going to try going again today.

COMBINES:
But back to the nitty gritty of harvest. Combines are what pick the grain. Depending on what typ eof head the combine has on it, they can harvest different crops so farmers don't have a different combine for every crop-just a different head. The combine picks the grain. When picking corn, you position the head so you get the ears of corn, mostly the top 3/4 to 2/3 of the corn stalk. We only want the shelled corn in the bin of the combine. So the combine has a series of shakers and cleaners that the grain goes through to clean the corn. The corn is shelled off the cob and augered into the storage bin on the combine. The rest of the "trash" is thrown out the back of the combine, hits the spreaders and gets evenly distributed back onto the field.

We are a no-till operation-meaning we don't till the soil. Many years ago that was the only way to do it-till the soil. They thought that by working that organic matter (the stalks left standing and "trash" that comes out of the combine) into the ground, it is beneficial to the soil. Now, research shows that leaving it and not tilling the soil is the best way because it reduces erosion and other problems. There are pros and cons of each way. This is something I'm not all the passionate about, but a lot of farmers are very set in the way they are doing it and there way it the best way. I grew up on a farm that works the ground, my oldest sister married a farmer that says there is no other way. I'm married to a farmer that say working the ground is bad and hard on the ground. So I don't know about that aspect. I'm kind of indifferent on this subject. I think it comes down the the farm and what works for them.

Once the bin on the combine is full (ours has a beeper that says to stop because the bin is full and yes Matt and I drove to Hiawatha one night on a "date night" to get a replacement sensor since ours was gone. Harvests couldn't continue without it according to Matt. Not sure how people harvest that don't have one?) so the bin is full which is where the grain cart comes in.

Combine dumping into the grain cart.

GRAIN CART:
This is what I really enjoy doing. If I could sit in a grain cart and not have to do anything else during harvest I would be a happy happy girl. I like driving the combine, but that's Henry's job. I'm fine driving trucks, but prefer if Matt does it. The grain cart I feel is the most challenging. The grain cart is what helps save incredible amounts of time during harvest season. The grain cart allows the combine to unload grain while still picking more. The first challenge of being a great driver is being where you need to be at the right time. You need to be at the combine when it gets full so it doesn't ever have to stop picking, but not too often-just when it's full. Then you need to fill the truck as soon as it gets there so it can be on the road. But when you go to unload the truck, you need to make sure the combine won't be full while you're filling the truck. Then assuming you are in the right place at the right time (doesn't happen very often for me) you need to be doing it correctly. When the combine is unloading on the grain cart, the combine driver needs to be watching the corn going into the combine so it doesn't plug up. The grain cart driver has to know how close to drive to the combine and how fast to drive. If the grain car doesn't drive in the right spot of not at the right speed, the grain falls on the ground.The grain comes out of the combine fairly quickly so if you mess up, there'a lot of grain that can be wasted on the ground pretty quickly. It takes about 1.5 combine bins to fill the grain cart and 1.5 grain carts to fill the truic. Sounds easy right? It would be a lot easier on flat long rows, but in NE KS we have terraces and you have to be extra careful how you go over those so you don't tear anything up and when loading you've got to pay more attention so you're the right distance for the combine, However, with that said, when you get caught up or the grain isn't great the grain car driver gets a little break every once in a while. It's challenging to know when and where to be, but I love the challenge and it's exciting every time you successfully allow the combine to continue picking and not stop. Anyway, it my favorite. Now think about doing all that without lights in pitch blackness of night and dodging corn that is still standing. Makes is that much more interesting!

Grain cart behind the tractor view.

Grain cart dumping into the truck.

TRUCKS:
Normally, this is Matt's job. The combine and grain cart drivers just sit basically all day. In the truck, it's not that way. We have 2 trucks. A good truck and a not so great truck. So if you have two trucks, one is normally full by the time you get back with the other truck. So he's always in and out of everything. Then there's the option of storing grain on farm or taking it to town. We have a lot of on farm storage so there has to be an auger to get it into the ins, a tractor to run that auger, truck has to be backed up in the certain spot and the tractor has to be running so fast. It scares me to do all that. There's so many things going that could mess up so easily. On all the harvesting equipment that's true, but for me dumping tricks is something I say no to doing. I drive loaded grain trucks and have since I've been in high school, but don't particularly love doing it. After the grain is stored and harvest is over then decisions have to be made about when to market the grain. Some do that before. Marketing grain is a blog of itself that I should write because I would learn a lot.

This is how the corn comes out of the truck, into the auger and up to the bin.

Anyhow, that's a good start in the harvest process. Again, I encourage questions and comments. Anyone can leave a comment on the blog. It's an easy process to do and I would love to hear from my readers!

Another aspect of harvest season, that I'm going to blame on harvest, but it really just my bad domestic skills is our horribly dirty house. I decided Wednesday night (it had rained so we couldn't harvest) that I was going to mow our yard that hadn't been mowed in a month and cook an actual meal. As soon as I started mowing it started raining. Went inside and decided before I could cook anything, our kitchen needed to be thoroughly scrubbed. So by the time I had got that all done it was getting late and I was hungry so I searched through a church cookbook and found the recipe for microwave meatloaf and was fairly impressed with it and it's super easy and mostly hands off! Debbie K., your mom put this in the Buck's Grove Cookbook and I'm super thankful she did!

Microwave Meatloaf:
2 lbs hamburger
1 cup oatmeal
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Mix well. Bake for 15-20 minutes. (Remember this is in the microwave!)

Toppin Sauce:
3 T. brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. dry mustard

Mix well and pour over meat loaf about 2 minutes before done.



I halved the recipe and Matt ate all, but the little I ate so I wouldn't recommend cutting anything if you're feeding more than 2 or want leftovers. Otherwise, I thought it was pretty good and Matt said it was okay which is about as good as it gets with him.


One more exciting thing for this week...

One of Matt's sisters, Moe (Melissa) and her husband Jason had their second child this week on Thursday night. Hopefully, we get to go down this evening to meet Lorelei Estelle. Moe had to have a C-Section so hoping she heals quickly and it isn't too painful. We're very blessed to have amazing nieces and nephews in our life and are excited about the addition of another one. We're also very thankful that Matt's siblings are keeping the grandparents entertained with them so they don't turn to us to have children too soon!

Lorelei Estelle and her dad Jason.

That's all I've got. Hope you have a fantastic week!

Harvest is Officially Underway

Harvest has officially begun on the Pagel farm. Which means that I'm tired and not going to write a very good blog. I hear it's supposed to rain sometime this week so maybe I can get a good one wrote then. For now the three 'S' are more important. Shower, Supper, Sleep. A blog will be forthcoming with all the harvest escapades in it. Hope you have a great week!

WOTUS-Ditch the Rule!

Issues week. So many of us are faced with issues everyday of our life. Some out of our control. In a world filled with all sorts of regulatory controls, we are often bombarded with what we can legally do an not do. As producers of the world's food supply, we are regulated. In a political year such as we're in right now, some issues are brought to the forefront, others shoved under the rug.

One issue that you may not have heard about, but is a HUGE issue for not only farmers but everybody! The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are trying to protect our waters. In 1972, our waters were polluted and not safe. Congress passed the Clean Water Act. This act protected the interconnected water system. It understood that when dumping pollutions in streams, everything flowed downstream. So we're all downhill from something. In that time 1 in 3 Americans got their drinking water from these types of streams that were very polluted. Water isn't just essential for drinking, it is also has a large part to do with our nation's economy. Farmers and ranchers need water to grow the crops and livestock that feed the world. Manufactures need water to make everything. Energy makers need it to produce power for our homes. Then let's talk about the recreational uses for water. More than $640 billion is spent in consumer spending each year. The jobs that are associated with that is about 6 million. The Clean Water Act has produced some confusion about which waters are protected under this act. Hence the reason that the EPA is now proposing this new rule. Many think that this will broaden EPA's regulations. According to the EPA's website, "...that's simply not the case. Our proposed rule will not add to or expand the scope of waters historically protected under the Clean Water Act. In the end--the increased clarity will save us time, keep money in our pockets, cut red tape, give certainty to business, and help fulfill the Clean Water Act's original promise: to make America's water fishable and swimmable for all." (www.epa.gov/uswaters)

So that was all EPA's take on their new rule they are proposing. Let's take a different view of it. This view is from the National Association of Counties (www.naco.org). The new definition of waters that are covered would expand the range of waters. EPA is proposing taking out the world navigable. That means any puddle on your land could be regulated by the EPA. Even if it only filled with a heavy rainfall. According to this new rule there would be more waters federally protected and subject to the new rules. It would increase the number of county owned ditches. Meaning the ditch would have to be maintained by the counties and will lead to "cumbersome, time-consuming and expensive" maintenance of said so called ditch. Permits would have to be obtained in order to do a lot of this. A backlog of permits pertaining to the Clean Water Act already exists. If succeeding in taking out the world navigable, this number will exponentially grow. The current backlog of between 15,000-20,000 permits and takes and average of 2-3 years to obtain a permit. Can you imagine what it would be like if you had to obtain a permit for every little thing? If this rule goes through, more projects will be required to have permits. Which means the backlog will increase making it virtually impossible to get a permit.

The rest of this information is from http://ditchtherule.fb.org/. A lot of this information is directly quoted from their question and answers page. I encourage all of you to visit it and thoroughly look over the information. This is going to be structured much like their page is. Visit the website!

What will be different under the proposed rule?
Previously the word 'navigable' was in the definition. The proposed takes that world out. The result would include "ditches, small ponds and even depressions in fields and pastures that are only wet when there is heavy rain." Permits would have to be acquired to do daily things such as building fences, using pesticides, many other routine farming activities. Permits aren't guaranteed and with the backlog the chances of getting a permit is slim to none.

Not a farmer? Think you don't need to concern yourself with this? Think again! Do you enjoy planting trees? Using weed control on your lawn or flowers? Thinking about building a new house? All of these activities are far from guaranteed if this rule is implemented. Under this new rule, "nearly every drop of water that falls would be regulated by the federal government-the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

So, farmers have to get permits. What's so bad about that?
We've talked about the backlog of permits now, let alone with this new rule. Farmers cannot wait 6 or more years to get a permit. These activities (building fence, applying fertilizer, pulling weeds and spraying for weed and insect control) have to take place when they need to happen, not wait for regulations! "Ultimately, EPA will have control to deny a discharge permit and, in doing so, to restrict a farmer's ability to farm". We haven't even talked about the increase paperwork that is associated with this. So why not just do it and hope to not get caught? Penalties include "up to $37,500 per violation PER DAY-and maybe be enforced by EPA, the state or even interested citizen groups." PER DAY!! Can you imagine that? We couldn't afford one day, let alone multiple days and we all know it wouldn't be resolved in a single day! And even interested citizen groups could regulate this? What do they know about what we do every day of our lives?

"Is it possible to do even more to protect water quality? Yes, of course, and Congress has determined that the best way to do that is by strengthening the state-led programs that promote best practices for agriculture and other land uses, not through federal regulation that stifles those activities."

So how do you get involved so that this rule does not go through? Visit http://ditchtherule.fb.org/ to learn more. There's a "Take Action" tab to click on. Go to your local Farm Bureau and sign a postcard making sure this does NOT happen. More questions? I loved to hear from you in the comment section. This is a huge issue not just affecting farmers and ranchers. It affects YOU to. Make sure you make your voice heard so EPA knows they cannot push ridiculous things like this through. Another little item that I neglected to mention. EPA doesn't have to take this through Congress. Congress will NOT vote on this. It's entirely up to the American public to make sure that this doesn't happen. Now, that I say that, our Congressman are doing what they can to make sure this doesn't happen. But we need to do our part! Don't be complacent about this!

Hope you have a great week! And remember! Make your voice heard...this will affect you!

Change

Change is usually not easy. Many resist change. And sometimes change happens and you just go with it and make the best of it.

Matt and I were given an opportunity for me to apply for a job at our local FSA (Farm Service Agency). We were both happy with our current situation; however, this job would be a pay raise. With our goal of being debt free before having kids this would decrease that happening from 100 years to about 95 years. Okay, that was a lot of sarcasm. So neither of us was sure about whether to apply or not, so Matt suggested I apply and see where it goes. So I did. Next, I received a call to interview. So Matt and I decided I would and see where it went. The morning after the interview I got a call offering me the job. So after a lot of thinking we decided to accept the job. It is a full time temporary job. It's only through March. Unless the government runs out of money before then, then I'll be let go before then. Or the time could be extended. I'm full-time, but on a compressed schedule. This means I work eight 9 hours day, one 8 hour day and have a day off in the pay period.

You're probably thinking this isn't a big deal. Most of America has full time jobs. However, for Matt and I this is a HUGE deal. Matt and I have been married for 11 months and 3 days. We work with each other every day. We talk hourly, if not more, every day. We can go on date nights or date days whenever we want. Rainy days we can sleep in. I'm 22 years old and have NEVER sat in one place for 9 hours straight. I grew up on a family farm and have always been very active. My first day of work, my body ached when I got home from sitting all day. After the first week in our temporary new life I have been more motivated to exercise than I have ever been before, so it's not all bad. Matt and I have been adjusting to being apart and not talking all day. I don't know how you all do it. I miss him so much. I've been doing a lot of filing in the first week which is fairly boring, but it will get better.

Well, that's about all the information about the change in our lives. We're fall calving cows right now. We've been having lots of twins. We don't let the cows raise twins. So that means we have a lot of bottle calves. But, with normal calving operations, we've lost a few for various reasons so we've used a few of them on them and are in the process of getting the cows to adopt the babies.

Okay, so that's about all I've got. Sorry about the shortness and probably let down for not very exciting change news for most, but for us having a full time job is a BIG change that we're still adjusting to. We'll get there.

Hope you all have a great week!

Twins week!

Sunday, sunday, so good to me. It's been a week of twins on our operation. I've been remembering to take lots of pictures so enjoy!

This is some of our fall cattle. Just showing how calm the cattle are. We were cleaning the waterer out so it would be clean for them. 

Do I have a spoiled dog or what? She got Sonic! It was just water, but still!!

Matt thought he could cross here. Obviously not. Made for a good laugh when I went and pulled him out though. 

The first of our twin filled week. We are officially fall calving.  I went and checked them one night. Tagged this baby and everything was good. Went back the next morning and she had another one. So we took this for a spare. 

Twin number 2. Checked cows one night and she had one and was having another. It was getting dark so we brought this one in. I was on babysitting duty and the bugs were biting really bad so I brought her into the bathroom. 

And twin number 3 with Abilene. The first couple calves she wasn't sure about riding in the pickup with. By not sure I mean she road on one side of me while the calf ran on the other side. 

Eventually, they both started getting used to each other. And rode on the same side together. 

Both of the twins in the morning. Matt was fixing their bottles to feed them and I was babysitting on the porch with Abilene. 

Some people have dogs, but Matt has calves. They were running all over the deck playing. 

Full pickup. 2 calves, Abilene and myself. They all rode very nicely.

If you look very closely, that's Matt reading directions. That's all I have to say about this picture, just a man reading directions. Didn't know if there was any other picture in the world with a man reading directions. Wanted to document it. 

This week Margaret and I picante sauce. Margaret had a whole bunch of tomatoes so we made picante sauce. I don't have the recipe right now, but I'll put it in a future blog.

That's all I have for this week! Hope you have a great week!

Interesting Week!

Oh it's Sunday again! What a week it has been! Okay, so let me first preface this blog by my view right now. Miss Congeniality on TV, blog open, Abilene roaming around and a glass of wine. So anything incorrect in this blog is the wine talking! 

What an interesting week it has been for us. There's a lot of pictures this week so I think I'll let them do most of the talking.

I did 4-H for the about 10-11 years. Recently, fundraising efforts have been happening to raise money for new fairgrounds. This past county fair was the last that was held at these fairgrounds. Next year the fair is to move out to the new grounds south of Holton. I happened to be in town when they first started tearing the old barns down. I wasn't that involved in 4-H. I did it, but it wasn't one of my favorite things. However, when I saw the barns being torn down it tore at my heartstrings a little. Knowing how many animals I had put through those buildings. How many steers I spent hours training and selling them through the ring. I'm sure there's a lot of people in Jackson County that is sad about the barns coming down, people a lot more involved in 4-H than I was. Better things are supposed to be coming, but change is always hard.

We're always trying to do land improvement projects so that the land is left in better condition for our children and grandchildren than it was for us. This next picture shows the haybuster blowing straw out on the ground. (Refer to the blogs about feeding cattle last winter to learn how the haybuster works.) We had a pond built to make it easier for the cows to get to water when fenced in certain parts of the pasture. The dirt that was moved to form the pond was put in to a waterway. After the waterway was filled, Matt spread brome seed on it and then blew straw out on the seed. It's just like when you seed your lawn, once the seed is spread you insulate it with straw or some other sort of insulation. The straw helps to make sure that the seed doesn't wash away the first time it rains.

This week we got to see Jeff! He's a truck driver from North Carolina. We stayed with him and his wife on our honeymoon and had a blast! Jeff has a North Carolina accent so you need to pay attention when he's talking, but he is one of the funniest, kind hearted, caring people I know. He hauls cattle from back east to the Midwest then back hauls with a load of our square bales. The pot only has two doors on each level. The hay has to go in through the side. Then when it is in the trailer it gets hauled to each end and stacked just as tight as it can be stacked. Everything except putting it on the flatbed, that all the guys are standing on, is done by hand. It's a very labor intensive job and the bales weigh quite a bit. It's hard to get help to throw the bales because it's such hard job! This time we had Matt Watkins, who worked for the Pagels before we got married, his son Riley, my dad came up to help, a guy from the labor firm in town and Henry, Matt and I. Jeff always helps. He can keep up a running conversation the whole time he's stacking bales! It's incredible, the rest of us are exhausted, but he just keep telling story after story!

So I really really love Matt. And it's stories like these that remind me of that when I'm furious at him.

Matt and I HATE snakes. Like hate! HATE with a capital H A T E. HATE! Doesn't matter if they are 6 inches or 6 feet, we hate them. Did I mention we absolutely hate snakes? I'm a little worse than him, but not a whole lot. Last winter when we were having mouse problems several people suggested we get a pet snake and that would take care of the mouse problem...it would also take care of us living here.

Matt's been working dipping out a pond. There's been a lot of dirt and sediments that filled it up, so while the hoe was there anyway he's been dipping the mud out and building the pond dam back up. So the hoe has been sitting on the pond dike when he's not working and he'll work on it for a while, then something more important will come up so he'll have to leave, then he goes back and works for a while, etc, etc. Well, he headed back down to work on the pond for a while. He was just getting down there and walking across the dam to the hoe when I called to see what my next project was supposed to be. All of a sudden I heard a lot of not very nice words. I thought he hurt himself somehow, but nope just a snake. Apparently it was laying right outside the door on the ground. So my brave husband crawls up the hoe on the other side and crawls through the window to get in the hoe then proceeds to start chasing the snake with the hoe. All the while telling me the step by step of what was happening. Now, I know some of you don't know my husband, but he's 24, somewhere a little shy of 6' probably, lean and very muscular. He's also very quiet. Matt rarely does unnecessary talking (probably why we have fights). To be having a conversation with somebody like this while he's in the hoe (see the picture below-the yellow thing is the hoe) chasing a snake around after he crawled in through a window to avoid the snake, is frankly one of THE funniest things I have been around. After getting the step by step for a little while he hangs up on me. For those of you that have conversations with Pagels on the phone, getting hung up on isn't that much of a shocker. So I wait a full five minutes. I'm thinking the worst at this point...the snake bit him and now he's dying of poison, he tipped the hoe into the pond (sometimes I doubt his hoe operating skills a little too much) and is drowning because he's trapped in the hoe, he tipped the hoe over the steep part of the bank and the hoe crushed him (again with doubting his ability with the hoe), so at this point I'm paranoid and about ready to start running to the pasture (literally running not driving because I'm not thinking rationally, obviously if I was thinking even a little I would know not to do any running since I hate running) so I call my dear husband back and he doesn't answer. I'm one of those people that if you don't answer, I'll just keep calling because if you don't answer the first time maybe on the 26th time I call you, you'll answer. It's been a pretty effective strategy for me in the past. So anyway, he answers on one of the next 10 tries and triumphantly says, "I got it, sweetie. I killed and buried him!" Oh the joy I felt in that moment. I don't think a wife has ever been more proud of her husband than I was of mine in that moment. (For those that don't know me or can't pick up all the sarcasm I'm laying down with that comment...IT'S ALL SARCASM!) For heavens sake, my dear Forever just killed a 4 foot snake with a piece of heavy equipment AND is proud of his accomplishment! And those are the stories that make my life and my husband one of the best out there.

In all fairness, it really does look like it was a vicious snake. Matt said it tried to bite at him when he was getting in the hoe. (and remember that was through a window!) As he explained to me, those hedge balls beside it are unusually large hedge balls. Those hedge balls are like the size of soccer balls so the snake looks a lot smaller than it actually was. However, I was down there later the same day and found just regular size hedge balls so apparently he buried the soccer size ones with the snake. And yes that picture is deleted off my phone and computer so I don't ever happen to run across it and be terrified and have nightmares of snakes for months like I will for a while.

How about another animal story since we're on the topic of animals. This one, however, is much more pleasant. Our dear Abilene...okay correction...my dear Abilene (Matt doesn't like her) got spayed this week. No more puppies for us...ever again. I wanted the puppy experience and I'm getting it, but once is enough. I'm totally okay with adult dogs from now on. Anyway, she got spayed this week so was at the vet for almost exactly 24 hours. She went in Friday morning and I went to get her Saturday morning. She has shown absolutely no sign of being sore so that's a good thing. Ever since I went back to get her she's been hanging a lot closer than she usually does to me. Abilene goes with me everywhere-tractors included. However, normally she lays on the floor. Well, I spent most of Saturday mowing roadsides and weeds and this is where she stayed for a large majority of the day. The picture isn't very good, but she's laying on my lap. They weighed her when she went in and she now weighs 43 pounds. (She was 15 when we got her.) So I have a 43 pound lap dog that slept quite peacefully on my lap in the tractor for most of Saturday. 

I don't do a lot of selfies, but the sky was absolutely beautiful so I thought I would take a minute after checking the fall cows to snap one. Behind me, you can kinda see the roadsides I mowed. I read a farm blog from a girl that had a top 10 list of things that you got used to being a farm girl and one of those was your hair never being where it's supposed to be. In a bun with a headband on, it still gets in my face! And I even cut it  off after we got married! Guess it's a good indication of what way the wind is blowing. That's important to know when you're spraying? Life is all about choosing the right perspective. 

Sorry if you saw this on Facebook already, but Matt and I were really humbled this week. Things in this life can be gone in a blink of the eye. I went on a rare grocery shopping expedition. I came home to put the groceries away and immediately noticed a power line down to the well. So, I immediately called Matt and told him to come home. (I freak out anytime electricity is involved.)  I went on in to the house and smelled something terrible, a smell I had never smelled before. I stowed Abilene in the pen we have and ran the groceries in the house (didn't put them away) just literally ran them inside and ran back outside. Again, me thinking the worst possible scenario, thought there was a gas leak or carbon monoxide and thought the house was going to blow up. Well, Matt assured me when he got here that something got hit in the house and that was the smell. Did I mention a lightning strike caused all this? Anyway, Matt told me to look up our insurance company's number online. (I don't have a smart phone). Tried getting on with my computer, but the internet wasn't working. So upon investigation we found this....

I know a bad picture. But it's a bag of the tissue paper (the kind you put in gift bags). Half of it is burned. We have NO idea how it didn't burn the house down. It was enclosed in a cabinet with the door shut and I had an extra set of glasses shoved next to it and there was a second shelf on top of it so Margaret suggested it might of ran out of oxygen. Whatever the reason, we don't know it. We're just VERY fortunate to have a house left standing. Other than completely freaking me out and having a complete meltdown (Matt was ready to ship me off), the only other damage we could find was an electric fence charger, garage door opener, internet modem and we're suspecting the ice machine on our freezer but the jury is still out on that one. It's been broke before and Matt's fixed it. I don't think the lightning could have affected that when the rest of the fridge and freezer still works, but maybe so. Other than that all the major electronics work (washing machine, dryer, oven, microwave, dishwasher, freezers, fridge, etc.) Thanking our lucky stars that we have a house to sleep in!

The next morning I walked outside and found this beautiful sight to greet me as I went to check the fall cows. A double rainbow. It was a beautiful and welcome sight!

So it's been quite sometime since I've had a recipe. Probably because I don't do a lot of cooking, but this week I had the chance to make deviled eggs. I love deviled eggs, Matt hates them...so more for me. I'm sure everybody has their own spin for deviled eggs and I would love to know some of the variations. Also, if anybody has an easier way to peel them that works, I would love to know that.

For my eggs I put...

Mayo
Mustard
Ranch
Pickle Juice
Salt
Pepper
and of course...
Paprika on top

I don't measure any of the ingredients as I'm sure most of you don't either. Just mix until it tastes right. As per normal with my cooking, it's not the prettiest results, but they taste pretty good.

So that about wraps up our interesting week. I hope this next week is less eventful! Bad storm coming tonight I hear. There's tornado watches in counties just to the west of us. Take proper precautions and be safe! Talk to you next week. And just to mention again...I did change the comment section so anybody should be able to comment, google account or not. If you are unable to, please let me know and I'll try to fix it.  Have a great week.