Before reading my blog below, go read something with some substance. Read Merry Christmas-And No Apology. It's worth your time. Someday I hope to grow up and be like Mike.

Low on Good Dogs

We've had a string of really nice, worthless farm dogs. Andy started visiting here as about an 8 month old pup. He belonged to the neighbors. He resembled a yellow lab but as is the case with all of our farm dogs, he was a mixed breed. His head looked just like a polar bear. The neighbors named him 'Bear'. Bear wouldn't stay home and kept coming to our place. This started about one day after I had told Marilyn that I thought it was about time to start breaking another dog. Our last one was getting old.
We kept calling the neighbors to report that their dog was here and they would keep coming over with the pickup to get him. On the last trip over the neighbor said "Do you want that @#$% dog, he seems to like it here? Without hesitation I said "yeah, I guess he can stay."
We renamed him Andy and he turned out to be the perfect farm dog. He kept his feet on the ground, loved people, and hated racoons and skunks. And we were able to break him of running the cats. (that would be okay with me except the cats keep the rats and mice under control)
He won the Ne State Fair Novice Obedience class with son Tom at the other end of the leash. The silly dog wouldn't work off leash however, and so that's as far as he went. The next level in 4-H is off leash.
Andy loved to ride in our van. He didn't care for it unless he was in a crate. We had a deal there. We don't let dogs ride in our van (we're in the kennel business remember) unless they're in a crate.
The reason I write this is to tell you of this incident. We had the side door open on the van. Just inside the door sat a small cat crate. The crate was so small that a football would have just about filled it. Andy saw his opportunity to go for a ride. All of the stars were in proper alignment for him. The van door was open, the crate sat there on the edge with it's door open and he decided to jump. That's when we realized he was not a good judge of space. Someone yelled "LOOK". We all turned to see Andy with his two back feet on the ground, and his two front paws and his head, filling the crate in the van. You could tell he was hopeful that this was good enough and that we hadn't noticed that he wasn't all the way in.
Right here you're asking what did we do?? Well we did what any farmer would do. We put a large crate in the van and took him for a ride. We didn't want him to be embarrassed.

It's Over

We have had a fantastic holiday.
Char and Ralph were here. It takes a lot to drive out here from Denver but I must say that the laughter makes it all worth it. (of course I wasn't the one driving) Here is a "View From The Porch." It was taken early one morning while Ralph was here. The grass was crunchy with frozen mist. It shows some of my equipment that is just about to disappear into machine sheds for the winter.

Some notes on the weekend:Ralph made homemade cranberry sauce. Really good stuff.

Both turkeys were excellent. The cooks decided that the fried one was superior. We also decided that putting the turkey in brine is the way to go.

My kids were here with the grandaughters for 3 days. What a treat.

Pictionary with my three grown children and their spouses almost cost me my life. At the last second I was able to quit laughing long enough to get a breath. I hate that feeling but man we've raised some funny people.

We held a book signing. Ralph and I each have a book out. We signed them for the guests present. We visited about being authors. We decided that since we had personally purchased all of the books that people went home with, there was going to be a limit to this activity.

There were many friends and relatives who graced our humble abode over the past week. We have thoroughly enjoyed all of them. We are Thankful for all of them and count them as blessings.

The weekend is in the past. We have thunderstorms, rain, and 54 degrees upon rising, on the way to the mid 60's. Thursdays high is going to be in the mid 20's with the low about 10 degrees. It will soon be time to make friends with someone living south of here.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I wish for you and your family a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving.
I've read that you can't outgive God and that if you think you can, just try it.
That's true. And today is set aside to be Thankful. I am, and for so many things we are given in this life to make it so fulfilling.
We're are going to have family here today. Our family from Colorado is here too. Ralph and Char came in last night. Ralph made cranberry sauce. We are going to cook two smaller turkeys. We're going to fix one using Mike's method. I expect great things from that.
We are going to fix one in the deep fat fryer. Neither Ralph or I have experience doing this. I shall report how that went. We plan to do it far enough away from the house so as not to make national news with the resulting fire.

I Have Deep Pockets

It's my khaki's. I bought them from a big and tall magazine. No. I'm just six foot tall.
I think when they make khaki's bigger than normal, they use a ratio. The bigger your pants, the bigger your pockets.
The folks in charge of my pockets, are doubtless heirs of the same people who made Captain Kangaroo's coat.
I keep my billfold in my left, rear, pants pocket. I always have. Well...except for that year my pants didn't have pockets and my favorite song started with the words, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Neru jackets don't go with pants that have pockets. I digress.
Well now with my khaki's, I must stick my left arm in my left, rear pocket, up to about, oh, the ELBOW in an attempt to retrieve my wallet. And it's not that easy. The wallet turns sideways and gets stuck. (they need to look at the width ratio one more time because one should have room for War and Peace on it's side) If I'm standing it's not too bad. The problem comes when I'm seated. I'll jump in the car and my wallet is near the back of my knee. It's uncomfortable under there. So I lean over to the right, stick my left arm in like I was helping a Veterinarian pull a calf, and start to dig. I had one of my boys with me a month ago while performing this procedure. We were driving down a Lincoln street, I'm digging, and he nervously looks left and right for acquintances and says in a yelling whisper, "Dad, what are you doing?" I replied, "Trying to get my billfold so I can buy us dinner at McDonalds." "What's it doing up there?" "Doctors will do that for you Dad, but they'll use a glove" Then he said "Dad, stop it, I'll buy and for crying out loud get a money clip."
Well that's my problem but I don't have time to worry about it. I'm headed back to Lincoln. The boys want me to come down. They said "Dress casual Dad, you know, jeans and a golf shirt." They must need help in the shop. I can tell by the way they want me to wear jeans.

Customer Appreciation Party at the Body Shop!

This was during the 2nd quarter of the Ne vs Texas A&M game. The game is being projected onto the wall. The flash from this pic washed it out. You're looking at about half of the people. It looks like a quiet bunch of folks. Pictures can be deceptive. I was stationed all day near where Marilyn was standing when she snapped this picture.



Two of our kids. Dan owns the shop and his sister came to help with the party. Dan has a look in his eye that indicates he's up to something. It's because he usually is... Unless he's asleep.



















This is me slicing meat. I cooked it all, the day before,(all 70# of it) refridgerated it over night, and then sliced it and dropped it into hot, thickened aus jus, just before making the sandwiches.
I have found that if cooked correctly in the most basic of manners, a top sirloin roast or smoked salmon, will evoke questions like, "Wow, is this prime rib?" or "Do you have a secret?" or "Tell me exactly how you did this." I'll guarantee you that if I did it,,,there wasn't much effort put into it.

My daughter came over to relieve me of my duties late in the afternoon. As it turned out it was just in time for me to watch the most exciting 2 minutes of football in about a decade of Husker football. She may take an increasing role in this annual event. I'm pretty good at sharpening knives. I'll do that. She can slice and serve the meat. I'm guessing we'll need more meat if she slices. Which of these two would you rather get a sandwich from??

Dan and Tom have this business on a roll because they do good work and they know how to treat customers. Good party!!

Overheard

At yesterdays board meeting, two of our members who are both from the Swedish Capital of Nebraska, (a neighboring town) were visiting about a mutual friend who had dealt them both fits over the past few weeks. One of the men said, "Well you know what they say, you can always tell a Swede...you just can't tell him much."

When I first started dating Marilyn, she was different from every girl I'd met to that point...she would go out with me.
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The party was a success. 70# of meat was just right. Ten smoked salmon was three too many. Four big sheet cakes was two too many if there is also several pans of bars. Eighty five chairs was about right with all of those tables. Having Nebraska come from behind to win with 20 seconds left in the game. Priceless.
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Maybe later on the pictures. I haven't even had time to download them.

SALUTE!!

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. It's being commemorated in our hometown today in two different programs. We owe all of our freedoms to these brave men, past and present. A great big Thanks to them and to YOU if you are one!!
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It is raining, and 36 degrees right now. Think about that.
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A deer hunter drove in a few minutes ago and parked and got out to go sit in a tree in this rain. Think about that.
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I will pack away my bikini later today. You probably shouldn't think about that.
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Tomorrow is the annual Morrow Collision Center customer appreciation party. Food, drinks, fellowship, and the Nebraska vs Texas A&M football game projected on the large north wall of the building. You are invited. The down side to this is that in the likely event that A&M wins, it will effectively shut down the party.
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I have 10 salmon laying on the kitchen counter waiting to see what the inside of my smoker looks like. They have also been invited to the party.
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I am going to town in a few minutes to pick up 70# of steak blocks for tomorrow's party. I will cook them today. If you're coming to the party, don't eat before you come.
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Farming will have to wait till Monday.
Yes I'll have some pics of the party.

Eleven months out of the year I complain to Marilyn about this overgrown bush. It obstructs the southern view from our closed in deck/sunroom. I often threaten to pull the loader tractor up and throw a log chain around it's base and drag it out of there.
The color the bush turns in the fall... is the bush's way of telling ol Cliff...to shove it.

Views From Around the Farm

This is my oldest Brother pulling in the last load of corn for 2006. Notice the extreme ruts we've made by pulling corn down a soft field road. This land was irrigated and then added to it were the late season rains to make the field more or less like running heavy equipment on a water bed. This unit was only stuck in the mud one time. This good record due to a good operator at the wheel.
Marilyn shot this a couple of mornings ago. The harvest is over and the machinery is getting a bath before being stored away till next season. That's our combine on the left, the grain cart in the middle, and the tractor and disk on the right.

Brother Ed is on the combine and that's me on the ground. Ed has run the combine for me since time immemorial... Okay, at least since I've been farming.
The two Brothers above (the one in the top pic and Ed) both live locally and the one not pictured is from the Omaha area. He comes up when called and can operate everything on the farm including the combine.