Tues Feb. 9

2/9/10 Denny dropped me off at the unit again. Just don't trust my car on the ice. It's frustrating to not go any where and not be in a drift... just on ice. I finished processing the last 500 pigs. and finished fixing all the heat lamps. Denny stopped after work and gave me a ride home. Almost 12 hours at the unit is plenty. But you can get alot done. Mark's shoulder continues to bother him. NO home school meeting, no motorcycle meeting. Denny changed oil in the generator at the unit before we headed home for box pizza.
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Mon Feb 8

2/8/10 Let's see. I was suppose to get my oil changed in the Malibu at 8 this am. I got up at 5 and went with the pickup to do my feeding of the mamas. I was home to get ready with Denny. I backed out the Malibu which had been in the lean to of the machine shed. And the car couldn't get enough traction to drive up to the house. The plan was to follow Denny to highway 175 then proceed east to IG. Well, because the car had no traction, so Denny had to come out and drive it while I pushed it. It gotup to the driveway and Denny went back in to finish getting ready for work. I followed him north. It was windy and medium high drifts that the pickup broke thru so I could follow it okay. Not my idea of fun so I visited with Denny and then turned around and headed home. Made it past home... to the unit... where the car ended on a patch of ice ... and would go no further. Mark helped me get it going and he drove it home. I rode back to the unit with him. I processed about 550 pigs from 11-5;30. Denny came and picked me up at work. I rode home with him. He had gotten chicken for supper. We had a bite, then went out and replaced an o ring on the hydraulic on the tractor. The electricity doesn't work to the machine shed since the power outage. I got to hold a flash light. It got fixed surprisingly fast. Then to bed for me. Texas on Thurs night is looking very good. I was shot. Darlene T. called to ask if I would be a co chairman of a refreshment committee... not good timing on her part. She didn't know. I was too tired to say yes to the job.

Sun Feb. 7

2/7/10 Look at that nice bunch of party-ers!! 6 great grandparents 4 grand parents, a great aunt and uncle, an uncle and a first cousin (once removed) ...plus 2 parents and a sibling. Today we went to church and some of SS. At home I made soup, Denny rested, then tried to move snow. He said the bobcat and tractor are not working right. Stayed home to watch Super bowl and work on stuff.

Sat Feb 6 800

2/6/10 After getting up early and working at the unit. Then studying the weather forecast and driving to the closest hard surface road, we decided to head to Parkersburg. Howard and Anabel rode along with us to the 2 year Anabel's birthday party. We got there about noon with 2 salads and 2 cakes. What a nice birthday girl!...and the party was really nice too. Great soup, veggies, cheese crackers. Good to see and visit with all 17 of the family. We got home about 7 pm. Long day for Denny with driving stress. I had a niced long [phone visit with Molly S. tonight.

Fri Feb 5

2/5/10 107 sows have had babies. In a way that is surprising. Last July the plan was that the unit would be emptied now. After 2 months with no farrowing, we now have another 4 groups of sows bred to have babies. One with 147 sows, one with 130, one 110, and one with 66. We'll have to see. God knows the future, I just need to be faithful with what I can do. Four months ago Mark said he would try to put groups of sows back together. Today he fixed the broken pipe in the wash rack so I could spray down the hall after we moved gilts to the B&G building. Yesterday he hurt his bad shoulder while he was moving animals by himself. He said luckily he doesn't work this weekend so he can stay home and ice it. Hope that will help. It would be tough to put an injured employee in the mix. I started the fire in the coop and we ate spaghetti out there tonight.

Thurs Feb. 4 755

HAPPY TWO YEAR OLD BIRTHDAY ANABEL!!! You are a real gift to us. Hope your day was great. I got a pet carrier out of an outside shed when I was at the folks for coffee. Howard has a kitten that he likes and Anabel has a kitten that likes her. He is going to get both treated at the vet. He gets a notion and just goes with it. I went to Bible study at Susan's this afternoon. It was good to catch up with Sue, Ginny, and Brenda. I've missed them. Please keep Teresa in your prayers. Her cancer treatments are rough. My heart just aches for my brave family and friends that are battling or have battled in many different areas of their lives. This song keeps running thru my head. "May all who come behind us find us faithful. May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe and the lives we live inspire them to obey." Thanks for the many lives I have been blessed to be a part of. Thanks for your faithfulness and gratefulness in all situations. Your lives are an inspiration to me.

Wed. Feb. 3

2/3/10 The last 2 mornings when I leave the folks after coffee and head up to the unit to work there has been a deer in the road. Monday morning it was standing right in the middle of the intersection of 300th and Orchard. It's outline was to the left and the Angus bull outline on the "Johnson Brother Purebred Angus since 1904" sign was on the right. I wish I would have had my camera. I worked on getting a couple meals freezer ready to go to Paulsruds. It was a good Awana tonight. It has been a long time since I was there. The kids still like to play games, if you can believe that. While we were in Brownsville there was an American Days meal. See the gals in red. Fried chicken, potatoe Salad, baked beans and brownies. Jean came the next day.