As I reported last week we got rain. That and the cooler temperatures have continued off and on all week. We had been so dry that I hadn't gotten the mower out for several weeks but once the grass got a little moisture it jumped right up there. By the time I mowed my yard on Friday the seed heads on the grass were knee high.
A GOOD REPORT. Pauline went back to the orthopedic surgeon on Thursday. We have been preparing ourselves for the worst news and were pleasantly surprised about the optimistic tone of his report. They took an x-ray of her foot and the bone is starting to mend. He said the big concern was to get the swelling to go down even more which would just take time. He hopes she can be in a walking boot in a few months and progress from there to a diabetic shoe. It may take a while to get there but at least Pauline has a promising goal to work toward.
THE THRESHERMEN'S SHOW. I decided to work on Friday and only went out to the Threshermen's Show for lunch that day but Jenna, Ben and I spent the whole day there yesterday. (Vicki needed to do some shopping and since I was not going to be able to keep up with Nate every moment he went with her.)
Uncle Paul had a big day at the show. Back in 1969-1970 he was one of a group of people who got together to organize the show. He is the only surviving member of that group today. Yesterday he was the Grand Marshall of the parade and a bit later he was presented with a plaque to commemorate his involvement with the show. Uncle Paul is 92 and drove himself to the show (about 25 miles from his home) both days.
When you run antique equipment that you can't easily get replacement parts for you always hope everything holds together. The steam engine and separator ran well again this year. The worst thing to happen is that the drive (the 8 inch wide belt that runs between the engine and separator) began to rip near its seam and the rip was 3/4 of the way across the belt when the separator was shut down for the last time. (Had the belt broke it probably would have simply dropped to the ground because it is so heavy.) This is one of the few parts that is still relatively easy to fix or replace.
Jackie had to have surgery on his leg this week which left Charlie, his son-in-law, doing all they setup work the normally do together by himself. I know this week has worn Charlie out but when he finally gets home and gets things back to normal he should feel a great sense of accomplishment. He did a great job carrying on.
One of the things I like about the show is visiting with relatives I don't get to see much. And since I have been going for several years now I have met others who are part of the show. As always it was a lot of fun to catch up with everyone.
Jenna and Ben had a great time visiting all their cousins. As we were getting ready to go I looked at Ben and thought that if dirt were any indication of how much fun he had this day should be a highlight of the summer for him. All the kids got to ride in the parade, eat, pet the animals in the petting zoo, ride the ponies, eat, see the model railroad exhibit, eat, blow the whistle on the steam engine (Jenna declined this) and feed wheat into the separator. At one point someone put them in the grain wagon and they spent at least 20 minutes in there (imagine playing in a large sandbox but filled with wheat seed instead). Then they discovered the straw stack.... When they started playing on the straw stack it was about 20 feet in diameter and about 10 feet tall (want to play King of the Hill?).
Speaking of wheat, both of Ben's pockets were full of it. This was discovered by his bewildered mother as it poured into the pile of dirty laundry. I even had to dump out his booster seat this morning before church.
If you've never been to the Threshermen's Show before and this sounds like fun you should mark July 14-15 on next year's calendar.
Joe
