October 2011

What a delicious, varied and beautiful month October can be! The early days were golden and warm, allowing Mark and Hilde to finish the chicken run fence, paint and hang a new front door and clean up the lawn. Since one of Mark’s cases in Minnesota settled, the month was available for lots of other things. They took one day early in the month to go visit the woods in Lomira, stopping in Neshkoro --> and Green Lake to revel in the colors and light on the water. The Lomira woods is tangled and needs lots of work, but the dense maple cover makes for a serene and beautiful setting. Stopping by for some Widmers cheese topped the day!

It was still warm for the World Dairy Expo down in Madison, which three other from First Law Group attended also. It is always fascinating to see the newest machinery and the best of the line bovines . This year we saw a day-old calf and another was being produced.

All month Mark and Hilde cleaned up the last of the harvest: lots of fresh tomato soup was enjoyed and frozen for winter, and the pear crop was so very good! Neighbors and friends received visits from the ‘pear fairy’ and got little bags of sweet juicy fruit, and the last of the pears went into a wined compote using fresh cranberries for the tangy component. Cooking with fresh fruits and vegetables is so satisfying! The carrot crop was small enough that Hilde dug it herself, and the squash were fine quality this year.

NOT being in trial meant that Mark and Hilde actually got to attend social events also: the lovely outdoor wedding of Ben Nummelin and Kimberly Richardson at Powers’ Bluff and the happy gathering for Paul Onan’s 60th. There was also time for cutting and splitting wood (after getting the splitter starter to work finally!), both senior master Henkels were able to assist at taekwondo testing and Hilde didn’t miss a month of meetings.

The month ended with a flurry of activity as Mark had a farm visit in Campbellsport (Hilde looked at cemeteries and tried to find Scheid properties), went back to Minnesota for a couple of days, shared a dinner with Evie’s parents, Kathy and Tony, and then returned to Rudolph as Coach Fritz and some delightful track stars from Luther Prep visited.

John and Evie had a fairly quiet month since John had a long, nasty cold, but Jim and Kayme were out and about with Rhiannon, who is walking very well for 10 months old. They took her to a wedding in Mo (with a visit to cousin Heidi), camping in New York and then to a pumpkin patch where she tried hard to pick a large pumpkin, settled for gnawing on a smaller one, played with a calf and had a great day.

The month went out with a bang as Mark and Hilde turned their attention to their hunting land and spent three days out there, clearing trees fallen on the trail and building and erecting another tree stand. On the way home, a large buck decided to try to jump over the car and trailer, but didn’t make it. He hit the trailer hard and the ground harder, so the month ended with Mark and Hilde butchering a nice 7 point buck. Finally, the last day of October, the balance kits were installed in the front room windows: no more sticks holding them up! The month was filled with blessing for which to give thanks.