Yesterday was a splendid day out here, IF you like gale force winds with blowing dust! My eyes still feel like sand paper!

Today is totally at the other end of the extreme! It is crisp, it is bright, it is lovely!

We didn't get as cold as they had thought we might. They had predicted upper teens for us. The lowest I heard this morning was mid-twenties! Thank goodness!

Things are going pretty well. The harvest continues, as does the ginning. We are now ten days behind. That doesn't sound good, but it is a little insurance just in case we have some inclimate weather to prevent us from getting caught up and just staring at one another!

I have one forklift operator living in one of the other travel trailers here. So far he is a real work. He can't light a water heater. He wanted to know how he lights his cook stove. And has had several issues that most people wouldn't even mention to someone else. This morning he told me his water was cut off. No I explained, it is not off, it is frozen. Three of us had gone by to tell him to leave a faucet dripping when he went to bed, but he was not at home.

Krl and I have already whipped out hourly payroll. We are just about normal working hours now. These guys ranged from 83 to 86 hours. 84 would be the norm. I am glad because the last few weeks despite the big checks some were making, I was afraid I was going to burn them out!

We talked with Rian yesterday and finalized the order for the Thanksgiving meal. He is buying the turkeys (8), hams (10 spiral halves), the whole kernel corn, sliced jalapenos, and deluxe creamy potatoes. We toyed with the idea of buying the dressing but when Rian researched it, it was a mix that required mixing and cooking. I was pretty sure Krl would say if we had to do all that, we would just fix her special squash dressing. She concurred.

Rian helping with the meal has made it a lot easier. We have steamlined the process over the years. We know we can count on Frank and Nancee. Any other help is a bonus.

So we will probably begin buying cornbread mixes and other supplies if we go to town this weekend. I have had a couple of volunteers to cook some cornbread. In the past I have cooked all of it in the meeting room of the office in my BIG cast iron skillet (it does six mixes at a time).

I made my rounds this morning, drank coffee and visited in the office for a while before I returned to the trailer. When I returned, I cooked oatmeal, biscuits, and warmed up left over bacon. It was delicious on this cool morning out here!

Well, truck and driver settlements are waiting. Have a good weekend.

FATHER, thank YOU for a beautiful morning. I pray for safety, for productivity. Lead us on!