Tom & Brenda's Family Journal

I could describe my last few months in a few simple words it could be grandchildren snow & cold fun family events I volunteer in Anna's fourth grade classroom every week working with struggling readers.  It is so much fun because each time starts and ends with a hug from Anna.  Anna's teacher gave me a gift card for Barnes and Noble for Christmas so Anna and I went there to spend it.  That was a treasured activity for me. On December 14th, our number of grandchildren went from 4 -5 with the arrival of Savida Monroe to Eric and Sarah.  Savi started with a few blood sugar issues but quickly overcame those and now is a healthy, contented baby who is  joy to us.  Savi is nearby in Grand Rapids so we can see her often.  She loves to cuddle and hardly ever fusses.  She is really one of the best babies I have ever seen. Our winter has been unusally harsh.  All schools are closed again today and tomorrow looks...

Here's a collage of pictures to show you what we have been doing this past few weeks.  I'm not good at arranging photo in the blog so the activities may be out of order.  Sunrises and boats are favorite photographs of mine.  Here I combine them.  We spend time every day visiting with our neighbors.  This is Eileen and Paul Williams from Engadine.  Eileen's sister lives next to us.  Paul and Tom really enjoy doing projects together.  Last week they buried an electric line to our small barn.  We also enjoy sightseeing around the UP.  Jennifer was with us for a few days so we went exploring down the river.  These pictures were taken at Raber which we found out was a thriving town of about 500 homes back when lumbering was big business here. July 4th was a big family celebration of Tom and Robbie's , my nephew, birthday.  The picnic was at Susie and Roger's place.  It was a beautiful warm day whic...

 Just wanted to give you a picture tour of our place on the St. Marys River.  The above shot was takenTuesday morning about 6:30 am.  I'm so glad I was awake and was able to see the beautiful sunrise.  Fifteen minutes later it was gone. The rose trees are in full bloom.   This is our mock orange tree which is just coming into bloom.  It fills our whole yard with a wonderful scent.  Each morning the Canada geese float by.  If our presence isn't made known, they will come up into the yard and eat.  Tom works hard at keeping them out. This time every year, a school of fish come into the shallow water and churn it up.  I don't know anything about them-the species or what they are doing.  I think they may be spawning.  This has been happening as long as I can remember.  When I was young, I tried to catch one but was never successful.   The next three pictures are from my 45th Class reunion wh...

This has been a big week for Busy B's Farm.   After 60+ years of starting guard over the farm, the silo was worn out and had become a danger for anyone in the yard.  Big chunks of concrete would occasionally fall off the top without warning.  It was very clear that removal was our only option. I took a few pictures from inside the silo in the past few days. Looking up the silo from the inside The ladder which Tom climbed daily as a youngster to shovel  down silage. Tommy and his family and our neighbors all gathered to watch from a safe distance. The work started with taking off the granary off from around the silo. Once the granary was taken off, Dave, the contractor, used a sledge hammer to knock holes in the bottom of the silo.  He had a chain attached to guide the direction of the fall.  The plan worked well. This video shows the last two swipes with the sledge hammer.  But there were many swipes before that. ...

 Busy B's Farm-When we bought Tom's parent's farm in 2010, we decided to bring back the name Tom remembered from his childhood.  We aren't sure if we have it exactly right, but we are definitely busy Benedicts, so we are going with Busy B's Farm. The barn was standing when Wally and Marge purchased the farm in 1948 from a couple of bachelors.  Family lore tells us that the men held poker games to get  money to build and add to the house.  I have no idea if any of that is true, but it makes a great story. Wally added the silo to the barn shortly after moving here.  The silo has stood faithfully for at least 60 years.  In 1959 the cows were sold and the need for the silo ended. A few years ago our barn was voted by the community as the prettiest barn in Bowne Township.  We have been very proud of the barn and every morning we enjoy the view of the field and barn out the breakfast nook windows. Time changes things.   But the wor...

Tom gave me the count from the field this morning.  One deer, two Canada geese, two sandhill cranes and four turkeys. Looking out our back window, he was watching the wildlife in our field.  The corn was just planted this week, so we still have a clear view of our early morning visitors. Our farm is situated just right for bird watching.  There is a swamp to our east which gives birds a place to nest and live.  We also have several bushes and small trees around the garage and house which gives the birds cover so they can fly in and eat. We really enjoy watching the birds and the number of feeders in the yard shows just how much. There are five feeders in front of the family room window and seven more over by the garage.  All 12 feeders stay busy all winter long with a variety of species.  There are book identification books by each window so you can look up any unusual sightings. Last December we had a visitor to the feeder that was looking fo...