Normally Tuesday Is Luncheon Day

I am part of a group of women that came together out of loneliness. We are an Internet forum of local ladies that interacted on the "Net." We have taken the next step and are now interacting on a real life level and meet for several types of activities.

We do luncheons, coffees, a book club, and children's play groups. We had an end of Summer picnic and are in the throes of putting together a children's Halloween party.

I am looking forward to having a Christmas party

Normally Tuesday is luncheon day.

I am very involved with these Moms and their children. I am a Mother/Grandmother figure to many of the gals. So today when I wasn't at the luncheon I received several queries concerning my whereabouts.

I am touched that my absence was so noted.

I don't know if I am sorry or glad to have missed the luncheon today. One of my favorite gals who always seems to make me laugh wrote this about the luncheon today.

Her daughter was playing in the play area of our luncheon location and decided to just drop her drawers and pop a squat. This now mortified mom gets to clean poop off the playground equipment and her daughter. Seems the little lady is terrified of the automatic toilets in this facility. Luckily, with so many other moms at the luncheon, wipes, pullups, sanitizer and poop bags were readily available. Can you say moms springing into action??????

OMG.... I would have busted a gut if I was there at the time.

Trier/Paris

Well we ended up not going to Trier yesterday.

I got up early and started to research Paris and hotels an the ICE train and got lost in the details.

I kept going round and round with the Germany trains website. It wouldn't let me book seats on the train to Paris. Thinking that maybe the seat were all sold out I check other days. Nope. No luck there. So I requested seats a month from now. Same results of not being able to purchase seats.

Feeling really frustrated I called Spousal Unit and got his voice mail. I left a detailed message of all my frustrations and hoped he would get back to me soon.

I looked at the time and realized that going to Trier for the day was outta there. It was 10:30 and "Rent a Kid" was still in bed. I also wanted to get Paris all lined up. Time was running out for securing reservations. Paris is the only thing the Kid wanted to do while here. So I got her up. Told her to get dressed to go to base.

Well in the end we got the ICE train tickets and a hotel reservation and are going to Paris.

More to follow.

Me Being A Ditzoid Is One Scenario That I Can Live With

Whew. I just got back from the airport.

I got up early this morning to go get my "Rent a Kid" from the airport. She is my Gal Pal Tammy's daughter. You know her father as Mr. Determination from earlier posts. Well anyway, "Rent a Kid" was going through a rough patch and I said, "Come on down." So she did/is. (I borrowed her for a Mother/daughter banquet years ago and she has been my "Rent a Kid" ever since.)

So with much anticipation, I got up and did all that boring morning stuff really early this morning. I am an early riser, but have been slacking recently. Why get up so early when the snuggly bed calls to me?

I anticipated that she would be thirsty so I packed some water, got my GPS system out of the van, and was good to go.

I looked outside and said, "Oh yuck, Its raining. Can't I ever go to the airport when it isn't raining or snowing?" I hopped into Blackie and off I went. Blackie is fun to drive, so I was looking forward to the drive up and back. On the autobahns, Blackie is really, really fun to drive. Little Black Mercedes roadsters are like that.

I made it to the airport in plenty of time. I took the time this morning to check the flight schedule and verified that the plane was landing 1/2 hour early and planned accordingly.

I walked into the Arrival area 5 minutes after the plane landed and knew it would take her about 1/2 hour to collect luggage and go through customs.

So I waited. And waited. And waited. An hour after the plane landed, I still didn't have my "Rent a Kid." I called Spousal Unit. He recommended I give it another 1/2 hour and then page her in the airport. "She probably was having a problem with her luggage." He is a wise man so I did what he suggested.

No "Rent a Kid."

By now, I am in PANIC mode.

I call Spousal Unit again. "Go home and call Tammy and see if she emailed me and I missed it or if she missed a connection." He went home.

I go up to the airlines counter and am told the airline personnel have already gone home. I REALLY lose it.

A few minutes later my pocket starts to vibrate and ring. It is Spousal Unit. He says, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you got to the airport in a timely manner and had a good practice run on going to the airport."

"The bad news is that you get to do it again tomorrow. I checked the itinerary and she leaves today and gets in tomorrow morning."

That is the best news he could have given me at that time. Of all the scenarios running through my head, me being a Ditzoid is one scenario that I can live with.

So I Know How To Get There Too

Went walking yesterday. OMG halfway into the walk I wanted to die. I don't know what's going on, but the butt, the hips, and upper thighs were really burning. I think we are picking up the pace of the walks and I need to get used to the faster walk. I think.

I also went to one of the play groups yesterday that young moms have to socialize the kids and themselves. I knew all the gals that would be there so felt comfortable going. I really got to meet the munchkins and interact with them. The convo turned to me wanting and needing a baby. NO, NOT NOW. NOT ANYTIME IN THE FUTURE. I really don't want to raise a grand baby at this point in my life. The munchkins are cute and fun, I just don't want any of my own now.

I got home and barely had a chance to boot up the 'puter when I got IMed by a gal pal. She was supposed to be leaving late Summer/early Fall. Because of a glitch the family will be staying another year. Yeah for me, Boo for her. She is so ready to go back to the land of Wal-mart.

I fixed a really tasty dinner last night. Buffalo chicken wings, baked in the oven, spaetzle with cheese, and a huge salad. Major hit with the Spousal Unit. Might need to put the chicken wings on the rotation of dinners. Super easy to fix too.

Today I was super lazy. So lazy that I didn't shower until I got an email that said I was welcome to the Freecycle items I requested. I replied that I could be there as soon as I got cleaned up and fly over the mountain. I showered, dressed, grabbed a bottle of water, programed the GPS and off I went.

Going over the mountain was absolutely breathtaking. The rapeseed is in bloom. Whole fields of brilliant yellow with a backdrop of deep luscious green. It was the first time driving this road so I wasn't comfortable stopping for pictures. Will try to get some tomorrow. Cause......

I was able to "Kill two birds with one stone." Tomorrow I am meeting some ladies I have befriended in Spousal Unit's section and we are going antiquing and then to lunch. Where I went for the Freecycle items today is just past the Antique Store. So I know how to get there too.

It Is A Salvation.

I've been in a different, weird place recently. Spousal Unit has been super busy at work, so I have been left to my own devices. That is sometimes not a good thing for me. My devices can get rather "outer space. "

Luckily, I didn't go too outer space recently. I planted my garden, pulled lots of weeds. Did I mention lots of weeds???? I really want to meet the landscaper that put this place together. He/she sucks and really needs to refund any commission they earned. Can you say killer dandelions half as tall as me where the weed block was all cut up? The place isn't even a year old. ??????

I went out to lunch with a couple of gals I have met on the Internet. The group is growing. We are the "Ancients." Gals with no munchkins during the day. Can you say day trips and coffees and luncheons. That sounds so shallow.

But, for us gals that haven't been able to find gain full employment, it is a salvation.

Move over Jack Bauer

I have yet another conversation with myself while IMing a friend.

What's up?
7:40 AM

Me
TabbyCat is Available
(7:54 AM)
OK I really like talking to myself, actually I like typing to myself. Ho hum now I am boring myself.
8:06 AM
OK I'm leaving for a moment. I need to refresh the Underground site to see if anyone is on yet. Not that anyone has been on. Just need to check.
8:08 AM
Nope not really any activity yet. Just a rant about the BX and fat lady clothes.
8:09 AM
I am getting rather good chatting with myself. Don't ya think?
8:09 AM
Yes, you are.
8:10 AM
So what do you want to do today?
8:10 AM
Oh I don't know. I should go to the commi and get some lunchmeat and salad fixins.
8:10 AM
And I need a new hose so I could go to Prakiter. Also look at the flowers while I was there.
8:11 AM
Oh the Euro store. I could check that out. Hadn't heard about that before.
8:12 AM
If I go to the commi, don't forget to put the cooler bag into the van, in case ya want to stop somewhere on the way home.
8:12 AM
Must not have had enough coffee this morning. Starting to get hungry. Way too early.
8:13 AM
Hmm. If I can hold off for a while maybe I can go out to lunch.
8:13 AM
Nah. Don't like to go out to lunch alone.
8:14 AM
Maybe someone might like to go out to lunch with me. I am really hungry for some soup and salad. And I heard of a really good restaurant up near Vogelweh. Nah. I still need someone to go to lunch with to enjoy it.
8:15 AM

I feel like I have my own version of 24. Move over Jack Bauer.

We Are The Ancients

One of the things I do to pass my time is to monitor a local chat room populated, for the most part, by local SAHMs. These are people that don't get out too much for various reasons. I have met some of the people on the site and they are nice gals. But.... they are soooooo young, with young children. As I said very nice, but I am at a different place in my life now. I do not have young children. I enjoy time with them, but they are not able to get out for adult time often.

Well the young gals schedule play groups at different parks and places for their children to get out and for them to have some grownup talk. I think this is great for them. It is not for me. So when one of the ladies mentioned that she is so Old I jumped on the bandwagon and mentioned that we need a play group for grown ups. Hence the Ancients. We scheduled a date and it was held this morning.

We got together for coffee a Laja's (Pronounced Lia -with a long I) house this morning. TabbyCat was riding with me and got a little behind on time because of traffic, construction, and that her GPS tried to send her down several cow paths. (Being from Georgia, TabbyCat thought that any path that is paved is a true road. Where she's from none of the roads are paved. So she was a little disoriented getting here.) Well she finally made it but was just a tad late.

I was ready for her when she got here and we just hopped into the van and took off for the coffee. I wanted to stop to pick up some flowers to give to Laja as a thank you for inviting us; we really appreciate the chance to finally get together; and it's just a nice thing to do, so I stopped at the gas station on the way and found a really pretty bouquet. It was a little disconcerting at first because it seemed that every bouquet had some red roses in it. Red roses are a no no. Red roses are for lovers. While I had met Laja the day before and think she is a hoot, and really like her, we are not lovers. Ah, then I found a perfect bouquet. Pinks and yellows. Just right for a Spring day. I purchased them and off we went again.

We arrived a little after 10:30 am. I called to let her know we were going to be a few minutes late. Laja is German and in Germany it is considered rude to arrive late. And, I do not like to appear as rude. She said, no problem since one of the other gals was lost. She would be outside to guide us all in.

We all arrived at the same time and introduced ourselves around.

Allison, Laja, She Who, and TabbyCat.

It turns out that I had met Allison several months ago at another friends house. I didn't remember at first and then the memory flooded back. Us old people have that problem from time to time, so forgive me.

TabbyCat took this picture before she figured out how to take a delayed photo. Its my camera, but she had to figure out the function. I just wish she showed me how to do it too.

I can't remember a time I had so much fun. We laughed and told stories for hours. Its like we collectively looked at the time and gasped..... had four hours passed so quickly????? Well yes it had. That's how much fun we had.

We plan on doing this again. Soon. I also hope that the other gals that wanted to join us this morning can make it next time. But for now:

We are the "Ancients."

So Claudia, My Whole Life Friend

A gal pal commented on my Facebook page, in a very sarcastic manner, that poor me was having the time of my life.  Yeah, yeah.  Living in Europe is a laugh a minute.  Actually many times and most of the time it is really awesome. I do love living in Europe.

But the reality of living here is blurred by other people's ideas.  I live here just like I would live at home in the states.  The week goes by and then the weekend arrives.  But in the states a job is a lot easier to come by.  So my reality is that I do not work at the moment.  I do not have any children to care for.  I am bored with my life most days. 

Since I do not have the boys here there is little for me to do during the day.  I no longer have the mountains of laundry to do.  There is only so much I am able to clean.  I could probably dust a little more often, but I have always felt that dust is a protective covering for the furniture.  I am not going to change that feeling anytime soon.

Yes, I play Suzy Homemaker for the Spousal Unit, but he is starting to gain some weight so I need to back off the cooking a little bit.  Though some banana bread sounds pretty good at the moment.

The weekends are great.  Spousal Unit and I try to do something every weekend.  It may only be a walk around the lake in town or a drive around the area.    We get out and we are together.

So Claudia, my whole life friend, yes, I am enjoying my life living in Europe.  But... I am ready for the Sabbatical from work to end.  

I Got To See What Was Available For The Next Time

I really enjoyed the girls weekend. I met some really nice ladies and got to better know the lady that organized the trip. I had met her before since she is the spouse of a man with whom Spousal Unit works. She is a very kind and gentle lady that has a passion for shopping. When I say passion, I mean it. She is a lady driven when it comes to finding the perfect piece.

Here she is, Lisa and the gal directly to my right is Carolyn, concentrating on a game she taught us. The game is played with cards and is a mixture of Yahtzee and Rummy. I warned her that I have beginners luck. I won.

Here are a couple of other gals that went for the shopping. We got a little silly playing the game and drinking a little wine and beer. We ended up staying in the brasserie entirely too late for an early morning wake up. But we had a good time.

The first day of shopping was in a covered mall area. Everything imaginable was available for sale. I kinda like the hot dog sculpture. I really wanted to buy him and put him in my front hallway. I figure if he is there the next time I go, its fated that we need to be together. The other little guy is a replica of the Mannikin Piss fountain that is located in Brussels.

Here we are out and about in Tongeren. That's me in the middle of Yolanda and Shonna.

Here is yet another picture of a pretty church/cathedral. I am still in my awestruck period. I know from experience that I will be rather blase about cathedrals and castles in a year or two.

All in all I met my goals for this trip. I got out and had a really good girls weekend. I had my hot chocolate several times. I had a Belgium waffle, not anywhere as good as the one I had in Brussels, but I had one. I also got to see what was available for the next time I got on a shopping adventure.

I Scored. Again?

Today has been periods of hectic moments and then blocks of time that I just sit and wait for an email to come in.

I have successfully avoided the dusting of the furniture and the dust bunnies are alive and well and doing what all bunnies do best...multiplying. My housecleaning skills, at times are like a fine wines. Only ageing will tell the outcome.

Part of my hectic moments came from me sleeping several hours after I normally rise in the morning. I usually get up at 5:00-5:30. Why you ask? Cause that's when I wake up and can't usually fall back to sleep. Well, this morning I didn't wake up till almost 8:00 and it screwed up my whole morning.

I like to get up and go downstairs to have a glass of orange juice while waiting for the water to boil for my coffee. I make my coffee in one of the Melitta pots, where you pour boiling water over the coffee grounds and it trickles into a glass pot. It is a very strong, full flavored coffee, with no frills attached. In this sense I am a major coffee snob. I grind my beans every morning and then do the water bath thingee.

All while this is occurring I usually start to read my morning paper. After the news I work the crossword, Cryptoquip, and Word Scramble. This is my routine and I have kept this routine for many, many years. I may be up early in the morning, but I can't really be considered to be part of the human race at that time.

So this morning, because I slept late, I couldn't do much more than brew the coffee to drink after my shower and while fixing hair and makeup stuff. True, I came upstairs to check my email. In my inbox was a message from a garage sale site about a 22o volt treadmill for sale. Only 175.00. Holy crap Batman, can you say I jumped on it and emailed back, pick me, pick me, ooh ooh, pick me.

I had just started into the conversation about information on the treadmill. On these sites, and in the stores on base, if you see something you need, buy it then or it is gone. (too many people and not enough merchandise.) Then had to tell the gal that I had to leave.

This usually means death to a purchase on these sites. But I made a promise that I had to keep.

I had to hurry to get out the door to go pick up gal pal, Heather for her dental appointment. She had a tooth extracted and originally thought she could drive herself there and home. Wrong! What if she had a bad reaction to the Novocaine? So had I volunteered to take her last week to the appointment. Just in case, after the appointment, I stopped at the ATM to pick up the cash for the treadmill.

I delivered Heather to her door, gave her some "Motherly" advice, promised to make her some homemade chicken broth, and hightailed it home to see if there were any further correspondence from the treadmill lady.

Nope, no messages.

So being the productive person that I am lately, I played Spider Solitaire, I cruised the net, and played more solitaire. I was about to give up waiting and really do something productive like water my plants when the email came in. She picked me.

She gave me her address, I Google Mapped and came up with nothing. A little thing like that wasn't going to stop the "She Who." I got in the van and headed off for a town that I had no clue where it was. I live on top of a very big hill, small mountain. She is located in a town in the valley. Beautiful scenery on the way. Very scary roads down the mountain.

I made it.

We girl-handled the treadmill into the back of the van, I gave her the money. We talked about people we knew in common. I left.

Can you say? I scored. Again?

Just Feeling Generally Yucky

I know its Tuesday and I haven't blogged in several days. The Internet connection has been non-existant for the past weekend.

Sunday, the day after the wedding was really rough. We all stayed up until the wee hours of the morning. And, I haven't been up that late in years.

The after reception party was in my room and I was so afraid that we would be kicked out of the hotel for the noise. We weren't, but I think that was only because most of the hotel was filled with guests from the wedding.

I have also been really sick. I must be really run down and/or picked up a stomach flu. Just feeling generally yucky.

I will post pictures if I can stay connected in a little bit.

Life Is Really Good

Well the adventures continue. As if I ever expect them to stop.

Spousal Unit got us all up, had coffee ready for me and started loading the van. The plan was to get on the road at 6:00am to beat the Monday morning traffic, the Staus (traffic jams) for which Frankfurt is infamous. We all finally pile into the van and take off at 6:15. As we are backing up I notice snow on the windshield. Yup, its snowing and we get to brave Frankfurt traffic.

Actually the drive up wasn’t too bad. Traffic was moderately heavy, but tolerable. We parked and went in separate directions to check in. We met back up and got final hugs and kisses before splitting up again for our flights and having Spousal Unit go back home.

I was able to board the plane in a very timely manner. And then the waiting began. The snow continued to fall and we were unable to push back until the plan was de-iced. The de-icing truck would be arriving in 45 minutes, stated the Captain. The Captain was correct. The de-icing truck did arrive in 45 minutes, but then it needed to de-ice us. So an 1 ½ after we were supposed to push back we finally did. Then we sat in the take off queue for another hour.

Landing 2 ½ hours late in Newark I had to go through Customs. Stood in the line and made it through in a breeze.

I collected my luggage and stood in the other Customs line and again, just had to breeze through. I left to recheck my luggage and found that area. Now luggage-less I look for the train to go to the "A" terminal. An agent directs me to the proper security line and I get in another line. Getting through security I proceed to my gate and sit down. Looking at my watch, wondering why they aren't starting the boarding. I ask a gal sitting next to me if this flight is going to St Louis. "Why no, its going to Orange County."

I panic.

I go to the counter and am told that my gate was changed and I need to go to the "C" terminal.

Running now, I take off and get back on the train and get myself to the "C" terminal. I have to go back through security. I have 7 minutes before the plane takes off. The Security x-ray scanner now wants to have me open my computer bag because she obviously has never seen a floppy drive before. Of course, since floppy drives are dinosaurs of the computer world I have never taken it out of the pocket. It does not want to come out of the pocket. I'm shaking so hard I can't get it out of the pocket. I get it out. She scans it.

I now have 2 minutes.

I run to the gate. Another gate change.

I make it to the correct gate and the door is closed.

I start to beg. Please let me on the flight. The plane hasn't pushed back. Please.

The agent said she couldn't do anything.

A man in the same situation said that another agent was checking to see if he could get on. This agent came back and said that he could get on. I just ran and gave her my boarding pass and got on the plane. Didn't even ask if there was a seat. Got to my seat and it was occupied. "I believe you are in my seat." She got up and I sat down. I made it.

I get to St Louis, proceed to the baggage area and get an unexpected hug. My gal pal is there to pick me up. Life is good.

She then says, "Oh, by the way. Spousal Unit called. The boys are stuck in Newark for an extra 2 hours. Can I call their friend that is picking them up to let him know?"

More panic. I have no cell phone. No numbers to call. We end up calling friends of friends, who call friends and am assured the boys will get a ride. At this point I can only pray.

We get to the house and exhausted I go to bed.

Later I got a phone call from Charlie, son #1, telling me that they arrived safe and sound.

Life is really good.

I Don't Think She Liked It

One of my new found friends just couldn't wait for pie. She dashed into the kitchen, afraid that something was going to make the pies disappear. She didn't believe me that I really made two pies.

My handsome, long suffering husband, Spousal Unit. He, being always the gentleman waits patiently for the possibility of a sliver of pie.

Behold the pies. I really did make two.

I don't think my gal pal likes the pie. She even got some on her nose.

I know she doesn't like crust. Some of the crust must have gotten mixed in with the pie.

I don't think she liked it. Do you?

New Friends, Good Times, And Of Course....

I am starting to get excited about Thanksgiving. We are in a new place, but have received an invitation to share dinner with a couple of gal pals and their families.

I meet with the new gal pals, usually once a week for coffee. I am unofficially the newest, favoritest, most wonderful Aunt "She Who" to their munchkins.

I am looking forward to visiting with new friends, good times, and of course...

I Look Forward To More Coffee Mornings And Munchkins

I went for coffee yesterday morning. I met a gal online, in a group that I joined several months ago.

Remember when I was going through my "Give My Stuff Away" phase? Well, I did another Yahoo Groups search and found a large group of people reaching out to each other at this base.

I gleaned all sorts of information from this group and didn't feel so lonely, lost when I got here because of them.

I knew where to go to get my nails done. My only vice. Yeah right.

I knew about the online yard sales site. I bought some used fans, no air conditioning here, and a used chest freezer last week.

Really decent prices on thoses items. So I can get my nails done. Really, I'm not kidding, my only vice.

Anyway, this gal sells Partylite stuff and I kinda, sorta invited myself to the party she was having. I wanted to go, to get some STUFF, but more importantly to meet some people. Well, Spousal Unit and I got all involved in putting the house together that afternoon/evening and by the time I realized what time it was, it was too late to attend. Spousal Unit is like that.

Well, the gal e-mailed me back and we met for coffee yesterday. She is in the next town/village over and she is adorable. Really young, but adorable. I also got to meet her upstairs neighbor and their collective, several munchkins. I have two new coffee friends.

I kinda miss munchkins being around. Though the visual of the one mom talking about sucking her son's snot was a doozie. I know, I promised not to blog about it, but I just couldn't pass that one up.

I look forward to more coffee mornings and munchkins. I've decided I can be the favorite "Aunt She Who" for awhile.

Moments in Destin.


Me and my feet in the Gulf. One of the few times that I could get near the Gulf. The storms caused dangerous rip tides and I never got closer to this foot in the waves stuff.

My Gal Pal Tammy dancing in the sand.
It's been 5 years since she's been back to Destin. She's really excited to be in Destin. Look at her joy. Dancing in the sand is awesome.
Boo Hoo. This is what we lived with for the whole visit. Double red flags. That means do not think of getting in the water.

With those waves and the rip tides I had no problem with that.

The hot tub was there every night and I was all over that.

We May Need To Do a Little, on the Fly, Travel Planning

The first day's drive was uneventful. We stopped twice. A potty break and then found some cheap gas. 3.45 a gallon is awesome. At home its 3.69 recently. It really irks me that just across the river it is 30 to 40 cents a gallon cheaper. I just can't justify driving the Big Red Truck over the river to save the money.

Right now, I am doing the happy, happy, joy, joy dance that the truck is getting 17.7 miles a gallon on this road trip. Most of the Summer has been in the 12.2 mpg range and it is really eating into the budget.

We checked into the hotel, right on the money, per my mileage predictions. We ended up leaving two hours later than I had originally projected. Gal Pal Tammy likes to sleep in on her days off and she took full advantage of the day off.

Since I had decided to break the trip into two segment, this later departure was of no concern. We just arrived at the hotel at cocktail hour, rather than sitting around twiddling our thumbs with an earlier arrival.

We got all our stuff into the room and Tammy turned on the TV.

Hanna is going up the East Coast and Ike has changed course. At this time, it looks like it is going to hit Destin.

We may need to do a little, on the fly, travel planning.

On The Road Again

The Big Red Truck is just about loaded and I am just waiting for Gal Pal Tammy to finish getting ready.Next stop is Huntsville, AL. Let's hope the weather is nice and the drive is easy.

Later.

No Silly Boys Allowed

OK, Gustav listened to me and I think Hanna will also. Thank you.

Its the upstarts, Ike and Josephine that I have to worry about now.

Friday I am driving down to Florida. I plan on taking two days to get there and possibly do a side trip or two. Sitting in the truck and concentrating on my driving, for a straight-through drive is a little more than I am willing to do.

Gal Pal, Tammy, decided last night, with the reluctant, though approving permission from Timmie, that she would be driving down to Destin with me. Woo Hoo - Girls Week at the beach!!!

The reluctant is because he is jealous that he is not able to come too.

Now, that is just too ridiculous to even discuss. Hello... this girls week at the beach, no boys. We are going to hit the beach, shop, dine, and watch Chick Flicks.

I may, on occasion, do a little tipsy blogging.

BUT....

No silly boys allowed.

Its Cherry

Still living with my Waki Jaki, I continue my education of farm life. This is a huge piece of machinery out in the barn. I had no clue as to what/how it was used.

It is a pretty red and yellow and looked like it was a hopper of some sort. It is a hopper. For holding the corn for grinding, to feed to the cattle.
This is a rather obvious piece of equipment for me. Its a wagon. I love that Jim pulls it with a 4 wheeler.
This one I thought I knew and I was right. Its a manure spreader.

Jim likes to buy equipment at auctions and restore them. He purchased this tractor and put it back together. Its a Farmall M. I don't have a clue as to what that is other than Jaki just told me that that is the model. It looks brand new. I think its sweet, its cherry. Cherry red.