The Muench Bunch

September 17 & 18th A two-day auction of classic cars in the Hamilton County town of Williams late last week netted 1.5 million dollars. The proceeds of the car auction from the Hemken Car Museum will benefit the auto restoration and technology program at McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas.Over 60 classic cars including Studebaker, Rolls-Royce, Pontiac, Playboy and more were on the auction block plus plenty of auto parts. Daryl and Ann Hemken opened their car museum in 2000 and closed in 2018. Daryl Hemken died in 2005 while Ann Hemken died last year.  Jacob attended the car auction with hopes of bringing home an oldie. He spotted an LTD that looked like a cheap fixer upper that he hoped to bid $1,000. It was the bottom of the cars and the last to sell bringing in $6,000. Jake enjoyed seeing the cars and being at the sale with his grandparents in Williams. It also gave him some insight into the McPherson college's Automotive Restorations program leading us to a college visi

 Jayden's professor, also the VP of her college Chose the  speaker for her small business class. The speaker was a former graduate of her college. He spoke about CBD and how he started his business, etc. She explained that half way into his presentation he started talking about "weed" and used the term the remainder of the time and talked about people getting "high". He is currently in Bozeman Montana where he is proud to say that very soon the entire state will be legal for recreational use of weed for those over 18. Have they lost their ever loving minds?! He boasted that he conveniently has a vendor right to the entrance of Yellowstone National park. How and why would you feel good about something like that, I truly don't understand. Yes, he will probably be very successful and make a lot of money, however how many addicts will he create, how many car accidents and injuries will result from his sales. I would not feel good about myself selling a drug to t

 My cousin Laura's oldest son, Austin got married on a Sunday afternoon in Minnesota. Luke and I drove with my parents to a little town called Cottage Grove. Our drive was interesting with Granma and Grandpa bickering over what to order for lunch, what road to turn on, and general directions. We made it to our hotel with only an hour until wedding time. We arrived to a God given prefect day with sunshine and no wind. They venue was beautiful. Because the bride grew up close by and knew the family, and because it was a Sunday wedding, they got a great deal on the awesome venue. The wedding took place outdoors in a wide open grass area. The wedding party and bride crossed a bridge along a walkway. The social hour had a bar room that was elegant with couches and lights. There were games and fire pits. The meal was served in an enclosed barn type building with chandeliers. There was a separate area for the dance. As the sun went down, it got quite chilly. They had overhead space heater

Things are rapidly changing and it is so sad to watch the country fall. Covid has forced people to be vaccinated and wear masks or lose their jobs. Out on the east cost, mass numbers of nurses are walking off the job refusing the vaccine which means they cannot continue to work in the hospital. Police force members are leaving as well because of the vaccine mandate. Think about a state with limited police and limited medical providers. Now that is something to truly be afraid of. People have left the job force, so many people just don't want to work anymore. Why work when you can get money not to? It has become common to hear, "Bear with us, we are short of staff."  Racial tension brought on by the new group BLM, trying to cause more confrontations and divisions with all kinds of hidden agendas. Much of their focus is on trans gender and trans affirming , trying to get everyone to celebrate something God did not intend for us. If we choose not to celebrate their sinful na

 10/20/21 It went fast as it always does when Jayden comes home. We all wish we could just squeeze the miles between us so it isn't so far. Jayden always tells me she wants to be here with us and there with Noah. The space between is just too far! Jayden drove back to Iowa for a long weekend, Wednesday late  to Sunday. Thursday Karen had the kids up to her house for lunch. That evening we went to Luke's football game. It was nice that Jayden got to be there to see him play on his home field. We all went and at at the Lucky Pig afterwards. Friday Jayden and I had a shopping day and I fed the guys in the field. Saturday Grandma and Grandpa invited them to lunch at the Saloon in Stratford. THe kids told me it was a little too greasy for their stomachs.  Jayden got to ride in the semi with Dad and the grain cart with Jake. Saturday evening, Jayden and I saddled up the horses to ride together. 6 minutes into her ride, she checked the time that her store closed that she needed to get

 We refer to our roping herd as the roping steers. I tend to forget that some of our cattle are cows. Speedy is one that we have had a couple years. She has always been a small animal with cool stripes. I named her "Speedy Gonzales" AKA Speedy when we got her because she was the fastest. We had a bull in our stock as well and Mark was worried we might end up with calves. He knew that Speedy had been bred, but thought that we might be having a calf late fall. He was running her in the chutes as she got fatter and fatter. She was starting to get stuck. The guys would poke and prod her and squeeze her through. Mark kept telling me she was just fat from all the hay and keep pushing. One night at the end of August, Speedy was getting stuck and I was pushing and I told Mark she was pregnant and her hips were wide and she should not be roped. He argued that she can't be that pregnant, she wasn't due untill fall. He would grab her tail and shove with all her might to get her

 This is just a rant on Walmart. I have never been a fan of Walmart. It’s the last place I will shop and I avoid it most of the time. Pioneer Woman products are sold there, so once in awhile I make a stop just for those products. Why on earth PW choose Walmart to sell her merchandise I will never understand. In a town like Ames with multiple shopping options, Walmart tends to draw the most interesting eccentric people. My shopping experience today was to be a quick in and out grab two things and be done. First there was the loud mom with the 3 loud kids. The teenage boy was pushing his two siblings in the cart all between ages 4 and 14. They could be heard continuously through the whole store. They had the loudest inside voices and would bicker even louder. Soon the younger ones were yelling and throwing tantrums. The mom just yells and makes a bugger scene. It was awful. I observed a tall skinny mail carrier in uniform with a box of kids cereal and loaded up on Little Debbie everythin

 Cousin Rylie has had quite a senior year. He injured his kidney in wrestling as a freshmen and the doctor advised him not to participate in contact sports. He decided his senior year he wanted to be part of football and wrestling. He was voted homecoming king. He went out for football and I went to 3 of his home football games before they went on to state. He was not on the starting string, but he did get some playing time and tackles as a safety. Rylie is tall, over 6 ft 4, has a nice smile, is kind and on the shy side. He keeps a 4.0 GPA, is not arrogant and hasn't had a girlfriend. He's just a good 'ol farm boy. I have noticed over the last couple years, he has enjoyed our family and the boys more. He will hang out with Jake and sometimes just him and Luke. He will ski, hunt, and trap with Luke. He has been super busy this year with sports and workouts that he doesn't get much free time. If he doesn't have free time, his dad puts him to work. There have been man

 Luke bought his very own 4 wheeler. He has worked many hours to make the money for this 4 wheeler. He washes vehicles, does field work, mows, weed eats, washes Grandma's windows, helps at the shop, and washes the big semis and even the trailers. This year he washed the combine and it took a couple days. This 4 wheeler was all his hard earned money. We were all leery of a 2 stroke, but he insisted he could keep it working and going, and he has been enjoying it. Mark found a new roping horse. he came from the same family that raised Ace. His horse is an older palomino that we have named Eddy. Jayden helped Noah find a horse. The first horse was not broke and they were able to get her saddled and a few rides before they decided to sell her on. Taking her to a sale, they brought home another horse. Not only did they bring home a horse, they also brought home a lot of sickness. It took months for the new horse to recover and she got all Jayden's horses except Ace sick. Horses had c

 He is the VIP cat, the king of the farm, the master of his domain, the loved furball. He seemed a little thinner and I had the vet check his bloodwork. Sadly, I became aware that he has feline luekemia. I am so very sad. Prognosis says 1 to 3 years from detection. I don't think I will tell the kids until he is acting sick. We don't know how long he was had it. He is a fighter and goes outside and gets in cat fights all the time. He fends off any strays and keeps all of our cats in line. He has many battle wounds and has been to the vet so many times for bite wounds. I am certain that is how he got exposed. He is the boss, the king of his pride. I am so sad to think that his time will be shortened. He brings so much joy to our family and comforts us and soothes away sickness and sadness. He is such a blessing. We pray he can have happy years ahead and can be with us many more years.           

Fall is my favorite season of the year. The air is warm during the day and the nights cool most of the time. The colors are changing, apples are on the trees and pumpkins are used for decorating. Many evenings, the sky is warm with orange and red sunsets. Harvest is in full swing with combines running and crops are filling the bins. The fall season in Iowa has sporadic weather. In the past two weeks we have had days in the 60's for the high and 40's for the low. A few days later we are hitting 90 degrees. You don't know whether to turn on the a/c or the heat or go without either.  Late on 9/28/21 Wednesday we got rain and it carried over into little rain showers off and on into Saturday. That gave the harvest crew a chance to rest and take a break. Mark was able to go to Luke's football game in Van Meter and have some movie nights at home.  10/12/21 Tuesday was our first day of combining corn. We started beans on September 24. I hope that corn will go fast. It has been