The biggest news around this place - - - - Galen has a girlfriend! If you have been reading the previous letters, you might recall back in January I wrote about Rachel Bauman from Ontario, Canada , being here to help make cheese? Somehow, something more than cheese making came out of the deal. In spite of both of them having no intentions (and saying beforehand – not a chance) they couldn’t forget , and started writing and making once a week phone calls. Galen was up to see her 4 weeks ago and is going this weekend again. He’ll leave early Friday morning, it’s about a 12 hour drive. Then Monday morning he’ll head for home again. We are happy for both of them and frankly, quite pleased. We thought the first time we met Rachel last August , she’s a very nice girl. (Galen has been doing a lot of whistling while he works the last few weeks)

May 19, 2012

           Hello from the folks at Milton Creamery. It’s almost 90 degrees, a good breeze blowing. What will it be like in July and August?  Maybe we’ll have our heat early? That’s probably wishful thinking.

   I would be glad for a bit of rain, I wouldn’t need to water all my plants. There are still a few we need to plant, need to fill up with more ground first. Now that school is out, my niece, Delores is helping 2 days a week with flower beds, yard mowing, etc. We’d like to get some mulch put on, also.

        Last week the orders were caught up. We celebrated Ascension Day on Thursday (that is when Christ ascended to Heaven, 40 days after Easter) So the help all had off, that’s the day Sarah Louise and Sharon cut cheese. When they come back on Monday, they have a long list to cut at, plus will have plenty for Thursday, as several orders came in. It’s good to know we need cheese cut to sell! Business has been staying good, for which we are thankful.

A beautiful day in Southeast Iowa. After some welcome rain last weekend, things have greened up again and more rain the other night cooled it off.

Galen and Cody started making cheese at 4:30 this morning so they could finish earlier. They made a batch of Prairie Rose, the wheel cheese we only make in summer when the cows are on pasture. The first of the season is now ready to use. It’s a Swiss- style.

Jr and Rufus are working on equipment, replacing gaskets, etc. Jr  hopes he doesn’t have to work half the night or tomorrow. He’d like to go to a sale tomorrow to watch hog equipment. He has some feeder pigs he’s fattening for Nimen Ranch. He feeds them whey from the creamery, it gives him a change of scenery to feed them every day and bed them, etc.

Rufus and I got home around 4:30 last eve. We were in Brookfield, WI on Saturday to do a demo at the Metro Market from 10 – 4. From there we headed toward Washington, DC. Slept in Indiana Saturday night, got into DC after 7 PM Sunday evening. It took us 1 ½ hrs. to go the last 45 miles. We’re not used to dealing with so much traffic. Coming from a county that boasts of no traffic lights in the whole county, that was quite a switch.

We attended the Fancy Food Show at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. It started on Sunday, so our broker from Boston, Linda Luke took care of our booth that day. We were there Monday and Tuesday. There was so much food, so many things to see, and people - - - - thousands of people. Very interesting and good for our “Cheese” to be there. We sampled the Prairie Breeze and introduced the Flory’s Truckle, a cloth-bound cheddar. We received a good response. I suppose some people were prejudiced, but we were told a few times we had the best cheese there. How anyone could have tasted all of them is beyond me.

A sunny day, only in the lower 90’s instead of over 100 degrees! Sure appreciated the last 2 mornings with temperatures in the mid 60’s. We’ll take some more of them. It still didn’t rain any amount to count, some of the crops are looking pretty bad, then some not too bad. It remains to be seen what the yields will actually be. 

Today is our (Rufus and I) 28th anniversary! Doing anything special? Not exactly. He was in Des Moines yesterday at the new Whole Foods store from 12 – 4. Stayed in the area for the night and today is at Wheatsfield Co-op in Ames from 10 -1. This evening we are hosting the youth group from our church. So it will be a late night. Not much time for celebrating an anniversary. It has been a good 28 years.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we have company for dinner, after church. Rufus’ sister and family from New York are in the area. They will come, plus the “family “ in this area and a nephew from New York State. There will be 20 in all. Plans are to have meatloaf, fresh potatoes, corn, cheese and crackers, pickles, ice cream and chocolate cake. I’m trying to keep it simple, as I don’t have extra time. The most important is the visiting, anyway.

A beautiful day with much cooler temperatures. It sure has a feel of fall in the air when the morning temps are in the 50’s. Some leaves are starting to turn, some are falling. I think it was too dry for some of them. We had 6/10 of rain the other week that greened things up just a little some places, probably mostly weeds. At least that’s what is growing in the yard. A lot of silage has been chopped, some corn stalks don’t have any ears on.

One of our producers sold his cows, since he won’t have enough of crops to see him through the year, and prices high. We can see his point, he was our biggest producer, so we have even less milk to process now. It just means in 9 months we’ll be short on cheese.

This week I took 3 days off for canning / freezing.  Last Saturday evening Rufus and I picked corn at my brother-in-laws, put it in the cooler till Monday. Crystal and I started on it. I called sister-in-law Lorraine to see if we could have 2 girls to help, even if one just baby sits Jeremy? Lorraine said she’ll bring them down. When they came around 10, they ALL came to help. Lorraine and her 4 girls, plus the 2 little boys. We had it husked in no time! Martha (almost 8) stayed to help while the rest went home. We cook the corn in a big cast iron kettle over a wood fire. You can do a big batch at a time. After it boils for 10 minutes, we put it in big tubs of cold water to cool. To cut it off, we use a creamer, a wooden board with a cutter and little “spikes” on that scrapes it off. We like it better than whole kernel, but it must be made in the microwave or double boiler, as it burns easily. Everything is done outside, including the cutting off. It makes for easy clean-up. The cobs go in the wheelbarrow, take a bucket of soap water, brush and hose, wash everything off, and done! No messy floors to wash up, counters to clean. We did 55 quart that day.

A cloudy day with a few sprinkles this afternoon. Rain should be moving in by this evening according to the radar. We had 1 3/10 two weeks ago, and last Saturday another 1 6/10. It sure brightened  things up, the pastures are green, yards need mowing. We still could use more to raise the water levels, we’ll take whatever we get.

This was the last Friday the cheese makers have off from making cheese. We added another producer and the milk amounts are picking up, so next week they’ll be doing 9 batches again. I think they’re actually ready to. We also started a new worker on Monday, Stephen. He’s picking up fast, seems to have lots of potential. We appreciate when they try to learn and take responsibility, not have to be told everything again and again. There is a lot to learn, it takes a while to break someone in. Galen and Cody took down a cooling unit that is no longer being used. They also did some extra cleaning, put up new cork boards in the offices, and got to go home earlier!

Hello from chilly Southeast Iowa! The weather took a sudden turn and it feels COLD. We had frost this morning, I don’t think the flowers close to the house froze, but most other things took a hit. I guess it’s that time of the year.  There were even a few flurries yesterday, I’m not ready for that yet. The other seasons were early this year, are we going to have an early, long, hard winter? I hope not. The leaves have been really falling this week. It rained some on Thursday and Friday, that made them come down faster, or at least it seemed like it.

Rufus is in New York City this week. He left Wednesday, did a demo at Lucy’s Whey and at Stinky Brooklyn on Thursday, was at the food show at Food Matters Again on Friday. An Amish friend Rufus used to work with 20 some years ago, David Lantz, met him in New York City last evening. Today they are touring cheese shops. They will rent a car and drive to Lebanon County, PA this aft/eve. Rufus will spend Sunday with his family. Monday he’ll be in Hagerstown, MD to meet with Agri Service, to plan a meeting for cheese makers in February. Tuesday he’ll be back in Lebanon County to meet with the Lantz’s on cheese making, and fly home Wednesday. This is a longer than usual trip. (and I’m happy to be at home)

Next Saturday is the Scenic Drive of Van Buren County. It’s our busiest day of the year. Last year was the first time we didn’t totally sell out of curds. We had 4-5 people working in the store from 8 – 5, and didn’t have any time for a break. It’s really an interesting day, but we’re glad it’s only once a year.

We’ve added another worker in the cheese making room. Stephen is 16, he’s learning well and is a good asset. With milk production picking up, Galen and Cody can use his help. Leann, Cody’s sister, is also 16 and is working in the retail store. That will give me more time to be at home. I can pick my hours a bit more, still will be here but it doesn’t have to be every day and at certain times. With 2 more grandchildren on the way, I want time to be a Grandma!

Greetings to one and all. Another month has passed, sometimes time seems to fly.

Rufus was in Chicago at a new Mariano’s store that just opened on S. Halsted St. Chicago (Greek Town area) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This afternoon / evening he’s at the HyVee store on Edgewood Rd. in Cedar Rapids, IA for a 2 hr. demo at a special event they’re having. He’ll be home around 9 tonight.

Next week Rufus will be flying to Seattle, WA to demo at Whole Foods stores. We started distribution there this summer. To see where he will be, check the website on the “Where’s Rufus” page. He will fly home again on Saturday of next week.

Yesterday the motor on the curd mill burned out, between batch 1 and 2. Jr did some calling, I rushed to the local hardware store for a new motor - - - it was the wrong one - - - and it was time to mill. So I went home for knives, also borrowed Crystal’s and we gathered everyone on staff to help hand-cut. We had 7 people cutting, with Galen keeping things piled there to cut and taking the cut pieces away. It took us ¾ hour, not bad for 580 lbs. of cheese. We were glad it was on a day when almost everyone was working. Ordered a new motor to be overnighted, we again gathered our knives today and 3 minutes before time to mill, the UPS truck showed up - - - - ahhh, saved the day. We thought we’d have to do it with 3 less people. The batch yesterday was truly a hand-made cheese.

Way too warm for this time of the year, 58 degrees? Someone brought a twig from their lilac bush in on Saturday with green buds, and someone else told me their jonquils were blooming. I don’t really like to hear that, seems like things will be a bit messed up? But we know who is in control and what He does is good, so who are we to question or worry? Guess instead we should be thankful we don’t have ice and snow!

The most recent news to the Musser family is the addition of grandchildren. Jessica Dawn, 6 lbs. 7 oz. was born on November 21^st to Rufus (JR) and Crystal Musser. She was born c-section, all is well with mother and baby. Big brother Jeremy, 14 month old, dearly loves his little sister, but she’s not safe for a minute if he is around!

Good morning and a Happy New Year to all. The sun is shining, it’s warming up (a little) and it’s the kind of day that makes a person feel good to be alive! The old year is gone, the New Year has begun. We know not what lies ahead of us, be it joy or sorrow, but we have the assurance of God’s helping hand if we allow Him to guide our lives.

Galen is on his way to Canada for the weekend, Cody & Stephen are making cheese with Rufus’ help now and then. David is making deliveries in the Iowa City area, the girls all have off today. JR and I are in the office, its end of year time. We expect things to be some slower around here this month and next, and actually, it’s rather nice. Hopefully we can catch up on odds & ends that keep getting pushed off.

Yesterday we had a meeting at our house. We had the privilege of having Linda Luke, our broker from Boston here for the day, and also Larry Kline, from Des Moines who is working with us on getting financial things in shape. (Linda’s plans for coming last month didn’t work out when her brother died unexpectantly. Our sympathies to her and the family) We are still in the expansion planning stage, at this point we are trying to figure out how much should we, can we, must we do to be the most efficient all around without breaking any pocket books! Not an easy answer. I made dinner for everyone. Home cured ham, potato stuffing, gravy, barbequed green beans, macaroni salad, cheese and a Boston Crème Pie. There are leftovers, will make an easy supper for tonight. Linda is flying home today. We enjoyed having her. She spent Wednesday night at JR & Crystal’s house. JR grilled steaks for supper, Crystal also had baked potatoes and salad, and I took Apple Goodie and ice cream.

 Groundhog Day! Doesn't look like he'll see his shadow in this part of the country, can we hope for an early spring? I doubt if anyone would complain. We have some snow, but not everything covered. There's a white coating, covering up the ugly brown.  There are some flurries right now, doesn't look too threatening. The coldest we've had was 0 degrees. That's cold enough for us.

 Today Rufus and David are in Cedar Rapids at the Hy-Vee on Mt. Vernon St. to do a demo for a special event they are having. David went along for lessons, so he can also start doing some demos for people. The vehicles looked awful from driving on snowy roads earlier in the week, we brought them to the plant this morning and Rufus washed both before he left. That's off the list for this afternoon. This evening Rufus and I will go to our church's community center to help with a comfort knotting for the youth. Yesterday afternoon I went with 6 other women and a few girls to set up. I think we have 12 frames, with more tops ready to put in as they finish up. Boys and girls help, heard some times they will have boys underneath to put the needle through from the bottom and someone takes it on the top! It could be interesting. We serve treat afterwards. It gets split amongst 5, my share is 40 ham & cheese sandwiches (we'll heat them there) 4 gallon of drink, 3 bags of chips, and a gallon of fresh fruit.  It means getting to bed later than we normally do on a Saturday night.

 Galen was in this morning to take yesterday's cheese out of the hoops. He wants to go to his farm and pull logs up to be cut up for firewood. He had done some earlier. When Rachel was here 2 weeks ago, she helped him cut, split and put it in the basement. He is ready to do something away from the cheese plant.

  A snowy morning, it looks nice after two days of snow. There was even plenty of snow to scrape away and keeping it off the sidewalks is a problem when it just keeps on coming. If anyone wants to complain, I say let’s have the snow now, not in April! It is 25* this morning, just a nice temperature. I’ve been looking at gardening books, basically flowers, and dreaming. They take more care but I’d like to try more containers this summer. I have more ideas than I have time, that’s the problem.

March 22, 2013

          The first day of Spring has come and gone, it was cold & windy, certainly not very spring-like. But that’s okay, we’ll take the colder weather now, then come April, nice and warm. (As though we get to pick!) We can at least hope for warmer weather. Actually, I was outside this morning raking yard and picking up twigs/sticks. I wore a coat & gloves, but it was a nice sunny morning. It turned cloudy by noon. Rose called from Wisconsin and had quite a start when I told her what I was doing. They still have lots of snow, she said she it gives her the blues to hear what I’m doing. That’s why I’m glad we don’t live farther north.

          Rufus is in Iowa City this weekend, he had a talk at the Hy-Vee on Waterfront last evening at a cheese and wine tasting class. This afternoon he’s at New Pioneer Co-op in Iowa City, this evening at the Brix Restaurant, and tomorrow stopping at the Hy-Vee in Fairfield for a demo. We’ve been keeping him pretty busy on the road lately, and more to come. It’s one of his favorite things to do.  Last week he was in Boston, next week he stays close to home.

         David made deliveries in Des Moines yesterday instead of the normal Friday. This afternoon he’s doing a demo at the Hy-Vee in Kirksville. They wanted someone today, and since Rufus was already scheduled, David is taking this one. He’ll most likely get into doing more, he’ll do a good job. We sure value him here as an employee.

May 2, 2013

    Spring is here! But it doesn’t feel like it this morning at a cloudy 40 degrees and windy. After 82 degrees yesterday, this is a let-down. Next thing you know we’ll be complaining about the heat, so we’d best be happy with whatever we have. Uh - Just had a message from Rose in Wisconsin, it’s snowing there, ground is white. Be happy??!!

       Rufus is spending the week in Boston, flew there Tuesday. Yesterday and today he’s attending the Whole Foods All Access show. They are in tents, it was nice this morning, balmy. Hopefully the colder weather won’t get there before tonight at least. Friday he’ll be doing a demo at a Starr Market in Chestnut Hill, MA, coming home Saturday.

    The month of April has been a busy one, a lot of going away. Rufus and Jr went to Ohio to check out a cheese plant that is struggling April 1^st – 3^rd. Jr came home the 4^th and Rufus stayed in Chicago to demo at Tony’s Finer Foods stores Thursday – Saturday.

   June 14, 2013

       Where has the time gone? The first of the month       came and went - - and no letter yet! It’s cloudy, sprinkled   a little and blue in the west, looks like we’re in for some. A little shower wouldn’t hurt anything, altho I guess some people have hay down. A few weeks ago we had 8 – 9 inches of rain in a week’s time, field work has continued this week again. It’s going to be on the late side for some crops, then again, it depends on the fall, how long it goes till frost.

        Our flowers and perennials are doing well this summer. Last year when we started most of them, it was dry and we watered and watered. The majority survived, this year would’ve been a good year to start things. We are starting some. Yesterday I dug out my hostas, thinned them and replanted. Also gave a lot away. We started climbing roses here at the cheese plant, they are starting off well. And the photo, we made mounds on the west side, put a mix of flowers on last year and this is what came back this year. So far it’s mostly bachelors buttons and poppys, blanket flowers are starting and a few others I’m not sure yet what are. It draws lots of attention from customers, they walk over and look, many a photo has been taken. I like when others can also get enjoyment out of them. Flowers are much more fun to do than vegetables. (I know, vegetables should be more important, but - - - )

July 25, 2013

       Greetings to everyone near and far. This week the weather has been wonderful, not as hot as the previous week. Also, the inch and 4/10 of rain this past Sunday was wonderful. I was planning to start watering the garden on Monday when the rain came. How glad I was for it! We replanted our green beans, they look nice and we will pick them for the first time this evening.  I am trying stakes at the tomato plants this year, something I haven’t done before. I think I will like it. My sister Rhoda dropped off 4 doz. ears of sweet corn last evening, left over from their farmers market. This morning I did that, using our new “toy” for the first time. We bought a de-silker. It runs by electric, you attach a garden hose, put the husked ear of corn into one end, it rolls through brushes and comes out the other basically silk-free. How fast and easy, works like a charm! I look forward to using it when there is a lot at a time to do. It wasn’t cheap, made of stainless, but we are renting it out to people, also. I saved a few ears for fresh corn-on-the-cob for supper.

       Anthony is mowing the yard, the boys have been taking care of that job here at the cheese plant this summer. Several weeks ago, Cody went for bark mulch, then helped me put it on. He sure can sling that shovel better than I can. We didn’t mow yard last week, but the rain made it grow again.

  September 17, 2013

    Hello once again. Shame on me, for letting this go so long since my last update. That isn’t supposed to happen - - -

   Cooler weather is here, maybe not to stay yet, but it feels like fall is here. After 6 ½ weeks without rain, we were happy to have 7/10    a week ago and a little bit more on Sunday. It is too late for the crops, but the pastures sure could use a good rain.

      August was a BUSY month for us. First the ACS in the beginning of the month (see previous letter)The next week Jonathon and        Lydiann Lantz from Lebanon County PA spent 4 days here, learning cheesemaking. They stayed at our house, Lydiann helped with the    work and I felt well-paid. We enjoyed having them. Jr went to Middlefield, OH for 2 days and Galen went to Ontario that weekend.

     August 13^th & 14^th Rufus and I flew to Pennsylvania to Rufus’ aunts funeral. August 19^th – 21^st we flew to Phoenix, AZ to a Food         Show. It was rather warm, 112 *. We enjoyed it; Arizona is beautiful in its own way. We just didn’t have enough of time to see much     of the area.

    Dennis, Rose and girls were here the weekend of Aug. 24^th & 25^th. We all attended my nephews wedding Sat. Aug. 24^th. Rachel was also here, she and Galen were gift receivers, Mark & Mabel Ann were servers. Sat. evening we had Rufus’ brother and nephew and their families for supper, also.

    Rufus was in Minneapolis for demos from Aug. 28^th – 31^st.  Then Sept. 2^nd & 3^rd he went to Steve & Veronica Baetje in Bloomsdale, MO to help them out a bit.

 October 23, 2013

 A cloudy cold-feeling day, 43 degrees. It’s been sprinkling a    bit, almost thought it looked like a few snow flurries? Surely not,  must’ve been bad eye-sight! We haven’t had a killing frost, I  expect it will happen this week with the temperatures they are  predicting. The farmers have had a very nice fall for harvest.

 Rufus went to Minneapolis today, he’s scheduled for 6  demos  between this afternoon and Saturday afternoon. He  plans to  be home Saturday evening. Last week he was around  here,  nothing scheduled away from home anywhere. Not that  he  didn’t have things to do, just not away.

      The first week of October I went to Wisconsin from Tuesday to Friday to stay with Jane Marie and the 4 children while Randall went to a minister conference in Pennsylvania. I enjoyed the time there, also spent some time with Rose and her 2 girls. Did some sewing, baking, yard mowing, taking care of children, cleaning, cooking. There’s no end of work with 10 month old twins. Rufus was in New York City from Wednesday to Saturday, Galen and Mark had to fend for themselves.

   December 11, 2013

      Cold and clear, it’s 10 degrees this afternoon. Winter is here, with a bit of snow to make it white. The young folks like this weather,    that means skating parties and there’s nothing quite like playing games together on the ice. Mark, Cody, Stephen and Leann were         there last evening. I didn’t hear any embarrassing or “funny” stories. Either there weren’t any or I wasn’t supposed to hear it! They had   coffee, hot chocolate and cookies by the fire. I didn’t hear a number, but could be anywhere from 50 to 150 people.

       Today we had a larger amount of curds to do again. It has slacked off some for this time of the year. Emma Mae delivered to        Dutchman’s and Rufus took the Bloomfield orders. David and Leann are getting orders ready for delivery for later this week. The boys are   finishing up, there is always lots of washing and scrubbing to do on curd day. The truckles need to be turned before they go. Skating  must’ve been good for them, they were all in a jolly mood!

       Orders to ship for gifts have been coming in fairly strong. David & I usually get those ready. So if there is a mistake, you probably get  to blame one of us. I do enjoy it, keep on ordering.

       Jr spent two weeks working outside putting a waste water pre-treatment set-up in. It is all underground, still needs the landscaping part finished, but I’m guessing that will wait till spring. It’s too cold now. The pipes aren’t connected as of yet, they hope to by the end of the year. Jr rather enjoyed the change of pace, but we were glad to have him back in the office. Now he is working at purchasing a tank for the whey. As of now, the one they have is too small, it has to be pumped onto the trailer and hauled before it freezes. The connections freeze up, not a fun deal. So yesterday after he tried to open one and got doused, he decided NOW is the time to upgrade!

Way too warm for this time of the year, 58 degrees? Someone brought a twig from their lilac bush in on Saturday with green buds, and someone else told me their jonquils were blooming. I don’t really like to hear that, seems like things will be a bit messed up? But we know who is in control and what He does is good, so who are we to question or worry? Guess instead we should be thankful we don’t have ice and snow!

The most recent news to the Musser family is the addition of grandchildren. Jessica Dawn, 6 lbs. 7 oz. was born on November 21^st to Rufus (JR) and Crystal Musser. She was born c-section, all is well with mother and baby. Big brother Jeremy, 14 month old, dearly loves his little sister, but she’s not safe for a minute if he is around!