2026, chickens, Farming Update, Uncategorized

More of this and that

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This week’s Farming Update from Ben

It’s been a good busy week on the farm. Got lots of odds and ends done and I’ve marked several things off my ‘To-Do’ list. 

The chickens enjoyed the straw bales left over from Movie Night on the Farm. 

Sunday, we met Son and DiL at an outdoor wood fired pizza place near Waseca. It was perfect weather, and good pizza. As we were leaving, the owner asked us if we’d come back? Daughter loudly proclaimed, “No, I don’t think so.” Well, they asked. 

Monday I got the haybine hooked up and mowed the roadsides. The haybine is the machine that cuts a swath nine feet wide using a sickle that goes back and forth very fast to cut off the stems of alfalfa or grass. Every now and then an individual section will break. Notice the missing one here: 

It has been a lot of years since I had to replace one of those, just because I don’t cut much anymore, and I’ve forgotten what a pain it is to do it. Or maybe I’ve just forgotten the techniques needed. Or maybe it’s because I’m older. I used to do this out in the field with a hammer and chisel to knock off the old rivets, and then a punch to knock the stub out. Then there’s a gadget to smoosch the new rivet to hold the new section in place. I remember it was always a hassle and I’d be hot and sweaty and covered in bugs and I’d be mad about the whole thing. On Monday I was doing in on the concrete in front of the shop. I’ve also forgotten how little room there is in there. I had one end jacked up to give me more room. And I had a cordless grinder instead of a hammer and chisel. And I use a pneumatic air hammer instead of a hammer and punch. I didn’t get so grumpy about it all. But it sure did bring back some memories. 

Daughter had come to the shop for a visit and she rode with me as I was cutting the roadsides. She took this photo.

Padawan 2, Max, was out Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. We moved a bunch of stuff around in the shed and I put things on the pallet racks. The trick is only to put stuff up there that won’t be used very often.  The shop looks big until I try to get a tractor in there sideways. 

Neighbor Dave was down checking fence in a section of pasture. It’s the area where the gully was filled in and the new waterway created, so we needed to build a fence to keep the cattle out of that area for this year. I hooked up the brush mower and mowed a path for the temporary fence, then went to the back of the pasture where Dave said the thistles were taller than he was. 

Boy, yeah they were. It has been a long time since I was back in that corner of the pasture. It’s a valley with lots of smaller valleys bisecting it. It is easy to see how thousands of years of erosion have created our farms rolling hills. 

On Thursday Dave and I built the temp fence. It’s just one hot wire. Meaning it’s an electric fence. And his cows are smart, and they know and respect an electric fence. And by ‘electric fence’ I mean the kind of fence that gives you a good “JOLT”  when you touch it. It won’t kill anything, but it sure makes your arm hurt for 10 minutes. I supposed it’s like a taser. If cows learn about electric fences as calves, they do fine. You can’t take wild cattle and expect them to respect an electric fence. I’ve tried that. Electric fences also require insulators on the posts, and not too many weeds. There’s a whole skill involved in building an electric fence. Different skills than are required when making a 4 strand barbed wire fence like the padawans and I did a couple years ago. 

(One of the blogs here; https://trailbaboon.com/2024/06/29/rusty-summer/)

P2 Max and I reshingled the feed building on Wednesday. The old shingles came off surprisingly easy. I had some left over shingles from doing the south side a few years ago. I bought two more bundles of the cheapest shingles the big box store had. Turned out to be a different color but no one cares or can really see the North side of this shed. 

I’m not sure what look he’s going for here.

I put more stuff on pallet racks. A pallet of steel fence posts, and a pallet of wood blocks. A few years ago when I had to move these blocks out of what would become the shop, and I first put them on a pallet, I remember Clyde talking about all the blocks they had on their farm. And I have some blocks on a lower shelf so I can get them as needed, and I wondered, why am I saving this pallet of wood blocks?? Just what do I think I’ll be doing that I need that many blocks? Evidently I’m saving them for our kids to throw out when we die. And I threw out a few blocks. But still…I think I am saving too many blocks. But you never know. 

Max and I also got the secondary lawn mower running. Then I did something and it wouldn’t run again. Fixed it and then broke it again. But now it’s running! The hood has a big crack in it. I think I’m gonna have to zip tie the crack together. A new hood top is $176 and I don’t think it’s worth that much. I ordered a new bumper, which is the hinge point at the bottom, and that was $76. This was Kelly’s parents lawnmower, so I need to ask her if she wants a zip tie scar across the top. 

We got .6” of rain on Tuesday evening. A real nice gentle rain. 

I got the roadsides raked and baled on Friday. It wasn’t much. Only 25 bales.

Next week the hot weather is back. I’m thinking of inside jobs. 

EVER SHOCKED YOURSELF? I mean electrically, but whatever makes a good story.

KNOW ANYONE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING?

2026, gardening, home, Nature, Uncategorized

Water Feature

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The previous owners of our home spent a lot of money on landscaping in the backyard. I have never had such a fancy backyard. We added the fence. There is a fire pit:

We also have lots of brick paved areas with rock-filled beds for plants:

Those are some of the largest hostas I have ever seen. We never had hostas before. The rest of the plants are lower maintenance shrubs, Stella d’oro lillies, and succulents. They didn’t even have rhubarb!

I think they went a little over the top with the water feature, however. It is a bubbling brook powered by an electric pump submerged in a deep vat at the bottom of the brook. It is plugged into an electric outlet by the fence. The pump has to be removed every fall so it won’t freeze up over the winter. It is not easy to remove or reinstall.

The birds love the brook. It has to be refilled every other day or so or the pump starts to make groaning noises. I plan to turn over the stones with the words carved in them, as I think those are a silly affectation and they annoy me.

The dogs love to plunge in the brook at the top and slide down to the bottom. I would never put such a thing in a yard, and I absolutely hate all the rocks in the flower beds as they make weeding and replanting a lot more work than they need to be. I plan to put in roses and hydrangeas and spring bulbs next year, but we need to clear a lot of rocks from every side of the house before that happens.

If you had to have a water feature in your yard, what kind would you get? What words would you have carved in flat stones in your yard?

2026, Family, Music, Uncategorized

Pulling Strings

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Many years ago Husband’s dad and stepmother gave him a mountain dulcimer. You can see it in the header photo. He played it on rare occasions, but it mainly sat in its case. He spent more time on his cello and guitar.

Since retiring, Husband has been playing all his string instruments more often. In addition to getting the dogs groomed in Sioux Falls on Tuesday we also picked up the dulcimer, which had been restrung. We would have taken it to my cousin in St Peter who is a luthier, but he is retired now.

I think the first song on a dulcimer I remember hearing was one by Joni Mitchell. I love this song.

Husband ‘s dulcimer never sounded like Joni’s when he tried to play it, I think because he didn’t know how to tune it or maybe the strings just weren’t installed properly. The mountain dulcimer is an odd instrument. I know it is used quite a bit in traditional Appalachian music, and is descended from the zither. I am so glad he got it restrung, since the luthier tuned it properly for the first time. As I strum it I can tell it sounds right.

I am getting closer and closer to sitting down at our piano and practicing things on my own as well as the accompaniments for some of Husband’s cello pieces. I can’t let him be the only instrumentalist in the family. There are some simple Bartok pieces I have my eye on. What else is retirement for if not to play music!

What musical instrument would you want to learn now? What instruments did you play as a kid? Favorite Joni Mitchell songs or other dulcimer songs?

2026, books, Business, Mysteries

Grade-B Titles?

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I just finished The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny (5 stars).  The main character has a tense relationship with her mom and early in the book came this:  “My mother loves a monster.  Now there’s the title of a Grade-B movie.”

It made me laugh and lead me to thinking about some other funny titles that I’ve read over the years.

  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Philip Dick)
  • The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Oliver Sachs)
  • How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You (Matthew Inman)
  • The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating (Elisabeth Bailey)
  • The 100–Year Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared (Jonas Jonasson)
  • Everyone Poops (Taro Gomi)
  • Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (Nick Flynn)

Of course, there are a LOT of funny titles out there; I suppose authors think it will hook readers into picking up their books.  It certainly works on me.

Here are a few others I found online…

  • No Matter How Much You Promise to Cook or Pay the Rent You Blew It Cauze Bill Bailey Ain’t Never Coming Home Again (Edgardo Vega Yunque)
  • And To My Nephew Albert I Leave The Island What I Won Off Fatty Hagan in a Poker Game (David Forrest)
  • The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Aimee Bender)
  • Shit My History Teacher Did Not Tell Me (Karl Wiggins)
  • Everything I Know About Women I Learned From My Tractor (Roger Welsch)

Of course, now I’ll have to read these too!

Any funny titles on your reading list lately?

 

 

2026, animals, History, home, pets, Stories, Uncategorized

All Fluffed Up

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Today we brought our pups to Brandon. SD to be groomed. Our Cesky Terriers have a very specific hair cut, leaving them with a shaved back, tail, head, and ears, with a fluffy beard, eyebrows, chest, and ballerina skirt on their front and sides

Their longer fur is very curly and prone to matting. Last night I noticed lots of mats on Mitzi’s legs, so I grabbed my bottle of corn starch and the grooming comb I got from the breeder. The cornstarch really helps with detangling. I was able to get most of the mats out, so I hope today’s grooming won’t be so traumatic for her. She was so good and patient during my combing. The only problem with squirting the dog with cornstarch is that you can’t let them get wet afterwards.

My first haircuts were by Kay Aanenson, a rather flamboyantly gay barber on Luverne’s main street. I don’t remember this, but I was told that I cried the whole time, and Kay just stuffed chewing gum in my mouth to keep me quiet. Kay was a noted dancer of the Charleston, worked as a dancer on Atlantic cruise ships in the 1920’s and 1930’s, and wore very gaudy, colorful suits to our Lutheran church. He came to church every Sunday until he passed. I remember those suits.

I really need to brush out our dogs on a more regular basis. Mitzi loves to plunge in the water feature in our backyard, and I think that leads to more matting. I need to invest in more cornstarch.

Where was your first haircut? Have you had dogs who needed grooming? What is your favorite production of Anything Goes?

2026, Art, Family, History, Kids, Nature, Uncategorized

Small World

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On Saturday, Husband, I, and Boommate met up with our son and his family for a Father’s Day hike at the Pipestone National Monument, aka The Pipestone Indian Shrine. (I don’t think 47 would like to see that name.) It is almost equidistant from both Luverne and Aurora, SD, where son and family live. Here are some park photos.

My mother’s family is from Pipestone. My Uncle Harvey’s old farm abuts the park. It is an odd place, consisting of a quartzite quarry surrounded by prairie with a creek. For hundreds of years, native tribes would come from all over the contnent and get rock for ceremonial pipes. It is a holy place, and there were many cloth prayer bundles tied up in the tree branches. There continue to be native carvers at the visitor center who make pipes. Husband’s is in the header photo. We bought it several years ago. Boommate made the case it rests on. We keep it in its case, as our native friends say it is disrespectful to display it.

On our hike through the park we ran into a graduate school friend of DIL who heads a program at SDSU for disadvantaged students to help them transition to university. The students were with him. He and DIL hadn’t seen each other for some time, and it was nice for them to meet up.

We have a Hidatsa Indian friend from the ND Fort Berthold Reserve who attended the Pipestone Indian School. It closed many years ago. He also worked briefly at the park visitor center as a pipe carver. All the staff at the visitor center are native, and Husband took a chance and asked the older woman at the checkout if she knew our friend, Leo. Well, of course she did, and knew his wife’s name and the name of the band he played bass guitar and drums in. She was so delighted she gave us a bunch of free bumper stickers!

It is a small world, and it was fun to feel connected in so many diverse ways.

When have you felt the world is small? Ever been to Pipestone?

2026, crops, Farming Update, Government, Music, Uncategorized

This week in our little corner-

46 Comments

This week’s farming update from Ben

The rain predicted for Wednesday morning evaporated before it got here. We just got sprinkles. And it’s still rather cool. A bit under normal temps. Growing degree units are still above normal, thanks to the early spring. Corn is already knee high, so that’s good. It’s almost canopied meaning that will keep the weeds down. The soybeans are maybe 6″ tall. Long ways to go for canopy for them. The co-op sprayed the soybeans for weeds this week. 

One of Kelly’s co-workers was in a bicycle accident and has broken her clavicle. Her collar bone. And you all know there’s not much to do about that. Strap it to your chest and go about your day. This woman was back at work two days later. Typing with one hand. She’s a very busy person in the first place, and she said she was home staring at the walls, so she may as well be at work. With one hand. Been there, done that. 

I was at a business the other day, and the clerk was typing with her two pointer fingers. And I thought again, thank goodness for 11th grade typing class. And I chose that myself; Mom and Dad didn’t even push it on me. And back in the 1980’s I don’t know why I would have thought that? But good for me. Glad I did. I’m still trying to learn the numeric keyboard without looking at it. 559096 3940 175 5607259357028593164 That was me trying to type out some familiar numbers without looking. It’s 85% accurate… Not quite good enough for my accounting though. 

My brother-in-law is missing his left pinky finger. He says the Q and Z aren’t a big deal, but he sure misses the A.

I had election judge training this week; regular and head judge. And since I’ve been doing this for 20 some years, there’s not much to keep it interesting. So I turned it into a game of judging their grammar. They talked about when your vote has been “casted“ really? Casted? And at one point she said something was done “correctionally”. I spent a long time thinking about that. Is correctionally a word? I wanted to look around the room and say ‘did you all hear that? Is that what she said’? One guy talked about the “Safe At Home” program, but it sure sounded like he was saying “Save At Home”. Hmmm… Call me judgemental.

The farm this week has been odds and ends. I threw out a bunch of wildflower seed expecting rain. So now I’m out there with the water tank in the back of the gator getting that watered– fingers crossed. I figured if I didn’t water, it wouldn’t rain, and if I did water it would, so I watered. And it worked! We got just over half an inch on Wednesday afternoon. 

Monday evening the dogs were barking at something down in the feedroom. Kelly had gone down and opened the door but didn’t see anything. At one point, Luna came and literally got Kelly. Clearly indicating she needed to come back down there. I went down to get some corn and when I turned on the auger to load more feed into the wall bin, a raccoon climbed out the top of the bin. She bounced off my shoulder and tried to make a get away. And there was the dogs and this raccoon at my feet. I have had my close encounters with raccoons before and didn’t really need another. At least I didn’t scream like a little girl this time, I just tried to get out of the way. Corn auger is still running, corn is spilling on the floor. It was a whole big thing.

Padawan is at a(nother) new job, so Padawan 2 is coming out to help. He’s been around before and he’s a good kid, too. I took the mower off the lawn tractor, sharpened the blades, replaced a spindle, (the bearing supporting a blade), changed the oil in the tractor and cut more grass. P2 replaced a carburetor on our secondary lawn mower, and we worked together replacing a fuel line between the tank and the fuel pump. Although it’s still not running. Hmmm….  While he was doing the carburetor I replaced the sediment bowl on Kelly’s C tractor. And that still leaks too. Geez, batting zero on these projects. P2 had success replacing a door latch and gas strut on a tractor door. We moved stuff around in the shed and got the corn planter and grain drill parked away until next spring.

We spotted this big moth on a tree. 

What is this? It was about 3 inches tall. Six legs, furry antenna. Maybe a Cecropia?

The summer festival season has kicked off. It was the 152 Annual Viola Gopher count on Wednesday and Thursday with a parade and fireworks and a street dance. Daughter’s group usually goes to the parade, but she wasn’t really interested. She told me only lazy people go to parades. I tried to explain I didn’t think that was exactly true, but I had trouble not giggling and she’s not interested in rational explanations anyway. She likes to move, not sit and watch a parade. We let her stay home. 

It’s also Elgin Cheese Days Thursday – Sunday this week. Carnival rides, food trucks, and more dancing. I drove through Elgin on Thursday, on my way home from getting more parts in Plainview. There were a lot of garage sales, and two little girls selling earrings on a boulevard. And the local strawberry farm has fresh strawberries. Oh My Goodness they’re good. They make my knee’s buckle they’re so good.

Peas are being harvested and guys are planting soybeans following the peas. 

I needed a few new farm shirts, so I dug to the back of the closet, found a couple with long sleeves I haven’t worn in years. Cut the sleeves off and they’re having a new life.

Driving home from Plainview, I heard Spike Jones singing “Chloe”. If the title doesn’t ring a bell for you, allow me: A phone rings, he answers, he says, “You don’t say. You DON’T say. You don’t say.” Hang’s up. The band says, “Who was it?” Spike replies, “He didn’t say.” Then later, phone rings again, same bit. Again they say “Who was it?” “Same guy.” Makes me laugh every time. I looked up the song on YouTube. Following Spike Jones was Cab Calloway and the Nicolas Brothers. Now those guys could dance!

Kelly is hosting a ‘movie on the farm’ night for her work people. The Residents and Fellows in the Pathology program come out and we do a bonfire and show a movie on the side of the crib. This will be the fourth year. First year got rained out. Second year was sparsely attended. Third year was in September and it was so cold and rainy we moved it into the shop and machine shed and showed the movie on the shop door. It was a good crowd and they all had a good time. This year looks like sunny but cool weather. She gave them a choice of movie and I haven’t heard what it will be yet. They do a popcorn machine, a root beer keg, they got vanilla ice cream, and the fixings for S’mores. P2 and I got out some tables, and straw bales for seating, cleaned out the garage, and he cut grass.  

And then Sunday is Father’s Day. 

Happy Fathers Day Dad’s!

ARE YOU JUDGEMENTALLYIST?

WHAT MOVIE IS GOOD FOR OUTSIDE?

2026, animals, Business, Family, Food, History, Mysteries, Travel

Where in the World Are VS & YA?

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It’s been a few years since YA and I traveled together.  This is a four-day weekend trip that we’ve talked about for a few years now.  Here are some interesting facts about our location:

  • Nearly half the residents of the US live near here
  • The gate to hell is hiding underneath North Street
  • Part of the Berlin Wall can be found here
  • Woody Harrelson was arrested in this city in 1982 before hitting it big in Hollywood
  • The Anthony Thomas Company makes 50,000 pounds of chocolate here daily, including their famous candy named after a state tree
  • The NFL was headquartered here from 1927 until 1938
  • Jack Hanna is Director Emeritus to one of the largest attractions of its kind in North America here.

Where in the world are we?  (Bonus points if you can say WHY we’re here!)

 

 

2026, animals, pets, Uncategorized

Developmental Milestones

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Well, Kyrill’s worst fear has been come true: Mitzi can now jump up on the sofa all by herself. For Kyrill, this means that he has lost the “upper paw” he had with her.

Prior to last week, Kyrill could steal any of Mitzi’s toys and chew bones, jump up on the sofa with them, and she couldn’t do much about it. Kyrill and Mitzi both have a “I’ll have what she/he is having” attitude about possessions. They want anything the other has. Now that she can ascend the sofa, she can more easily steal things back from him. We are happy with this developmental milestone since we no longer have to hoist her up all the time. Cesky Terriers are long dogs with short legs, and her back finally got long enough. Kyrill was definitely stressed and needed lots of pets and reassurance after her sofa jumping became regular.

Despite vying for possessions, the two dogs are always close by one another and snooze right next to each other all the time. They remind me of human siblings, with Kyrill taking the role of an older brother who wants to be dominant over his younger sister but who still tries to take care of her.

What sibling rivalry did you experience? How did your family cope with it? If you have more than one pet how do they get along?

2026, Business, Computers, Food, home, Technology, Travel, Uncategorized, work

It Will Be Here When?

19 Comments

It has been a real eye opener moving here from the middle of nowhere on the Northern Plains. The weather here is far more changeable and unpredictable. Pickup trucks are fewer and smaller. Lots more bugs.

Sioux Falls is our “big town ” for shopping. It is only 24 miles away as opposed to Bismarck, our former “big town” that was 100 miles away. Trips to Bismarck were few and far between. Even so, we really don’t want to be running to SF all the time for things we need that we can’t get in Luverne. That means more ordering on-line.

We have been astounded by the speed on-line orders are delivered to us. The other day I ordered some bookends at about 10:00 am. They were delivered by 6:00 pm the same day. Other orders come overnight and are delivered between 5:00 am and 8:00 am. Is this normal? Does this happen elsewhere? I think if folks back in western ND knew this was possible, they would protest the wait times for their deliveries!

I wonder, though, how long deliveries across the country will be quick and speedy. The other day I got an email from a produce company in Oregon I often order celery root and savoy cabbage from. They were offering a $500 bonus to any customer who could recommend a CDL trucker who could deliver their produce. There seems to be a trucker shortage. Hmm. I wonder why?

Do you get orders delivered fast? Tell some delivery stories. Know any truckers?