animals, Farming Update, Health, Uncategorized

End of October

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We got 0.4” rain Thursday night. Made a puddle where I throw out corn and the ducks appreciate having their drinking water 5 steps from the food.

It’s gonna get cold next week. I better take the outside faucet out of the wellhouse and move the pressure washer someplace heated. I supply straw to a neighborhood strawberry farm to cover their berries in the winter. They took 150 bales right off a wagon this summer and now they’re ready to cover the berries and will need another “15-50” bales. And another person near them wants 15 bales so I will take 60 over on a trailer tomorrow.

I saw Lowes the other day, selling regular size small bales of straw (not the mini- decoration bales) for $13 / bale. Wowzer! I need to raise my prices.

I haven’t had time to do any farming the last few weeks. The neighbors are all crazy busy combining corn and doing fieldwork and doing all that stuff they need to do. I’ve got a show to open (Will be open when you read this) plus the finishing touches on the theater remodeling project (Open house on the 6th) and a Lab quiz Monday in Geology class (identifying rocks and minerals) so studying for that plus regular class homework. So, I don’t have time to farm anyway for a couple weeks yet… what I have to do when I get time is get the new gear box put on the brush mower and finish working on the grain drill and other things on my home “To do” list.

Duck update – Missing the old, balding, poofy one… down to 6 poofs. And it’s hard to say if the old one died or got snatched. The five black and white ones are still there, the 4 cream colored ones are still there, and I have a hard time getting a good count on the brown ones; 20 or 21 but they’re still there.

We have 3 guinea fowl on the farm. They’re terrible mothers; lay a nest of 20 eggs and get up and walk away after the first 6 or 8 hatch. Usually a cold rainy day in October. Last week one day, first cold night with freezing temps, there she is with 6 babies.

The three seem to be cooperative parenting. And the 6 babies have made it a week now.  But don’t hold your breath.  We could catch them and move them inside… but that takes a while and it’s more chores and I just can’t take it on right now. We had been taking about getting more guineas next summer anyway.

I was at the doctor this week; nothing serious, just ‘old man skin’ and had a couple spots frozen off. Lost my only wisdom spot… guess I wasn’t using it enough.

I mentioned the other day I’ve had music of ‘Pink Floyd in my head all week. Still there. I’ve been listening to a lot of that. Loud. It’s better that way.

Here’s some of the neighbor’s cows at our place.

Did you ever think you were going to get old? How does it compare to what you imagined as a kid?

111 thoughts on “End of October”

      1. I agree. I get farm fresh eggs from Melissa for $4.00/dozen. At least twice what I’d pay for eggs at Aldi, and worth every penny of it. Also, shopping at the local farmers’ market isn’t about saving money. It’s about getting the freshest, locally grown fruit, vegetables and produce, and supporting these hard-working farmers. It breaks my heart to think that so many of these farmers are struggling, as I know many of them are. You shouldn’t have to have a job working at night for UPS, and farming during the day, to keep a roof over your head. I’m happy to do my small part.

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  3. OT: catching up on yesterday :
    1. “Grease” WAS a disaster movie, wasn’t it?
    2. I thought Gretchen Peters wrote” Independence Day.
    3.PJ, okay you’re right again. I shouldn’t assume people know I don’t like Hitler. So for the record, no I don’t. I don’t like him any more than I like that other guy. You know, the one Whoopi Goldberg doesn’t like either.
    4. I think this was Renee’s post I’m referring to. The Spanish people also have reacted to one time poverty, by not liking secondhand stuff. And conspicuously having new cars, Raybans, trainers etc. Though paradoxically, there is a good “boulevard exchange” as Ben called it.
    5. Tim, the boy with his finger in the dyke. He didn’t take it out! Boring, right? There definitely needs to be a sequel with some stuff getting washed away. What was he thinking?
    6.Nicholas Cage and the board. I must see that some time. But how come he wasn’t hanging on a rope or a wire? The camera keeps going back to the pulley it’s hanging on, doesn’t it? The bracket holding the pulley breaks a bit more, with lifelike sound effects. But it holds! Back to the guy hanging off the wire with one hand (that’s dead easy to do by the way, that’s why he’s not really showing too much strain. He’s only got his family and some precious motorcycle parts in the other arm.) His arms not hurting, but he is showing some concern about the fate of that BSA cylinder head. Those aluminum ones are rare.
    The bracket gives some more and the pulley drops an inch and a quarter! Our hero somehow falls five feet, but hangs on by the skin of his teeth. I mean, give a break. His arm must be starting to ache a little bit.
    Well there are various endings. I hope that cylinder head didn’t get scratched! I had one of them once, but the owner asked for it back before I could fit it. And there are various ropes and pieces of wire. But I think it’s always the same bit of film with the pulley. I’d like to be the guy that hires it out.
    7.Do they have the President in every disaster movie?

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    1. Mars Attacks!
      Yes. A United States President must be in every disaster movie as a symbol of all that is good about humanity. But sometimes things do work out.
      Ack! Ack! Ack!

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      1. The President of the US as a symbol of all that is good about humanity suffered a severe setback during the last administration. Not sure we’ll ever fully recover from that.

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        2. you know as I’ve traveled it’s kind of known that the ugly American is just part of the deal they are aloof and self-serving and self-centered and dress funny and treat the locals like they are lesser and it’s interesting to see how when that side of America comes front and center how we all recognize it for what it is
          What’s really concerning is that his numbers are better than Biden’s numbers are today with America at large

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        3. Make Bars great again. You know when you go to bed and they’re winning and then bars of chocolate get shifted in the night, and next morning, somehow, it’s Snickers etc etc. But I mean, THAT has to be a fraud. They were pulling out boxes of Snickers from under the table etc

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        5. I watched that movie that came out a while ago about the San Andreas Fault giving it up. It had The Rock in it but I actually watched it because of the young actor from Australia, whose name I can’t remember now. I don’t remember president being in that one though.

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    1. I recall my first visit to my doctor after I got on Medicare. I was stunned to see the signage on the clinic proclaiming that I was entering Geriatric Care. How rude, I thought. They have since changed it, I may not have been the only one who had that reaction. But I have to admit, there’s a disconnect between what’s going on inside my head, and the obviously aging body that is a little worse for wear.

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  5. Another nice job, Ben. I don’t know how you get it all done. I attribute it to your relative youth. Those guinea fowl must be pretty hardy. I love the subtle colors in the photo with the cows, such a bucolic scene.

    I always figured that if I lived long enough, I would get old. Of course, back then I thought people were old when they were forty. I don’t have any children myself, and hence no grand children either, so I lack the daily reminders that they often are, that time is passing. My sister’s oldest grandchild turned thirty this year, and I’m two years older than my sister, so I figure that’s a sure indicator that I’m inching my way toward old, if I’m not there already. But, really, what is age? What does it mean?

    Tonight we’re attending an annual bonfire celebration with a bunch of old friends, most of whom I’ve known forty years or more. They’re an eclectic group of musicians, dancers, and fellow travelers through the Twin Cities folk music scene and all around good people. Good people that I don’t see all that often but always enjoy catching up with. Sitting around a bonfire, singing, reminiscing, roasting s’mores, and drinking warm apple cider with a bunch of like-minded folks, that’s not how I envisioned old age, but I’ll take it. And honestly, I think I enjoy it more now than I did twenty or thirty years ago for now I know this can’t and won’t go on forever. Thirty years ago, I always assumed there would be a next time, I no longer take that for granted.

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  6. Sad news. All the Guinea babies are gone this morning. All in one swoop, which is really too bad. The momma had been hiding with them somewhere at night, because I would see the other two guineas, but not her or the babies by about 5 PM. Shucks.

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      1. All three adults are here, the babies are gone, which, presumably means something found and ate them.
        We always say the world is a pretty tough place for baby chicks; they could fall in a hole or get lost pretty easy. And typically one morning there’s just one less chick. So for all 6 to be gone at once… something found them.
        I did find some egg shells in the weeds down by one of the barns yesterday, maybe that’s where she had her nest, but it’s not where she had been taking them at night.
        Also found a dozen chicken eggs in with the straw bales. Didn’t find them until I had tipped the bale over and stepped on a few of them. Also don’t know how old they were. Occasionally one of the chickens will start laying eggs somewhere different like that. It’s up to me to figure out where and sometimes it’s like this and I only find them by accident.

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        2. Ben, I have three hens missing for about a month. I assume they are setting on eggs (or just “setting”) somewhere. The dog “showed” me where one of them disappeared under an old building, but haven’t seen her since. I hope they come out from where they are hiding before the snow comes…

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  8. Age is so relative isn’t it?
    I remember being in the doctors office once and I noticed the chart said “age 51“ and I thought to myself 51? Who is 51? What is she talking about? Oh. Yeah, that’s me. I am 51.
    The 1980s don’t seem like they should be that long ago.
    My dad died at 89. I seem to remember him saying he didn’t think he was going to live to 90. But it was just sort of an offhand comment that he made and I never really thought about it until after he passed. I wish I would’ve paid more attention to that. I asked the rest of the family if he’d ever said that to them, they said no.

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    1. When I was fifteen and my dad was thirty-seven, we talked about how long we each would like to live. We agreed that 83 seemed like a good age to reach. He made it to 72. I could still make it to 83, but there are days when I’m not so sure I want to.

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  10. My Great Aunt Annie, sister to Amelia (the tartar), said, at age 95, that she didn’t want to go to the nursing home because she didn’t want to live with a bunch of deadbeats.

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    1. I can relate to that. My living situation is appealing in many ways, but I’ll never be happy about living with so many people who are so old. So much dementia. So much preoccupation with health. So many folks you come to enjoy, and then they suddenly aren’t there any more.

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    2. Rise and Shine Baboons,

      When I was a kid I could not conceive of getting older. It just did not seem to be possible. And now here I am. Older, as in senior citizen.
      I can’t say I ever thought about it much as a child or even as a young adult, so I did not really have a lot of preconceptions until I got into my 30s, then I spent a lot of time and energy dealing with breast cancer, so at that point I did not think I would live very long. At first I was just trying to survive to raise my son, then after that I just thought Lou would survive me.

      About 5 years ago, I volunteered with a breast cancer awareness organization and I went through an orientation, which led me to discover that since I had breast cancer, the life expectancies changed a lot. Now, since I am long past the 5 and 10 years marks of survival, I am expected to live a normal life span. That was a stunner, because I just kept expecting that any day now I would get cancer again and then…. So here I am getting old when I did not ever think I would and every day is a surprise with new aches and pains. At least the aches and pains let me know I am alive.

      We are headed for AZ for a week, then returning home. I don’t know how much I will be on the Trail—it will depend on Century Link’s ability to get our internet connection turned on for the season. That is never a sure thing.

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    3. Annie was a bit difficult, too. There is a family story of the two of them as adults getting into a knock down, drag out, hair pulling fight in a ditch over a dispute over their parents’ estate.

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  11. As a 20 years old, I was told that I’d never get any money out of Social Security. It would fail. Looks as though I’ll be getting a pretty good raise come January.

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  12. I’ve probably dealt with more issues related to aging than any other baboon. For one thing, I’m older than the rest of you. Indeed, I’ve already died once, so I have that as an odd experience to contemplate. It might seem I should be relatively wise about aging, but it doesn’t work that way.

    The key issue is that each of us has a unique experience with aging. While some aspects of aging pop up often, the whole thing is complicated and impossible to predict. Nobody knows what it is going to be like. I generally feel that aging is a more overwhelming process than I’d guessed it would be, but I can offer few insights beyond that.

    You’re going to learn to deal with a lot, or that is you will learn if you survive long enough. A lot of it isn’t pleasant. But like any other period in our personal history, aging challenges us. We can do it well or do it badly, and what I mainly want to say is “Good luck!”

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  13. Seriously. I don’t think I thought about getting old, I didn’t know what it would be like, but it couldn’t be good. So best not think about it. I’m a bit resentful at not being able to do so much. And the aches and pains and tiredness. But I was warned not to work in the rain, and took no notice till I was 35. So it’s partly my own fault.
    And there’s plenty I’d do differently. I need a lot more time.

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    1. I think you’re right, Fenton, so many factors impact how well we age; lifestyle choices major among them. As I always say, had I known I’d live this long, I’d have taken better care of me. By the way, Steve, I’m pretty sure there’s at least one baboon who is older than you.

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      3. Well it can’t be me as a newcomer. But you know, that form I filled in to get onto this blog, that bit that looks like a 7, really it’s a 2. It’s 20,right? Not 70.

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        1. If your date of birth was prior to January 15, 1942, Fenton, you’d be the senior baboon no matter how recently you had joined the baboons.

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  14. Anyway, OT: we were probably the only ones that didn’t know. But the kids did trick or treat last night instead of Sunday. Isaac and I arrived home from his Spanish class and got word from his friends to go out. He qualifies as an older boy now, and they all ended up watching the Halloween magic show, which I’d forgotten about. (He said the guy has finally got a new act). Meanwhile, Jane arrived home from work, the doorbell rang, and in trooped a horde of laughing, shouting, tiny tots, “Hola! Hola!” Luckily I’d found the little chocolate coin type things that Jane had laid in, and Jane handed them out like crazy. My little favourite, Axel, two now, stood solemnly while Jane gave him his chocolate, then everybody trooped out again. It was really good fun and lasted at least 30 seconds. Wouldn’t have missed it.

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  16. Most of my grandparents, great aunts and uncles, aunts and uncles, and my parents lived into their 90’s. My maternal grandmother was 99 when she died. I had better take care of myself, since I am 63 and every time I go to the doctor, the nurses make such a big deal that I am not on any medications and have good blood pressure, lipid levels, and good glucose levels.

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      3. Not sure it would help you but for my arthritis I daily use turmeric and a pinch of raw pepper corn. Don’t drop the pepper corn. They look like mouse turds.

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        1. Are you saying that you eat whole peppercorns, Wes, or do you crush them first? When using them in cooking, I find that I need to crush them first to get them to release their whole power.

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        3. PJ, somebody told Todd Snider that if you do too much acid, a banana is what you need. So he got that banana in his hand and didn’t let go, and it did the trick. Or so he says.

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  17. Back when I was a teenager I was sure that by the time I got to be of age medical science would’ve made it possible to keep me alive to 130 140 and that was the goal for a while there I doubted that and thought that if I can make it to 100 that’ll be good today I’m back to the goal of 130 or 140 and I’m trying to figure out how to keep myself in good enough shape quality of life doesn’t decline to the point where it becomes an inconvenience

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  18. The thing that I noticed about the difference between the old people when I was a kid and me today as an older person is the presentation old people when I was a kid presented themselves as old when I see old people in the coffee shops and out in the world they all seem to be acting really old I don’t feel like I’m acting old but maybe I should put a camera on myself and follow myself around and see if I’m doing whatever it is it gives me the impression that other people are old I still feel like I’m moving pretty much like I did when I was around 2030 4050 years ago maybe not quite as spry but still doing the same stuff

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        1. My new brother in law (new 19 years ago) put a camera on all of us when Jane and I got married. It followed me around a fair bit and it was demoralising to se what a total idiot I looked, even when standing doing nothing. It’s so embarrassing to look at me that we put the video away and may well never watch it again. Which is a pity, because Jane looked fabulous.

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  19. Original Star Trek.
    Okay. The accelerated aging process was caused by radiation from a comet. Bones figures out a cure and the aging is reversed. Star Fleet was warned about the comet.
    Why warned?!
    Expose old people to the radiation. Apply the therapy. Eternal youth!!!

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    3. I’m going to say it! “That’s illogical, Captain.”

      Okay, I’m happy now.

      Did you ever notice, when they visit those places where no man/no one has ever been before, there’s usually somebody there already?

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  20. I keep comparing my experience to that of my grandmothers. I think I do a lot of things that younger people do – like exercise – rather than old lady thing like having card parties. It does seem like older folks are more active now than back in the day.

    But I know that my time is coming when I won’t be able to do all these active things. As someone above said, enjoy it while we can, eh?

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      1. The eighty year olds sit on benches telling each other yet again how they prepared last night’s meal. They’ve already been in each other’s kitchens, watching them do it.

        Us seventies are knocking on people’s doors and running away, getting in fights, picking on someone and shutting them out of the gang for a week, just generally having a great time.

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  21. I have from an early age thought about aging and dying induced I think by animals on farm and my 80 something friend Charlie. As a pastor you live with one foot in the grave, help people deal with aging and dying. So you think about yourself. It is about as I imagined and witnessed.
    When we got married I was 20 and Sandra was 25. Our age difference mattered a great deal to her. As a result I was never really around her friends. I believe a few made comments to her. To this day they do not really accept me, especially her nasty classmate cousin with her nose in the air.
    I told her that statistically I was still likely to die before her. She lived in fear I would end up her caretaker, brought it up every couple years over last couple decades, which emotionally prepared me for the role. She has never admitted I was and still am to some degree her caretaker. I have been a damn good caretaker but I have snipers who tell me and her that I am not, such as snippy cousin. I have 9 back seat drivers right now telling me how to do it right. That I never imagined.

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    1. Psalm 90 has been significant for me in describing life. Sometimes it seems cynical but I hang my hat on what applies no matter what belief/ non-belief system a person might have.
      “Teach us how to count our days so that we aquire a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)
      Make every day count.

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    3. I’m new to all of you Clyde, and I’ve hesitated to intrude in yourcomplex affairs in particular.Probably conspicuously. But I’m so sorry your life has come to this.

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    4. Is it possible, Clyde, to view your “9 back seat drivers” not as adversaries who are telling you what to do, but as allies who are trying to help you navigate a difficult stretch? You are in an extremely difficult situation right now, and it must pain those who love you, not to be able to help. Not only do you have Sandy’s care and well being to worry about, your own health is precarious. Add to that the financial worries that may cause further upheaval in your life, and I can readily see why people are trying to reach out to you.

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  22. One reason I’ve thought so much about death is that I’ve lost several friends recently. 2019 and 2020 were particularly bad years, as I lost three people who were dear friends. Of course, Edith was a friend many of us treasured, and her loss still hurts.

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    2. How is that even possible, it’s seems like just a few years ago? I still smile when I think of his celebration of life event at the Fitzgerald Theater. Dale was brilliant as the MC, and Garrison Keillor in drag was priceless. The lone piper at the end brought me to tears. What a sendoff that was.

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    3. Not surprisingly, I didn’t know who Tom Keith was. But anyone who even knows what a wapiti is, has my respect.

      The only sound effect story I. know, has occurred to me. I don’t know if you know of Spike Milligan over there. A comic genius who became famous with the legendary fifties radio show, “The Goon Show.” Like me, he was a great guy who was infuriating to be around, but unlike me, he was funny.
      He needed a sound effect of someone being hit in the face with a sockful of egg custard. I don’t exactly know what that is, which is predictable and irrelevant. So the obvious thing was, go down to the BBC canteen and ask one of the cooks to make him an egg custard. That’s what he did, and the lady thought, poor Spike, he must have got an upset tummy. She lovingly made it for him, and said, “here you are Spike, here’s your egg custard.” Whereupon he took off a shoe and sock, poured the egg custard into the sock, and whacked something with it, I forget what. But, striving for authenticity, no doubt it was someone’s face, very possibly his own. But the ******ing thing didn’t sound like somebody being hit in the face with a sockful of egg custard. So he had to think of something else. Sorry, the story doesn’t tell us what.

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      1. That’s funny, Fenton. I just looked up the Goon Show (not to be confused with The Gong Show), which looks hilarious!
        https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Goon+Show&client=firefox-b-1-d&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=OR6Egup02xeN_M%252C7hgN7a3NcYY-vM%252C_%253B73MB4K0m63qpzM%252C0EakvPMKwjpEyM%252C_%253BrPbFI9WfOxCGWM%252CKTxoZaU-1VcwMM%252C_%253ByrPMXlwuPYRmRM%252CO_MVg8lqK2LNeM%252C_%253BkxFmVZ6yWkIwtM%252C3vu0sYZsSbykmM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kSHjvBWOZmW2fVvqQqaYkQHAMIIBQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjL99HcqfXzAhUbHc0KHY1uDugQ_h16BAhREAE#imgrc=OR6Egup02xeN_M

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        1. Barbara, I never heard it at the time, don’t know why. But I have a few LP’s I bought in the late seventies, and I love them, hilarious and stupid, and pretty much a new approach to humour. The Monty Python crew would readily admit to its influence, I think.
          Just about everyone I came across in the seventies loved Monty Python, and I was one of them. You just wouldn’t miss an episode. In later years I kind of wondered if it really was so funny. But the Goons, never. I listen to them knowing exactly what the next line is, and the one after that. I still laugh like a fool.
          The BBC was stuffed with people with posh accents at that time, and Spike was always in conflict with them over the Goons.

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        1. I think you mean Spike, and I’m glad he’s recognised. Just before Monty Python appeared, Spike had a few shows on TV called Q4, the meaning of which I don’t know. They were utterly (once again) stupid and hilarious, and had Spike carrying props around, such as a door and doorframe, and putting the door down in the appropriate place, opening it and walking through, as if into the room where the action was. I always said the show was even funnier than Monty Python, and it occurs to me now to see if I can find it (and be disappointed, humour doesn’t always age well, does it?) He later had a Q5, and maybe on up to 8,but for me he never recaptured that hilarity. He could get bogged down sometimes, in truth. There may well have been a Q1 etc, I don’t know.
          Spike was a complex person who suffered terribly from depression all of his later life. When he was on form he was the greatest, and I’m a lifelong fan of the old b******

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  25. Tom Paxton turns 84 today, which coincidentally is the same number of songs he has written since the beginning of the pandemic shut down.
    And of course he has a gig tonight.
    Or as his website has it:
    “Tom Paxton: Making the rest of you lazy folksingers look bad since 1937.”

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    1. It’s gone midnight here, and we obviously saw all the ones we were going to see on Friday, none appeared tonight. I have to decide what to do with all these chocolate buttons……

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    2. I had an open bag of Hershey’s Nuggets with almonds that I unwisely left on the porch for a few minutes while I was taking the groceries into the house, and a squirrel made away with one. That was my only trick-or-treater. He tricked me and got his treat.

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