2022, animals, Business, Family, Farming Update, Nature, pets, Seasons

Making Progress

46 Comments

All things do eventually arrive. Even good weather.

The corn is all planted and we’re working on soybeans. Growing Degree Units for my area are at 317; about 90 above normal, which, I’m finding hard to believe as cool as it was this spring. But I read it on the internet so it must be true.

I’m still struggling with the pinched nerve and I’m lucky my brother has been coming out and helping do fieldwork the last few years. He and Kelly got to work last Saturday with me pointing and giving instructions and they took the loader off the tractor, hooked up the corn planter, got it all greased, filled it with seed and started planting corn. Several times it became clear to us how many things we just do, without thinking about them, and then have to explain to someone *how* to do it, is much more difficult. Communication people, Communication.

Kelly planted the first field of corn. Again, so many things to watch, that I do automatically, but trying to explain it all to her…well, one thing at a time. It wasn’t helpful that sometimes I change my mind in the middle of what’s happening. But she did it! I knew she could! She just hadn’t had too before. Eventually I discovered I was able to get into the tractor and I was able to do the planting. I have more corn this year than normal, partially because the co-op and I had a mix up of maps and they weren’t spreading the fertilizer where I expected them to spread it. A few phone calls and texting photos of maps back and forth solved the issue. I’m still not sure what happen but it’s OK and I’ll verify next year before we start.

Several very fortuitous things have come about this year. We bought a gator two years ago; one of those side by side utility vehicles. I’m able to get in that and drive it. I can park it at the back door, I can drive it through the fields, and into the shed. It’s been very valuable. And the decision last fall to have the co-op spread all the fertilizer, while at the time was more about precision application of nutrients, certainly became valuable this spring as I wasn’t trying to explain how to run the fertilizer wagon to Kelly. Not to mention having to refill the planter so often. With the co-op doing it, all the corn fields are fertilized at once and I just have someone add seed to the planter and I can go many more acres before needing a refill. Ah, those decisions we make without realizing their full implications.

The barn swallows returned the first week of May and a pair have built a nest on top of a wind chime outside our front door. This has been a regular occurrence the last few years. We’ve learned to put some cardboard down to collect all the droppings. And a Robin is building a nest on top of a gutter downspout where it angles under the eave, at the back door. I enjoy watching the swallows fly around me when out in the fields. I’ve been seeing pheasants near the CRP, (Conservation Reserve Program) fields. He doesn’t seem to be very afraid of me in the tractor. One day daughter took a walk and said she saw an owl. I thought that was kind of unusual and figured she meant a hawk. Two days later, Kelly and I were going to get the mail, and there was an owl! Daughter was right.

Planting corn was almost without issues. On the second to last field, the planter settled to the ground by itself once and I thought the hydraulic valve on the tractor must be leaking. (It’s hydraulic oil that holds it up). When I got to the last field, I realized there was an oil leak and that’s why the planter had lowered itself. Oh. Heck. I tried to finish planting but it soon became apparent I was losing too much oil. Making a run for home, I almost made it before running completely out of hydraulic oil. The next day we found the leak and my brother got it apart, I found a replacement, he reassembled, and we finished planting corn.

The chicks are growing up; they’re kind of at that awkward teenage phase.

I watched a pair of guineas the other day. I’m not sure if they were fighting or playing or mating.

When have your intentions been misunderstood?

46 thoughts on “Making Progress”

  1. Ben, I have pinched nerves and nerve damage in arms and legs, more in neck to shoulders down to carpal tunnel. Radiologist once said my back looked like someone who had done labor as a child, which I had. Orthopedist agreed that mine was probably genetics and hard work. So I suspect you need to plan to deal with this for the rest of your life. For 5 months I have been doing 75-90 minutes of PT almost every day. Probably overdoing that a bit. I use the heated pool at senior center three mornings a week. Use their free weights and machines 5 days a week. Do home exercises 4 days a week. Aimed at balance, gait, and multi tasking. My point is get committed now to always addressing this; from one child laborer to another.
    Today my labor is being a seamstress. Can one be a seamster?
    It is red day in my feeder, house finches, two sets of cardinals, few house finches.
    Will try to put together blog about my woods. But between PT and Sandra and addressing various distaff tasks, not a lot of me time.
    Clyde

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

  2. Morning all. I’m sure I’ve been misunderstood repeatedly but nothing I can think of right now. I am however having a perfect morning. It’s a little too chilly to go outside and garden yet so I’m in my studio with cup of hot coffee and I just turned on the television and Princess Bride is showing. What more could I ask for.

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

    2. MN Orchestra has The Princess Bride in their next season line up as one of their movie and live orchestra performances. (Yes, I am buying tickets. As you wish.)

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

    2. Wessex can I delve down into your flooring brain? Managers are replacing carpet with plank vinyl when apartments change hands. Would be for cost and no other reason. My buddy maintenance guy has little to praise about it: noisy, hard to keep clean, loud for apartment below (but I am on ground floor cement).
      My carpet is 12 years old, ratty, dirty, with foot paths worn into it. Will be hard to manage furniture if I let them replace it. But it will only get worse. Mastic odors will destroy me until it clears.
      What can you tell me about it? How is it properly laid on cement? Is it hard to keep looking clean? Does it mark when things are dropped on it? Does it stand up in bathrooms?
      If these questions are a bother, just ignore me.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Clyde, we have vinyl plank flooring in several places. We put it in our kitchen where it gets heavy wear and spillage. Everything cleans up beautifully. It is not loud at all. I cannot tell you anything about the installation. That would be Wes’s area, but as a flooring to live with, I am very pleased with the product. We wash it with vinegar water. Everything cleans up nicely.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        2. Here irt may be the quality being used and the gray color chosen. It looks dirty much of the time and does reportedly mark when you drop things. Others say it is noisy to walk on, which makes me wonder about how it has been installed.

          Like

  4. When I was having fits with a next-door neighbor in Robbinsdale over stuff about my cats (turned out it wasn’t MY cats…), we had multiple times of misunderstanding each other, and ended up losing the friendship – at the end, she wouldn’t even look at me if our cars passed.
    I’m sure there have been others…

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  7. Lately it’s been less on the misunderstood side of the house, more on the unheard entirely side… between Daughter (who, like her father, will respond if you ask something – but make sure she has eye contact or she will never remember) and a particular co-worker, I sometimes feel like I am being gaslit with the things I say or ask about and then no one else recalls the conversation… Or maybe it *is* that I talked to the dogs and not a human…

    P.S. Renee – just catching up on some old posts. Your new puppy is adorable!

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

  9. Today is an oddity day.
    First my miscommunication: told building management I did not want to proceed with the lousiy new flooring. She answered Monday he would set up a date for them to do it.
    Oddity #1: man was riding a bike right down the wrong side of a four lane split street. Right at me. I had to stop. Car behind me honked. Then he pulled into other wrong lane and stopped traffic there. It was street person territory, but he would have been the best dressed best groomed such person with a very fine bike.
    Oddity #2: went to check out a new Greek restaurant. We like Greek food. Doors were locked. No sign on the door. Just called them. They said they do not allow people in the restaurant. I have to order food through Door dash. Not happening. There is a bit of a Covid falir up but nobody else is doing that.
    Oddity #3: got a note that my May 1 rent check was $200 short and I needed to make a $200 payment immedialtely. Dug up copy of the bank-processed check. It was written correctly at the right amount in both numbers and words. But it was procssed $200 lower. How does that happen? Did the management here process it wrong? Can you process it wrong? Did the bank system process it wrong? And how do banks today process checks? Can the technology read the writing? Do humans still handled them?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      1. Lots of impolite drivers. We have a rather large street population with some good programs to help them as much they want to be helped. Salvation Army is here but they have lots of rules. Street people are not rule followers so other programs have stepped in. Three shelter programs, which serve the larger area and same with temporary family housing. Downtown churches work together on programs. Lots of college overdrinking. Our church has a teen dropin center with separate entrance which is a bog success. Excellent free clinic with dental and some psychological/social services. We contribute to many of those.
        So we have issues, but lots of things going on to help.

        Liked by 5 people

        Reply

      1. It is straightened out, except whys and wherefores. She said I could wait to 6/1 and add it to June rent. But I gave her check. Will talk to my bank tomorrow just to understand how it can happen.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  11. misunderstanding is a different cat today than it was a while back
    so much communication is electronic with screens and devices that miscommunication happened because of bad certain structure audio dictation snafus and missing things like voice inflection to give you an idea as to what the intent behind the statement might have been
    I get into trouble more than most for reasons that you all understand better than most but I find that my world today doesn’t really call for a lot of communication I end up spending a lot of solo time just thinking about stuff and I am not able to multitask very well driving down the road or delivering or shopping so I end up having to put 1 foot in front of the other and when it’s time to communicate or pass a message and I need to pull off to the side of the road and deal with it directly rather than in a multitask format
    this has messed up my input on the trail and it has affected my communication outside as well
    it occurs to me too late sometimes that I should have used at five minute interval for something constructive and should have a to do list next to me so that I can make contacts and communicate but my history the last year or so has been that I’ve had to just hunker down and stay focused on my task at hand

    ben you’re really good at this blog writing stuff as time goes on it’s really interesting hearing the intricacies of farming 2022. Thanks for keeping us up to speed on what’s happening down in Rochester

    Liked by 7 people

    Reply

  12. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I am back from a really difficult day yesterday. The major temperature change we experienced wreaked havoc with my hip and gave me a migraine. I could not even get it together to type “Rise and Shine.” So I am a day late and a dollar short.

    I feel like my intentions are misunderstood a lot. Let us start with the dog. She is a creature of habit who likes her world to never change. The minute I returned home from the hospital with a walker and a cane she saw my intentions as threatening her world. She hated the walker and hid in our guest room. If I drop the cane or my “reacher” (the gizmo I use to pick up things so I do not bend from the waist past a 90 degree angle), she jumps and runs off to hide some more. My intentions are to just try to get around, and the poor dog thinks I am messing with her safety. She is calming down now that the walker is put away, but she is still jumpy.

    There are many other examples of this. I have learned both at work and at home to check in. Do we understand each other? And still…

    Ben, I admire the teamwork between you and Kelly.

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

    1. We get along pretty well most of the time and we’re a good team. Occasionally my voice gets higher…but later we laugh about it. I’m lucky she’s so forgiving and I have a short memory.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply
  13. Pingback: Making Progress – MobsterTiger

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.