2022, animals, Automotive, Farming Update, Games, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized, Weather

Could Be Worse

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

At least it’s not ‘Lake Effect’ snow.

I’m kinda grumpy about this weather. It feels like January and it’s only November.

I was feeding the ducks the other morning and while I was in the feed room getting another bucket of corn, I noticed a couple of them fly up to where I had spread the corn. Of our 10 ducks, only a couple are actual mallards that can fly, the black and white ones, (The Swedish breed) and the poufy one can’t fly. And then I saw Rosie, the new black duck fly in! I didn’t notice if Guildy can fly too, but Rosie sure did. And they do have a sleeker look than the other non-flying ducks. What interesting cross breeding is what I thought. And good for them! Can’t you just imagine their delight and surprise when they figured out they could fly too?? How cool.

Driving around town the other day I saw a car with a headlight out. And I thought to myself ‘PI-DIDLE!’ only I was alone and didn’t have anyone to kiss, so it had to wait until I got home. Are you familiar with the term ‘Pi-didle’? Meaning a car with one headlight? And then you kiss your date. Or that’s how I heard it. When I googled the term, I got a few other definitions, including some not suitable for this website. Most include touching the ceiling of your car and / or punching someone.

I thought that was only when you saw a ‘slug-bug’.

This (clean) site has some official rules for the pi-didle game:

https://www.angelfire.com/pa4/mjr300psu/pididle.html

Got any other local colloquialisms about cars?

They are just starting to harvest my corn as I write this on Friday. The corn would have been out earlier this week if the weather wasn’t so crappy. (Sweeping generalization on the weather) Because mine goes to the elevator and theirs they take home, they plan to do mine during the day when the elevator is open, then work on theirs in the evening. Couple days they’ll be done. When he and I spoke earlier this week I was optimistic I might yet be able to get some fieldwork done. With the temps the last few days, I’ve kinda given up on that. Although I just put a couple driveway markers in around the yard and the ground wasn’t frozen here. So…. Maybe?? I’ll give it a try tomorrow.

The corn kernels themselves are not sensitive to picking up moisture like soybeans or other crops are. But the snow on the leaves gets inside the combine harvester and makes everything wet and then things plug up and it just makes a mess. So we either need warmer weather to melt the snow off, or colder weather to reduce the moisture in the snow. I guess we opted for colder.

Normally I’d wait for the corn to be out, then mow the roadsides down so they’re clean and won’t catch snow, then we get the driveway markers installed. Always a fun day when daughter and I ride in the gator or 4-wheeler and she pounds the fiberglass markers in. Every time, as she readies the hammer, she quotes Homer Simpson, “Steady…. Steady…” You’ll have to google that if you’re not familiar with it. Anyway, all that is more fun when it’s 40°F than it is when it’s 20°F. I may be doing it myself at 20°.

There’s a local guy named ‘Machinery Pete’.  He’s been reporting on farm auctions since 1989 and he’s very well respected for that. His name is Greg Petersen and evidently he’s a pretty good golfer too.

https://www.machinerypete.com

On his facebook page, it seems this year every post starts with “New record high price” for that particular piece of machinery. Should we blame Covid for that too? Well, sort of. The usual material sourcing issues led to shortages on new equipment, which led to demand for good quality used equipment, which lead to higher prices. Plus crop prices are high, land values are high, so…everything is high. But I have to laugh that there’s always a new high price. “Fourth record high price on 1992 tractor!” Is fourth record high a thing?

I haven’t filled my diesel barrel yet. I order 500 gallons which will last a year for me. I read of a large dairy farm out in New York, he said they got 7000 gallons delivered on Sunday and that would last them 25 days. Yikes!

Today, I took the day off ‘work’ work to get a few things done here at home. I’m gonna go mow the roadsides. Maybe that will blow the snow off the road too. Or I’ll hook the blade up and scrape off this couple inches on the road. Time to get it in the shed I guess.

I stopped at one of the local theaters today to check on some things. Someone used an orange extension cord to plug in an artificial tree onstage. It’s an unwritten rule that you only use black or dark green cords onstage. Orange cords on the stage drive me bonkers. Why doesn’t everyone know this!!?? How many times do I have to tell you this??

I know what I’ll be doing Saturday. Fieldwork.

WHAT WILL YOU DO THIS WEEKEND?

47 thoughts on “Could Be Worse”

  1. I will be cleaning for the cat-sitter who will arrive on Monday, and packing for international departure that day. I’m headed for Taiwan to soak up two weeks of warm and vote in an election (on Saturday). Without the election, it would be hard to give myself permission to go to all this trouble, but I’d enjoy every minute of Taiwan, anyway. Thank you, Taiwan, for being a democratic nation, and for making me a citizen 4 years ago.

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    1. they got any teams over in your part of the world?
      vikes are too good to be true this year
      gophers are high mediocre which is an improvement
      st thom’s jumped from division 3 to division one and are not embarrassing themselves
      high school football ends this week
      i can’t believe fall is over

      browns look better
      osu is a behemoth wish them well

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      1. At first I thought that question was directed at Fenton, until you started elaborating on the various American teams, then I realized you were not talking “real” football and the World Cup. A lot of my Danish and Mexican friends are eagerly anticipating the unfolding of the FIFA tournament.

        Go Vikes. Send them Cowboys packing.

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        2. Ouch, that had to hurt. Didn’t watch it, but the score indicates a pretty lopsided game that can’t have been fun to watch if you are a Viking’s fan.

          I see that Qatar, the hosts for the World Cup, lost in the opening game to Ecuador. The US will play tomorrow, I think, and Denmark on Tuesday.

          Liked by 1 person

  3. Lutefisk dinner at (Norwegian) Lutheran Church! First one since pandemic. Love the tradition and the fish.  Cynthia “Life is a shifting carpet…learn to dance.”

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    1. I like the mashed potatoes with butter and the meatballs, assuming they offer the option. Oh, and the lingonberry sauce, especially with rumagrot.

      What is a Swedish/Norwegian taco? Lefse as the base, a strip of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and lingonberry or tacos as the salsa.

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  4. Getting foot cooked and frozen in prep for Step-son & family (of seven!) arriving Tuesday, will be in town about nine days. They’ll be staying at his mom’s house – right around the corner, and we’ll probably be doing stuff with them every day, so we’re all trying to make food ahead of time…

    And our UU Thanksgiving feast is Sunday, choir is meeting for first time in 2½ years, and will sing our traditional Irish Blessing. I’m trying out directing for the first time… Yikes!

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  8. Yes, pididdles were as you described, Ben. I thought you were supposed to kiss the person on your left. In the driver’s case, that could be challenging.

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  9. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    Blevins Book Club tomorrow at 2pm at Jacque’s house. Vikings fans, I will turn on the game at 3:25 with the sound off! Who knew that anyone would be interested in the Vikings at this point in the season!

    I have some housework to do. There is laundry from our recent travels, as well as a needed trip to the grocery store on the list. Monday I get a massage. AAAAAhhhhh.

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  10. Husband had a flu shot and Covid booster yesterday, so he has just gone back to bed until we have hand bell rehearsal later. We play at both services tomorrow. Tonight we go to a production of Amal and the Night Visitors at our church put on by the Badlands Opera Project. We know lots of the performers. I will make bolognese sauce sometime today for lasagna tomorrow.

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  11. Small world. I met Greg Peterson years ago at a few golf tournaments. (Although I doubt he remembers me.) He was quite good in his prime–state competition level. Didn’t know he’s also Machinery Pete.

    Chris in Owatonna (who has no clever moniker with which to sell his products)

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  12. The case of turkey wings that I ordered from a local butcher shop came in today. I use them to make broth from a recipe in The Splendid Table cookbook. I will make some broth tomorrow, too. Turkey wings have been hard to find here.

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  13. Never heard of pi diddles. In husband’s family, seeing a Schneider Trucking Company rig warrants a shout of “Schneider!” and then you wack the person closest to you.

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  15. “Keep repeating the words: It could be worse. And that is the simple truth. Once it was much, much worse, and I am old enough to know about it. Today’s winters pale in comparison with ones I knew. That is why I am so white. The skin remembers bitter cold. Blood does not flow where it does not feel wanted.”
    Garrison Keillor

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  16. I volunteered for a Fix-It Clinic today. It’s the first one Ramsey County has hosted since the beginning of the pandemic. It was pretty lightly attended, since people have let the clinics fall off their radar these past two years or so.

    Fixed a couple of zippers, though, and was able to find parts for a couple of small projects that I’ve had sitting around for awhile.

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  17. No pl-diddles in my history. This is the first time I’ve ever heard that. And there weren’t any games in which we were allowed to smack each other, even in good will. On longer drives we did car color contests. We would each pick a color and then count oncoming traffic — the first to reach 10 cars of that color or 20 cars of that color would win the game. This was back before black cars were all the rage. I think if we played it today we’d have to take black out of the mix.

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  18. Busy weekend here. I’m pretty much all set, solstice-wise but I have a friend coming a couple of days after Thanksgiving and the list that I’d like to get completed before she comes is a little daunting. And then there’s this week’s cooking which I’m getting ready for. Long long lunch yesterday with a couple of girlfriends and of course Blevins this afternoon.

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  19. weekend was derailed by my leaving my walmart at costco friday night and couldn’t get it until saturday at 930 am
    got car repairs done instead then off to instacart deliveries in a madhouse costco before turkey day

    sunday amazon instacart vikings to bed early to catch up on sleep a bit
    going now

    Liked by 4 people

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  20. weekend was derailed by my leaving my walmart at costco friday night and couldn’t get it until saturday at 930 am
    got car repairs done instead then off to instacart deliveries in a madhouse costco before turkey day

    sunday amazon instacart vikings to bed early to catch up on sleep a bit
    going now

    Like

    Reply

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