2023, animals, Family, Farming Update, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized, Weather

Mud & Junk & Acting

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

It’s mud season. Everything is mud. And not just our farm; on FB or YT, the farmers I follow are all complaining about the mud. I don’t miss the mud I dealt with when I had cows. Even the chickens are trying to get out of it.

And we haven’t had the worst of it. Wait until the frost starts to come out. 

Lately, I end up washing all the eggs just because they’re covered with muddy footprints. 

And another snowstorm ain’t helping.

I got the car washed two days in a row (I have a wash membership) and the guy even said “You must live way out in the woods!” Not much point trying to keep it clean, it’s just to wash off the outer layer of grime.

Trying to move snow after the latest round and now the ground is soft and it’s really hard not to rip up sod and dirt or move the gravel around. And I thought to myself, I go through this every spring; you’d think it would have leveled out by now. But a bump on the front wheels makes the rear blade go down an equal amount. Or a lump on the rear wheels and the front loader digs in. Slow down and make the best of it. Eventually the lawn mower will level that back off.

I was digging in the junk drawer in the shed the other day. You thought your house junk drawer was bad.

The only thing I routinely use out of here are hydraulic couplers, fuses, and the little lightbulbs for your car taillights. I sure don’t need this cabinet for those few things. But there’s a flat surface on the top so I can put things there! I assume it’s from our old house… Dad put it here. This summer, GONE!

All those things sitting on top? Hydraulic fittings. Two different types, one of which doesn’t fit anything I have anymore. WHY AM I STILL SAVING THEM??

I picked up Allie’s ashes. Bailey and Allie just tormented each other and it appears Baily is basically saying ‘I got your pillow; suck it Allie!’.

Humphrey always plays it cool. Or maybe he just has tummy ache. He is delicate and if he eats carrion, he doesn’t feel good and I have to give him GasX. Plus, He is eight years old, basically our age. Naps are good. 

I was reading the daily email I get from the weather channel talking about the comet Hale-Bopp appearing in 1997. I had a calf named Hale-Bopp. Sometimes it got hard to name calves. Sometimes you just used whatever was available. I had several weather related name for calves.

Chicks are in short supply. And I don’t say like I need a date; I say that as someone who generally orders chicks in March for delivery in a couple weeks. I mentioned last week I was starting to think about chicks and then saw on the news how there was a shortage, and when I logged in to Hoovers Hatchery, the first available was June! And depending on the breed ordered, it might be July! 

I ended up revising the breeds I wanted in order to get June 1 shipment. Which is still 6 – 8 weeks later than I prefer. It has pros and cons; I’ve gotten chicks in March before and the temperature crashes and while they are in a heated pen, it’s just harder when that happens. (I tried fall chicks once too; got them in October. Two weeks later it was 20 degrees and their water was freezing at night.) Mid-April is usually pretty safe weather wise, but it’s a busy time at work and home. Ok, so June should avoid both of those…but now we’re into January or February before we get eggs. And the current chickens taper off around December, meaning well, we might be in an egg crunch again from our farm. 

Why a chick shortage? What came first;  the shortage of the chicken or the egg? Avian flu and millions of chickens killed. Hence the egg shortage for a while as the hens get to laying age. Prices on eggs are up so people decided to raise their own chickens. In a year, (or the first cold week. Or when the price comes back down) there will be a surplus of ‘mature’ chickens on marketplace. I’ve gotten a lot of chickens because people were not prepared or interested in raising chickens during the winter. 

I am in this play called ‘Master Class’. It’s Maria Callas having a master class. (Born Maria Anna Cecilia Sophie Kalogeropoulou; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977, was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century.”- Wiki) I am the ‘stagehand’. I have 9 lines and I bring out a footstool, a cushion, and I refill her water glass. It is fun to be ‘onstage’ again, but when I go out for curtain call and bows, I still think to myself, “This is not right; I’m not supposed to be out here.” First rehearsal I was asking the director about this stagehand; what’s his motivation. Maria is not a pleasant woman toward him. Did he work AC/DC last night? Finally I just asked, ‘Does he have attitude?’ Oh yes, she said, there’s attitude. Perfect.

They say, keep trying things until the director tells you to back off, then you know when you’ve gone far enough. The director didn’t tell me to back off until I got a toothpick with cellophane on the end. I wanted to play him like a 1950’s old guy; stubby cigar and faded tattoo. She wouldn’t let me do tattoos. I opted for the smallest hammer, a different colored toothpick for each entrance, and I wanted a bad toupee but had to make do with an old ladies wig. (Every night, I wet it down and smooth out the curls). But it’s a fun group, and a good experience.

REMEMBER HALE BOPP? WHEN HAVE YOU HAD TO TAKE A BOW?LAST TIME YOU CLEANED OUT YOUR JUNK DRAWER?

57 thoughts on “Mud & Junk & Acting”

  1. The name Hale-Bopp rang a bell. I remember “about” it, but not seeing it. There was a bow at a ceremony in 2018, a few months prior to retiring, but there have been none since. And it wasn’t a drawer, but the space under my bathroom sink, that got cleaned out last week. The result has inspired me to go through the drawers under the nightstand, which hold all kinds of interesting stuff (!!!) Some of it was in a drawer in Taiwan in 2018 and got brought back without being sorted. If I haven’t used it since then, I’m not likely to need it now or in the future. Adventures await!

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  2. Sadly, the Heaven’s Gate group committed suicide so as to ride the comet to God. That’s what I remember off hand. I’ll need to look closer.
    No bows. No cleaning.

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  3. I vaguely recall Hale-Bop – the one I remember is Kahoutek in 1973, just read that it turned out to be much dimmer than predicted, and we were all disappointed… And Halley’s I see was 1986, but don’t have much on that one either.

    I know I have taken a bow at some point, probably at end of last choral concert we were in, which would have been 2016. (Church choirs don’t bow…)

    I do sort through the junk drawer(s) fairly often – I’m looking for something and if I have time and see stuff that needs to go, it goes. Wish I could say the same for other places. I really need to start a habit of once a week, go to the basement and collect a box of things for the local thrift shop.

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  4. Don’t talk to me about snowstorms. Interested Baboons should visit the National Weather Service site to see the weather map for ND today. We await the 47 mph winds this afternoon to really blow around all the snow we got this week. Most of ND is in a blizzard warning. We aren’t , but the interstate is closed from Glendive, MT to Jamestown, ND.

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    2. Yes, Ma’am. I will discuss my longing for spring, the Miracle Gro raised bed soil on sale at Costco, my seed list, all made more intense by the snow falling outside my window. The Minnesota Boys Hockey Tournament started in ST. Paul this week, so the the Hockey Hair Awards will be out soon. I await those with great anticipation, then I will send the video on to my grandson who also has remarkable hair.

      Does that help?

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  6. With Grandson’s extended visit we have dragged out long-stored toys and amusements, including my father’s two bugles. Adler was able to get a nice buzz right away and has been tooting away.

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      1. One bugle is going home with him. Actually, lots of things are getting cleared out and sent home with him. It is sort of like cleaning out a junk drawer.

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  7. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    Ben, that wig is so, so….ummm…notable and flattering!

    I have fond memories of Hale-Bopp, excepting the cult mass suicide. We were in AZ that Spring to visit Lou’s son, and made our way across the SW Desert to visit a friend who moved to San Diego. We travelled at night so we had a steady 6 hour, clear and brilliant view of Hale-Bopp. It was so beautiful and fun. Then as we got to San Diego, news of the cult activity was broadcast which dampened some of our pleasure.

    Last night we attended the touring Broadway show, “Tina.” It was a fabulous musical experience. I did not realize that there are Tina fans who are so obsessed with her that they know all the words to every one of her hit songs. They wear sequins clothing proudly to emulate her. The show was sold out and filled with enthusiastic, hero-worshipping fans. I sat there thinking about the social isolation of the pandemic, and how many of these experiences we missed during that time. I floated out of the theatre on an energy high from that show. It was wonderful. (It may give me the energy and focus needed to organize my income taxes and scan them into to my tax preparer’s portal!). The company took a big bow at the end. The lead actor was so believable as Tina. The guy who played Ike had to wear a truly hideous wig.

    My junk drawer(s) are truly junky, out-of-control, and remain uncleaned and unsorted.

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    1. The director told me people ask her if the costumer provided the wig I’m wearing. She is quick to point out no, this was all me.

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  10. I discovered that comet songs are rare in Google
    search. One is about digesting Comet cleanser. Pass.
    So go to an old standard (TLGMS) but a different artist.

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  11. Well, I have signed in about 20 times now. Will this be the time that WP allows me to “like” or comment on anything? Right now it looks promising.

    When I moved to this condo from Waterville in 2016, I had to go through an entire garage of 25 years of accumulated junk and stuff that I knew I would not need again. I gave it all away. I don’t have a junk drawer here. The galley kitchen has a grand total of five drawers, all of which are filled with cooking implements and cutlery. I have an old peach crate under a side table in a corner next to the stairs that serves as a junk drawer. There isn’t much there. I need to keep some things, especially screw drivers, tacks, measuring tape, and my hot glue gun. I’ve learned that tacks are easy to push into the sheetrock walls here and I use them instead of nails for things I’m trying to display.

    I have only vague memories of Hale-Bopp and the tragic events that followed. I worked evening shifts for many years. On the evenings that I had off, I frequently jammed with friends. I missed a lot of media news in those days. To be honest, I wasn’t very interested. I had a full life and I was living it. We didn’t have the devices we have now to shove current events in our faces. There is a blessing in that more innocent time. I really enjoy digital media now and can’t imagine life without it but I do have some longing for the times when I could claim total ignorance about a lot of things. Is that dumb? I hope not. It’s the truth.

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  13. We have only one dedicated junk drawer, and I’m glad that it’s only 2 1/2″ inches deep, that severely limits what can be shoved into it. Every so often I’ll remove something from it and toss it, but somehow the futility of devoting actual time to cleaning it out is so obvious that I don’t even consider it. There are certain tools that I like to keep in there, but husband can’t seem to get through his head that it upsets me when he removes them. Like one of those retractable measuring tapes, for instance. We have six or seven of them, and husband thinks they all belong in the basement.

    I love that photo of you, Ben. I agree, that’s a great wig. Looks like lot of fun.

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      2. I think it’s interesting that you both rely on subterfuge to achieve your aim instead of just requesting that one tape measure be left where it’s handy.
        We have tape measures scattered around the house, including in Robin’s studio and in the library/tv room as well as my workshop and the garage and they tend to stay there.

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        1. And I think it’s interesting, Bill, that you don’t think that I have done that at least a hundred times. Hans has the peculiar and rather annoying habit that he “forgets” or simply ignores such requests from me. I agree, it should not be a constant source of irritation and strife, but it is. I have never been in the habit of rearranging, moving, or throwing his stuff out. No matter how often I’ve asked him to show me that same courtesy, he ignores it or “forgets.”

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  14. Thanks for telling us about comets, bows, and junk drawers.
    Sitting in the green room after my first two entrances. I spaced off a line tonight. Instead of “huh?” I said “you’re welcome” and I left. Didn’t even realize it was my fault until I got backstage and someone else mentioned it to me. Oops. It happens: the audience doesn’t know and it doesn’t matter.
    I got the next entrance right and got all my lined in.
    Act 2 is just the water and another “You’re welcome”.

    Wigs are hot. Or, at least this one is. I would rather be bald than wear this all the time.

    I checked a few other hatcheries. All are a ways out on shipping female (pullet) chicks. Males are available next week.
    Mine are ordered and paid for. It will be fine. 🙂

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    1. During my sophomore year in college, I decided to get a perm. Big mistake! So big, in fact, that cutting off the whole frizzy mess seemed like a good idea. Alas, it didn’t improve matters much. So I bought a wig – a cheap one ’cause we didn’t have much money – so I felt like I could at least attend classes. And yes, it was hot and uncomfortable. Thankfully I only had to wear it for about six weeks. I’ve never had great hair, but that was a memorable low point.

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  15. Cleaning out junk drawers. That’s one of those I’ll-get-to-it chores. I’ll have some time to do this. after tax season is over. Then, I’ll have more time, when gardening season is over. Then, I’ll get to this after Christmas is over. Then it starts again.

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  16. I have absolutely no urge to clean out our junk drawer. It’s full of wire and utility tape and tubes of glue and felt feet for the chairs and padlocks and key fobs and lint brushes and shoelaces and miscellaneous bits, most of which I have needed at one time or another and was glad I had them handy. I know most of what’s in there but can’t predict when I’ll need any of it.

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    1. That’s pretty much how I feel about our junk drawer, although we have a different assortment of stuff in it. One thing that I have never understood being in there, and which takes up a fair amount of space, is a cribbage board that Hans once made. I have no idea for what, neither of us know how to or have ever played cribbage. That, however, is a small enough irritant that I have chosen to not make an issues of it, but I’d sure appreciate it if the next time I need a measuring tape I didn’t have to go to the basement to find one.

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  17. 1 junk drawer recently cleaned but mysteriously and rapidly filling up again. Also 3 drawers in pantry labeled tools but really they are sort of junk drawers as they contain more than tools. How many screwdrivers & hammers and Allen wrenches does an apartment dweller need?

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    1. One of my former coworkers once told a stoy about a handyman he and his wife had hired. The handyman kept calling an allen wrench an Al-anon wrench. I always think of them as Al-anon wrenches now.

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  18. I love the night sky, and I remembered Hale-Bopp when you mentioned it in the opening lines, Haleys comet as well, very special
    taking a bow happens when performing music but it’s not so much of hours in Elvish thank you very much my guitar group on Wednesday nights has splintered off, and I have a lead guitar harmonica player and a mandolin player who joined me because we thought we had a fiddle player we’re going to put together a couple of Shasha music and start doing should be interesting. I’ll keep you informed when that happens. Thank you very much.

    my life is in control I have 10 mini storage units to 353 foot trailers to sort through and skinny down to maybe one or two mini storage units and along the way so all the stuff on eBay craigslist and Facebook marketplace. I love doing it and I have a hard time not doing it but I have resisted going back to Goodwill and stopping at every garage sale. I drive by to add to my stuff, I just can’t pass up 100 Dollar circle Shah for five dollars a garage sale. I’m sorry you can’t have too many by Shannon Law recently gave away a tablesaw because he has another. I don’t get it my other son just bought a house and he doesn’t have a tablesaw you could loan it to him or give it to him or instead by Shannon la put it out I don’t even know if it was for the trash I think it was

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