Summer “Farming”

The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

Thankfully theaters are equipped with AC these days.  This week was all about theater.  

I was at the Rochester Repertory Theater Monday and Tuesday evenings finishing lighting and dress rehearsals for ‘I and You’ by Lauren Gunderson. That opened on Thursday with a preview audience on Wednesday so that Wednesday night I was headed to the town of Chatfield, 20 miles South of Rochester to begin lighting ‘Hello Dolly’. I drove down on Monday with my friend Paul to scope out the place since I didn’t work there last summer, and the building had a lot of renovations done. Potter Auditorium, built in 1936, is attached to an elementary school built in 1916. 

The theater was renovated in 2016. The renovation done to the school revealed the original skylights and main beams in a ‘great room’. It removed a lot of steps and ramps and various levels and added more bathrooms and elevators. It’s pretty nice.

I started working in Potter Auditorium in 1986, building the set for ‘Annie’ for $500. My dad and brother helped me carry 40 sheets of 4×8 particle board up from the basement to cover the gym floor (because of course it was a ‘gymnatorium’) and we couldn’t mess up the basketball floor.  

The next year I built the set for ‘Barnum’, and the next year, some kind of original talent show.  

Working in Chatfield always feels like going home. Lots of good memories there. There wasn’t AC until the 2016 renovation. Back in the 80’s, hornets would come in and buzz around on their backs on the floor. I’d walk over and step on them. Good times.  

I recently heard someone mention how, when they were a young kid, their dad talked about hunting and outdoor sports so that’s why they hunt now. And I thought, I got mail order books, and Disney records of Musicals. Mary Poppins, Robin Hood, Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Hmmm.    

I mentioned we had hail last Saturday. I notified crop insurance, and they assigned an adjuster. Haven’t met with him yet.

It knocked some oats out and beat up the corn and soybeans a bit. Left some marks on our cars too.  

The ceiling insulation for the shop was blown in on Wednesday. The ball is back in my court to start working again.  

I started cutting oats on Tuesday. It was so hot the swather wouldn’t run right and it left me walking home twice. And then we got an inch of rain Tuesday night. Because of course now it would rain.

Also Tuesday the electrician buried the new electric line to the shop. He cut the phone line, which I didn’t need to the shop anymore. He also found the phone line from 1968 when we lived in the machine shed while the house was being built.  

And then he found the current electric line to the old shop. The one my dad buried in the 1950’s and the one being replaced. It was 30 feet from where I thought it was. So, he changed course. Oops; found it again. Thinking back; there was a ravine and a tree there, so I guess Dad had to go around the tree. Maybe that’s why it was way over where it shouldn’t have been.  

But this guy is an electrician, and he was able to fix it; no harm, no foul.

Here is Kelly posing with her new Gator.

We like it better than the old one already.  

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE OR SONG?   PLEASE RESPOND BY SINGING IT.  

51 thoughts on “Summer “Farming””

      1. I like When You Wish Upon a Star as sung by Cliff Edwards but I can’t think of another Disney song I have any attachment to. My preference goes to the songs from the Mary Martin Cyril Richard version of Peter Pan.

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Phew. Rise and Shine Baboons,

      How do you choose? I will try to post “Step in Time” from Mary Poppins. I sang it for you from home and you all just ignored me. Hmph.

      Yesterday I had a painful migraine in response to the weather fronts that came through. We had 1/2” of rain here in a half hour. I am still recovering today. Now Iam trying to adapt my thinking to not going to the office. This will take awhile. I already caught myself looking at the weather map this morning and planning my gardening tasks around the weather and work schedule. This should be a happy adjustment.

      Liked by 4 people

  1. Oh, Fantasia is Disney, and I love the sound track. I will see about a YouTube selection.

    Our pea harvest is underway. Shelled about 6 cups of peas, and will cook and eat some this weekend and then blanch and freeze some. We will pick more peas tomorrow.

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      1. Yes. The green beans also are coming in. We grow Seychelle green pole beans. I am blanching and freezing lots of legumes today.

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      1. My mother grew up on a farm and absolutly loved the Birds Eye peas in the little boxes you could stack up in your freezer, all shelled and ready for you. She never wanted to garden.

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  2. I thank Ben. Putting me on to Disney songs has occupied my afternoon. I have wept and danced. At one point, I sang Feed The Birds from Mary Poppins 10 times in a row. They always eat.

    Liked by 4 people

  3. I’m old. A movie from Disney meant the family had to go. But movie history moves on. The Disney brand has changed multiple times with corporate mergers and the like. In 2023, the Disney brand for tv, movies or music means little to me. And I am NOT!NOT!NOT! a supporter of the current War On Disney. I’m going to Florida tomorrow. If my hosts are willing, we will be going to Disney World. I haven’t been there since 1978. Will things have changed? I have a feeling that I’ll remember the past and enjoy the present.

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  4. to heck with your hosts just go
    find out which days have late night hours and go from early morning til late nite
    magic kingdom, epcot, movie park, wilderness animal thing be in uk for fireworks show in epcot if you can
    perfect seating to watch the show

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