2023, animals, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, pets, Theatre, Uncategorized

Nice Things

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben.

We finally had a hard freeze, 27° at our house Tuesday night. It finally killed off that wild tomato plant that was taking over the driveway. There was still a ton of green tomatoes on there. That was some plant.

The soybeans had pretty much reached maturity; they had lost about 50% of their leaves, so there will at least be a crop there. They’re short and the beans will probably be small, but it won’t be a total loss. The people who do my harvesting said they’re just about done with their beans, which is pretty impressive. It’s just the way this year will be: lower yields mean the combine can drive faster in the fields, lower yields mean fewer truckloads, which means it doesn’t take as long. 

I’ve been delivering some straw lately for mulch, or some to put around trailer homes, or to cover their garlic. Even some for ‘pumpkin bowling’ at a church.

The 40th anniversary for the Repertory Theatre went real well. A lot of good compliments and it was fun to see some people from when the theater first started, including one gentleman that I didn’t think would even remember me just because I didn’t have much to do with him. But he had some pretty good stories and once again, you never know the impact of your actions. I didn’t know Jeff had moved into Dave‘s apartment because Dave had moved in with Skip. I didn’t realize Kim, who was filling a sabbatical at WSU, had brought in Kris and Jeff because they were students.  Dare I say a nice time was had by all. There was a champagne reception and showing my age again, some of the people didn’t know how to open a champagne bottle. I knew. I was in a cast one that won a cast party battle of drinking more champagne / person than any other cast. 2+ bottles / person one night. I haven’t liked champagne since. Ah, to be young.

I talked about naming calves after people at the theater. The header photo is Michael, Thom, and Kim in the theater office about 1985.

The puppy. I guess we have a new dog. She does need to pass a few tests yet, Humphrey hasn’t totally accepted her and she needs to not eat chickens.

But she and Humphrey are getting acquainted, and I think Humphrey has relaxed a little. He’ll stress out again if she comes in the house. He’s the biggest dog, and he’s also the most sensitive.

This puppy, which we think looks like a German Shorthair Pointer Pitbull mix, (sometimes called Pointerbulls), has a lot of attitude. She’s only half Humphrey’s weight and size, but the attitude coupled with her puppy eagerness will be a lot for Humphrey to put up with. The vet discovered she does actually have a chip, but they said it was not registered. Then they talked to a place in Oklahoma that tracked her to someone in Oklahoma. That woman gave the puppy to her cousin, who moved to Rochester, and into an apartment building where she couldn’t keep the dog, and that woman gave puppy to someone else. The veterinarian’s office gave us this man’s name and phone number, and when we called there, a woman answered the phone who knew nothing about a dog and no person of that name. The cruelty of people dumping animals is just abhorrent. This puppy is so smart! She’s potty trained, she’s very good on a leash, she knows basic commands, she loves to fetch, and does she have a lot of energy! We’re still looking for a suitable name.

We got a truckload of dirt / mulch on Wednesday afternoon and filled in a space Kelly has been working on all summer. Wanted to get that in place before it rained. Any fresh laid dirt we have to cover with plastic snow fence to keep the chickens from rooting it up, and even the dogs from digging.

Chickens.

And this is why we can’t have nice things…

DID YOU HAVE A NICKNAME GROWING UP?

(Of course, we want to know what it was!)

79 thoughts on “Nice Things”

  2. Nicknae. Guess I am not the type. Just never picked one up except yearbook staff called me Mr. B.
    A dead end road into the woods not that far from town. No houses on it except that farm at the end. Perfect place to dump your unwanted pet. A couple even did it in our front yard.
    My second novel revolves around a dog dumped in that manner.

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  3. Oh boy, Barbara lends itself to so many – there was of course: Barby (the “ie” didn’t occur to us till the doll appeared)
    Barbadino
    Barbwire
    Ba-ba-ba, Ba-baberann
    Bobby (or Bobbi if you’re feeling Italian)
    and then I chose Abby when there were too many Barbaras in the office.

    I think Freckles is great… I had only come up with the singular Spot. But we won’t (necessarily) be offended if you choose something else, Ben. Has the newby eaten a chicken? And why does Humphrey have what looks like a chicken feather by his mouth?

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  4. My older brother took over the nicknaming for our family of 11 kids. Mine was Can because it rhymed with Ann.

    I follow this blog daily. I listened to the Morning Show with Dale and Jim Ed from start to finish. I have all the CDs and play them often. Might I be able to join this group?

    Ann Reidell Mendota Heights, MN
    ann.reidell@comcast.net

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  5. Weasel. I wouldn’t have minded it so much but my grade school nemesis tagged me with it. Chester was the Park elementary school bully. Held back two grades. A giant. Much later, he served time in the North Dakota Penitentiary.
    Sad. Not sad.
    Alan, from work, didn’t have much “like” for either myself and a teammate. He was jealous of our work production. He tried to give me and my teammate the moniker, Mike and Ike. Being named after candy wasn’t awful at all. The teammate’s name was Mike.
    I always liked “West.” Almost a Hollywood name.

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  6. KrisAnn or AnniePannie. My middle name is Ann. My mom called me AnniePannie quite often but no one else did. My brothers called me Kris or Ditta. I wasn’t called Krista until I was almost 40. I kind of understand how it changed. It had to do with one unique friend whose name was Andre, and who insisted on being called Andre, not Andy. Because he wanted to be sure that he would always be called Andre, he came up with a rule that everyone had to be called by their full first name. I had been teasing him and calling him Andy so he started calling me Krista and it really caught on. I also signed my name Krista, and it is my name, so it just evolved. There are times, though, when I really miss being just Kris. My brother still calls me Kris. It’s comforting.

    Is that Humphrey with the feather on his nose? I think it’s nice that you are giving it a try with this poor stray dog. Freckles might work for her. It’s really sad when people dump dogs like that. You wonder what is in their heart. I guess people don’t always think these decisions through very well.

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  7. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    The cruelty of animal-dumping is quite clear; it is counter-balanced by the kindness of a local farmer who will take in the dog and either give it a home, or find one. Thanks to you and Kelly, Ben. Humphrey, com’on, give the new girl a chance. There is enough to go around.

    I am fresh off of a week of polymer Clay and other clay workers who are wonderful company; thus my absence here most of the week. I am working on embellishing a piece of Diamond Willow. I got it started and planned during the week, but it is far from completed. A piece I made years ago broke, so I repaired that, as well. Very statisfying.

    I was a tall, skinny drink of water as a teen after being a short, dumpy kid. My growth spurt started age 13-14 yrs. Suddenly I had longs legs that went everywhere, then tripped me as I ascended stair steps. I went from about 5ft 1in to 5ft 8 inches in 18 mos. Thus the nick name, Jack Sprat took hold thanks to Uncle Jim who was a great nick-namer. He is 92 years old now, and the name still slips out now and then.

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  8. No nicknames for Jennine other than Jenny but very few called me that. Usually I was called by my full name which no one spelled correctly-I was always saying “no A”. My dad called me jennywren(maybe because I was small and talked a lot?).

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  9. I was called Nae Nae by my parents when I was very young. Then I was called Little Renee by the neighbor kids to distinguish me from Big Renee, a girl a few years older than I was. I am called Oma by my grandson, and at work I used to be Renee, but over the past couple of years everyone has taken to calling me Dr. B, even people I have worked with for years and who used to address me by my first name. I find it a little dehumanizing.

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  11. My given name is Margaret. The Danish version of my English name is Margrethe (it also happens to be the name of the current Danish queen), yet no one ever tried to shorten it or give me a nickname. One of my uncles had way too much fun mispronouncing Margaret, which is difficult to pronounce for a Dane.

    It wasn’t until I arrived in the Twin Cities and became a member of the Danish American fellowship that I encountered people who assumed that Margaret wasn’t really my given name. There are still a couple of old Danes who persist in calling me Margrethe.

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  13. My full first name is Anna-Maria, which got shortened to Ria by my big brother who had a tough time pronouncing the whole thing. Why they didn’t go to Anna is beyond me – but brother apparently declared me Ria, and thus it was so. Immediate family calls me that – and a few friends who learned about the name and I didn’t talk out of using it. I have one theater friend who mostly calls me Anna and selectively uses Ria when she needs to get my attention (I could get hyper focused when I was building sets back in the day).

    Junior high and the onset of curly hair combined with a short haircut brought me the nickname Fozzie – as in Fozzie Bear. My best friend, who is quite slim and a bit angular in frame, became Gonzo. There were a few other Muppets in our group but the only two names that have survived to adulthood are Fozzie and Gonzo.

    There have of course been various returns to Anna Banana – but that hardly bears mentioning. Except when it gets extended to Banana Pants or something similar. 🙂

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  14. Great comments folks.
    I neglected to mention our other dog, Bailey. Bailey and Puppy are getting along fairly well. With the cooler weather, they’re both in the garage at night and I think Bailey is just really happy to have a buddy. They’re about the same size, and really, almost, having a good time playing together.

    Yeah, Humphrey does have a feather on his nose. I don’t know where he found it, it’s a funny picture because he’s so sensitive and he looks so forlorn…

    I had one job where a woman called me ‘Spanky’. Eventually you asked if I knew who Spanky was. I said he was one of the Little Rascals, and she grinned at me and walked away.
    Beyond that, ‘Hen Ben’ or ‘Hen Bain’ in jr high.

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    1. Humphrey will be 9 yrs old in January. Bailey is 5, and we think Puppy (when we called the vet for an appointment, they asked for the name. She’s ‘Bob’ to them,) puppy is about 1.

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  15. I had a teacher in my junior year who was surprised to learn Clyde was my real name. He thought it was not a nickname. My sister has had that. They think Cleo is a nickname, maybe short for Cleopatra.

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  17. One lady at the theater called me Bennie. Normally I hate that. But when she says it, it didn’t even register; it’s what I’ve always been to her. But some Other people, they sure jumped on that nick name.

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  19. When I was very young, before I even remember, my father called me Button. This was not a nickname that survived past my toddlerhood. I changed my name from Sherri to Sherrilee when I was in eighth grade and my baby sister, who is 17 years younger than I am, had a little trouble pronouncing it; it came out as “She”. And that one has stuck. The only other nickname is of course VS (Verily Sherrilee) which, if I am remembering correctly was bestowed upon me by Jacque.

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  20. My nickname today would be the speedy chef. We got 5 lbs of beautiful, large, savoyed, spinach leaves out of the garden yesterday, and today I made two spanakopitas from 4 lbs of the leaves. You have to work quickly with phyllo so it doesn’t dry out. Thank goodness for the food processor to finely chop all that spinach. For the gardening Baboons, our spinach variety was Gigante Inverno, an Italian variety that we only planted in mid August for harvest now. It is frost hardy down to 25°.

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        3. I am really tired of washing and trimming greens. We had twice the amount of spinach in the church garden that we trimmed and washed and took to the food pantry Tuesday.

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  21. As a child I was always called Debby. I was, and still am, small and Debby reminded me too much of Little Debbie snack cakes. I have insisted on Deb since college. Debby sounded too much like Daddy so Debby became Bobby. I haven’t been called that for decades. Another family nickname was Lucy (as in the Peanuts character) either for crabbiness or being a know-it-all. Thank goodness that went by the wayside LONG ago. K-Two is in reference to my middle name. When I joined the Trail there was already a Kay who commented so I chose K-Two.

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  22. Blue Earth County has voted a 60% tax increase for all rental proerties for next year. I live in an apartment. Sandy lives in what is classified as an apartment owned by a for profit company. I will have no choice but to leave my nice apartment and move to an unsecure building with much lower standards of everything and probably pay about what I am paying now. I do not yet know nor does anyone if Sandy’s assisted living facility will be included. Perfect Republican move. Don’t raise taxes on all the very plush homes being built by the hundreds but target the students, the transient, the retied, those on limited income, etc.

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    2. Before you move, make sure you account for whatever rent credit you are eligible for from the Department of Revenue. I get regular property tax increases,but, asmy income is not high, I also get an increase in the refund every time the taxes go up.

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        1. Funny, when I posted the link to the article, there wasn’t a pay wall; now there is. And it appears that they have updated the information as well. Apparently the Mankato Free Press isn’t free! For $2.00 I can buy a day pass that will give me access to one day’s paper.
          I’m sorry, Clyde, for your worries about being able to keep a decent roof over your head and making sure Sandy is well taken care of. I sure hope the information Linda provided is helpful.

          On a different note, what has happened to the The School Sisters’ convent on the Hill? Has it been developed into something else now that the sisters have all been transferred elsewhere?

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        2. I have lost track of SSND. Just too many personal issues. I will ask Mary next door. She teaches in the Catholic schools and probably knows

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        3. Thanks, Clyde. No urgency. I’m just curious. It’s such a beautiful facility, and I’m just hoping that it’s being put to some good use.

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      2. Also, my landlords have been increasing my rent by $150-170 a month without that while letting the building deteriorate. I am quite sure they will do that next year. too

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      3. Yep, that’s the version of the article that I tried to provide a link to, and which indicated a 10 to 38 percent hike to ag and rental properties. Thanks, Linda.

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    5. Oh, that’s infuriating! Blue Earth County used to be much more fair. Renting is already too expensive. People won’t be able to afford to rent!

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  23. My mother and my sister always shortened my name and called me Lin. That’s always sounded natural to me. If anyone else does it, though, it falls on my ears all wrong. It sounds like they have made a mistake and called me Lynn.

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  24. nicknames
    timmy,timmer,jonsey,yoanser,and recently papa

    the dog looks like becky to me
    i had another name earlier but it’s gone
    i’ll let you know if it returns

    thanks ben

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  25. Just “Norbs,” bestowed upon me by my 6th-grade teacher and football & basketball coach. It stuck through HS with my core group of friends, then hibernated until we moved to Owatonna and became members at the golf club. Then it reappeared (thanks to me) so I could make a pre-emptive strike against any other not so tolerable nicknames.

    Chris in Owatonna

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