2024, animals, Farming Update, Nature, pets

Supplemental Farm Report

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I went down to the farm two weeks ago; Ben needed some baboons to take some excess eggs off his hands.  This is always fine for me as not only do I get some quality time with my books on CD during the drive, I get to see the farm and I come home with fresh farm eggs.  This is a win/win/win in my book.

Ben gave me a tour of the shed – he’s made a lot of progress since I was there last summer.  I love the windows that look like eyes on the side of the building.  I asked if he has a timeline in mind for when he’d like to have it finished and he said we’ve already blown past that date.  Seems like the normal human condition.

It was a beautiful day and the chickens and roosters and guineas were all out.  Sadly none of the ducks survived last summer.  We did a little chicken math while we were enjoying the sunshine.  Based on how many chicks he orders every year, how long the average chicken lives and how many he guesstimates that he loses every year, I’m thinking he should have about 3,000 chickens.  Somebody’s math is off.

Luna is fabulous.  She wasn’t as big as I was expecting – she’s right between Humphrey and Bailey in size, so they have a great look when they are standing together.  We took a ride up the road on the gator.  The dogs all rode in back until we got up to the fork; they all got out and walked a bit.  Then Humphrey and Bailey got back in and Ben gave Luna the signal to go.  And go she did.  The photo above doesn’t really do justice to her run but at one point we were going 27 miles per hour on the gator and she was keeping just ahead of us.  If you look closely you can see that none of her feet are actually touching the ground. Amazing!

Since there wasn’t any snow cover, there was mud.  It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting (I had brought extra shoes and clothes just in case) but you know me.  I encouraged the dogs at every turn so I managed to get pretty muddy.  I did change my shoes but figured since I was going straight home, I didn’t need to change anything else.

Shower or tub when you get really dirty? Or the hose in the backyard?

26 thoughts on “Supplemental Farm Report”

  1. Hmmmm. I can’t remember the last time I got “really dirty.” During a golf round on a steamy July day, I get hot and sweaty and finish with a dust coated layer of sunblock on my skin, but that washes off easily.

    I always take a shower. Ever since I was a kid. I’ll occasionally do a hot bath or jacuzzi to soak aching muscles, but I haven’t done either of those in many years.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  2. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    Shower. No contest. I most often am filthy dirty after a garden session: planting, weeding, taking down the garden, etc. 

    Sort of on topic. We are having a walk-in shower put into our bathroom to increase the likelihood that we can stay in our house as we age. This project will start around April 1. We have had to wait 9 months for our contractor to get it worked in to his schedule, but he is so good and effective to work with, that I am willing to wait. (Same guy that did the kitchen). We will add some space to the bathroom from what used to be the clothes closet to accommodate such a shower. We found during COVID that we could not bring my mother here for care because the bathtub shower was a barrier. With Lou’s episode of severe back pain and a pinched nerve over the last weeks, it puts and emphasis on the need for a walk-in shower for us aging ones. 

    During this time we will move our bedroom to the basement to get away from the dust. While nursing Lou back to health, I am also shopping for bathroom parts–tile, sinks, lights, bathtub, etc. It is kinda fun. But not entirely.

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  3. I’ve been a shower person since I discovered them at college – at home we’d only had a shower in the basement. In the Robbinsdale house I got used to baths, maybe because using the shower made the ceiling paint peel? Then moving here, it’s back to showers – it just feels faster and more convenient.

    And I’ve never been able to do those long soaks in a bath like tim talks about… Too antsy, I guess, but I can see that if I lived alone, there would be a greater chance of that, perhaps with a glass of wine.

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  5. I don’t remember getting dirty enough to shower off before a bath and I have gotten pretty dirty

    i feel sad when I see a walk in shower where a bathtub ought to be. I feel like as I get time in my lifestyle I wouldn’t mind having a hot tub in the living room with a set up for a desk while soaking . Recirculating warm water so I don’t need to be reloading the hot water as time rolls on. Quicker and easier in a shower? How about a sponge and a couple wipes. I am never concerned about getting the big chunks off and for a period of about 15 years at the recommendation of my hair lady I went without shampoo or conditioner most of the time when it grayed up it turned to rice paper like my shin and I need to deal with it.

    ben if Luna is in that 45-60 lb range sled dog guys would love to get a piece of that action if it’s not already neutered

    they used to go big but now want stamina strong and fast in a bunch of midsized as opposed to the big old wolf dogs they ran in call of the wild days.
    I get to meet lots of my dogs in my driving life these days and people are so apologetic for the dogs barking and running up. Heck I figure I provide a little excitement into a dogs otherwise boring day and we are always glad to see each other, I’ve had more than a few owners surprised to see there fear inducing dog wagging his tail and licking my hand

    damn ben those eggs are good. They are little so three for breakfast needs a couple fake sausages to make it a meal.
    sorry I missed yesterday and the new food discussion

    the new fake meats headed up by impossible burger and beyond meat have changed my world. I’ll come home at 9 o’clock and nuke a burger out of the freezer. Fry it for 2 minutes and I’ve got a wad of nutrition that tastes great

    i understand they are pea based instead of soy and that makes all the difference. Before this the black bean chipotle burgers were the only ones I could eat. now to get costs down . The veggie brats are $1.50 each. Seems high

    I was in Florida in January and the in-laws took me out for stone crab. My only cross over meat

    years ago a friend asked me if I didn’t eat meat because I didn’t believe in killing animals. I said yeah that’s right and he said well how about stone crab? They don’t kill them but simply harvest a claw which grows back in 6 to 12 months and if they pull one up that is only a single clay crab they send it back out to continue the growth process,

    I’ve had stone crab maybe 15-20 times in my life and I love it but it’s too pricy for a regular thing and it’s seasonal (months with an r)

    i have a concern with whether climate stuff will mess up my stone crab world

    they grow in very particular enviorments and my guess is that warming up the ocean will change all that

    they prefer a tub

    showers will never work

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  6. Kyrill follows me into the bathroom all the time, hopeful he will get a bath. The deeper the better as far as he is concerned. He loves having his face washed with a hot wash cloth.

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  8. In my childhood we could get quite dirty for various reasons, sometimes our own stupidity. We kept a small tub in the workshop. We would heat water on the wood stove in the workshop and scrub down standing in it. We would use fresh hot water to soak our clothes overnight.
    OT Sandy’s residence has several cases of Covid in it.
    Clyde

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  10. Working the polls today. Pretty quiet. About 10% with 4 hours to go.

    We’re going to be remodeling bathroom late this fall. Yep, 8 month lead time. Kelly wants a soaking tub. So there may be more baths in our future.

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  11. I have used the garden hose when I’ve been really grubby. I don’t always like to carry all that dirt into the house with me. Then I shower. It sure would be nice to have a hot tub. Soaking in hot water feels really, really good.

    Yes, the eggs are good. I always thought the ones I got from the Co-op were good, but yours are better, Ben. I cracked a Co-op egg into a bowl and one of yours next to it. Yours has a darker, more orange yolk than the ones I was getting from the Co-op. I don’t know for sure, but I think that indicates more nutrition. I could be wrong.

    It looks like a fun day, VS! You’ve gotta get a little muddy when you visit a farm! Luna looks amazing.

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