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Randomness

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

Well, as the monkey said when he got his tail caught in the screen door, it won’t be long now. It’s been raining enough in the last two weeks. I haven’t missed any fieldwork. And commencement was on Wednesday, so that’s over,

my writing class is done, (I got an ‘A’) and on Thursday I worked around home with a wonderful sense of free-time. I will still be employed at the college, going halftime until June 4, as I have three rental events coming through. And a lot of stuff to clean up, and the paycheck is always welcome. I’m leaving out a long uninteresting story of the 40 foot tall scissor lift, which is crucial to a few of us at commencement, and the problems it was having and why one department can’t seem to talk to another department, and how come it was the last day before anybody told us, there was another lift a quarter-mile down the road. But it’s over now, we all survived, and it’ll be a good story we can laugh about. I’ve picked up soybean seed so all the seed is home now and I can take the loader off the tractor.

I moved the snowblower out of the shed too. The co-op should be applying corn fertilizer on Friday, maybe Saturday I can start doing some corn planting. One of our guineas got under our deck somehow, and then she couldn’t figure out how to get back out. I had to remove a piece of lattice on the side for her escape. Propping it open and making a bigger hole, didn’t seem to work. I thought guineas were smarter than that. I refilled our birdfeeders in the yard, and it’s been fun to see Orioles eating suet, I didn’t know they did that, (I haven’t got the regular oriole feeders up yet), Grossbeaks are pretty, and today I’m looking at an eastern bluebird, which I didn’t know ate seeds. We even had a pileated woodpecker on an electric pole here in the yard.

The baby chicks are doing well, they are pigeon sized and they sure do eat a lot.

A 50 pound bag of feed last about five or six days. Remember a few months ago, I wrote about some of the college kids coming to the theater and helping me out. And I mentioned the ring leader, Jessica. This is me and her. She’ll be around one more year.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU FELT REALLY RELAXED?

72 thoughts on “Randomness”

  1. About an hour ago, lying in bed and trying to remember the name of the writer of the Arséne Lupin stories (it’s Maurice LeBlanc).

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      2. What makes it especially random is I don’t think I’ve ever read an Arséne Lupin story and there was no obvious trigger to bring Lupin or LeBlanc to mind.

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  2. It’s hard to describe, but my PT has me lie on the table, raise my legs and bend knees at 90 degree angle while she puts a “box” under them for support. And just lie there for at least two minutes. I do it at home with my butt up against the (rather low) couch. I can’t begin to tell you how relaxing it is, takes all the pressure off my lower back.

    Mostly, though, it makes me stop and REST somewhere in the middle of the day. This is a foreign concept, and I see that I need to do this every day.

    Ben – when I worked with the business consultants, any major glitch was always about “one department not talking to another” – some lack of communication. Glad you survived it…

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  3. Rise and Shine, Baboons–JacAnon

    After my mother died last summer, quickly followed by my retirement, I had about 6 months to rest and recover before Lou’s health crisis started. During that time Relaxation was the word! It took me three months of sleeping just to feel awake again. That was very relaxing, not to mention welcome. It was getting to the point that I thought it was time to find some meaningful activity again because in the evenings I was watching too much TV and playing way too much “Two Dots” (an iPad game).

    All that ended abruptly with the onset of Lou’s back pain, but things are settling now. Next week the PT and in-home nurse end their involvement, while the Dr’s appointments are more infrequent. We have a dedicated Personal Care Attendant on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He is oriented to the job and that allows me to relax more.

    Today is a garden day. The tiller I repaired Thursday evening will be put to use today. Lou has to limit bending/squatting activity, but he wants to be out there doing what he can, so we will prepare the garden for planting.

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      1. That day I realized I didn’t have a selfie of she and I. I’ve taken show pictures with her, but didn’t have any of just her. So we made it work that night.

        There’s just a handful of college kids / students that make a lasting impression and stay in touch after they leave. Those are really treasured.

        Ben

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  4. congrats on keeping it all on track and getting an a in your class

    Remind me that I have an Articlearticle to send you on soil treatment that allows water and retention to max by using some cool agri technology I picked up on at a recent very I was at

    my relaxation mode is a topic of concern

    my life just is not in relax mode these days

    I’m working on it

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    1. I remember the day you announced you weee going to write 50,000 words in 10 days for some mission you were on for the writing challenge

      was that when it started?

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      1. No, it was before that. What you’re thinking of is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The goal there is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I did it 2 or three times. Not my thing to just blather away for 1667 words per day.

        I suppose my stress level began regarding writing when I realized how competitive the field is and how hard it is to write a good story. I put pressure on myself not only to write steaily, but write well. The second part has come easier than the first, which is why my stress–“Gotta write something today! If I don’t . . . *aaaacccchhhhhh!*

        🙂

        Chris

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  8. Right now.

    Enjoying the blue glow of a three lamp grow light. They remind me of the Martians from the old War Of The Worlds. I haven’t learned to speak snake plant or spider plant as yet so they can’t tell me how they feel.

    The laundry is getting done.

    Watching Spartacus on YouTube. The Birds seem to like the dialog.

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  9. I’ll probably feel relaxed after this coming week. Starting Monday through Saturday I have 14 rehearsals and three concert performances. Monday is the busiest with 5 middle school choir rehearsals during the day and 2 children/ youth choir rehearsals in the evening. Uffda!

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  10. It has been a long time since I felt relaxed. Today is a baking, cooking, and gardening day. Making banana bread red beans and rice, and tart of greens. Fence goes up around the strawberry bed to keep bunnies out. We also need to start cabbage seeds for our mini savoy cabbages. They germinate and grow quite fast. It is still too early to put in the bedding plants.

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    2. Renee, I’m actually surprised that when you use the word “relaxation” the skies don’t open up and lightning doesn’t strike you!

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      1. Relaxation for me will come when I don’t work full time and there is far more time in the week to get things done instead of doing it all on the weekend.

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        2. Oh Renee, I sure hope you’re not competing with some imaginary superwoman who can do it all perfectly in record time.

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  11. Today was the last day of my domestic fairy’s work for us. She and her family are moving to Brainerd where her husband has found a job as chef for a resort. Deanna is such a calm, dependable, and pleasant soul, and I’ve trusted her to keep our house reasonably clean for many years. I miss her already.

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  12. Right now, after three hours of yardwork, YA and I are sitting in the backyard and she has made a fire in the fire pit and I have a big glass of iced tea. So I guess I’m relaxing!!

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  13. Banana bread is baked, red beans are cooked, the pie of greens is in the oven, the bunny fence is up, and a terrier is in my lap. Now I can rest.

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    1. We also braved the large crowds at Runnings to pick up bedding plants we needed. Is Mother ‘s Day weekend a crazy plant buying weekend where the other Baboons live?

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        1. we stopped at Sunnyside Gardens yesterday after lunch to pick up one single basil plant. It was chaos there.

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  14. I think the thing I have loved most about retirement is feeling more relaxed than I ever have. I was an anxious child, always aware that I could make a mistake and be in big trouble in an instant. Later as a working adult, I was stressed on a daily basis.

    My dad was young when he passed. I didn’t do his caregiving as intensely as I did with Mom. There were a number of reasons for this, including our difficult relationship, but I think it was mostly because I was much younger (early 30s). The Morning Show always helped me with the stress I felt in those days.

    So now, with Mom gone, no family to provide for, no one to worry about, I am freer (is that really a word?) than I have ever been.

    Driving in Ireland was stressful. Our pace was stressful for me at times. I’m very glad to be home. I feel relaxed again. I’m still not sleeping well, but it will come.

    I woke up and went outside around midnight last night. Unfortunately a neighbor across from me has started using a timer for outdoor lights, and they are on and shining in my eyes every night now. If those lights had been off, I would have been able to see the northern lights clearly. I could see it a little. I should have hopped in the car and driven out to the darker skies in the Nerstrand area. I know a little place way out there where I can park on a gravel road and just be quiet and watch. I wish I’d been up north but it’s not my turn until the last week of this month.

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  16. The only casualty today was the nail on my left middle finger, which got pinched in the lever on the stapler as I was stapling the poultry netting to the wooden posts for the bunny fence. I expect to lose the whole nail.

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      2. I did several random things OF MY CHOICE for my birthday: delivered 4 bales of straw and had a nice talk with that person, cut down part of an old fence and cleaned that up, and prepared some of that corn ground.

        Kelly is stage managing a show that will open in mid June so she’s got rehearsals in the evenings. I thought daughter and I were going to go out for supper and I had her talked into it right up until she wasn’t interested. So I made corn dogs and had an Amaretto Sour. And it was nice.

        Today is our wedding anniversary. 34 years.

        And Happy Mothers Day to all of you!

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  21. So, your heart fibrillates, now one of the key things is to relax, lay back, chill out, take it easy, but then they send you a monitor, but you don’t get it and they send you another one and the batteries won’t lock in place but they will work but you are always a bit on edge it might fall out. Also, they suggest a smart watch to track your heart, which is cool. It does amazing things. The basic thing is that it shows no A-fib but some of the heart rates are right on the edge of “you better go back to the ER.” And they take away all your pain meds which makes your head buzz and they ask if you have any dizziness. I’m never quite sure. And my whole body throbs much of the time. And fill out these forms. And you can’t have any coffee, one of the pleasure points of my morning. And you should not drive. Well, maybe you can. But maybe not. But maybe yes. Yes, I have been with no issues. Plus you need to go get this med which is only available in one pharmacy and you go there and they say every pharmacy in town has it. And on and on. Not to mention the bill I owe the county, which we won’t go into now. But remember, avoid stress it is bad for your heart.

    Clyde

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    1. That does sound really stressful, Clyde. I wish the best for you and Sandy. Living independently is very challenging for seniors and you’re doing a fantastic job every day. It’s always nice to hear from you, whenever you have a chance to pop in and give us an update.

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