2024, animals, Farming Update, pets, Uncategorized

One Step At A Time

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben

We got some rain on Thursday. Lots of thunder and lightning, and 0.12”. Well, better than nothing.

As I write this on Friday morning, I’m getting the big garage door in my shop! Twelve feet tall and twenty feet wide.

I am positively giddy about this!
The main tractor I expect to put in here is about 8 feet tall. When I add a loader bucket to it the the front and a rear blade to the back, it’s about 23 feet long. The shop is only about 24 feet deep, so not a lot of room for error. And I may have to park kitty corner some days. 
So now I have heat, and the big Garage Door and I’m almost ready to install the double walk-through door, and then it’s just the small garage door that will be here in November. Of course I can’t really call the shop ‘heated’ until I get the rest of the steel up and the insulation done. And then steel on the outside to finish it. The steel goes pretty fast. I do have to finish the west wall, which is a little harder because it’s got two windows with angled tops, an odd corner, and working over the workbench, and the first thing I have to do is finish the jams and the trim on the windows. Again, not really hard, just something I’m not proficient at, and a couple of angles, and so I find myself avoiding it  because I’m afraid it’s gonna be hard. Another one of Robert Pirsig’s gumption trips. Fear that makes us afraid to start. 

I found myself doing that at the college this past week, I decided I should build a window that would move inside a wall just for a sight gag, the window would be too tall for a person to climb through at first and then they could just lower it to a height that worked. Although I made some sketches and knew what I wanted to do, I had a real hard time starting. I called Kelly and told her I needed a motivational pep talk. (Remember the old window weights inside the walls? I picked up some of them for counter weights for this window.)

I’m hopeful they’re gonna start picking my corn soon. They’re working on their ground right next-door so it’s certainly convenient, but that’s not how it always works, it just depends on their schedules. I don’t know if they’ll be able to finish, but they might get a start this weekend.

We might be down to three ducks. I took this photo a couple days ago, and now I haven’t seen the black duck in two days. Dang it.

Soil compaction is a big deal in the agronomy world. Really big tires, called ‘LSW’s, meaning Low Side Wall are the latest and greatest. They’re supposed to reduce the ground pressure of pounds / square inch. Same reason a lot of things have tracks these days. Better traction is part of it, but less ground pressure is the main reason.

Saw this tractor being unloaded at my local John Deere dealer the other day.  

Luna loves her frisbee.

In this photo she’s shaking it like Renee’s wubba. We can play frisbee for 20 minutes before she tires out.

We did hayrides for daughters group on Tuesday. Two groups. Each got about a 35 minute ride. It was a beautiful day for it.

I parked next to a retaining wall and they could walk right into the wagon without having to climb steps. Two clients in wheel chairs could walk enough to manage that. Half way through the ride, I’d stop and let daughter talk about the farm. It’s always interesting to put a kid on the spot like that and see what they come up with. Anytime she says, “Well Mom and Dad….” My heart always skips a beat because one never knows what’s coming next…

Kelly has spent the last two summers cutting buckthorn. She’s got maybe 2/3rds of this area done and it looks fantastic!

You couldn’t even see through this area anymore, it was so thick. I’ve been cutting out the old fence between the trees. Course lately, by the time she finishes work and gets out there, it’s almost dark, and it’s … more of an adventure.

You can almost find Kelly off in the dark there.

Anything to be giddy about lately?

32 thoughts on “One Step At A Time”

  1. I am giddy about my two new grandchildren born on Thursday night. My son is kind of an intense person and gets real nervous about stuff so needless to say he was over the top trying to figure out what to do and how to help and how to maintain through the process, his wife works at HCMC and so she was able to check in regularly and get ultrasounds and information and guidance to what to watch out for and all that they had determined that the twins would be viable at whatever it was 36 weeks or something like that and didn’t think it would be a good idea to let them go to full-term because they were so big so they had an idea that the 22nd or 23rd would be the date that they would bring her in and induce labor didn’t bring her in until about 8:45 on the 23rd and didn’t induce until the 24th. they worked most of the day . And they were born at 9 o’clock on the 24th. They are pictured as a and b. a is the boy and b is the girl. The boy looks just like my son and the girl reminds me of Scout in to kill a Mockingbird. they are being kind of quiet about all of their stuff, but rumor has it that the girl will be named Lily. Mom is very protective so it doesn’t sound like we’re even gonna get to see the kids for about six months. I’m not sure that’s right but now certainly not the right time to talk about it with them, so I am about getting to meet them down the road that will be a kick and my other grandchildren are giddy about having cousins just a couple miles away

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      1. And ditto to everyone elses’ good wishes. Usually protective parents relax and eventually take some assistance with the new little ones once they want a break from parenting. I hope that happens for your son and his wife.

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    1. Finally Back to the Blog, Baboons,

      Yesterday I was at the MG conference I referred to earlier where Julie Weisenhorn, a rather knowledgable University Horticulturist from the Arboretum spoke to us about putting plants in the proper places for successful growth. It was really good. However, I found myself really irritable and just grumpy about everything, then realized I was getting a cold (spread by the caregiver who came to work sick. She was fired). So I was the opposite of giddy, to be sure, yesterday. Today I have slept a lot, trying to get rid of the nasty bug.

      I sat next to another MG from Northfield who is a semi-retired physician. She showed me a move to help my sore hip and it is working, I think. What a coincidence that was. Lou had a different caregiver yesterday who he enjoyed so much, so I returned home to a happy guy.

      Ben, if I had accomplished all you have with the shed, I would be giddy, too. I was giddy several weeks ago after a week with my art friends, just working on a project. Now I must finish it. But I get a warm glow just looking at it and remembering the fun.

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  4. This may sound strange, but I am giddy that I am able to attend the memorial for a cousin of mine who passed last week. I thought it was going to be too far away, but have just figured out the mileage, and I think I can swing it. It will be a chance to see a few cousins that I wondered if I’d ever see again…

    Ben, I thought “Corn Sweat” was going to be about all the moisture and humidity in the air at the height of corn season… : ) :

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  5. It has been a long time since I have been giddy. I do so hope, as a Democrat, I can be giddy on November 6. I think we need to find things, even small things, to be giddy about for our emotional health. Today we got 9 lbs of Rancho Gordo beans delivered, and grandson got to pet big, chill. Belgian draft horses at the SDSU equine center. I think we are probably both giddy.

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  6. I am also giddy that I did no tomato processing today. We have a few stragglers ripening that I will make into Cajun tomato sauce Monday and freeze. The canning kettle is stowed un the basement.

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    1. I’m giddy about how many tomatoes I offloaded onto neighbors today. Probably 6 to 7 cups of cherry tomatoes and about 12-15 Romas.

      Never once in my life have I thought I would ever be tired of tomatoes. But I think I’ve finally reached my limit this year.

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  7. The birds in our yard, nuthatches, sparrows, and chickadees, are giddy the Husband filled the bird feeder and watered a strip of hydrangeas so they could feast and bathe. A bird spa.

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  8. Husband and I just got back from the Arts Center, where we thought we were down to take tickets for a concert. Somehow, someone else was there to do the ticketing, and since we had seen the group before, we elected to come home and have a free evening. I’m giddy at the 4 hours of unexpected free time!

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  9. I’m giddy about having my new flooring done, and my home almost put back together. Yesterday I roasted two big buttercup squashes. It made me happy to have some time to cook a little. It’s been a busy fall. I’m happy things are slowing down, but like others, I’m thinking too much about the looming outcome. I agree that finding small things to be giddy about is wise right now.

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  11. I’d like to think there might be some giddiness in nine or ten days, but I don’t really think that will be the mood. Whichever way the election goes, it could produce considerable ugliness. Last time people died.

    I’m not really sure what would make me giddy. Most of my simple pleasures make me feel contented and happy without ascending all the way up the scale to giddiness.

    Here’s someone who’s pretty giddy…..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QZNQIDLaIg

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  12. To be honest, it has been decades since my emotional register went all the way to giddy; in fact, I’m not sure it ever did. I have certainly felt happy, contented, even elated at times, but, like Linda, giddy is pretty much off the charts for me. As far as the outcome of the election, I’m hoping to draw a sigh of relief rather descend into despair. The memory of November 6, 2016 is still all too clear in my mind.

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