This weeks Farming Update from Ben
You know those colds going around? Kelly, daughter, and I all took sick days this week. Just colds, but foggy head, stuffy nose, and Kelly has a low grade temp. Naps are good.
Last weekend one of our neighbors had their annual barn dance. Music was provided by a funk band from the twin cities, ‘Tyte Phitt’. They were a lot of fun! When contacted to play here, they were interested because they’d never played a barn dance before. And the hosts said they wanted to see how a bunch of farmers would like a funk band. It was loud, but it sure was good!
Last Saturday Kelly and I mixed up 17 bags of concrete to add a little berm to the new concrete and fill in a low spot
Just enough at the door to keep the water out. Kelly learned a lot about mixing and working concrete. She says it was interesting. And it bugged her that I can smooth better than her. I’ve just had more practice is all. Someday I’d like to put an overhead door here. We’ll see.
And then Tuesday morning we had another Thunderstorm with a lot of lightning and about 6AM the electric co-op calls and tells me our power is out. I’m barely awake. It is?? (And isn’t that something; they’re telling ME it’s out.) He says there was a lot of lightning and they’ve had some meters fail. I was up with the dogs at 4AM and we had power then. Wasn’t long before a truck shows up and tells me there’s actually a tree down in the pasture, it tore down the line and broke off a pole. Yep, that would do it. One of the guys and I drive back there with the gator. Glad the neighbors took their cattle out after the previous storm because then we don’t have to worry about fences. And I had to take down part of the temporary fence we put up this spring. Then hooked up the tractor and generator and went to work. It was about 2 PM when they had everything fixed and back online.
You can see an old manure spreader to the right of the tree. Dad used to park old worn out machinery along this tree line. Some has rotted away, some has been hauled out. I wonder why he did that? I remember a few places there used to be junk parked. Probably saving for possible parts.
I’ve mentioned before that my dad would talk about he and his brother pulling the electric lines through the pasture with horses. Then WWII put a hold on it. If I remember correctly, the farm got electricity in 1946. Mom and Dad were married in 1948, and first daughter, Ellen, was born in 1949. Mom had told Dad she didn’t want to be pregnant and using an outhouse. He finished the bathroom in 1949…before the baby, but I think it was further into the pregnancy than mom wanted.
I ordered myself an “indestructible pen”. I always carry a pen in my pocket, and often doing farm work I break them by leaning over things. Typical plastic pens don’t last long. I found this one. It comes with a titanium tip to break glass. Never in my life have I had to break out a window. Except for fun. Or as part of a show. And being how this tip is so sharp, after I gouge my palm on it a few more times, I’ll be grinding that off.
(Preliminary question: got any good stories about breaking glass?)
I picked up 55 bushels of rye seed on Wednesday. The dealer let me borrow a seed tender, so it’s in bulk, not in bags, and I was really excited to play with that. It has a scale too! And then we got .4” rain Wednesday night and Thursday was cloudy and misty. Heck, Thursday was supposed to be nice, before it rains for a week they say. It’s all still in the shed. The point of using a seed tender, is to avoid all the bags plus it’s quicker and easier. There’s a conveyor that can be used both to add seed to the cart, then turned around and unload the cart into the grain drill. Maybe next week I can get pictures of that.
I spent Thursday and Friday in the office instead. I meant to do bookwork. By 2:30 in the afternoon I still hadn’t quite gotten to that. Several times I moved the keyboard and moved papers, then saw a bill or two to pay. Did that. Remembered a few more emails to do, remembered some theater stuff to do. Started a draft of this blog, moved the keyboard again to start bookwork and got an email about certifying the oat crop for an extra payment for water quality. Spent an hour doing that on my phone (Because they said it would be easier on the phone. Well maybe if you don’t have fat fingers like I do!) Had to call for help once. Had to quit and start over twice. I managed. It was worth it for the $1600 bonus payment planting oats provides for water quality grants from the SWCD. Maybe I’ll order a couple gallons of diesel fuel with that…
CAN YOU HOLD PENS / PENCILS IN YOUR HAIR? BEHIND YOUR EAR?
HOW DO YOU CARRY YOUR CELL PHONE?
(I’ve seen women walk around with them under their arm or stuck in their bra. I don’t like them in my pockets; again, I’ll break it)
Trail Baboon 
I did not do a good job of protecting the windows on my front porch before tim and I sandblasted the old stucco. All the windows got etching on them so I decided to replace them. The porch is windows on all three sides and lots of small panes. After trying to take out the first one or two carefully in big chunks, I realize that wasn’t going to happen. So I got my swim goggles, put on a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of gloves and with a hammer I just whacked it all away. It was extremely satisfying. I knew as I was doing it. There would be a massive cleanup and multiple vacuumings but it was still satisfying.
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I don’t have a great way to carry my phone, but once saw a woman with hers tucked into her hijab while pumping gas and I thought that was pretty clever.
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Yes. I have seen women in hijab with the phone tucked in there so they can keep on talking and have their hands free. Not the original intent of the hijab, but cleaver.
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…and wherever they happen to be, shopping for groceries or walking on the street, they are in continuous conversation with someone on the other end. This is a phenomenon not exclusive to hijab wearers. I see many people out in the world in seemingly perpetual narration of their activities. Who is other conversant and don’t they have anything better to do?
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Most of my pants are either cargo-styled or have a single zippered pocket on the right thigh. That’s where my phone goes.
I never could understand how someone could tuck a pen or pencil above their ear and keep it there.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
I also have the Back-to-School cold either from Ireland or the plane on the way there. Husband caught it from our grand niece and nephew in Iowa. It is an international bug. This is a souvenir I did not want.
Phone carrying? Purse or pocket. Always inconvenient.
When tempered glass breaks it is a real mess. Many years ago wasband and I were in the car, a VW Rabbit, crossing the I94 bridge going West to East. A dump truck in front of us, lost 2 tires off the rear left axle. One fell into the Mississippi. The other rolled, bounced off the side barrier and flipped up into the air, then landed on our windshield right in front of wasband’s nose. It could have easily killed him had it landed 2 inches lower. The windshield shattered everywhere. For some reason the baby (now age 44) was not with us, thank goodness. He would have had shattered glass all over him.
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Wow! So glad that wasn’t worse!
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I have a phone case with a small credit card case attached to the back, and it features a ring. I have a strap attached to the ring, so the phone is typically slung over my shoulder. The card case is big enough to hold a license and a couple of other cards, so the whole thing functions as a wallet.
Before the strap, I was constantly setting my phone down somewhere because I wanted to have both hands free for some reason, then I would immediately forget where I left it.
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I think I saw that at a Blevins over the past few months. I liked it. It looked convenient.
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The pencil-behind-ear trick for me is to use a stubby one.
Phone goes in front pants pocket. I’ve had too many smashed screens from shirt pocket placement.
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Cellphones are so ubiquitous now that not having one is a significant handicap in many venues and cellphones represent a substantial investment. I cringe when I see a phone half exposed in someone’s back pocket. Clothing manufacturers should be including a secure cellphone pocket as a standard component of clothing design.
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Such phones as have been mine have NOT been significant investments. I shop for them at eBay, so am always behind the curve with what’s current, and I use Mint as a carrier, so keep it cheap.
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I end up carrying a purse most of the time. I’d actually prefer not to, and I admire women who go without. Linda’s description of a phone case with a card holder and strap is good, if you don’t also need an asthma inhaler, a clunky set of car keys, and a hair brush. So I usually end up with a purse. I try to put my phone in an exterior zipper pocket, that way I don’t have to look for it if it rings. I don’t talk on my phone when I’m out in public. If someone calls me, I let it go to voicemail then call them back unless it’s something really important. I don’t often get calls that are important.
I can put my hair up in a bun or a knot of some kind, then stick knitting needles (or pens) through it. I don’t do that often though. I usually have a pen in my purse.
Many years ago I had a thing about stumps cut from large trees. I liked them about 18” high to put around bonfires to use as chairs. Stumps aren’t very portable when you drive a small car. I had a small car with a hatchback and I found a large piece, cut to a perfect height. It was larger than most stumps I had collected. I was pretty excited about it. I picked it up and placed it in the back of my car with the seats folded forward. I shoved it in so it was away from the hatchback, and closed the door. It was winter and I was on a little, skinny gravel road near a friend’s place. Little skinny gravel roads can be really slippery if there has been rain in winter and it freezes. I spun out on the road, into the ditch, and the stump went flying out through the hatchback window, shattering that tempered glass everywhere. What a mess! I had to walk back to my friend’s place to get help.
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Yikes!
I’ve broken one tractor glass door when I slid off the road on ice and slid into a tree branch. And a car side window, but I can’t remember what happen to that one. Yes, it sure makes a mess.
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I could get a pencil to stay in my hair only the first few years after college, when it was still super long… it’s straight as a stick, and a little curl helps hold it, I think.
I can leave a pencil behind my ear for a while.
My cell phone goes in an outer purse pocket, WHEN I REMEMBER IT. Sigh. But I have the ring turned off, so I don’t necessarily know if someone’s called, right away.
No tempered glass stores, I am thankful to say! MY, a lot of baboons have had harrowing experiences! Glad you’re all still with us!
Love the chickens up top…
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My favorite glass breaking story, told once again for the new people:
Before Kelly and I were married, we were in Daytons working on our wedding registry. We were looking at the Waterford crystal display and picking some for the registry. I pointed to something and asked “What’s that?” and the whole shelf, uh, what, “disintegrated”? “Shattered”? “Fell”? Something. But there was a lot of noise and everything was in pieces at my feet. I stood there, stunned, stuttering explanations. The staff ran over and was so gracious, telling me “It happens all the time, it’s OK!”
Kelly, to her credit, vanished the moment it started to fall. I found her over by the mattresses. Her thought was someone would have to bail me out. Yep, no point both of us going to jail.
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This is Kelly. As you can tell, from Ben’s Waterford story, I’ve always been behind him 100%….or at least in the general vicinity…. 🙂
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Still laughing!
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