Category Archives: 2024

2024, Family, holidays, Technology

Gifting

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I can’t remember the last time I set out of the house to go shopping for Christmas presents for our family and loved ones. I spent much of my morning yesterday scrolling through the Amazon lists and other lists of things our son, daughter, and daughter in law wanted and conveniently sent to us. A few clicks, and their gifts were on the way. Later this week I will fill the treat boxes for our far flung friends and family and get them to UPS to deliver.

Husband and I told the kids we didn’t want any presents this year as we don’t want more possessions that we will have to move. I don’t think either of them listened to us, and we will get books at a minimum. I also told daughter that bubble bath and toiletries were good options for me if she really wanted to get me something.

Right now I don’t have the time or the energy to go physically from store to store in a mall or in a big box store shopping for people. Is that a sad commentary on our current state of affairs, or something to rejoice over? I am not sure.

How does your family gift one another? What are you hoping for this Christmas?

2024, Food, Uncategorized

Tea Time

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Husband and I have been drinking more tea lately, I suppose because it has been cold. We got a tea catalogue the other day and found some fruit teas we ordered-Rote Grutze, a German fruit tea made from hibiscus, grapes, elderberries, and blueberries, and a black tea that has rice flower, grapes, papaya bits, cinnamon, pear bits, fig bits, orange peel, nutmeg, cloves, maple syrup-, honey. and pear flavors. It is also made in Germany. They both taste really good.

We have all sorts of teas in the cupboard. I like Earl Grey and Assam teas. I guess Ostfriesland, where my ancestors come from, consumes the most tea per capital of any country in the world. We really became tea fans when we lived in Winnipeg and took tea at the Hudson’s Bay Company tea room, It was so fun to go there for tea and fancy cakes on Saturdays.

We really like our new teas. They help keep out the cold. I like my traditional black teas with lemon, not sugar. Husband likes cream and sugar in his. He also drinks iced tea like other people drink soda.

How do you take your tea? Ever had a formal English tea experience?

2024, History, Movies, Music, Uncategorized

Our Song

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I am not too sure why I started thinking about Dr. Zhivago last week, but I did, and that led to memories of our Italian landlords in Winnipeg.

Angela and Emilio lived in a modest home not too far from the University, and when the house next to them came up for sale, they snatched it up. It was a very tiny, two bedroom home with a large enclosed porch and a nice sized garden in the back. There was an alley that ran in the back, and an unattached garage.

Emilio and Angela were from Calabria and immigrated to Canada in the mid 1960’s. Emilio was a ceramic tile layer and flooring guy. He had invented and perfected a way of laying tile that made him the fastest in the city. He wouldn’t let anyone watch him work because he didn’t want anyone else to learn his method. Angela was a homemaker. They bought the house next door out of an Italian desire to be able to control who lived near them. We were their first renters.

Angela told me that Emilio immigrated first, before they married, and she followed several months later. They married in Winnipeg. She told me her first impression of Winnipeg flying over the city was that the rows and rows of houses looked like rows of grave stones in a cemetery. She said that Lara’s Theme from Dr. Zhivago was “their song” since it spoke of lovers finding a place where they could be together. I thought that quite sweet. They managed to make a good life for themselves.

What are your favorite romantic movies? Did you ever have a song that you considered yours?

2024, animals, Family, Farming Update, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized

Winter Chores

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben.

Only getting about three to five eggs a day lately. Not sure what’s up with that. Might be because I ordered roosters this spring, I’m not sure.
I’ve got the chickens heated water bucket going, I’ve got the tank heater going down by the barn, and I’ve got the heat running in the shop, the wellhouse heater is on for the really cold nights, plus a heat lamp over a water bucket for Bailey. And I plugged a tractor in. This time of the year I go out and do chicken chores before I go to work, rather than doing them in the afternoon when I come home. I give the chickens fresh water, (I don’t know how many chickens we have these days. Maybe 40 or 50 and they drink about two gallons a day). I throw out a bucket of corn in the morning. If I throw it out in the afternoon or evening, the deer eat it overnight before the chickens ever get to it. Coming down our driveway at dusk, there are deer all over! One night when it was fairly pleasant out, I bet I counted 35 deer in different spots- and that’s all in a mile just on our property! And most of those are does. Stupid deer.

 
A lot of years, the weekend after Thanksgiving, Kelly and I put up the snow fence. This year the weather wasn’t conducive to that so our plan is to do it this weekend as it’s supposed to be in the 40s. It will be complicated a little bit by the tall grass in there, because my cow people never ran their cattle in this pasture and I didn’t have the brush mower. I tried mowing it down with the lawnmower, but the grass was just too tall and thick. The brush mower has been repaired now and I’ll pick it up next week. They fixed a lot of extra cracks and honestly it should be better than new. It wasn’t cheap, but it cost less than a new mower.

I’ve started filling our birdfeeders again: an ear of corn, a suet block, a log with the holes drilled in it for the suet pegs, and then one feeder for sunflower seeds, and one feeder for a mix. In the fall after combining, and while I’m chisel plowing, I will pick up ears of corn that I see in the fields and bring them home and put in a bucket and that’s what I use for the birds. This fall as I was picking up corn I was thinking to myself that I thought there was a place on the tractor to I put these 20 or 30 ears so they weren’t rolling around in the cab with me. And then I remembered, under one of the steps there’s a little storage area and when I opened it up, it was full of cobs from last year. Mice had gotten into it and eaten all the kernels. I chuckled to myself as I sort of remember thinking last year to remember to go get that corn, which evidently I never did. This year they were probably in the tractor a week before I remembered  to go get them, and was surprised to discover the mice had already found them and cleaned off a couple ears.

My summer Padawan came out the other night with a friend of his and they wanted to work on a car in the shop.

I told him they couldn’t get into the heated part yet, but they could use the other part of the shed. And it was gonna be cold in there. He was fine with that and said it wouldn’t be a problem. It was Wednesday night when it was 8° out and the wind blowing like crazy. The thermometer in the shed said 20 degrees and here he is in shorts, because that young man does not own a pair of pants. He picked up a different car recently and he’s fixing it up by adding things I don’t understand, but things to improve the performance: custom air filters, something called an air dump, performance spark plugs, and he’s got a chip coming for it to boost engine performance. It’s a pretty slick looking car in the first place (a Kia something) I have to admit, and he is learning a lot, and this is keeping him out of trouble. He certainly had more willpower and stamina than I did at 18, I don’t think I would’ve worked in a 20° shop in shorts. For three hours.  I offered him sweatpants but he wouldn’t take them. He did ask for gloves once, but I didn’t have any that fit, and I gave him some of the nitril work gloves that I wear, and they keep your hands very warm, but the next time I went out he didn’t have those on either. He said they had gotten in the way. I offered help as needed, and I helped them find the right tools, and really, he was focused and determined. His buddy didn’t quite know what they would be doing that night. He thought they were just gonna hang out and at the last minute Padawan said ‘I know a guy with a shed, let’s go work on the car.’  They’d come into the shop area to warm up as needed, and by 10:15 PM they had the car running again and they headed for home.  And again, more power to them I guess. The second kid was a very nice young man. He and his family had lived in the UAE for a couple years because his mom was working over there. He builds computers for people. It was fun talking to him. The next night, Padawan and my other summer helper came out. One still in shorts, and the other without a jacket. But he had just left it somewhere and gladly accepted my jacket. Padawan was back the third night IN SWEATPANTS!

I’m making progress on the shop. Just a couple pieces of steel yet in a corner of the inside, and all the steel on the outside wall. But that will go quick.

PHOTO

Just got AC installed, mostly to help with humidity in the summer. It’s not a ‘Man-cave’ I keep telling Kelly!

PHOTO

This was a used unit I brought home from one of the theaters and I didn’t want it sitting open all winter.

Kelly, daughter, and I saw ‘Les Mis’ at the Orpheum last week and that was as good as I remembered.

Next week is ‘Book of Mormon’, but we decided daughter didn’t need to see that one. Too many things I didn’t want to explain yet.

WHAT’S IN YOUR SHE SHED / MAN CAVE? 

ARE  YOU BIRD OR A BEE?

2024, Family, holidays, home, Uncategorized

I Wouldn’t Have Bet Any Money

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Sometimes I surprise even myself.  I would have thought that I would go to my grave as a “real” tree person.  There have been real Christmas trees every year of my life, even the two years living in a teeny apartment (we had a very small table top tree that we placed on the piano).  For many years, including up until YA was in high school, the tree was chopped down at one of the many tree farms around the Twin Cities then dragged back to the house atop the car.  One year I borrowed a friends pick-up truck; that made it easy – just tossed the tree into the bed of the truck and off we went.  Once YA didn’t want to make a day-long ordeal of getting a tree, we moved to the two-minute-drive-to-Bachmans selection process.

YA has been talking about an artificial tree for a couple of years now.  She doesn’t like getting sap on her hands and she really doesn’t like the needles on the floor.  Since we usually have the tree up from the day after Thanksgiving until New Years, there are always needles.  Every time she mentioned these problems, I completely blew her off.  Until last year.

For many years Bachmans offered a nice discount to fresh trees on Black Friday.  This ended during pandemic, so my wallet had felt that pinch already.  Then last year, when we trundled down to see the trees, the sticker shock just about knocked me off my feet.  And the selection was pretty sparse as well.  It was do bad in fact, that we were actually about to leave to go look for a Boy Scout or Church lot.  We found the white pines outside on the lot – sitting on their own.  I love white pine but YA does not; they are harder to decorate as they are so thick and the branches are not strong.  But the pricing was much better, so we chose one and headed home.

I spent months thinking about YAs arguments in favor of an artificial tree and was finally swayed to “think about it” when she offered to cover at least half of the cost.  I had seen the space allotted to artificial trees at Gertens.  It was huge, so in October, when we saw the first holiday sale, we headed on over.  Honestly I didn’t think this was going to end well.  I figured we wander around for about 20 minutes, have a fight and then go home. 

I’ve always had lights that fade on and off; I was expecting to be sad that I was losing this option with a fake tree.  YA wanted a tree that looked real.  I was worried about the whole “fluffing” thing that I’ve heard people talk about.  YA was worried about plugging everything in.

Then we met Bonnie.  She works the artificial tree lot at Gertens and boy, is she good at her job.  She knew EVERYTHING about all the trees but was very good at parsing out her knowledge as you asked and didn’t overwhelm us.  We learned quite a bit.  First off, many of the trees have rubber tips, so they look quite authentic (just the tips though, the inside branches are paper needles, otherwise the tree would weigh a ton).  Many trees now have power poles; you don’t have to mess with plugs.  You attach each section and the tree figures it out.  AND… although when you look at the trees sitting on display, they all have either white lights or multi-colored lights, it turns out that most trees these days have multiple options.  The tree that we liked has six setting.  None of them are fade on/fade off, but there are three twinkle settings. 

YA wanted one particular tree a lot – enough that she decided she could cover even more than half of the cost.  So despite my expectations that we wouldn’t find anything we both liked, we ended up coming home with my first artificial tree.  It takes about 8 minutes to put up, from start to finish.  I don’t have to put on the lights, we don’t have to water it.  Six settings of lights, as I mentioned.  And I think it’s lovely. 

We had friends over last night to trim the tree and it was easy to decorate and the branches are all strong enough to even the heaviest of our ornaments (a little torito from Peru).  I’m really happy with the new tree.  Guess you can teach old dogs new tricks every now and then.

Have you ever surprised yourself by changing your mind?

2024, animals, Family, Kids, pets

Security Ball

26 Comments

Our dog Kyrill, a Cesky Terrier, is a highly affiliative dog. Unlike many terriers, this dog is bred to work in packs. I have spoken with other Cesky owners who all remark that their dogs are real snugglers, wanting to be in their laps the minute the owner sits down. Kyrill is the same way. He weighs 28 pounds, and that is a lot of terrier to have in my lap!

Kyrill also follows me all over the house. He is very observant of routines, and knows that when I stand up in the morning after I have my coffee and I say “Mommy has to go potty”, he races to the bathroom to be there when I arrive. Along the way he also grabs his favorite toy, the pink ball you see in the header photo, so that he can play keep away with me in the bathroom.

Kyrill is highly attached to his ball. He carries it with him whenever he goes outside. He sleeps with it. If it falls off the bed in the middle of the night and rolls under the dresser, a place he can’t reach, he whines until I drag myself out of bed and get it for him. I don’t know what it is about his ball that he loves so much. We have a green one just like it, but he isn’t attached to that one like the pink ball. It wasn’t easy to get it away from him to take the photo.

I don’t know if his ball serves the same function as the security blanket or stuffed animal of a human toddler. I had a favorite blanket that I wouldn’t let my mom wash unless I was asleep. I eventually left it on a fence post on a family vacation bear Two Harbors. Our kids had blankets and favorite stuffed animals. It is important to feel secure when you are small, even if you are a dog.

Did you have a blanket or security object when you were a child? What helps you feel secure these days?

2024, books, Health, home, Music, Uncategorized

Big Breakdown

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During the last two months we have had an unusual number of mechanical failures. The CV joint on my van was leaking, requiring a new front axle. Husband needed new tires on his truck. The kitchen faucet broke, and was replaced. Our big kitchen mixer broke down and was replaced just before Christmas baking started. Last week my blow dryer gave up. I had to go to work on the coldest day of the year with wet hair. It was an expensive couple of months.

Yesterday I felt quite broken down. Monday was my annual checkup. The good news is that I am the picture of health. The bad news was getting both a Covid shot and a flu shot at the appointment. I woke up Tuesday morning feeling as though I had been hit by a truck. I stayed home from work. I felt better as the day progressed. At least that is over for another year.

What are your favorite disaster songs, poems, stories, and movies? Have you had your shots?

2024, Family, History, Kids, News, Uncategorized

New Hires

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Early last week in the grocery store, Husband and I ran into a couple we have know for years who are famer/ranchers and live in a small town near ours. They are truly salts of the earth, having been foster parents for decades, raising their own large family and adopting a couple of their foster kids, working as school bus drivers, and maintaining their ranch. They are near retirement now, as are we. Frank, the rancher, asked me what I was going to do after I was done working. Frank is a really funny fellow, and said that he heard that Trump was considering me for a cabinet post. I told him that my criminal record would prevent any such appointment, and Frank said that probably made me a shoo-in.

The cabinet picks continued all week, becoming increasingly and astoundingly weird, even that of our own Governor as Secretary of Energy. It seems like anyone, no matter how inappropriate, could be a contender. This got me to thinking who the Baboons would nominate for cabinet posts.

Make some interesting cabinet picks. What posts do you think fellow Baboons would do a good job at? Know any foster parents?

2024, Health, Uncategorized, work

Peer Support

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I was on my way to work the other day, driving behind a small, blue, rather dented up vehicle that was driving way too fast and was tail gaiting the slower vehicle in front of it. The blue car and I both turned into my work parking lot, and I saw that the driver was one of our Peer Support specialists.

Peer Support specialists have two qualifications to be hired at my agency-they need to be high school graduates, and they need to have successfully overcome their own addictions and mental health issues. They work directly with our clients, providing support, sobriety tips, and rides to appointments. They visit clients in jail, accompany them to court, and give them sage advice. The Peer support specialists are very proud of themselves, and it is kind of funny to hear them announce at staff meetings the good news that their felonies have been expunged from their records.

I was thinking the other day that Baboons could provide quite wonderful peer support in helping others with a myriad of skills. Gardening, cooking, writing, home repair, art projects, pet care-we could help novices and those struggling with learning how to do new and unfamiliar things. We are a talented and kind bunch.

Who are some of the natural helpers you have encountered? What would you like to help people with? Who have been your biggest supports?

2024, Business, Family, Farming Update, Health, Weather

The Two P’s

38 Comments

The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben!

As you can see from the header photo, we felt the need to add a flag to our flagpole recently. We’re liking it.

Hope you all had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat.

Our son and daughter-in-law were here and I ordered a 15 lb ham, and had it on the grill for 4 hours, topping with honey bourbon glaze and it was very good. And there are many leftovers. And we sure had a good time.

Near the end of the day I received word my cousin Marcie had died. In May of 2021, she fell down some steps at her home, hit her head, and suffered bleeding in her skull. She never fully recovered from that, and after having a stroke in October, died on Thursday morning.

Marcie, Grandma Lillie, and myself in 1972 as Ring Bearer and Flower Girl at my sister’s wedding.

She was the youngest of three siblings adopted by my Uncle Stanley and Aunt Judy. Her older brother Mark died a few years ago, and the oldest sister Marie is still with us. It seemed like a pretty tough childhood for them. Judy seemed awfully stern to me. My perception was that she was pretty strict. My siblings say she was fun. I was scared of her.

Marcie married a good guy, and she had some really good years in the middle.

I basically have a functional heated shop now. It’s not done, but I hooked up the thermostat complete with conduit and not just ‘temporary’ and I can monitor it from my phone app.

I need to finish the interior wall and get the electricians back so they can do their thing, and figure out where to put the tool boxes and shelving, and, well… I could keep myself busy in here all winter.

About 2 more weeks of classes left. I’ve still got an ‘A’ going for ‘Interpersonal Communication’. We have to write an online discussion post each week and respond to a classmate’s post. We can see how many views our posts get. Mine never get many. It could be they read a few at the start, never got my Seinfeld references and old jokes and they quit reading them. Or it could just be they only read their friends. Or maybe they pick the short ones, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter to me, It’s just interesting.

Hey, how do you know if your computer is musical?

If it’s a Dell.

“Adele”.

She’s a singer.

Found this photo when looking for the above wedding photo. That’s about 1965. Dad is working on the blade of the road grader. I’m helping. It’s pretty clear I liked being out there and helping at an early age. The patches on the knees make me laugh. Was I that busy? Or hand-me-downs? Probably both.

When Dad was still coming to the farm and helping, “helping”, I’d usually have ‘Dad stories’ by the time he went home. I wish I had written them down. I sure can’t remember any these days. It seems like there’s a long tradition of the dads coming to the farm and ‘helping’ until they break something, and then they go home. Once retired, it’s not their problem anymore. And dad knew that too. He said the same thing about his dad. And my dad had picked up some part time jobs, so often, it was conveniently time for him to go to his other job when he broke something here. He’d laugh, I’d roll my eyes and grumble, and off he’d go.

But… perspective. Time and perspective. I don’t blame him.

A lot of situations improve with time and perspective.

At the theater we often end up talking about ‘Perception’. Sometimes It’s still enough to make me roll my eyes. I did a little searching and there’s a lot of talk about perception and perspective.

Mom and dad at their 65th Wedding anniversary. Dad died in November the next year.

I have much to be thankful for.

PERSPECTIVE?

PERCEPTION?