Category Archives: animals

2026, animals, Automotive, chickens, crops, Farming Update, Music, Nature, Theatre, Uncategorized

WARNING: TWENTY FOOT CIRCLE OF EXASPIRATION!*

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*Thanks to JimEd Poole for the phrase and T-shirt suggestion.

The vacation is over. Farming sucked this week. 

The highlight of my week was putting a new windshield wiper on my car because it actually clicked into place and stayed there when I turned on the wipers. I’m calling that a win.

To sooth my mood, I listened to the music of Les Paul. Are you familiar with him and his wife, Mary Ford, and their multi track recording of “How High The Moon? It’s really pretty cool.

He’s a pioneer of the solid body electric guitar, and his use of recording techniques such as over dubbing and multi track recording was revolutionary. 

Mary Ford was an outstanding musician herself. Reading about her reveals 4 marriages, alcoholism, and sadly, died at age 53, of complications from alcohol abuse, after eight weeks in a diabetic coma. Kind of broke my heart…

One of my favorite recordings is “Chester and Lester”, Les Paul and Chet Atkins. Which leads me to “Neck and Neck”, Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler. Which takes me to Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris and “All The Roadrunning”. 

And that’s all the duos’s I can link because I don’t have any other Emmylou Harris. 

So the farm. 

Last Saturday the neighbors came out to combine oats. They made a round and a half, plugged up the combine with the grass, (remember, I said that was going to be a problem) And then, I think they were hot and dirty and mad and they went home. I’m sure he was as hot and frustrated as I would’ve been. I said that I thought they started on the worst field, and they should try some of the other fields because there was a lot less grass in them. And I don’t know why, but they never came back and they told me I’d have to cut the oats, sort of the traditional way of swathing it and then picking it up from there. That gives  the grass a chance to dry out. Well if I’d have known I was going to swath it, I’d have got my swather ready before we went on vacation for a week. I tried Saturday afternoon to get the swather started and it’s always a bugger to get going at first. Sunday I was working on a show all day. And Monday was hot and humid and miserable and it was a Monday all over. I went to three different auto part stores, and I know I’ve talked about this before; the swather has a Chrysler ‘slant 6’ engine in it. These things were bulletproof and there was a million of them around back in the 70s. But the trick now is finding a mechanic old enough to know what a slant 6 is. And that’s been my problem. I’ve gotten a lot of parts that don’t fit and we can’t seem to find ones that do fit. John Deere doesn’t carry parts for the motors anymore. And I was in quite a foul mood most of Monday. By Tuesday I had mellow out a bit and by Wednesday hired a couple of guys to come and swath the oats for me. What’s a couple more hundred bucks to hire them…

Hired guys swathing oats

And now, of course, after a month of no rain, now it’s raining on Friday. Need the rain, just not right now. Because now my oats is laying down. But at least the oats was standing well when it was cut! Yay! I’m afraid it’s dried up to nothing, so maybe some rain will help it rehydrate. And then eventually the swath will dry and then we’ll get it combined and then I’ll get some straw baled. The neighbors have had their Oats and Straw done for two or three weeks. But we’re not talking about that. 

It was a nice gentle all day rain, and we have over an inch. I did bookwork, and other computer stuff, then organized the pencil drawer in the shop, and fixed a crack on the hood of one of the lawn mowers.

That’s better

I did take a couple hours of one afternoon, when I wasn’t doing anything else, and painted our downstairs bathroom that’s almost done being remodeled. It’s done except for the countertop and sink, and toilet. The countertop is coming August 10 and I would expect a plumber a day or two after that. And while I was painting over the pink bathroom I was singing to myself Lou and Peter Berryman’s “Why Am I Painting My Living Room“.

The padawans were out and we started replacing boards around the bottom of the pole barn. It was hot and one of them complains a lot. Eventually I give him a new rule: “No Bitching”. Then he gets moody but I can handle that. 

Front boards done; working on the side. And the door needs to be rebuilt.

I had rock delivered for the road. Ten loads of 18 tons each. Spending money hand over fist again. Can’t take it with you.

Never underestimate the value of a good driver who knows how to spread rock.

I also got stung by a bee working with the boys. Cripes. No allergies or anything, just another annoyance.

I cleaned the radiators on the big tractor, (AC, hydraulic oil, and water radiators) and worked up a small field that a friend plants for a deer plot. (His theory is the deer will eat that instead of my crops. It’s a nice thought that doesn’t work). And after the oats and straw is finally done, I’ll be planting cereal rye as a cover crop.

cleaning the radiators.

Chicken mama is down to 3 chicks… but the co-parenting guinea mom still has around maybe 15? She keeps them out of site most of the time and it’s hard to get a good count of them.

Guinea moms and babies

I mowed some more weeds. I finished lighting one show and started another, and this one is a drag show and a lot of fun.

There was a turkey buzzard sitting on a fence post one day. I thought, ‘well if that doesn’t sum up my week.”

I’ll end with this:

WHAT GETS YOU OUT OF A FOWL MOOD?

HOW MANY YO-YO’s DID YOU HAVE AS A KID? COULD YOU DO TRICKS? 

2026, animals, Music, Uncategorized

Catbird

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We had a lovely time over the July 4th weekend in a Airb and b near La Crosse, WI. Our place was pretty remote and up at the top of some tree covered hills. We had a huge deck overlooking the forest.

One evening I was on the deck and I heard some very harsh meowing coming from the woods. It sounded like a cat in distress. I was just about to head into the woods when I remembered our grandson telling us that there were catbirds in the woods nearby, as the bird song app on his parents’ phone had identified their call. What a lousy trick for that bird to play on me!

Further research on catbirds revealed that they are really good at mimicking other birds and do so quite frequently. They like to sing when well hidden in bushes and trees, unlike other song birds that prefer to sing in the open in tree tops. Much easier to fool people that way. Their well developed vocal chords allow them to make two sounds at the same time. They are described as brave and nosy, and as liking to be around people. Sitting in the catbird seat means you are in an advantageous position and have the upper hand.

I don’t think we had catbirds in western ND. They like being where there are lots of trees. It has been really nice hearing all the different bird calls here in MN. If I were a bird I would want to be a catbird. Think how much fun it would be to mimic catalog and other birds and sing multiple notes at the same time. There is something to be said be said, though, about the nightingale.

What are your favorite bird songs or songs about birds? What kind of a bird would you want to be?

2026, animals, chickens, crops, Farming Update, Movies, Theatre, Travel, Uncategorized

Where in the world has Ben been?

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This weeks farming update from Ben.

We’ve been gone for a week. Returned to one last day of nice weather before it gets hot again.

Where were we?

Every restaurant was so loud you couldn’t have a conversation. We postulate the ambient noise level was so loud that everyone else has to get louder.

A cool ceiling at this resturant.
Decor at the same place.

There are many wonderful parks, lots of free green space, art, and statues.

It seems like we had a hard time figuring out the subway ticket system but we got around and managed to make do with the kindness of strangers and only losing money on one ticket system I still haven’t figured out what I bought that didn’t work. Que sera sera

Took a Commuter train to visit a couple attractions. First time for that for us. 

Sunday after the World Cup finals, one train was packed, but everyone was very nice. We laughed about how tight we were crammed in there. Kelly and I joked a full train on Sunday is probably different than a full train on Thursday at 5:00 PM. 
The Wednesday 5 PM train was full, and seemed to skip one stop, and at the next stop, which was the one we wanted, only one door opened and we couldn’t get there before it closed and the train moved on. Daughter was VERY put out. A guy on the train said “I have missed so many stops…”

Traffic lights seem to only be a suggestion to some people.

 A few more street signs would be really helpful. 

I didn’t pack any shirts with sleeves! 

We travelled there as Kelly had a work conference. We all had a few vacation days together before she had to ‘work’ work. 
Daughter and I made our own fun after that. Saw some movies – in 3D!- and had a good time. 

Ice cream coma

My steps the last week average about 8500. Daughter, constantly moving, averages 12,000 a day. 

We had lots of help on the farm to keep things in hand.

The chicken from last week still has some chicks left; I haven’t gotten a good count as they’re hiding in the tall grass. But maybe 5 out of her 13. We’ve always said, the real world is a tough place for chicks.

And now we have multiple baby guineas. 

At least guineas are good at co-parenting.

We want more guineas, but didn’t want to stick a guest with baby chick care. So we’ll see. The photo was from Tuesday when the Palawan’s saw them. I haven’t found them yet on Friday. Kelly saw them briefly, and then the mom seems to hide them so she can get out and eat. That’s kind of unusual.

Padawan 1 is broke, so I left him a list of projects. Darn if those missing soft skills don’t make it harder than it had to be for both of us as I had to remind him to do a few jobs, and offer help by text when he’d ask questions. And he made a few jobs harder. Which is how we learn, right? 
P2 came out few times too. I’m not sure how much I’m paying them for work, or how much was goofing around. 
Well, QSS all over again.

Thanks to Rick and Betty for picking up the mail. Thanks to John and Tamsin for taking care of the chickens, Tamsin, and the dogs, John. Gracie and Evan house sat and watered flowers.

I’m hoping to get the oats harvested Saturday. It’s still standing good, which is great, but the grass in it is getting bad. That only means it will combine a little tougher (because a combine harvester doesn’t like green stuff) and the straw windrow will have to dry out before I can bale it.

The corn got sprayed with fungicide by helicopter. Corn fungus’ have become a big issue the last few years as they move up from the south and the hot weather acerbates the issue.

I’ll post a few more photos after the location has been determined.

EVER HOUSE SAT? OR HAD HOUSE SITTERS? TELL US ABOUT IT

WHAT DECOR DO YOU MISS FROM THE 1950’s or ‘60?

Extra photos:

JFK Library
Steinway
Aquarium
“The Embrace”
The other side of “The Embrace”
USS Constitution from the harbor tour
Washington statue in the Public Garden.
Cool doors
2026, animals, Travel, Uncategorized

What A Mess!

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I read with rather horrified amusement about a traffic problem in Fargo that occurred on July 11th. The incident took place on I-94 on the border between Fargo and West Fargo on a very busy section of the highway. The exits on that stretch of the highway lead to major retail areas and the big Sanford Hospital.

As in many communities there is a lot of construction this summer happening in Fargo. The eastbound lanes on I-94 were reduced to one lane for construction. The police and highway patrol got calls around 2:30 pm that there was a complete blockage of the one eastbound lane by debris that had fallen out of a truck.

A trucker had apparently braked suddenly for slowing traffic not realizing that the rear door to the trailer he was hauling had opened. Approximately 15 well aged bison carcasses slid out of the trailer onto the highway. The trucker seemingly didn’t know what had happened and continued driving east. He wasn’t identified until 7 hours later. It is thought he was heading to a rendering plant in Long Prairie. The available news is unclear whether he was fined for the incident.

The West Fargo Fire Department, State Troopers, and Highway Department workers all cleaned up the mess and sanitized the roadway. I can’t imagine how awful that must have been, or what they did with the debris. I just hope it wasn’t too hot out.

What is the biggest mess you have ever had to clean up?

2026, animals, home, Nature, Uncategorized

Fireflies

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About a month ago we had quite a bit of rain and the humidity stayed quite high into the evening. I was delighted to see small lights flit here and there all over the yard, and realized they were fireflies. We also saw them in the woods near our rental a couple of weeks ago near La Crosse. Grandson was entranced. There aren’t many fireflies in Brookings, SD.

It seems fireflies like heat and humidity, and we never had them in ND or in Winnipeg since it is so much drier there. There were tons of them the year we lived in Southern Indiana. We were pretty close to the Kentucky border. It was really hot and humid. The fireflies are my favorite memories from Indiana. Husband did his predoctoral internship there. We moved to Indiana after several years in Winnipeg. It was a pretty awful place after living in Canada. At that time Indiana was considered the most politically corrupt US state. It was very socially conservative. I was glad when our year there was up.

I can’t imagine there weren’t fireflies here in Luverne when I was growing up, but I really have no memory of them. Neither does Boommate. It was great to see them the other night. They seem magical.

Got fireflies? What are the best and worst places you have lived?

2026, animals, education, Family, Nature, Travel

It Was Wild!

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About 90 miles outside of Columbus is The Wilds, a wildlife conservation center developed on reclaimed land that had been mined for coal for four decades.  Starting in the late 70s, the Ohio Zoological Commission began developing a plan for using that land for a special wildlife conservation area.  They began in 1984 with 9,154 acres and the first animals, the Przewalski Horse, an endangered wild species, were introduced.  Two years later, The Wilds opened to the public.  Today there are close to 500 animals, representing 19 species, that roam the acres of The Wilds.

YA and I learned about The Wilds through the same tv show that introduced us to the Columbus Zoo (Secrets of the Zoo) and we knew that if we visited Columbus, we had to include it in our plans.

The only way to see the animals is on a safari tour; we took the medium-tour so there were 14 of us in the back of a Ford pick-up (there were seats).  The tour was a bit over 3 hours and it was amazing.  We were fairly up close and personal with Persian Onagers, Pere David Deer, Grevy’s Zebras, the famous Przewalski Horses (called P Horses) and two kinds of Oryx – Fringe Eared and Scimitar-Horned. 

One of the youngest Bactrian Camels had been hand-raised after his mother rejected him.  Named Latte, he was more than willing to come right up to the truck to get scritches under his chin.  The Sichuan Takin was not as big or golden as the takin we have at the MN Zoo but The Wilds does have the largest breeding takin herd in North America. 

Latte

We fed giraffes from the truck – two of the herd really like this and one in particular, Tuffy, lets folks give him little pets on his necks.  (I bought a tee-shirt w/ Tuffy on it.)   At that same stop, the two female ostriches approached and one of them clearly didn’t like the look of me.  Before I realized how far into the truck she could reach, she gave me a nip on the hand.  For the rest of the stop, she repeatedly tried to get me.  Nobody else on the truck, just me.

Sadie

In a shaded copse we found five banteng, a species of wild cow.  They have 1 male and 4 females.  Apparently they are working on a program to determine if they can breed the current herd – the male banteng is quite elderly and if the females are still fertile, they will bring in a new male to help with reproduction.  When I asked what would happen to Elvis, the male, our tour guide said that he would relocate to a pasture where a few other elderly animals reside – a cushy banteng retirement home, as it were.  For some reason I thought this was really funny.

Elvis

The highlight of the tour was when we were taken down to the winter barn area – some of the animals over-winter there since the Ohio climate isn’t that great for African animals.  There, in one of the rhino barns was Bernard.  He is living a cushy rhino retirement and one of the things he enjoys is getting pets and scritches.  Our group was happy to oblige.  Bernard is a Southern White Rhino so he is sporting some serious horn.  We didn’t pet that part!  This was a thrilling experience.  I know I’ve said in the past that I’ve never had a Bucket List, but I’m thinking about doing one now so that I can write “petting a rhino” on it and then checking it off.

Bernard

What a fabulous day – after the safari ride, we had veggie burgers at the little café and then did some damage at the gift shop.  I am seriously recommending this to anybody who gets anywhere near Columbus.  Just an amazing way to spend a day.  The Wilds has a few ways that you can stay on the property overnight (yurts, little lodge and a new set of rooms attached to the giraffe barn.  YA and I talked about maybe going back one day and doing that. 

Ever had the chance to pet a wild animal?  Would you stay overnight in a giraffe barn?

2026, animals, education, Family, Nature, Travel

Columbus Zoo Day

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One of the highlights of our Columbus weekend was a day at The Columbus Zoo.  We got there right at opening and got a nice discount for being Minnesota Zoo members.  We did not really have much of a plan for the day – just wanted to see everything.

Not in any particular order…

  • Saw the tiger feeding and met a staff member who had been part of the Secrets of the Zoo show!
  • Watched a training session with two gorgeous cheetahs.
  • Walked through Adventure Cove (glass tube with water on all sides so you can see the various sealife swim above you and below you.
  • Watched the lion feeding.  I had the BEST spot of anyone… I kid you not.
  • YA walked through the Lorikeet Aviary
  • Lots of kangaroos in the Kangaroo WalkAbout
  • Extraordinarily expensive pizza lunch
  • Spent a LONG LONG time at Stingray Bay. YA is besotted with petting stingrays and little sharks.
  • Petted some goats at The Barn
  • Gorgeous polar bears
  • Visited the manatees and got to see “Stubby”, who can’t be released to a boatstrike injury but has acted as a mom to many young rescue manatees over the years.  Even found a cool manatee t-shirt!

I’ve talked about Jack Hanna running the Zoo for many years, basically turning it around and creating the fabulous experience that it is today.  Up near the Africa area, there is a great bench/sculpture of Jack and his wife, Suzi.  I couldn’t resist the photo op!

We were at the zoo for almost 8 hours and I can truthfully say that I slept like a rock that night!

Do you have a favorite animal?

2026, animals, In Memorium, Nature

Edith vs. Squirrels

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Yesterday was the anniversary of the day we lost Edith, our LIttle Jail Bird. Here is another of her posts – one of my favorites!

****

Jim’s comment “The squirrels around here seem to be unusually pesky” got me thinking about how much I hate squirrels. South Minneapolis squirrels seem to be especially hateable. People who say squirrels are “cute” either are crazy or they haven’t seen the squirrels in my neighborhood.

When I grew vegetables in my yard, it was an endless source of frustration to see tomatoes get almost to the point of perfect ripeness and then find it lying on the driveway with a squirrel bite taken out of it. The thought of eating a tomato that had been handled by one of those rodents deterred me from ever cutting off the bitten part; my compost pile was the only thing that benefitted from the squirrel leavings (and, actually, the compost pile didn’t benefit, either – see below).

I now only grow herbs and fruits and flowers in my yard. Squirrels like to dig in the planter boxes on the front porch or any freshly turned dirt and also do things like eat tulips off stems before they open their blooms. But at least they aren’t eating my food.

One time a squirrel got into my house. I’m not sure how…but you haven’t seen pure craziness until you’ve seen a squirrel dashing around your house at full speed.

We’ve all heard about how squirrels rob bird feeders of the bird food. If you have an open compost pile, to which you add food scraps, in your yard in south Mpls, you are basically operating a free restaurant for squirrels.

But the real reason I hate squirrels? They hate me. Here’s proof. Those of you who also live in the city of Mpls know that the big gray garbage bins the city provides us for our trash are pretty tough. But they’re not tough enough for south Mpls squirrels. Our diabolical neighborhood squirrels chewed a squirrel-sized hole in the lid of my trash bin. They would then go inside the bin and enjoy snacks 

(this was before I composted most of my food scraps). Then, I out I came, blissfully unaware of any danger, with a bag of trash to put in the bin. I threw open the lid – and SHAZZZAAAMMM out flew anywhere from one to three squirrels in my face. They ran away, laughing hysterically at my scream, and plotting when they can do that again.

I learned to kick the trash bin several times and then stand back before I lifted the lid. After the squirrels escaped, I gave it another kick, then waited to make sure they were all gone before I carefully lifted the lid and tossed in the bag. But sometimes in my usual spacey way, I would forget to kick – and once again the squirrels would enjoy their dominance over me.

Any “cute” object or animal driving you crazy this week?

2026, animals, Family, Food, Mysteries, Nature, Travel, TV

Buckeyes

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We got to Columbus about 9:30 a.m. on a Friday morning and after picking up the rental car, we got to the hotel well before check-in time… in fact we were there before check-out time.   We knew this was a possibility so we left my phone number with the front desk and headed out.

Started with lunch at The Rusty Bucket.  Veggie burgers, fries and fried pickles.  Best fried pickles ever.  It was a gorgeous day and we sat near the big open windows so there was a great breeze.  Then we headed over for a hike to Indian Falls.  We walked quite a bit down of pathway before we realized that the little gurgling “rapids” we had passed earlier were the actual falls. Guess living so close to Minnehaha Falls, I had bigger expectations.  But it was pretty and we got to pet a few dogs along the way.

I know I mentioned Anthony Thomas Candies earlier; we found an Anthony Thomas Candy Shoppe outlet between the falls and our motel.  Anthony Thomas is a fourth-generation company that started as a Dairy Co-op in 1932 and following a couple of expansions, in 1952 they began making what is now their signature candy – the buckeye – peanut butter filling surrounded by milk chocolate.  They make 14 million buckeyes a year and are recognized by Ohio State University for the licensing of the candies.   We found a little box of what they call their “oops” – seconds.  Neither YA nor I could figure out what was wrong with them.  They were delicious – and cheaper!

Quick stop at a grocery store for a few bottles of pop/water for the fridge in our room and then headed back to the motel for our check-in.  Showers, lunch leftovers for dinner and we found Banana Ball on ESPN.  In a complete reversal of our usual roles, I am a BB fan, YA is not.  However she humored me.

Set our alarms to make sure we got up early enough for our adventure on Saturday.  Not bad for a travel day, no?

Do you have a candy that you would eat, even if it were an “oops”?

2026, animals, Automotive, Computers, Family, Mysteries, Nature, Technology, Travel, Uncategorized

YA in Charge

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We went to Columbus because I love the television show “Secrets of the Zoo”.  It ran for five seasons beginning in 2018 and spawned “Secrets of the Zoo Tampa”, “Secrets of the Zoo North Carolina” and “Secrets of the Zoo Down Under”.  Down Under was resurrected a couple of years ago for an additional season and depending on what you’re willing to believe on the internet, there MAY be a Season 8.  I was (am?) addicted to these shows – loved seeing the animals and the folks who cared for them.  I’ve definitely seen all the episodes of all the show and most of them more than once. 

The original Secrets explored the behind the scenes lives of the animals, the zoo keepers and the zoo vets.  They also shared each episode with The Wilds, a safari park and conservation area about 90 minutes from Columbus.  It looked as fascinating as the zoo.

When Guinevere passed away, YA and I were suddenly free to travel together – something that hadn’t happened for about 5 years.  We decided that going to Columbus to see the Zoo and the Wilds would be perfect. 

As is my norm, I immediately got a binder out and made tabs for air, hotel, rental car, cat boarding, zoo, Wilds and miscellaneous. 

YA used her work “points” for the rental car, spent some On the Fly cards for the air and got a smokin’ hot rate at a hotel using her Iatan status.  Turns out we even got Comfort + seating because she’s got a gazillion Delta miles.  I asked her for confirming emails for everything so I could print them out – she begrudgingly did this commenting that it wasn’t necessary since she had all the info on her phone.  Even the kitty boarding place sent everything via text and email.  But not to be outdone, I dragged the binder with us to Columbus.

Because we were leaving at an ungodly hour from Minneapolis, YA set up Lyft transfers (cheaper than the off-site lots at the airport).  Once we got to Columbus, she did all the driving because it would have cost extra every day to add a driver.  So I let her choose the car.  I didn’t even know what hotel we were going to before we drove up.  She had handled that as well, including making sure it was a double/double configuration. 

Really the only thing I was in charge of was the Zoo and the Wilds.  Even those were handling with QR codes (used our MN Zoo membership to get a discount) and getting emails with links and receipts.  Just had to flash my phone at the entrance of both. 

Suffice it to say, YA was mostly in charge of everything during the trip and I didn’t open my binder one single time.  It felt kind of freeing but sigh… the times they are a changin’.

How has travel changed for you over the years?  For the good or for the bad?