I don’t think of myself as clueless but I will admit that most of the time my brain is going 100 miles an hour and I’m not always as observant as I would wish.
Dog walking has returned to my schedule now that I’m RE-retired. We normally go for 45 minutes to an hour. I tend to wander around Tangletown or towards Lake Harriet; I like the neighborhoods and I don’t think Guinevere cares where we go as long as we go. So if you count all the walking we did during pandemic/furlough as well, we’ve probably trekked down Belmont Avenue 50 times in the last couple of years. But it wasn’t until last week that I noticed the ginkgo leaves on the sidewalks. The first one I noted, the second one I noted and after the third one, I looked up and down the street. With few exceptions, all the boulevard trees from 51st all the way to Minnehaha Parkway are ginkgos. And they are big, sturdy trees – obviously planted decades ago. Just lovely.
I did a little bit of research and found that the city has always controlled the boulevard trees but I can’t find anything on why this particular stretch was planted with ginkgos. The current policy, thanks to Dutch Elm disease and the Emerald Ash Borer, is to diversify trees on the boulevards so going forward I doubt any replacement trees on Belmont will be gingkos, although if it were my boulevard, I might petition hard to get a gingko replacement!
The breed standard for our Cesky Terrier calls for a rather long skirt and long fur on the legs, with long bangs that go all the way to the tip of his nose. The fur on his skirt and legs is very fine and feathery, and attracts weeds and sticks. He really dislikes being brushed, but he would be a tangled mess if we didn’t attend to him. Here he is sitting on the bench in the front looking for bunnies in the garden. He is a rather pretty boy by Cesky standards. It takes a lot to maintain that beauty.
Husband always wanted to grow his hair long when he was in college in the early 70’s but his hair is so curly he could only get it a little above his shoulders before he started looking like Bozo the Clown. My boy cousins in Pipestone were mortified that their dad insisted they keep getting crew cuts when everyone else had longer hair and bangs. Uncle Harvey thought that a crew cut was all a boy needed to look good. I had the standard long, straight hair popular in the 70’s. My mother had a wash and set every week at the beauty parlor. I read the other day that a North Dakota man holds the record for the world’s longest beard, at 17.5 feet. Oh, the things we do for looks!
Who did you want to look like when you were a teenager? When have you been the happiest with your hair?
It was hot. How hot was it? It was so hot Wednesday, I stayed at the college until 8:30 PM. The air conditioning units for the Theatre were recently repaired, so except for the fact there is no thermostat, (it’s either on or off), at least there’s air conditioning here as opposed to home where there’s only fans. Well, there’s not AC in the shop at the college, but I open the doors to the stage and turn on some fans and it’s very comfortable.
The chickens hang out under some bushes or somewhere in the shade from mid-morning until mid-afternoon. You can tell they’re hot when they lift their wings a bit. I’ve had their fan running all summer and the back door open for more ventilation the past week.
The cattle hang out in the shade too. By evening, everyone is moving again and having a drink.
Humphrey is really in a conundrum; he wants to be with us, but it’s cooler outside than inside. Decisions, decisions.
Back this spring as I was getting machinery ready for planting, I used my favorite wrench in one of the tractors, and I kind of remember setting it above the steering wheel and telling myself, “Don’t put that there“ and then, of course I couldn’t find it again all summer. I was delighted to find it in the toolbox of that same tractor recently. Putting a wrench in the toolbox? That was pretty good thinking at some point.
Has anyone else noticed all the dragonflies around lately? They were swarming all around the yard earlier this week and out in the fields. And my brother commented on seeing them at his place. I did some reading and they peak in July and August, they sure are fun to watch. And all the barn swallows are sweeping around; there’s a couple nests here that are working on the third batch of babies. That’s really impressive and these poor kids are hardly gonna learn to fly before they head south.
Was up to John Deere last week getting some parts and there is a new parts lady behind the counter. It was interesting that while she was still learning the system, and she didn’t know some common parts like a cotter pin, she seemed to know a lot of the customers and they would call her by name, and someone made a comment about her staying in the industry. Later, as we were trying to find some of my parts, (they were right here, and then they were put somewhere by somebody who wasn’t there now, and nobody else knew where they were) she and I had some time to talk. She ran the auto parts store in Plainview with her dad for 20 years. So, she kind of knew the business, just not this particular system, and some of these parts. I don’t recall, in all the years I’ve farmed, I’ve ever seen a woman behind any of the parts counters that I frequent. There was a female in a welding place several years ago, and she knew what she was doing. And I know this lady will figure it out too. Even the guys, when they start, they don’t know much. It takes a long time to get into the swing of things.
I’ve been listening to a jazz station a lot lately. I have a membership to Jazz Radio and primarily I listen to modern big band, but lately I’ve done Latin jazz too. It’s a fun change. I’ve learned that I don’t like hearing the same music over and over. And while that rarely happens on Radio Heartland, it happens even less frequently on Latin jazz. I get some Maynard Ferguson on the modern big band station and I like that.
Last week at faculty duty day at the college, I saw this shirt and it made me laugh. I hope you get the joke.
That momma hen still has 13 chicks. She’s a good momma and she’s smart. There’s been a hawk trying to grab the chicks. Bailey actually chased it away a few times. We made a straw bale shelter for them to hide under, but she figured it out on her own and moved them down to the trees and taller grass during the day, and at night takes them back into the pen. I take corn down to them. Keep your fingers crossed.
One night Kelly and I burned up a bunch of brush we had accumulated. A bonfire on the second hottest day of the year? Why not.
Finished baling straw this week. Terrible yields there too. Got 320 small square bales total, and it should have been 1000 bales off 20 acres.
It is what it is. Everything worked well and it’s nice straw. Kelly and I unloaded one load, I’ve go the last 100 bales stacked in a wagon for the strawberry farm that buys it, and there’s one load in the shed yet that we’ll get unloaded next week.
I am going to plant a cover crop this year on the oat ground. With the hail we had, there should be plenty of oats there to germinate and re-seed, but rye actually produces deeper roots and is a good cool season crop, so there should be a good winter cover. the same program that was paying for oats this year (separate from the ‘food grade’ oats program) is paying for cover crops. It’s funded by the USDA.
Every time i take my boots off this year, I’m leaving a trail of oats or straw chaff in my wake. Occupational hazard, i guess. I’ve got a cordless Dewalt vacuum in the mudroom specifically for this reason.
Walking on stacked bales is a bit of a challenge. It’s better when they’re stacked proper and tight, but that doesn’t always happen and I was curious how it would go for me and my new knee. And it went pretty well!
I was probably 16 or 17 when Dad announced his sore feet wouldn’t allow him to walk on the bales anymore and I was given the important job of stacking hay bales in the barn. Anyone can unload the bales and put them on the elevator, but stacking, that’s special and takes some skill. Right Clyde? (Or did you only handle loose hay?)
Basically, when stacking, you alternate the direction of the row, and you get the bale in place, then give it a good shove with your knees. Repeat several hundred times. Course, maybe you’re working 3 or 4 rows high in a corner and depending how much room there is as the bales come off the elevator into the hay loft, depends how fast you need to keep moving. All this to say, it was a big deal when Dad had me take over stacking. Just as big of deal it was last year when I wasn’t able to stack myself and my brother did it. The bales got in there, but walking over them the rest of the fall, winter, and this summer reminded me of the skills he missed out on over the years.
The one day last week, just as they finished combining oats, and it rained pretty hard and I had run up the road with the gator to open the truck tarp so the combine could dump the last of the oats. The dogs came running up with me and neither one of them likes the rain. They scrambled into the gator, and they sat in there for 20 minutes after we got home while I was out doing other stuff.
The young guineas are out and learning their ways. Festus, the guinea with the bad leg seems to have disappeared. We knew he’d have a tough time of it and we don’t know what became of him.
Here was a big ragweed plant growing out of the side of the silo, about 8’ in the air. ‘Was’ because I plucked it right after taking this photo.
The first few days at the college have been rough this year. Something about a ‘licensing issue’ means I don’t have access to Outlook, Word, Excel, or any of those Microsoft programs. Plus it seems like my computer – heck, none of the computers, want much to do with me. It’s been a rough few days.
MOTIVATIONAL POSTERS. DO THEY WORK FOR YOU? SEEN ANY GOOD ONES?
The last couple of weeks Guinevere and I have repeatedly passed by a house on the parkway with one toddler’s pink shoe sitting on the front post of someone’s house. It is still in good shape (despite a couple of storms) but it does look a little forlorn. If YA had lost this shoe as a toddler, I might have re-traced our steps to find it but there are probably several good reasons why the shoe remains all by itself.
It makes me think about the socks that go missing in life. This time of year I spend more time thinking about socks; winter socks are bigger and harder to mis-placed. I mostly wear little no-show socks (if I’m wearing shoes) and I often find one of the missing when I fold up my weekly laundry. I’ve developed a short process when this happens.
As I sort and fold laundry, I tend to shake it out a bit. If a sock is missing, I may unfold, shake and refold any likely suspects who might be holding onto a sock, especially the fitted sheet. If that doesn’t turn up the missing footwear, then I head down to the basement to check the dryer and the washing machine. If I am still single-socked, then I put the lonely sock into a little box that I keep in my closet. Then when its mate shows up, I put them together and replace them in the sock drawer.
Eventually I go through the single sock box and get rid of any inmates who have been there for a long long time. Right now there are four socks in the box and none of them are likely to get paired up again.
How to you deal with lost socks, shoes, gloves? Do you have a process? How long to you keep single items before despairing of finding their mates?
You all know that one of my favorite parts of summer is going barefoot, or wearing zorries, which is pretty much the same as going barefoot. If I’m dressing up I might put on one of my pairs of Birkenstocks, but that’s as much as I like to encase my feet at this time of year.
The exception is when I’m walking the dog. I should say that I CAN walk the dog wearing zorries – my feet can handle it, but I sometimes worry that if Guinevere takes off after a squirrel or rabbit and surprises me, zorries might not be the best footwear in an emergency. So I wear tennies. And socks.
That’s where my doggy dilemma comes into play. Guinevere, whatever issues she may have, is pretty smart and has definitely figured out that my putting on tennis shoes almost always means she is going for a walk. Like all dogs, she loves the walk and from the minute the shoes go on, she begins to prance around, whine and bark until her halter is on and we are out the door. This is very annoying and it’s not something I’ve ever had to deal with in all my life with dogs.
I’ve tried putting on the shoes 15 minutes ahead of time and spending time picking up or doing dishes, but so far this hasn’t fooled her. The minute there is a whiff of walk, she starts her impatient song and dance. I wonder if I have to just bite the bullet and occasionally put on the shoes, hang out at home and then take them off and not involve a walk at all. I’m pretty sure she’ll figure this out as well.
My bales are doing quite well this summer. I’m managing to keep them watered and the added calcium seems to be helping the romas keep their beautiful shape. We planted watermelon plants on one bale and as expected they are going crazy. Guinevere is enjoying hiding beneath all the tendrils that have exploded all over the place.
As well as they are doing I didn’t expect to be eating my first cherry tomato on July 3. I knew that there were a couple starting to turn but was surprised to find THREE ready for picking yesterday afternoon. The photo above is not the tomatoes I picked. After a quick squirsch of the hose, they went straight into my mouth, one after the other. All three were wonderfully sweet and juicy – no way was I waiting to go inside and get the camera.
I know this is early for tomatoes but whatever goddess of the garden is looking out for me right now, I’m thankful! Better start pulling out my favorite tomato recipes.
I saw one field of peas that had been harvested, and I saw two fields that were pretty yellow. They got harvested and then hog manure was applied to them. Most likely the farmer will plant soybeans on it. (That’s about the only crop that can mature quickly enough when planting in July). Will the manure provide enough moisture to get the plants going? We shall wait and see.
The peas were pretty short and the farmers get paid by the ton for the harvested peas. Won’t be much profit there this year.
Fourth of July coming up and the corn has made knee high.
The short corn is knee high; the taller corn is up to my waist. The taller was planted May 5, then it rained for 10 days. The shorter stuff I planted May 18th.
I’ve heard a lot of farmers say the genetics for the seed has improved so much that 20 or 30 years ago, the crop never would’ve survived a drought like this. I know drought tolerance is something the dealer’s market in the seed, I just hadn’t really seen it like this.
I did have the soybeans sprayed. The fields are still pretty bare, but the weeds would have taken over, so they needed to be stopped if I wanted any hope for a crop.
I’ve been surprised at the quantity of the second crop of alfalfa that I’ve seen. No rain, and yet the yield was almost as good as first. The roots of alfalfa can be pretty deep. They’re finding water.
Weeds too; deep roots. I took some close-up photos of the corn leaves curling up compared with how it should look.
The agronomists say we’re having a lot of potassium deficiency, which makes the edges of the leaves turn yellow. The dry weather inhibits potassium uptake, and limits stalk strength, which could be an issue later this fall.
This week I hauled two loads of junk to the recycling center and two loads out to the scrap iron place.
I had two electric motors that are sold by the pound and the price was $.20 / lb for that, 5 pounds of copper at three dollars a pound, three old batteries totaling 58 pounds $0.10 / lb, and some bulk aluminum from a TV antenna, and some other odds and ends, That went for $0.15 / lb. I took out this old metal chopper box, which weighed 2120 lbs and they subtracted 250 pounds for the wood floor and beams under it which sounds reasonable. The price for scrap was down from the last time. It was $130 a ton which is better than the $90 something it was in December but not as good as the $200 something in March.
The farm is really shaping up. I’ve cleaned out a lot of random corners and I have a wagon full of stuff to put back when I’m done. I’m almost done with the ‘demo’ part of my shop remodeling; 99% of stuff is moved out, and what’s left to do is removing and moving some electrical wires. I’ve had an electrician out and we’ll be running a new buried line from the pole 300’ over to the shop. Currently the power goes overhead to an old fuse box in the old corn crib, which is the chicken pen now. Then it’s buried 200’ from there to the old shed and another old fuse box. And from there, buried to the new shop and another old fuse box. Old fuse boxes with the 60 Amp cartridge fuses in the block to pull out. I remember dad digging in the line between the two sheds. And I remember him somehow finding a break in the old line between crib and shed and splicing a wire back together. It’s time to abandon that line and upgrade.
I’ve got steel and lumber ordered for the ceiling, I’ve got some of the windows framed in and I finally got the hydraulic hoses replaced on the loader and added the new plumbing that I needed for the grapple. (It took several trips back to the John Deere dealer, but we got it!)
We had trees trimmed, and I got branches laying all over. Three maple trees that had a lot of dead wood in them. One tree I was worried about falling on the wellhouse, one I was worried about falling on some electric lines to the barn, and one tree in the front yard more dead than alive. It’s the swing tree so had to save that part of it. There are pictures of that tree from 50 years ago and the tree seems like it was the same size then.
The baby chicks and guineas are doing well. Here’s a picture of the big chickens too.
We gave Bailey a haircut the other day. She looks like a totally different dog. And we think she really likes it. She doesn’t have nearly so much hair to get cockleburs or burdocks stuck in. I think she just liked the attention. I kept her distracted and amused, while Kelly used scissors and trimmed her up. At one point she lay down on her back and almost went to sleep, so I think she was enjoying the attention.
Humphrey and Bailey sure do play well together; they have such a good time. Humphrey is twice as big as Bailey and he spins in circles and takes her whole head in his mouth, and she just lays there and waits for him to stop. Then she goes after him. It’s fun to watch them play.
Humphrey has three pillows in the house, one in the living room, one in the office, and one in our bedroom. Although in the bedroom, he alternates between the pillow on my side of the bed, or the floor on Kelly’s side of the bed, or sometimes at the foot of the bed. Ever have one of those nights you just can’t get comfortable?
I find it fascinating how he knows the subtleties of our schedule. If I get up and go to the bathroom, he doesn’t move, but it seems like if I put deodorant on, then he knows I’m going out. And he will be up and moving before I get to the bedroom door. Same thing if he’s lying in the living room. If I get up to go to the kitchen he doesn’t move, if I get up to go outside, he knows and he’s down the steps before me. What subtle clues is he picking up?
Remember back when you were dating? I was never very good at subtleties then.
CAN YOU TAKE A HINT? HOW ARE YOU AT GETTING SUBTLETY?
I realized yesterday morning watching our Cesky Terrier shake, tug, and try to destroy his various toys that he is a frustrated scent hunter who wants to find, shake, and kill vermin. His play was very serious. When he insists we tug with him, he tugs as if his life depends on it, with all the accompanying growls and snarls. I wished we lived closer to places that had barn hunts for Kyrill to use his scent skills and have fun working.
We have had terriers for about 35 years, and their one defining characteristic is their turning work into play, as well as games.
Kyrill has turned getting taken for a walk into a game. He sees the leash taken out, and immediately runs twice around the dining room table, evading all efforts to catch him, and then dives under a living room lamp table and waits for Husband to grab him by the collar, attach the leash and go for the walk. Sorting laundry is also a game, as he waits for any opportunity to steal a sock or bra and chew it up. He is on tiptoes the minute he hears the dryer or washer open, follows us, and creeps up stealthily as though the clothing is vermin.
I can’t for the life of me figure out how we have behaviorally reinforced these things. We are psychologists, you know, and we ought to know this. Terriers can outsmart anyone!
What animal has outsmarted you? How do your pets turn things into games? How do you turn the everyday into games?
We’ve got the 5 little guineas in the entry way yet, but one of them jumped to the top of the water bottle, and it’s only one more hop out of the box, so we’ll need to get them in the big tank down in the crib soon. (In fact, an hour after I wrote that, it was out) One of them has a bad leg; seems like it’s up at the hip, and it’s out sideways. We’ve tried to make splints for it, and we tried wrapping the leg up to the body. That was something; the chick sure didn’t like any part of this. Didn’t like being picked up in the first place, didn’t like being manipulated, and didn’t like the wrapping job. I got the wrap to stay on for about 3 minutes. Course I was holding onto it for 3 minutes… once I set it down the wrap was off.
Google has lot of suggestions on this. We need to try it again.
We’ve been watching a red headed woodpecker mom and dad feed their family. A maple tree with one large dead limb full of holes and the woodpeckers climb halfway into this hole and we can hear the babies chirping.
And one morning, I saw a heron flying away. It was right by the barn and it wasn’t very high yet; not sure where he came from. They’re always fun to see.
I was mowing some grass the other day down behind the barn and knocking down some tall grass that had been too wet to mow earlier this year, and one of the roosters killed a large mouse. He was pecking at something and backing off, then going in again. I’ve heard of chickens getting mice before, yet I’d never seen one. They didn’t eat it.
The lightning bugs are back. It’s fun to watch them at night over the corn fields. There’s an article in this month’s Smithsonian Magazine about a guy studying fireflies. Did you know they’re classified as beetles? They’re not “bugs”.
Bailey has finally started to shed and she loves being brushed. Except back on her hips; she doesn’t like that. Humphrey loves being brushed too and he’s got a bit of undercoat coming off, but not as much as Bailey.
The auction is happening this week where I took the fertilizer wagon. It runs through next Tuesday. I’m bidding on a few things too. With any luck, I’ll come out ahead on this deal and not in the hole. Normally it’s the last hour the bidding frenzy happens so we’ll see.
Crops:
I talked with crop insurance last week. Soybeans can be replanted, and still covered by insurance, until July 5th. Of course the shorter season varieties produce less too. And unless it rains, there’s no point planting anything. The co-op is ready to spray for weeds, which is the only thing making the fields look green right now, lambs quarter and velvet leave. Stupid weeds. The wild turkeys are out there digging up soybean seeds, and the deer are eating the tops off the corn. Stupid turkeys, stupid deer.
I’m at a point, I’d almost rather it didn’t rain until mid-July. By then, we could skip the expense of spraying the beans, declare them a loss and plow it up. Just be done with it. If we do get rains this weekend, Then I will need the co-op to spray so I’ll have that expense, and we’ll see what kind of stand I get going. Replanting in July is tougher as it all depends on the weather this fall. PHOTO
I just read an article from the University of MN Extension service, saying you can tell how stressed the corn is by what time of day the leaves curl up. The sooner they curl, the more stressed it is. Here’s my corn at 10:00 AM.
Here it is at 4:00 in the afternoon.
I noticed on Friday, the corn was curled up at 11AM.
The oats is all headed out and we’ll see how that does. I haven’t heard much from the food oats people since spring.
My shop project progresses. I sure do have a hard time focusing on any one project and getting it done. I have my weekly ‘to do’ list, plus a general ‘do this summer’ list. And something like ‘replace tractor light’ gets more involved because the connector isn’t the same between tractor and the new light and I ordered some connectors which fit the tractor, but not the light, and so I had John Deere find the right ones and I’ll pick up. And the tractor cab roof light bezel I did get replaced. Took me about 6 trips climbing up on top of the hood as I had the wrong wrenches the first 4 times. (brain fart) then one of the wires had come loose inside. They work now.
When I write down an item like ‘Install window’ it is a lot more complicated than that. I have built all three rough opening frames. But now I need to mount them on the wall, cut out the steel, frame up the opening, and then figure out how we’re going to get this 250 lb. window up there outside. I need some strong young men or women. 🙂
I also need to remove a lot more stuff in the middle. I move something every day and it’s getting cleaner. I predict the first snow storm in December and I’ll be scrambling to finish some part of this to get machinery in the shed. I’m telling you right now, that’s what’s going to happen.
I reserved a scissor lift this morning to pick up on July 7. There, now I have a deadline to work towards; I need the floor area mostly clear, I need the walls mostly clear and with the lift I can install ceiling joists and steel and seal off one rafter, and then I can call for insulation on the walls and above the ceiling.
I made sure I dressed the part before I went into the rental place. Sometimes when I take daughter into her programming I just wear my crocs. It’s a rule, you can’t wear crocs into an industrial place like this and order big boy toys. I made sure I was wearing my boots, and a dirty enough hat, my sleeveless shirt, and I dropped enough names so they know I know what I’m doing.
I haven’t had to buy any new tools for this project. Yet. I may pick up something at this auction, but that’s not directly related to this project. I’m still using the worm drive circular saw Kelly gave me for my Birthday back in about 1992. It’s a great saw!
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE BLIND MAN THAT PICKED UP HIS HAMMER AND SAW?
Trail Baboon 