Category Archives: Seasons

2024, Business, Mysteries, Seasons

The Land that Time Forgot

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I go to the laundromat twice a year.  I have allergy covers on my box spring, mattress and pillows to help deter my allergy nemesis – the dust mite.  My allergy doctor recommended stripping these covers off and washing them in hot water twice a year.  I also do the pillows themselves as well as my bed’s dust ruffle and my blankets.  A lot of laundry.  Now I can do all this laundry at home, and did so a couple of times during pandemic, but it’s a LOT of up and down stairs and takes most of the day.  The laundromat, while more expensive, is fast. 

It was quiet when I arrived at 8:30 a.m.  I had been feeling a little anxious that I didn’t go earlier; you don’t want to run into big crowds where dryer time is involved.  There were actually only two other folks there so I had pretty much my pick of machines.  I also had a load of regular laundry with me so I used four machines and sat happily with my book while they filled/washed/rinsed and tumbled.  I looked up at the clock and noticed that it said 2:33.  Hmmmm.  I checked back when I was emptying the washers and noticed it still said 2:33. 

This particular laundromat is quite large and in good shape.  Two of the walls have undersea artwork – whales, fish, seagrass, etc.  On the ledge above all the washing machines on the south side of the building, there are lots of pretty planters, although they don’t look real.  There are a couple of arcade games for kids and the ubiquitous tv screens (although luckily no sound). The washers & dryers have the option to use a credit card, the machines that dispense packets of soap are always working and there are a few vending machines for pop and snacks.  The dryers keep going until the sensor says the load is dry so you don’t have to keep plugging coins in for cycle after cycle.  Most importantly there is a full-time maintenance employee who is always around, keeping things clean and orderly.  This time I saw him cleaning out the lint traps on the dryers – all these years and I’d never thought about lint at the laundromat.  

More folks eventually started to file in, one family who had the back of their pickup chock a block full of bags of laundry.  One woman was clearly irritated by something in her life; she threw her laundry around like it was offending her.  Another young couple had a disagreement about how to sort the laundry out; maybe doing your laundry together at the laundromat is another of those tests to see how compatible you are as a couple.  It was great people watching, a little world all of it’s own there at 37th and Chicago.

After all my stuff was washed, dried and folded up ready to head home (2 hours total), I looked up – still 2:33 p.m.

When was the last time you hung out laundry to dry?

Here is Barbara’s clothesline photo… putting it here…. long story.

2024, Family, Food, gardening, home, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized

The Power Of Tarragon

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Last summer Husband bought four tarragon plants to put in the big front garden bed. We had never grown tarragon before, and I hadn’t cooked with it that much. We found it a delightful addition to the garden and to our cooking. I was sad to see Autumn come and the plants die in the first freezes. I also thought the same thing about the spinach, a late season Italian variety called Gigante d’inverno, that we plant once the peas are done in August. It is a dark green, highly savoyed spinach with large leaves. It is pretty fast growing and cold hardy. It doesn’t like heat, but likes it cool, even if it gets snowed on.

Much to our surprise, all four tarragon plants survived the winter and are growing nicely. The same is true for the few stray spinach plants we didn’t harvest last year. I never realized that a tender herb like tarragon was hardy to Zone 4, and that if well mulched, the spinach can winter over even in North Dakota. I find that amazing.

Husband plans to have lots of herbs in the garden this summer. It is also a basil summer, as we are getting low on pesto in the freezer. Can you tell I am excited about getting into the garden?

What herbs do you like to grow? What do you like to use tarragon for? How are your garden plans coming?

2024, animals, education, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized

Barn Swallows

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

The worms sure did come out after the all-day rain on Thursday. I even had some inside the doors at the theater. 

And the Barn Swallows are back! Kelly saw some on Tuesday and they immediately started hauling grass to the nest on top of the wind chimes by our front door. Pretty cool they come back and reuse the old nesting spots. We sure do enjoy hearing them chatter.

No fieldwork done in the last week since it’s been raining. I worked in the shop a bit, and I’ve been doing a lot of prep work for college Commencement next Wednesday. 

Here’s my ‘patch’ for the lighting; the document in the lighting controller that says how each light is addressed so the lighting console knows which light it’s talking to, and so I know which light is which.

 The number in the first column is how I refer to the light. The 5th column is the actual ‘patch’. Those first fixtures are 21 channels each. A channel is a parameter, for example pan, tilt, red, green, blue, intensity, zoom, strobe, ect. and a universe can handle 512 channels. Some lights are only 6 channels. Intensity, red, green, blue, white, amber. All the lights are in universe 1. The first light is address 1. (1:1) It uses 21 channels, so the next lights is also universe 1, address 22. (1:22) Repeat until all the lights are patched. If I have more than 512, I go to the next universe. This Hog console can do 4 universes. Bigger events might have dozens of universes of lighting.

Thursday I was over in the sports center hanging the lights over the stage (which I can’t get too once the stage is in place) and doing a little other prep work.

I meant to get a better picture of the lights, but the genie lift I was using wouldn’t go back up in the air. Huh. Thanks to the training I had back in Seattle in March, I knew enough to check the batteries. Three of the four were low on water. And I heard it’s had some other issues lately. Thank Goodness somebody in charge agreed we better rent another lift just in case. Both the video guys and I will be using lifts for commencement and not having one will be a problem. 

While working on lighting, I heard there was water coming into a back room. The sump pump was working, but water was coming through the floor or something. It wasn’t my concern. 

Friday, I picked up the other rental lights, and it was quiet in the sports center, the batteries have been topped up with water and recharged, and I was able to finish hanging my stuff. It should make Monday an easier day for me. I have more lights on the ground to install, but I can’t do that until the stage is set.

The overheard door to the sports Center has been broken and is scheduled to be replaced Monday. The same day EVERYTHING loads in for commencement; chairs, band equipment, food, staging, ramps, ect. And it all goes back out that door Wednesday night. 

Sounds pretty exciting doesn’t it. Or a cluster. One of the two… 

I sold some straw to the Rochester Fire Department. They add a bale to their practice fires because it makes a good amount of smoke.

Had a good talk as the two of us loaded the trailer. He said some of their ‘turn out’ gear (the typical fireman’s hat, coat, pants, and boots) need to be replaced as it’s nearing end of life. $8000 for one outfit. And the guys have a second pair to wear while the first outfit is being washed and dried after a fire. Takes 8 hours to dry, and they can’t wear if wet as they could get steam burns. The things you learn! 

Creative Writing at the college is almost over. I’ve submitted my poetry project and now the last thing dues is the final portfolio, which are revised versions of things we’ve submitted earlier in the year. When things get slow I’ll just recycle some of them here. 🙂

The chicks are doing good. They’re not afraid of an open door anymore so I have to pay attention while I’m in there filling their water and feed. The dogs are right at the door, so they’re paying attention for me.

I had 55 dozen eggs in April! Zoiks!

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CONSTELLATION OR CELESTIAL EVENT?

2024, animals, Farming Update, pets, Seasons, Uncategorized

Fieldwork!

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben.

It’s been another crazy busy week and all the farmers have been pushing hard planting corn in the neighborhood, trying to stay ahead of the weather. Not me, but everybody else. I have finished planting oats and I picked up corn seed. Considering last week I hadn’t even gotten out in the fields yet, things picked up fast and went pretty well.

I got the old tractor, the 630 running. That’s the one I rebuilt the carburetor on last fall, and while it’s not perfect yet, it does run, and I used it to re-arrange machinery to get the grain drill out.

I started planting with 48, 50lb bags of oats

I can tell I’m getting older as my fingers are getting stiffer as I lift them up to dump in the drill.

Meyer Seeds, where I’ve been getting seed for years, and where my dad even got seed, didn’t have oat seed this year, so they got it from another local place. There are not many places selling seed oats around here. The Albert Lea Seed House is a good source, but they’re an hour away from me and much more expensive that Meyers. Meyers have done such a good job cleaning seed over the years, on the rare occasion they don’t have any, other seed is dirty and dusty, and I even found a shriveled up, desiccated mouse carcass in a bag this year. I mean, what the heck?? Do better other people. 

I had planned to  finish planting oats late Wednesday night, and wouldn’t you know I ran out of seed with about half an hour left at 9:30 PM. Every year I tell myself, “order extra seed”. It’s not a problem to return it and it’s better to have extra than to run out with half an hour left, and I don’t know, next year comes and I forget. Thursday morning I picked up 8 more bags of oat seed, and got the corn seed, too.

I use the “Boating” app to track myself in the fields. I helps to find that corner I need to get back too, especially at night.

Everything in yellow is what I planted on Wednesday. I covered 12.9 miles, averaging 4.5 mph, and was out just over 4 hours. The time also includes stops and refilling.

The closer photo show every pass. Compare that to the actual tracks in the field.



It has been fun to be back in the tractors again. My brother usually helps do fieldwork, but he’s on vacation this year. My young helper is still in school, and the other helper has become gainfully employed. I don’t mind doing it myself, it just takes a little longer. My left arm gets tired because I run all the controls with my right arm, so the left arm is constantly steering. Building up my endurance I guess. I have acquired a second tractor buddy.

We don’t all fit into the cab so well.


Luna doesn’t look happy to be left home and she doesn’t look happy to be in the tractor. I don’t know what she wants. Bailey just lays on the floor, rests her head on the door, and sleeps. Luna moves back-and-forth and is in the way of either the clutch or the brake. And if I stop in the field and we all get out, she barks and barks to get back in. I think it’s still anxiety about being left behind.
I saw bald eagles, pheasants, turkey vultures, lots of deer, turkeys, and we’ve been hearing the sandhill cranes, I just haven’t seen them yet. Waiting on the first barn swallows. Should be a scout around any day now. They usually arrive about May 6.

Soil temperatures are in the 50s and GDU (Growing Degree Units) are at 177; 123 above normal at this point. The cereal rye that I planted as a cover crop last fall greened up but never got very tall. I had it sprayed this week to terminate it. It needed to be 12 inches high to get paid for planting it. However, because those fields are gonna be corn, having 12 inches of grass there was going to be a problem with residue, and I wanted it sprayed and terminated before it started to rain and I lost control of it. So it goes. It will still add organic matter to the soil.

Late next week I’ll start dealing with lighting for commencement on May 8th, so I’ll be busy with that for a few days. The experts says 100% of potential corn yield (in our area) comes from corn planted between April 22 and May 6th. I still got time!

FAVORITE FAMOUS LAST WORDS?

2024, Family, Food, holidays, Mysteries, Seasons

Eggs-tremely Envious

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Every year I am jealous of Renee.  Her daughter always tells her she wants an Easter basket and tells her what to put in it.  No guesswork, no trying to figure out what might appeal to a grown daughter.  SO JEALOUS.

As I mentioned a couple of times, YA likes the traditions of Easter but doesn’t like to admit it.  I’m not sure why; it’s the same with some other things.  So every year when I ask her what she wants in the basket, she says “Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs”.  That’s it.  Well, you all know me – it’s hard on my nature to fill up her basket with just one item.  Every year I get carried away and every year she enjoys it. 

This year was the same.  Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs.  I spent a few days thinking and routing through her room before I headed out to shop.  I wandered through Target and Walgreens and Cub – oh, and the Dollar Store (which really needs to be re-branded since everything is $1.25 these days).  I ended up with a handful of skin and hair products that I know she likes.  One Lindt chocolate bunny.  Amy’s Bunny Grahams.  Ghiradelli caramel bunnies.  Little bag of Garden Veggie Chips that are egg-shaped and in spring colors.  A lambie toy (this is technically for Guinevere – I tied an Easter ribbon around it’s neck).  Two Apple giftcards as YA is saving for a new computer – safely ensconced in spring giftcard holders that I made.  Cheddar bunny snacks and, of course, Reese’s PB eggs. 

It’s a glorious looking basket and even without the Apple cards, surely the most expensive basket I’ve ever assembled for her.

Why did the Easter Bunny get its job?

2024, Business, Farming Update, Seasons

LIFE!!!

72 Comments

The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

This weather! AC one day, heat the next. We had the windows open Monday and the wellhouse heater on Wednesday night.

Sigh. Lately… Every single thing is just a pain. I’m on the struggle bus. Software upgrades before I can proceed, mandatory password changes that take a while to implement, slow drivers, red lights, carwash lines… all very first world problems, but man, it’s exhausting. 

Monday my friend Jason and I spent the afternoon on the roof of the Rep Theater hanging over the edge, mounting a metal strip into which, a line of ‘LED’ lights will go. It’s the usual flat, tar roof, and we got a little dirty. And I have a tender spot by my underarm on both arms…

It’s gonna be really cool when done and working. I’ll have pictures when we get to that point.

I have done several stupid things this week. Fixing all the dumb things I’ve done keeps me occupied.

We have this new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC) at the Rep Theater. It all got turned on last Thursday. Then Tuesday I was doing stuff and out in the lobby I stopped to look at something. I was carrying a piece of gel; A red piece of plastic that goes in front of the lights to give them a color. I had removed a ‘return air’ vent cover on the wall, because we were repainting the wall. I laid the piece of gel in the hole of the vent and walked into another room to check something in there. And of course, that’s when the furnace started back up. And the piece of gel was gone. “Great”, I thought, “you’ve had this for 3 days and already sucked a piece of gel into it.” But I figured, it’s plastic, what could it really hurt? I checked the big air exchange unit, and it wasn’t in there. Oh well.

That night I realized I should check the filter at the bottom of the furnace. Yep, there it is, inside there… but that slot is only an inch wide. I poked at it with a stick until I managed to shove it further up inside the duct. Twenty minutes later, after removing two shields off the furnace, I could get my arm in there and retrieve the gel. Whew.

As part of this whole HVAC project, we removed all the suspended ceiling tiles upstairs. Which exposed all the old telephone lines, old thermostat lines, and the plethora of internet wires the former tenants had used.

Most of which can be removed now. I have tracked down the actual internet line we ARE using for the phones and computers, so I know which one that is. While working on lighting for Hamlet, I cut a couple old phone lines I knew we’re not using so I could get them out of the way.

And then the general manager asked me why the fire alarm panel was beeping. Sigh. Crap. “Communication Error Line 2”. Took me a while to realize even though the phone system is using an internet provider, I still need a regular phone line between the modem and the fire alarm panel. Sigh. Of course I cut three lines; two of them had 4 wires in each of them and one was the size of your pinky finger and had 48 wires in it. Guess which one goes to the fire panel?

Yep, the big one. Phones are low voltage and they are wired using ‘pairs’ of wires. This was all coming back to me as I worked on it. The blue wire with white spots, and the white wire with blue spots are generally the first pair. Then it’s the Green and white pair, then orange and white pair third. Another trip to Menards for phone wire connectors and 40 minutes on a ladder with a flashlight in my mouth and I had that working again.

Did I mention the wind grabbed the side door and broke the door closer linkage? A mile up the road is a door place. Lukas is my buddy in there. I’m a regular. They had the part. Didn’t take too long to replace that, but it was just another thing.

I remember Dale and JimEd talking one morning and JimEd said he needed a sign: “WARNING! TWENTY FOOT CIRLCE OF EXASPERATION!” That’s me lately. Placating myself with chocolate covered peanuts isn’t the best solution, but it’s a yummy one.

Give us a telephone memory. First phone? Favorite phone? Childhood phone number?

2024, Art, Nature, Seasons

Neither Snow Nor Rain….

35 Comments

One of my holiday projects is a handmade calendar in a 6 x 6 format; I make four of them every year.  You may think that it’s a little early to start worrying about this but 3 layers of paper per month times 12 months times 4 versions comes out to 144 pieces of paper.  One of my rules is that I can’t purchase anything but the paper to make these calendars.  All the stamps, die cuts and assorted accessories have to come from my stash.  But 144 pieces of paper is still a chunk of change so I do have to keep an eye on cardstock sales and since I almost always get the paper at Joanns (they have the best selection), I start watching the sales early on.

The best sales are the 50% off sales but this year Joann’s went all out for President’s Day and offered 10 sheets for $3 on all the open cardstock (normally .79 to .99).  Even though it’s only February, I haven’t seen a price this good before so I didn’t want to let it go by.  I kept the sales mailer on the dresser waiting for the first day of the sale.  It was listed as a Doorbuster, which sometimes means the sale price is only good for the first morning, so my plan was to be there Thursday morning at 9 a.m., when they open.

Then on Monday the forecast said we would get a dusting on Wednesday.  Then on Tuesday, the snow jumped up to a possible inch.  By Wednesday afternoon they were talking 3-5 inches.  Yikes!  By bedtime on Wednesday it was snowing but now they were only predicting 1-3.   Woke up to about 4 inches and a big pile at the bottom of the driveway.  I waffled for about an hour about how much I really needed cheap paper and then headed out.  Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night can stay me from a good paper sale!

What will you brave the elements for to get your hands on?

2024, Farming Update, Seasons, Technology, Uncategorized

Something Something

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Today’s Farming Update is by Ben

Something Something

As I started writing this, I wasn’t sure yet what I had to write about this week, so I was not sure where this was going to end up.

We got some rain Thursday morning and evening. I don’t think it amounted to much. It didn’t help the muddy areas. I did spread out four bales of straw in front of the chickens’ pen as it was just a muddy mess down there. And the mud over by the shed is full of tracks and ruts. That’s worse than usual because it was fresh dirt last fall after the concrete work. Maybe I can get it smoothed out as the weather gets colder in the coming week so it’s not frozen ruts, and it will be better next year, but for now, Ish-da.

I have a young man helping me on weekends; I got to know him as a college student. He’s really interested in working with his hands and willing to try anything. And he never gets frustrated or gives up. He’s working a delivery job now, and he says he’d love to get into one of the trades like electrical or sheet metal or construction, but he really has no experience. It’s kinda cute, whenever we do a job, at the end of the day he says, “OK, what tools did I learn today?” We’ve talked a lot about which companies would hire him “green”. Meaning no school. And as I’ve talked with the HVAC guys working at the theaters or my nephew who works with a remodeling company, they are all willing to give him a chance as long as he’d plan on sticking around for a few years. And it helps I that tell them this young man isn’t a jerk. His biggest issue right now is he only has 1 pair of shoes. Loafers. Which have been terribly impractical in this mud. I’ve got nothing that fits him. I do pay him; he really should buy some boots.

Last week he and I put new batteries in my truck, we mounted some more 2×4’s on the shop walls, and we worked on changing an electrical box. Then I had him frame up the electrical box and add trim steel around it. Then I could add the “J” channel and get the pole barn steel around it.

There was an old, old fuse box here from when my Dad built the shed. I had new electrical service installed to the shed last summer

but I still need the old service. I had bought this new circuit breaker box 10 years ago and never got that installed. So, this was the time.  A job well done.

I plan on working hard on the farm financial bookwork this weekend. I meet the accountant on April 9th, but I should have 3 months of 2024 done by then, not still finishing 2023.

WHAT HAVE YOU GONE INTO GREEN?

SAY SOMETHING ABOUT SHOES.

.

2024, animals, Farming Update, home, Nature, Seasons

The Rabbits

48 Comments

The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

The weather is warming, the chickens are back out in the grassy areas, I can work in the shop comfortably again, and I turned off the well house heater and unplugged the tractor block heater. Whew. It felt like January in Minnesota. For a week. And now it’s not dark yet at 5:00 PM, and we just need some sunshine. I don’t want to get too anxious or excited about all this, we still got February and March to get through, but there is hope on the horizon.  

When it’s so cold the chickens don’t come to eat the corn we put out down by the barn, there are deer, pheasants, and rabbits that still come around to clean it up. Plus, a variety of birds. I really hate the deer eating that corn, I feed them enough out in the fields, they don’t need to eat this corn, too. At least we haven’t had so many wild turkeys around the last few years.  

I’ve never been very good at identifying animal footprints. Yet again, an example of missing our Steve. We could use his help on this. It’s not hard to know the deer tracks, but Steve would know male from female tracks, and how old they were. He’d know what a pheasant track looked like, and probably know the difference between the tracks of a crow, robin, and mourning dove, as well as how many, what they had for breakfast, and where they were headed next. I can identify rabbit tracks, they’re not hard. No details mind you, just, you know, ‘wabbit twacks’*. And of course, if there’s rabbits, there’s rabbit pellets.  

When I was a kid, I had several different sling shots. Homemade ones that never lasted, simple wooden ones, and I think I had a couple different versions of the ‘Wrist Rocket’ sling shot. Those little rabbit pellets made good ammunition. They were all over the backyard. And they were perfect little balls for shooting! I didn’t know they were rabbit poop. Until my big brother told me. (Older siblings, they spoil everything.) When I see all those pellets down by the barn, I remember that. I googled ‘wrist rocket’ to see if they were still around. They are! My gosh, slingshot technology has advanced! Names like the “Laserhawk”, the “Daisy B52”, the “P51” (The B52 and P51 are well known airplanes). They have molded finger grips and can have multiple ‘launching’ bands! And magnets to hold steel pellets in the pouch! And mounted flashlights!! You can buy targets, or you can buy clay-based shot called “Clod Poppers”.  

The most expensive slingshot I could find was $99.99, the “Scout LT PRO”. According to their advertising, it comes with “additional thumb screws because they look awesome”. Well, there ya go. It looks awesome.  

There are Slingshot tournaments.   There’s a Slingshot Association International. 

Say it like Elmer Fudd

EVER HAD A SLING SHOT?  WHAT TOURNAMENT DO WE NEED?  

2024, Family, home, Nature, Seasons, TV

Freak Out!

24 Comments

I spent a week with Nonny in St. Louis the second week of January.  While I was there, they had some bad weather.  First there was “wintery mix” the night before I arrived which necessitated my brother-in-law picking me up from the airport instead of Nonny.  As far as I could tell, the wintery mix was a dusting of snow.  But a dusting of snow in St. Louis is a much bigger deal than it here.

Then as we headed into the weekend, the forecast was for “bitterly cold” temperatures – in the single digits with some below zero wind chills.  Again, for St. Louis this is out of the ordinary and very alarming.  St. Louis was freaking out.  On Friday night, Nonny had the tv set to local news for about 90 minutes and at least 60 of those minutes were spent on the weather.  What the temperature had been, what temperatures were predicted, instructions to stay in, recommendations for how to be prepared if you need to go out. 

As a Minnesotan of 45 years standing, it struck me as funny although I kept my mouth shut.  If we’d had weather in the Twin Cities the last few days like Renee experienced last week, we’d be freaked out too.  It’s all about what you’re used to. 

My sister, who has appointed herself the arbiter of what Nonny should and shouldn’t be doing, made sure to give me advice about keeping Nonny inside and making sure Nonny had enough food “stocked up”.  This was even funnier; if you know Nonny then you’d know that even at the age of 91, nobody gets to be Nonny’s arbiter except Nonny.  In fact, when I did a quick run out to the hardware store for some magnetic catches (fixing her bathroom cabinet doors), she insisted on coming with me.  So then we went to the grocery store as well.  The roads were pretty well deserted, even at noon.  St. Louis was indeed staying inside!

Caroline sent me this picture that day – what a great laugh since I was actually in St. Louis.    Of course it’s photo-shopped.  While ice does form on the Arch (and is actually a danger as it sheets off – they sometimes close the area underneath the Arch because of this), it never looks like this.  Too bad, it’s pretty this way!

Anybody remember who said “if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…”?  How do you keep calm when everyone else is freaking out?